"Cloverfield" Rocks!

Lori and I went to see "Cloverfield" today - the movie with the cryptic ad campaign about something attacking New York City and ripping the head off the Statue of Liberty. First I must comment on how great an image that is - a spin on the classic last scene from the original "Planet of The Apes", with the arm and torch of the statue sticking out from the ground. The "Cloverfield" poster is a shot of a headless Statue of Liberty standing before a smoldering Manhattan. As we were walking into the movie, I wondered out loud what the title might end up meaning - you'll learn in the first seconds of the film that 'cloverfield' is the Dept of Defense code word for the whole mess that goes down in NYC.
This movie is from some of the people behind "Lost" (my favorite TV show) so I've been waiting to see this since I first saw the trailer months ago. The previews were all camcorder footage of a party that is interrupted by some sort of attack. Well guess what - that is the whole movie. This is definitely a love-it or hate-it flick, and I am firmly in the loved-it camp. It is "Godzilla" meets "Blair Witch Project" with a heavy dose of 9/11 imagery sprinkled in. Actually, this is how I hoped the Godzilla remake a few years ago went - traditional story told from new angle/style. The whole movie is 'found footage' like Blair Witch was. You don't know any more than the characters making the video know. And just like when I first saw Blair Witch nine years ago (wow, its been that long?), when this movie ended, half the audience walked out complaining about it. Lori and I loved the whole ride. There are disturbing images, many scares, suspense and a nice ambiguous ending - many people hates those, but I like knowing the story continues beyond what I see on the screen. This is really just an old fashioned 1950's monster movie (a la Creature Double Feature for those who grew up in the Boston area) where a creature shows up and starts reeking havoc. One bit of advice, if handheld camera work bothers you - stay away. This is one shaky, hard-to-follow ride - but for me, that was half the fun. Trying to decide just exactly what you're seeing really pulled me into the movie. But have no fear, before it's over you will see the monster... up close and personal.