“Was there something wrong with your service? Cause you kind of stiffed us on the tip.” 

Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia with a two game lead in a best of seven series. A semi-filled bar on the northside of Chicago that markets itself as a “Sports Lounge” has both rooms covered in large flat screen televisions showing the game. As I walk in late due to rush hour traffic, but excited none-the-less, to meet a few people, they’ve already ordered the bucket special of beers. It’s 1-0 in favor of the Flyers and the first period is about to end. The Hawks are losing, the beers are running low and the appetites are growing.

“Hey buddy!” … nothing as I try to get the bar keep’s attention.

“Yoohoo hello!” … still nothing.

I let out a whistle … he walks right by us again.

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Just a quick one right now. Tonight I went and watched Oliver Stone’s new film W. about President George W. Bush. I was really excited about this because I thought that the preview made this film look like it was going to be a home run. This film looked liked it was going to get in deep and be captivating and really engage the audience and have you wanting more…not four more years, but more of the film.

When the film ended, I wanted more. I wanted more substance. I wanted more a story. I wanted the movie to be more better than the 2 hour or so movie I just sat through. Really disappointing. I felt like Stone just whipped through different segments of Bush’s life without really getting too detailed or specific about anything. It was like a 2 hour long cliff notes film about George W. Bush’s life. One of the most memorable and important figures in our lives and this film was garbage. 

I couldn’t figure out what Stone was doing here. I didn’t read any of the reviews. All I saw was the preview a few weeks ago, a movie poster and I was sold on seeing this. Trust me here, if you’re still thinking about going to see this film, save your money, save your time, don’t even rent it. Just go see a different movie. Maybe Body of Lies with Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Ridley Scott. That’s my next go to see film. 

the oscars have been going downhill now for quite some time. and the people are showing their displeasure.

is it cause of the terrible movies that come out each year and the lack of competitiveness? possibly, but that’s not the only reason. is it cause people just don’t care anymore what wins an award and what doesn’t? possibly, but that’s not the only reason. is it cause the committee seems to be giving out oscars to those that were deserving of it years ago and now they’re playing catch-up? yeah, that’s probably it.

i started noticing it when they gave the best actor/actress to black’s for the first time. i mean honestly, were there no deserving black men or woman up until a couple of years ago? then again with marty. poor marty. martin scorsese, without a doubt one of the greatest directors of all time; without a doubt has directed some of the greatest films we’ve ever watched, such as Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, The Aviator and he wins it for The Departed. Trust me, that was playing catch-up. And now the Cohen brothers finally win their best director award, for No Country for Old Men, and again it’s all catch-up.

Now that we’re all educated viewers of the Oscar’s, is there really any reason to look forward to next year’s “time to catch-up and pay tribute to…” Oscars? Probably not. And I don’t blame you.

Yes, the Oscar’s are fun to watch and you try to predict who will win and what not, but let me just say this. Watching a film that hasn’t been hyped up to hell, that doesn’t have the biggest name actor, that has a director that has an appreciation for the past but wants to create something new, is much more satisfying to discuss than the winner for Best Picture. Think about it. 

Here’s my thing with cloverfield, it was damn intriguing to see how young successful people do their thing the most happening of towns, New York City. And then see how they react as they all face a monster that will undoubtedly kill them.

Much like you and I, they listen to lots of Kings of Leon, the Gorillaz, and they enjoy drinking, dancing and relationships. The point I’m trying to make is that the subjects of this film, the characters, seem like they could be you or me. They’re people you can relate to, or people you want to be able to relate to and for this type of film, that’s really important. Even more important is the casting of these characters. It’s not Toby McGwire or Colin Farrell or any other young hip actor of our time that you could easily see fill the rolls of these characters. Instead they use people that I don’t even care to look up the names of.

For the first twenty minutes you kind of get the feel for the film. A really shaky camera, and testimonials that are equivalent to documentary style film making…in a sense. If you’re having trouble picturing what this is like, think back to Blair Witch Project. Essentially, Cloverfield is much like Blair With Project, only the setting is Manhattan and not some forest. Oh and at the end of the film, you get to see the monster that is causing all this havoc.

Did I just ruin something for you by telling you that you get to see the monster at the end of the film? Well don’t worry I won’t be focusing on any other portions of the plot, as I feel it was not a great story.

Instead I want to focus on the technicals of the film. Now don’t worry, I’m not going to be going into the types of cameras or sound recording…I merely want to discuss what I found to be the most interesting and most relevant part of this piece.

In this blog filled, facebook & YouTube world we live in where we document everything, the choice to show the film through the footage which was shot by the characters was fantastic. Throughout the entire film you are witnessing only what the characters witnessed through the lens of their camcorder. This style of filmmaking isn’t original, it’s been done, like I said Blair Witch and a Greek film I saw at the Chicago Film Festival a couple years ago called CCTV have used this style, but it is interesting. Because it engages the viewer and creates a new dimension to the film. And because this style hasn’t been completely drawn out and exhausted; although, I will go on the record now and say that we better get use to seeing more and more films that use this technique, maybe not for the entirety of the film but for portions of it, in the near future.

Honestly though, this film is relevant to our times. We live in this voyeuristic culture where we spend half the day looking at what other people do on facebook.  Although like many films of this genre, sci-fi, thriller, I don’t expect it to age well and in a couple years this film will only be relevant for exposing and exploiting our voyeuristic tendencies.