SnobbyDude

I believe the hype of this movie is being driven by some of the LOST mania. In an interview with JJ Abrams, before the premiere of the movie, he said there are a few LOST connections in there. That's all you really need to do to make anything a success - just say there is a lost connection. You don't even need to have a good product.

"Eyes Wide Shut" was a movie produced by the late, great Stanley Kubrick. Like Abrams, he had a cult following and everyone went to see his movies based on the reputation he had in Hollywood of being a genius. Stanley Kubrick's last movie was terrible and if it was put out there by anyone else it would have been a huge flop. Because of the Kubrick name and the hype associated with it, EWS was much more of a success than it should have been.

Similarly, Cloverfield isn't a good movie. There is really no plot, no character development, no ground breaking cinematography, no fine acting moments. The special effects were decent, but not really any better or worse than any other Hollywood flick out there. It's the first movie I've ever reviewed where I don't have to worry about spoilers because there is no plot to spoil. Everyone knows it's a film where you see a monster destroying a city and not much else.

Another thing that adds to the frustration of watching Cloverfield is that the camera is so shaky it will make you physically ill. Everyone I was with got sick in the theater. I can recall at least three times where the motion sickness got so intense I had to close my eyes until the nausea passed. Then I would open my eyes and the nausea would set in again and I'd have to close my eyes again. Even though my eyes were closed for what seemed like a large portion of the movie, it didn't really make any difference because nothing happened to advance the plot because there wasn't one.

If you really need a lost fix this badly, just spend the night re-watching a season of lost. You'll find some hints and clues you haven't seen before and you won't make yourself physically ill from motion sickness in the process.

The Discovery Channel now has Tog Gear on. When I first found out, I was very excited, until I actually saw an episode. Instead of what they get in the UK, we get identical footage of the tests, but they decided to re-shoot the commentary in the studio for an American audience. I am very upset over this and feel like the USA is getting short-changed. There is no way the presenters can work up the same amount of enthusiasm (to their credit, they try pretty hard) after watching recycled video footage that they already presented to a UK live audience once before.

On the plus side, they do help us out with sub-titles that convert GBP to USD, but I don't see why this couldn't have been done without re-shooting the entire show. I'm glad it is on and this is better than nothing, but why the brass behind getting us this show thought it necessary to reenact live segments is beyond me