For those hording toilet paper

I am currently revisiting some movies, and one of those on the list is Cloverfield (2008), a found footage, disaster, and monster movie all rolled into one. I'm not much of a fan, quite honestly, but I did recognize a few moments that were rather impactful on some level. How could I not *react* to the head of the Statue of Liberty (although there's a ridiculous use of it in Sharknado 2 that might have it beat) coming to rest in a Manhattan street near where the lead lives or when Hud, the camera's operator (and lead's best friend, quite the joker) eventually catches the monster so up close he's right underneath it. Or the way Manhattan echoes 9/11 with the dust and destruction in wake of the monster's first strike with an air attack (and soldiers on the ground) doing battle with it (and its offspring which fall to the streets and run free to bite and harm human citizens). I'm of the critical side regarding the camera's volatility. I get it, though. I do. You want to try and mimic the electricity and utter panic of that moment. You want to capture all that terror and unpredictable behavior during a moment when life as is known is hurled into chaos. So the camera should kind of reflect that while also mirroring the feelings of the person holding it. Keeping the camera still isn't as important as just pointing at what is happening when able. When you are running and dodging debris, gunfire, monsters, and other humans scattering about, getting the perfect shot in a slow fluid motion isn't exactly on the agenda.

But as entertainment, if I want to truly get an eyeful of all that is transpiring in a way that truly knocks my socks off, I have to see something significant. We get that occasionally, but overall, I'm seeing what is in front of the camera moving all around and never still enough to just soak up the tragedy or grasp how bad it all truly is. That might be considered a necessary evil for found footage, and perhaps the true devotees to the genre advocate for the authenticity of capturing such an event in a realistic way. However, the idea that Hud would be shooting much after leaving the apartment complex is doubtful and rather unrealistic. Even trade?

Losing your brother, surviving an attack by a crawling ugly thanks to a girl you wish was interested in you only for a bite that results causing her to die, having to rescue your beloved who is trapped in rubble inside an apartment located in a building that is lying against another building right next to it, and being carried off your feet and thrown to the ground by the key film's monster after the helicopter your in is crashed by said monster all reek of pure in-the-moment tragedy and horror. There's no denying the power of loss and the unknown. But the feeling of nausea and anxiety as a result of watching the dizzying camera that records it all can be a bit of a chore in the experience as a viewer.