Cloverfield

Hello all, Dan here with a guest Review.

Cloverfield , directed by Matt Reeves, was shot on a low budget with unknown actors. It uses hand-held camcorder style of film-making, originally used in the Blair Witch Project. You are treated to a first-person perspective and running commentary of the camera holder, Hud (T.J. Miller). The events surround a typical evening that goes awry when “something” attacks Manhattan. The characters are a little dumb, but I found it easy to look past their stupidity for the sake of story-telling. The overall affect is a very gritty, very realistic monster movie. If you watched The Blair Witch Project without getting a headache; if enjoy movies with monsters and explosions, you’ll probably like this movie. It’s watchable, interesting, and doesn’t have the clumsy exposition and setup that most monster movies seem to need these days. The movie has been boiled down to its essentials: running, trying to stay alive, doing dumb things that put you in more danger, and trying to stay alive after that.

On the other hand some reviewers have turned their noses up at the film, saying that a disaster movie of this nature set in New York is too close to 9/11 to be in good taste. I would be inclined to disagree, if it were not for a single scene in the movie. Early after things have started to go wrong, our main characters are on the street watching devastation in the distance, there is an explosion, and a white dust cloud moves down the street forcing our main characters inside. Afterwards, people are covered in this white dust and struggling to move away from the destruction. To me this image recalls the white dust cloud that covered much of downtown Manhattan immediately following the collapse of the World Trade Center. It is not too soon to see a explosion or two in downtown Manhattan because explosions are generic and used in every movie. It is too soon, though, to recall intimate images such as that in the format of thrill-seeking entertainment.

Posted by: SaltyMule | 02-12-2008 | 08:02 PM
Posted in: Movie | Comments (0)

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants was a book club selection which I was reluctant to read, mainly due to the hype surrounding it. I must admit, however, that I was totally wrong. It was thrilling to read. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down.

Water for Elephants follows the story of Jacob Jankowski, a veterinary student about to graduate from Cornell in 1931. Following a family tragedy, he leaves Cornell without writing his final exams. He jumps on a train in the dark, not knowing it a circus train. It carries the “Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.” There are no more Benzini Brothers, and the circus is managed by a greedy, manipulative character named Uncle Al, who is also the Ringmaster. He has the assistance of various thugs, as well as a mentally ill animal trainer named August. Al’s motivation is for the Benzini Brothers Circus to be as well-known and profitable as Ringling Brothers, which of course will never happen.

The story is told by Jacob, now a man of 90 or 93 (he’s not quite sure what year it is). He is a resident of a nursing home. His reminisces of the summer of 1931 begin as a circus sets up within view of the nursing home.

Sara Gruen has certainly done a tremendous amount of research for this book. There are many, many details about circus life as well as about life in the United States during the days of The Depression and Prohibition. With her detailed descriptions of events, people, and animals, Gruen brings the to life the world of the Benzini Brothers Circus. You can almost smell, hear and see all the action.

If I were a reviewer who gave out stars, this book would get 5!

In USA:

Published in hardcover - Algonquin Books 2006
Softcover edition-Algonquin Books 2007

Water for Elephants: A Novel

Posted by: admin | 02-12-2008 | 07:02 PM
Posted in: Fiction | Comments (0)