As I sat in "Cloverfield" this weekend I witnessed six people running from the theater. Now, I know what you may be thinking. Was it really that scary? To answer your question - yes it was, in a manner of speaking. You see, these people covering their mouths in horror as they ran from the theater were not afraid of the 300 foot monster appearing on the screen before them. They were afraid of regurgitating their $5 popcorn into the waste receptacles just outside the theater.
These monster-movie fans are part of 33% of human beings (Wikipedia) who suffer from what is known as kinetosis - also known as motion sickness. I, unfortunately, subscribe to this 33%.
Now I had heard from a few people that this movie used a "shaky-cam" effect. "It couldn't be worse than the 'Bourne' movies, which are known for their "shaky" chase scenes," I said. So, I naively galavanted off to the theater none-the-wiser. Low and behold, I was wrong, dead wrong.
To say "shaky-cam," is a grave understatement. Try Parkinson's-cam.
According to IMDB, there were warnings issued to the public about possible motion sickness problems arising from the film, but these were apparently under publicized.
But, how was the quality of the film? To be blunt, "Cloverfield," is an amazing adventure that wreaks of originality and it sticks to its guns through the whole ride. That being said, know that it may make you nauseous along the way.
After interviewing director Matt Reeves, Bloody-Disgusting.com says that a sequel can be expected. Reeve's said, "The fun of this movie was that it might not have been the only movie being made that night, there might be another movie!"
For the love of God please let the documenter of the sequel be a film student.
Those who have not had a chance to see the film can refer to my list below for any assistance they might need.
Top 5 Things to Do Before/During Viewing Cloverfield:
- Buy a pack of Dramamine.
- Do not eat before the show.
- If you insist on eating, buy popcorn so you can use the tub if you need to.
- While in the movie, try staring at the ceiling above the screen and watch the movie through your peripherals (it worked for me).
- Develop a mantra to repeat over and over to help soothe your motion sickness (mine was: please don't throw up...please don't throw up...etc).
2 comments:
Looks like I won't be seeing this movie because I happen to be one of the 33%. Oh well.
I thought this was a great review. All the reviews about this movie have been pretty much the same. This was the only one that really made me consider that it could really make me sick. All the others made me think the warning was for the 1% of the population that are hypocondriachs. Thanks for the warning and now I want to see it even more.
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