Month: February 2008

It’s been another 2 film weekend for me…

In the Valley of Elah – Don’t get caught up in whether this is a propaganda film about the war in Iraq. In my opinion it isn’t. It’s a story about a father trying to find his missing son. That’s not to say the film avoids the subject of war and the armed forces. On the contrary, the film deals with the impact war has on soldiers, but this theme is not specific to any one war or any one country. The subject matter means it’s quite a tough film to watch, but it’s well worth seeing. Just don’t expect to come out with a smile on your face.

Cloverfield –  WOW! This film is totally awesome! I completely loved it. Imagine a documentary of a disaster in New York done in the style of The Blair Witch Project. Of course, if you couldn’t stand the camera work of Blair Witch you’re going to hate this too, but for me it added an extra sense of drama and realism to the whole thing. I know I always complain about camera shake, but here it’s totally appropriate rather than feeling contrived. There were enough monster shots to get me into it, but it wasn’t overdone like normal Hollywood monster movies.

On the way out I heard many people saying things like, “What a pile of sh*t”, and, “That’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen”. I guess these people like their monster movies to look like Godzilla, which was a terrible film and represents everything I hate about Hollywood monster movies. Each to their own…

I’m not trying to say this is the perfect film. Sure, there are faults I could pick, but I came out of the cinema feeling like I’d witnessed something totally cool, which doesn’t happen to me very often, especially where monster movies are concerned.

So be warned, it ain’t Godzilla, Independence Day or War of the Worlds. It’s a cheese free zone.

Cheers

Tim…