CLOVERFIELD at Gold Class- GSC Signature, Gardens Mid Valley City

Went to the Gardens at Mid Valley City (again!) with Julina. Left the kids at home and headed on to Mid Valley Megamall car park and sent my car for a wash. "Your car will be ready in 3-4 hours time" said the man who took my car wash order. I said "OK!" as I certainly wasn't in a rush.

Then, we went straight to level 4 of the Gardens to the GSC Signature and had a quick glance at the list of movies currently showing. I wanted to check out the Gold Class here, so we decided on one of the movies showing on Gold Class here (Yes, there are 2 Gold Class theaters here). I can't remember why we chose this movie, though.

After a quick lunch at Flying Chillies (again!) and a quick browse inside Borders, we went to the theatre. There are some differences with the Gold Class cinemas at other GSC Cineplexes.

1. The tickets cost RM 60.00 each.

2. The ticket price includes a complimentary drink ( you have a choice of either mineral water or canned soft drinks), complimentary use of a blanket & complimentary use of a pillow.

Anyway, since we were full, we ordered light snacks - I had one order of bruschetta while Julina had the potato skins. The bruschetta and potato skins were really tasty. Both of us also bought a packet of Twisties Chipster. As we were given vouchers for free coffee, we had a coffee each. We spent a total of Rm 23.00 on the food. Like other Gold Class theatres, you order the food at the counter and you will be served inside the theatre. The seats are pretty much the same as the other Gold Class theatres as well - those fully reclining leather armchairs type of thing.

Anyways, we soon discovered that we were the ONLY ones who bought tickets for the 1.00am show. Cool, huh?

The entire movie was shot to make it look like it was an amateur camcorder recording- you know, something like The Blair Witch Project. Basically, a story of Rob Hawkins, a New Yorker living in downtown Manhattan. He is about to take a Vice Presidency job in Japan. His brother (Jason), his best friend(Hud), his brother's girlfriend (Lily) throw him a surprise party. As a parting gift, his brother was put in charge of recording a tape of "goodbye messages" using the camcorder. Jason passes this responsibility on to Hud.

During the party, Jason, Lily & Hud discovers that one of the party attendees is a girl (Beth) that Rob is in love with. Beth came to the party with another man, and soon a fight erupts between Rob & Beth. As Beth leaves the party, Rob passes a sarcastic parting remark to Beth's date.

Soon afterwards, there's a quake and the lights go off. Funny sounds were heard. The entire party goes to the rooftop and sees balls of fire flying from the sky and hitting structures. Panicking, the party-goers evacuate the building only to discover more mayhem in the streets.

Watch the movie yourself for the rest of the story, ok?

Here's what I like about the movie:

1. Cool special effects - the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty landing on the street, the collapse of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building - they all looked so real. The godzilla-like "thing" and the smaller creatures also was very well done. The wall of dust and debris from a collapsed building raging through the streets looked so real - reminded me of an amateur video footage I saw on CNN taken when the WTC towers collapsed during the 9-11 tragedy.

2. The palpable anxiety, fear and frustration of the characters from the "amateur video recording".

Here's what I DON'T like about the movie:

1. The shaky camera effect - I suppose it mimics how one would see the video taken using a handheld camera when the cameraman is running, falling, etc but when the view is shaky for more than 20 minutes at a stretch, I got dizzy and nauseous to a point that I almost vomited. At least I was fully reclined in a very comfortable seat. Anyone prone to motion sickness should take some motion sickness medication prior to watching this movie.

Thank God this movie is rather short - only 1 hour and 20 minutes!

2. Because of the filming technique, you can't really identify the cast members and the characters don't really establish themselves. But then again, it is suppose to be an "amateur video footage".

My rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Message: Good but not an excellent movie. Be prepared to get dizzy, nauseous and break out in cold sweat. Take some anti-motion sickness pills if you are prone to motion sickness.

Ciao!

Amir Fuad.

P.S.: No way I'll ever watch this movie again, even on DVD.