Cloverfield

Went to see Cloverfield tonight, but first I'd like to mention the adverts. If you're a regular cinema goer, like myself, then you'll no doubt have see the Orange Film Board adverts featuring American actor Brennan Brown as Mr Dresden, head of the Orange Film Funding Board, and British actor Steve Furst as Elliot, his faithful assistant. The latest in the long-running Orange cinema campaign, created by the agency Mother London, I've posted below. This has been an excellent series of adverts for Orange, and has never failed to make me laugh.

Anyway, back to the much hyped Cloverfield. I thoroughly enjoyed it, which surprised me a bit given that I thought that The Blair Witch Project, which is filmed in the same 'voyeuristic' style with only a single hand-held camera, was utterly shite. It gave Cloverfied an intensity and pace that I think would have been lacking if it had been filmed conventionally, and helps to turn what is essentially a fairly straightforward 'Godzilla-attacks-New York' disaster movie into something a wee bit special. Monster movies are generally very predictable, "don't go down the dark corridor" and "it's behind you!" sort of stuff, but the extremely amateurish camera work ensures that even these old move clichés still have life left in them. Well worth a watch.

9/10