THE FIRST RENTAL

The world's most secretive movie (if you don't watch the DVD extras)

Cloverfield revolves around how a set of a few people react to a giant monster destroying their home city, New York.
The thing that sets the movie apart is how it's filmed. The whole movie is a tape owned by the US government that they found under the rubble of the aftermath of New York. The movie begins with a card showing that this is property of the US Government before showing a guy named Rob walking around a girl named Beth's apartment. They just had a one night stand and they decide to go to Coney Island. The movie then hard cuts to months later when some lady passes the camera onto Rob's brother Jason with the task of filming little goodbye messages to Rob as he's going to Tokyo the day afterwards for a new job. Jason then passes on the job to Hud which completely doesn't take the job seriously and just starts randomly filming exciting parts of the night till randomly BAM!
Something that seems like an earthquake happens. We then learn it's a monster attack and we spend the rest of the movie watching Hud document them trying to save their friend Beth while trying not to die from the gigantic fish-like monster attacking the streets. But they all die in the end so don't get too attached.
The novel way of filming allows for a very creative movie and also what's probably the scariest kaiju movie as the suspense and outright horror of this scenario are amplified as you learn about the monster (and the parasites that come off it) at the same time as the characters. The whole movie just gives off this strange sinking feeling I can't put words on. It's amplified how after the last scene where the tape cuts back to Rob and Beth's nice day at Coney Island the movie just ends. Like duh, of course the movie would end but you just get this weird kind of black static as the names of the directors and actors pop in. Eventually this quiet tune starts picking up and before you know it there's a whole orchestral suite accompanying the credits of whatever it is you just watched. I mean really, the whole movie just feels so mysterious even including the buildup to it, they really wanted to keep this one secret. Even though the whole ARG has been revealed and explained and by looking at the DVD bonus features you literally see EXACTLY how the movie was shot, the movie still gives off this mysterious feel. It's really crazy. I honestly find it a great movie just because of the aura around it and how it still feels like it's very own vibe.

8 OUT OF 10 STARS!

How the renting went

So I was at JewBoy Burgers (great place with 6 parking spots) when I thought to go to We Luv Video. After some convincing we drived like a kilometer and spent 15 minutes finding a parking spot on the very small strip mall road that the building is on. We had to walk for 5 minutes to get to the store so we got to look at the wackadoo houses next to the joint. I mean really, who wants to live there? The houses are one story and a million dollars! Not a fair trade. The outside of the store is really cool, with a whole mural next to it. The whole place feels lived in with graffiti on the steps, a decorated outside and a beautiful inside. It's fantastic seeing all these random movies and shows I've never heard of all in one roof. It's pretty daunting to sort through but so is streaming.
At first I wanted Legally Blonde but I couldn't find it so I eventually picked 2012 instead while my mom was getting her card. Eventually I thought back to a video I recently watched about Cloverfield so I decided to watch that instead. It was so exhilirating to have to wait to watch it, the anticipation was so high, it really made me remember the movie more.
Anyway, great first impression.