Cloverfield and Star Trek Teaser Trailer

I saw Cloverfield on Friday. I can't really give it a proper review without giving too much away. I will say that I thought it was good. I also found it very intense in the same way as The Blair Witch. I know that the shaky-cam style can make some people sick. I have a sensitive stomach but I was fine with both movies -- it wasn't the camerawork that made me uncomfortable.

For a lower-budget film ("only" $30 million), I thought the cast did a fine, believable job. Most of that money must have gone to the special effects budget.

The POV "you are there" style of shooting is really one of the best ways to do a giant monster movie like this. It's easy to incorporate those half-glances where you're not sure what you saw (possible spoiler below). Maybe when Toho goes back to producing Godzilla films they will use this method.

Like most of J.J. Abrams' work, there is a rich and ongoing viral marketing campaign on-line. Check out the fan-site Cloverfield Clues for more. You can follow the rabbit hole as deep as you want to go. I'll take a pass on drinking the Slusho, thanks.

About 50% of my excitement and reason for seeing this in the theater was about Cloverfield itself. The other 50% was about the teaser for Abrams' Star Trek film. This was our first look at the new Enterprise. As you can see from the offical photo, it is just a tease. Not enough to see it fully but enough to get your attention.

As each little bit of news is revealed, I'm more confident that this will be truly spectacular. The franchise is in good hands. What I'm most surprised about is how good a match they made by casting Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy. At first I didn't think it would work, but now that shooting has started he really looks like a young DeForest Kelly.

[Cloverfield spoiler?]




We do see some full shots of the monster. I didn't expect the filmmakers to go that far. I'm not sure if I liked the effect of seeing it fully. I'd prefer more mystery.




[End possible spoiler]