Better news: Lakers up 3-0! Woohoo!
Dark Sector: Gears of War ripoff. Guns and a glaive (think Krull). But I thought it was still fun. Definitely a rental, can't see myself ever playing it again.
Cloverfield: Didn't see it at the theaters, and glad I didn't. I was getting a little woozy with the whole shaky cam first person perspective thing.
Some thoughts:
JJ Abrams said he wanted to create a monster movie for the US that would complement the Godzilla flicks in Japan. It was a fun movie to watch, but the monster lacks the kind of charisma that Godzilla has. Gojira is a giant green dino with several of those car air-freshener trees growing out of his back, that glowed when he wanted to fry Tokyo into crispies. Clover is a anorexic four-armed, pale-white monstrosity that lumbers through NY dropping dog-sized little "parasites" that hunt humans. And then I find out through the DVD's extras that Clover is actually supposed to be a baby that was just born, and is looking for it's mommy, while crying out in pain as the US army bombard it with all manners of artillery! Tragic.
Aside from the obvious comparisons with each monsters physical appearance, I think Abrams wanted to mimic the cultural representation of the monster's role in the film. Much like Godzilla is said to be a metaphor for Japan's darkest moment, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, one could argue Clover is supposed to be our (or more precisely Abrams) metaphor for our own fears and anxieties of Americans impact on the environment. I also think it could be about American's own view of ourselves, anthropomorphizing us as a young baby-like country, outgrowing it's comfort zone and crying out for mommy, while acting out of instinct rather than maturity.
Or it could be about a big-ass monster thrashing around New York cuz it's fun to watch.
Whatevs.
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