CLOVERFIELD!

Last night I had one of the best cinematic experiences of my life! And this means a lot coming from me, since nowadays I am rarely impressed. Last year, I thought only "300", "Transformers", "Stardust" and "Beowulf" stood out of many pieces of shhhhh... So, this year I was looking forward to see "Cloverfield", a movie which had a brillant marketing strategy and a superb teaser trailer:

Watching some people having a party, through the point of view of a guy with a normal camera, you don't have any idea what's coming next. A loud explosion can be heard, there is panic, some explosions in the distance and then, boom! the head of the frikkin' Statue of Liberty comes crashing down the street! What or who did this? You never see it. You don't even see the title of the movie, because it is supposed to be an "archival video". What does this mean? Let's take things from the beginning...



First of all, let me tell you. YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE to watch this movie on a movie theatre! And the less you know about the plot, the better it will be. I envy my brother, cause he followed me to the movie, without knowing the plot, without even having seen a single picture. Not that I was prepared for what came next... "Cloverfield" is about a bunch of people trying to rescue their friends and themselves, while a gigantic monster attacks Manhattan. Yes, a giant freaking monster! I know it sounds crap, but trust me on this...

"Cloverfield" is da shit! Never before has there been such effective use of camera and sound. The camera is supposed to be an authentic "documentary" of one of the main characters, called appropriately Hud. We see what his camera sees. And it feels original. There are a bunch of whinos who complain that his shaky camera movements made them sick while they were watching the movie and they had to leave the theatre. I can understand that, but plllleeeeaase! If you go to watch the movie with the prejudice that you WILL get dizzy when the camera moves around fast, then it is natural that this is exactly what will happen. You have to let yourself go with it and after 10 minutes you will get used to it and be amazed on how effective this is. The level of authenticity and the clever direction make it a visually unique film, even more than "The Blair Witch Project" who used the same technique, but not this good!
And the sound, omg, the sound! Never before has there been a better reason for a DTS, THX, etc system to be put in movie theatres/home cinemas: The movie opens with 3 deep thuds, which was so loud, I felt pity for the audio boxes. Every explosion made my entrails rellocate. Every monster roar made me shiver. Every gunshot felt as if it was shot behind my seat. Talk about getting into the movie...

"Cloverfield" is amazing! You will feel like experiencing something, being part of the protagonists' struggle. You will melt on your seat, trying to take cover from the monster and find your stomach being tied to a small knot. Beware of scare moments, cool twists and all kinds of shit.

"Cloverfield" rocks! The monster is original, scary and intimidating. Even when it does not appear on screen, you feel its presence. The coolest factor is that, no matter what they hit it with, it doesn't stop! It doesn't take any damage! And it's HUGE! Bigger than a scyscrapper, it destroys buildings like sand castles. And the fact that you only get a good glimpse at it near the end works fantastic: You'll find yourself begging for Hud to turn the camera a bit more, so you can see it.

"Cloverfield" is great! It has good, young actors, ideally cast. Cool boys and hot girls. What more do you need? Odette Yustman may have an odd (ha!) name, but she looks smokingly hot, like a sister of Megan Fox. You can tottaly understand why Rob, the main character, goes to find her, while, hello, there is a huge, crazed monster laying down the whole city. There is more horror to it, than in any "Saw", "Hostel" or any other slasher movie.

"Cloverfield" is spectacular! But you don't have to read my blog to know it. Just GO AND SEE IT! If you like to see something different, if you like fantasy or monster movies, if you like spectacles, then "Cloverfield" is the movie for you.

Catching Up (I Am Legend, Football, etc)

Wow, it's been nearly a month since I wrote my last blog. The truth is, my enthusiasm weared off, plus I was very tired from work. I kept downloading stuff and browsing the web, than sit down for a half an hour and write my everyday adventures.

What should I write? About crazed customers, who tend to become a habituous reality? About women? About the death of Arch-bishop Chrsitodoulos and his successor, Ieronymous? About how different and scary it feels to watch a movie like "I Am Legend"? I will be innovative and write again about football.

No, this time I did not join my friend Mitsos to another great performance of Iraklis FC. Neither did we attend a match between Kalamaria VS Olympiakos - those tend to happen more than once after all. Instead, I accepted my boss'es offer of joining him to a local derby, the Northern "el classico" between PAOK VS Aris. Now, tell me: How many of you go to the stadium with your boss? And not only your boss, but his brother-in-law, his best man, his cousin, his neighbour and of course, a woman, the girl I am working with.

Let's not forget that I am a supporter of Olympiakos. Georgia, my colleague, is a supporter of Aris. Both teams are lethal enemies of PAOK. Olympiakos steals the championships that PAOK should win EVERY DAMN YEAR! Aris just sucks. Also, let me remind you that I once was beaten by PAOK supporters, for no apparent reason...
This time was different. It was a shame to be living in Thessaloniki and never go to see a local derby. In fact, I've never seen a derby before. And since my boss was so excited to invite me, I said "why the heck not!".

The ticket cost 30€. A reasonable price for such a game, unlike Iraklis, who mistakes Tripoli for FC Parma, Atromitos for Boca Juniors and Panathinaikos for, well, Panathinaikos and charges every ticked for ridiculous prices. The seats were near the Gate 4, which is where the hardcore supporters of PAOK assemble and do stuff like smoking joints, taking drugs and reaping women during the game. Still, I didn't worry, although it was freakingly cold and my bones where aching due to the injuries I sustained some years ago from the very same (?) PAOK supporters. But this time I was well prepared: As all of you know, PAOK colors are black and white. So I wore a black blouse with white stripes, a black & white scarf, black jacket, black handgloves and a black knit. No way they could even think I was not one of them! I waited for half an hour, watching a welcoming graffiti...


...and then my boss and his company showed up. Quickly, we entered the tunnel of Gate 3, passed the police check, which was so thorough, I could pass an Browning M50 machinegun... mounted on a VBL reckon vehicle, but anyway...
Remeber that Peter Jackson recored a stadium full of rugby supporters and used their noise to recreate the screams and battlecries of the Orcs in the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy? This thing, among others, brought him an Oscar for best Sound. Well, he could have achieved more if he had recorded the noise of Toumba, the PAOK stadium. The place was 3/5 full and the loudness was incredible! I could feel the concrete shaking under my feet. Things could only get better...

As we looked for our seats, I even saw a gigantic chicken, waiting to eat some fresh "worms" (the mocking name of Aris)


We climbed up the stairway to Toumba, since our seats where on the top row. That meant MORE cold.But all of it was forgotten, as soon as both teams came out on the field. The things the fans said and done...incredible. It was fantastic! And of course nothing of the sort happened, concerning what I wrote at the beginning. They were supporting their team, cursing a bit the opposition, put some flames, but they were behaving well.



And the game helped maintain the atmosphere: PAOK was dominating the match, while Aris did little to win it. PAOK seemed to be a team from another championship, while last week the team was suffering its fourth defeat in a row... After scoring 3 goals with relative ease in the first half, the crowd was pleased and Santos was amused.
The second half was more about the inspirations of Gate 4, since PAOK didn't score any more goals. These people were amazing, they sung stuff which balanced delicately over sexuality, vulgartiy, humour, crazyness, madness, stupidity and folklore. My boss even left 5 minutes before the end, satisfied and with a new interest for life. I stood there until the end, despite the gripping cold, pretending to be a fanatical supporter of PAOK, while my brother and his friend danced pagan danced, drunk from the nectar of success. Mind you, both are supporters of Olympiakos as well...


Overall, it was a great experience. Finally, I've got a taste of a full Toumba and the feeling of a derby. I hope I can go to watch MY team in our OWN stadium for a change one day...

Mfgmffgh iPod! blubagpf!

I was drooling over an image of an iPhone during my time as a soldier, last year’s April. This gadget seemed amazing: Internet, music, video, images, all in one, plus the ability to make phone calls, text SMS and take pictures. I wanted an iPod, but this was nothing compared to the hype of the iPhone! Months later, I am holding an iPod touch in the palm of my hand, which is not far from the image I’ve seen back then.

You have to understand that it was long ago that I did buy something that hyped and expensive, for myself. Pre-ordered in my shop, I waited for a couple of weeks before it came, wrapped in a plastic bag, like a bunch of carrots. The image of the [sarcasm] world’s most beloved artist, Macy Grey [/sarcasm] was on the small treasure box. You have to understand that the package came as I was working, so I had to suppress my enthusiasm for an hour or so. But even my boss couldn’t resist his curiosity to see it, so a glorious, ceremonial unwrapping took place: Religiously, I took the small shiny device out of the case and I looked amazed at it: Sleek, thin, light, smooth, sexy, the iPod touch is an eye-catcher, no doubt. I may have seen hundreds of iPhone and iTouch images before that moment, but once you got it in your hands, it’s something different. I pressed the “on” button and the half-bitten apple appeared on screen…

And nothing happened. The iTouch needs to be connected to a pc with iTunes first, the Apple software for music and stuff. My boss, watching me in this half-crazed condition, urged me to download iTunes on the shop’s laptop, but my colleague insisted that this could be an even more worse idea, since I would completely forget the fact that I was working… for at least 6 more hours. My boss said that this was for my own good, since it could be stolen, if someone saw it lying there, next to the laptop. I calmly replied that I will instantly eradicate anyone who even looks at it funny within a 10 meter radius…

Fortunately, customers magically stopped entering the shop for a while and the installation took place. I cannot put into written form the feeling when I saw the user interface of the iTouch assembling itself. The problem was, that, despite it’s beauty, the iTouch needs “feeding”, and that means putting as much multimedia in it as you can! Jennifer Lopez had the honour of being the first artist to appear on the device’s screen, although I wanted Mika’s wonderful album “Life in Cartoon Motion”, a symbolic gesture, since I was listening to “Relax, Take It Easy” the first time I saw the iPhone. And also, I think Mika fits better to such a gadget than JLO. But I had to test CoverFlow, the little thing that lets you flip through album covers with your finger!

The same night, I put iTunes at home and I made a playlist with all the MP3’s currently found in my laptop. I also added some videos and some photos (120 or so). But the next big step was to hack it or as it commonly called, jailbreak it. It’s rather a simple procedure, that I won’t explain here. If you are a lucky iTouch or iPhone owner, just google it. The result is that now my iTouch can do much, much more. I have an NES emulator (who is a bit slow for my tastes), a SCUMMvm platform, which is great (Curse of Monkey Island! On my iTouch! Working!). Some simple games. Greek keyboard. Instant messenger for my MSN account. Custom icons and background. I can put a lot more in it, since every day more and more applications appear. And the magical iTouch searches for updates and news by it self…

The final verdict is that it’s worth it. 330€ may seem a lot for a media player, but it does come in handy. I have to ride the bus 4 times a day and the distance is covered in 30-40 minutes every time. Imagine to have to go the same road again and again, listening to nothing else than complains and misery from the other passengers. Now I just put my earphones, and I can listen to Nelly Furtado or the Beowulf soundtrack or Stamatis Gonidis, or even watch a movie trailer. It’s not alienating either – I don’t use it all the time, only when I am alone or I have to cover long distances. Some days ago I decided to clean up my flat, so I put on some music and I did the cleaning up, but with more tempo ;-)

Now go buy one for yourself and help Apple conquer the modern world!