In the field of clover

This post, despite the pilfered lyric of a title, is not about "Joker & The Thief" by Wolfmother. I sort of wish it were, though. That song rocks.

Today I saw Cloverfield. I have some brief thoughts on the movie, but they involve certain plot elements that you may not want to read about before you've seen it for yourself. So I've set my thoughts in black below. If you want to read them, just highlight the text, starting here: This was a bleak film. As promised in the trailer, the Statue of Liberty is spectacularly beheaded, and lots of very big things fall or explode, like helicopters, buildings, and a monster. Sounds like a standard action thriller, right? Wrong -- this film was depressing as all get-up. After it was over, I left the theater and walked around lower Manhattan, reliving images from the film in my head, not because I wanted to but because it was unavoidable. I know the film wasn't real, but for almost ninety minutes, I had subjected myself to the inner reality of the film. There was something horrible about watching New York City get trashed -- it was like watching my hometown get trashed. At least in I Am Legend, we don't see the city deteriorate -- we merely see the aftermath. In Cloverfield, there is no aftermath.