Overheard

Ken — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:04:16 +0000

Overheard (by Amy) in the women's restroom after seeing The Day the Earth Stood Still at the IMAX theater: "That was just too far-fetched to be believable."

Oh really? You mean, you didn't believe that the earth was invaded and nearly destroyed by super-powerful aliens, or you didn't believe that Keanu Reeves was really an actor? ("Whoa.")

My criticism of this movie wasn't its lack of believability. My criticism is that it feels like the movie just ended when the producers ran out of money. (I kinda had the same feeling about The War of the Worlds.) The ending was unsatisfying and devoid of tension, and the intended environmentalist message was drowned out by special-effects self-indulgence.

And speaking of invasion-disaster movies, we recently watched Cloverfield on DVD. My feeling is that it could have been a far better movie if not for the handheld-camera gimmick. Half the time I was questioning, "why would someone film this part?" And of course the answer was, "A character in a story wouldn't film this, but a film producer would," and that ruined the suspension of disbelief for me.

Ratings:
The Day the Earth Stood Still: 2.0 / 5.0
Cloverfield: 2.5 / 5.0