Cloverfield

At first glance of the films synopsis Cloverfield looks like a movie to get excited over. J.J. Abrams name attached to anything is enough to get me excited, throw in a monster movie and I was there, well almost there. It was I began to hear comparisons to the Blair Witch Project that the enthusiasm from my mind took a backseat to the uneasiness of my stomach. When I walked out of the Blair Witch back in 1999 it wasn’t from fear but from motion sickness. With that said the movie premise is interesting and this personal digital camera angle stuff works in this setting. Playing off the many famous home video footage we saw during 911 made the film feel so much more real. For example the scene were they jump for cover inside of a store before a gust of debris and smoke fill the streets reminded me exactly one particular scene repeated in the media over and over again during that time. The most exciting point for me in the film is when we see the military rushing in for the first time to confront the beast. Watching those men rush in guns drawn on that shaky camera was exciting.
My biggest complaint with the film isn’t with the annoying camera shots but more so with the annoying characters, more specifically the camera guy who would rather see himself and friends die then put down the freaking camera. He’s whiny, a jerk and dumb nothing that you want in a main character. I kept hoping for his character to die early in the film so that I wouldn’t have to hear his voice any longer.
I think this film is worth paying money to see in the theatres but overall I left the theatre disappointed from feeling like I didn’t see enough monster, sick from the camera angles and annoyed from the main characters. 4 out of 5 for me, and I should note that this is coming from a fan of monster movies.

First off I will say this in my own defense I did not pay for the movie…and still left half way in the movie it was that bad. When watching Meet the Spartans it felt to me like I was back in high school and watching the unfunny kids trying to be funny by quoting films they saw a year ago. What happened to spoof comedy? The Scary Movie franchise was still lagging behind the classic Mel Brooks and Zucker films but this new breed (Date Movie, Epic Movie & Meet the Spartans) doesn’t even seem to been written by comedy writers. They are so uncreative that they steal jokes from good spoof movies; for example the scene when Carmen Electra reveals her “Chastity Belt” a joke used almost word for word in Mel Brooks “Robin Hood Men in Tights”.
The amount of corporate name brand placements was stomach turning. At one point in the movie they actually re-do a Dentine Ice commercial TO THE T! Seriously there is no spoof…just a Dentine Ice commercial. It is so very unfunny that I almost felt bad for the actors for a moment until I realized that with the ridiculous profit made from this movie there will probably be another, and that just made me angry.
My only plea to anyone who reads my review is this: Please stop paying money to see these movies! It is the only way they will stop paying non comedy writers to write comedies.

I just saw Scary Movie 4 last night and I have to say it was hilarious provided you were willing to leave your brain at the door. Why did I go see it opening night? Because I wanted to see it before the previews on TV gave it all away! And that is the only reason someone might want to actually pay full price to see it.
A highlight to the movie were two of the best spoof actors ever! Leslie Nelson who reprised his role as the President of the United States (who was one of the funniest people in the movie) and Charlie Sheen who I love from the Hot Shot films. And I would have to say that Anna Farris has elevated herself to the same status as Sheen and Nelson. Blasphemy you say? Perhaps but I can honestly say that no woman on screen makes me laugh harder then her.
So if you want to see a ridiculously funny movie that thinking is detrimental to your viewing experience go see Scary Movie 4, it's good stuff.