Four leaf

This afternoon, I headed off to Uxbridge with my old mate Paul, to see a little film called Cloverfield.

I was a little wary of the film because it's filmed in glorious camcorder-o-vision and, like the Blair Witch Project, in 'mockumentary' style. Blair Witch fell flat on its face by being dull and not remotely scary, and I feared more of the same from Cloverfield. The only ray of hope was the name J.J. Abrams in the credits.

To be honest, it wasn't easy viewing. That style of film is hard to pull off because it's so far off the norm. If you don't connect with the characters you're seeing through the jarring, whirling camerawork, you don't care what happens to them... The fact that I did connect to some degree is part of why I found it hard to watch. Bits of the film felt uncomfortably intimate - particularly when the recording cuts between what was originally on the tape, and the events that make up the bulk of the movie. The contrast was jarring and left me not knowing what to think.

It wasn't easy viewing for Paul either. He had an attack of motion sickness about half to two thirds of the way in, so we had to leave. He kept saying I should go back in, but he was looking far too unwell and had fallen over on his way out of the theatre.

I'll see the film another time, I'm sure. What I saw of it was well done, and just interesting enough to make me want to confirm my suspicion of how it will end.