::A Geek in Korea::

I had called some friends to see what they were up to this weekend. They mentioned a trip to a console gaming room, and then a trip to the movie theater to see Cloverfield. I had planned on seeing that movie, so I was totally in.

The console gaming room was in Rodeo Town department store not far from where I work. Since this is my most frequented shopping place, I had actually seen the place we were headed to weeks before and had checked it out. I had passed it up because there wasn’t any kind of game I’d have been willing to play on a lunchbreak.

Our group of four had four hours to kill before the film. We got hooked up with four different screens, four different Xbox 360’s, and some copies of Call of Duty 4. I’ve never played a game on the Xbox before, I don’t play modern shooters, and I don’t really like team based death match stuff, but this game was a blast.

There are different soldiers with different attributes, weapons, and abilities, and they all change the game in subtle ways. I was a touch overwhelmed with the controls for the first hour or so, but once I adjusted to the playstyle and weapons I felt like I was having a good time. I don’t have the patience for sniping though.

The Cloverfield movie was really interesting and different. I went in completely unspoiled. I didn’t know more than what was on the poster.

The monster and the “meta-story” that was going on in the background was interesting, and I’d be willing to follow another set of survivors through whatever was happening to find out more of what was going on. The problem is that the way the story was set up, no one else DID know what was going on.

The shaky camera wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, but occasionally it stretched my belief to think someone would hold on and continue filming despite the obvious danger. There were several parts that left me scratching my head, as people walking around unarmed, expecting to be attacked when things are readily available to defend themselves with is an annoying oversight.

My feeling of the movie is that it belongs to the “Youtube” generation, and is something you experience as much as you watch. It’s fundamentally different to everything I’ve seen for a long time, the same way that “Survivor” was fundamentally different than everything else on television 7 or 8 years ago. I’m sure it’s going to inspire a lot of other movies in similar styles, which I’m not sure is going to be good for movies ultimately. There are only so many “Blair Witch Projects” I’m willing to watch. The Koreans in the theater let out a groan when the movie ended, and a lot of people complained of headaches because of the subtitles. I don’t think I could have watched this with subtitles.

I liked it a lot more than I expected I would. If I had been spoiled to the plot, or had been following the viral video stuff, I’d probably have felt disappointed. Since I didn’t have any expectations whatsoever, I was pleasantly surprised.