[Chernabog]

Wow, everyone in the theatre I was in seemed to love the film (except for the two senior citizens who left halfway). But I saw it at the arclight, where audiences are a LOT more sophisticated.

Honestly my expectation is that audiences these days would be smart enough to deal with ambiguity in film, but obviously people are too stupid to think for themselves or have fun with the film. They need it spelled out for them. They need the man in the white lab coat saying "oh yes, and the satellite fell from the sky, it was shot down by the Russians, and it awoke a being from beneath the sea. It grew and grew. Now let's discuss the monster's motivations. Now let's diagram the monster. Here's a 3-D model of the monster, that you can look at in excruciating detail to see exactly what it looked like. Now we're going to explain what happened to New York City afterwards. Now we're going to interview the surviving members of the group you just saw, blah blah blah." It would kill the intensity of THIS film.

Well, maybe some of that would be appropriate for a sequel, but I thought the film was brilliant in exploring a "what would really happen in the first 7 hours if you were right there" sequence. If the filmmakers spell it out in a sequel, them maybe the filmgoing public will like the first one more because they don't need to think for themselves.

It's one thing not to like the movie on its own terms, but to not like it because it didn't spell everything out is dumb.

And if they don't make a sequel, then Cloverfield will be relegated to "cult favorite" status, I suppose.

Just like what happened to Donnie Darko. Ever see that film? The original cut was brilliant, made you go rewatch to figure out what was going on, etc. etc. Then the director (proving that the original cut was a fluke) decided to make a director's cut which spelled out exactly what was happening. One of the worst films I'd ever seen, completely destroying any sense of fun, wonder and ambiguity. Yet I read reviews that think the directors cut was great because they "finally understand what was happening". F**k them.