Blair Godzilla Project

"Cloverfield" took in more than $40 million this weekend. Wow.

I took the kids on Friday and I have to agree with Brandon's assessment. Interesting concept, nice stylistic flair. Bad movie.

The problem is in trying to do what "Blair Witch" did. Narratives with handheld cameras are almost necessarily limited. ("Sex, Lies and Videotape" used footage well, but that was only part of the narrative.)

The camera's narrow point of view helps some parts of the giant monster movie as it helped "Blair Witch." It creates tension about the things outside of your frame.

The weakness comes in with your ending ... which is almost sure to disappoint.

"We didn't learn a single thing about the monster that we didn't know from the trailer," my son Eli said.

That's pretty much what Brandon had said.

ON A SIDE NOTE:

We had an interesting discussion in the newsroom about whether giant creatures are as interesting as smaller ones.

I don't think they are. Think about how much scarier the veloceraptors were than the T-Rex in "Jurassic Park." We relate to things more that are our size. And when things get too big, like, say, Godzilla, they're too big to care about us as individuals. They're mayhem, then, comes from clumsiness or angry fits... which aren't really scary.

ALSO SAW THIS WEEKEND: Bucket List
It had an important message: If you're dying, you want to make sure you bunk up with a rich guy with access to a private jet. The movie was actually fine, a nice choice for the whole family.

But my favorite film this year: "Juno"
what a delight that film is.