So when I saw Cloverfield at a preview screening in Chicago, the people behind us stood up the second it was over and started loudly bitching about how much they TOTALLY HATED IT OMG.

When thefirethorn saw it in Oklahoma, she said the "young of brain" started protesting about how terrible it was the second it ended.

When loopygirl saw it in Vegas, immediately after it ended, "one guy stood up and went, in proper gangsta-tone, 'That was some BULLSHIT!' and the crowd cheered for him."

This morning on our weekly conference call, our Minneapolis editor said that when he saw it over the weekend, a guy right behind him got up as soon as it was over and loudly announced "THAT MOVIE WAS MADE BY RETARDED KIDS."

This trend amuses me. For the record, I loved it while I was watching it. It completely hooked me in. It felt terribly immediate and authentic. I'd hate to see all films made this way, but as a novelty, I thought it was really impressive, and so visceral that when I walked out afterward, I couldn't look at the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago without shuddering and wanting to move away from them, just in case they started coming down on me. It seemed impossible that it was so peaceful outside and that the world wasn't coming apart.

But at any rate. I can only remember one other movie I've ever been to where people stood up and protested loudly afterward, and that was The Wicker Man, and man, did it ever deserve it.

But anyway. If you saw Cloverfield over the weekend, and haven't posted about it, I'm curious what you thought — and whether anyone in your audience got up afterward to register their protests with the general public. Because apparently that's what you're supposed to do.

I'm-a feelin': pleased