Lots of things to talk about today, so let’s jump right into it.

First, Cloverfield. I resisted posting too many of my opinions on Monday because I wanted to entice you to listen to our weekly broadcast of The Triple Feature over at TalkShoe.com. We had lots to say about Cloverfield in a spoiler-heavy episode. Basically, the group opinion is that we loved it. Sure there were some implausibilities with the character motivation and the shaky cam could be a little much at times. But all-in-all, its an excellent monster movie. One that doesn’t make you feel stupid for liking monster movies.

I have talked to a few people, however, that hated the film. Most people generally cite the handheld approach as a deal-killer. But if you didn’t know that going in, you have no one to blame but yourself. Last Friday, the couple sitting next to me couldn’t stomach it, I guess. The left with about 20 minutes to go. Who does that? If you’re going to leave, don’t you think you would have left earlier?

Apologies to those of you who are trying to download Monday’s show. I guess TalkShoe was trying out some new technology that screwed up all Monday broadcasts. So the show hasn’t been sent out through RSS or is available on the site just yet. If you weren’t able to join us live, keep checking. I’m sure the show will be posted soon – and it was a good one. You don’t want to miss it!

Today’s comic is about Untraceable, The Silence of the Lambs knock-off with Hollywood’s go-to cougar Diane Lane in the Clarice Starling role. Part of me is interested in the concept of a serial killer who uses technology to stay one step ahead of the law. The idea of a web site people can log on to and watch a man die is kind of timely in its observation of our appetite and curiosity for violence-soaked entertainment.

But at the end of the day, you know this one is going to be a dud. Hollywood has yet to produce a thriller about the internet that I’ve been impressed with. The Net, Hackers, uh… Okay, I couldn’t really think of any others. But that’s my point! Hollywood never gets technology right when it comes to the internet. They always have to spice it up and make computer interfaces more complicated and fancy than they actually are. It always takes me right out of the movie. It’s not Star Trek, okay? Government agencies aren’t whipping around graphic-heavy interfaces with deliberately animated cursors with infinite-zoom capabilities.

I mean, not yet. Or… whatever.

Certainly something that speaks to the theme of Untraceable and our attraction to the macabre is the recent death of Heath Ledger. If you haven’t heard about this by now, you must be living under some rock. Someone e-mailed me with the new late yesterday afternoon and I thought they were lying. Brad Renfro died a week ago. While no less tragic and untimely, it was at least conceivable because of his history of drug abuse. But Heath Ledger? The guy seemed to have everything going for him. Critical acclaim, strong performances, a star-making turn as The Joker in the upcoming Batman movie. Ledger was the kind of actor that could have worked for the rest of his life. He always brought a dignity to his roles that made you admire him. He was a great talent and this is a great waste.

It’s too soon to speculate what happened, but I can only hope it was an accident. I don’t know if I can wrap my mind around it otherwise. My heart goes out to his friends and family.

I have to close for now, but I’ll be back later with another post concerning the recent Oscar nominations. There’s a lot there that I want to go into and I’ve probably worn out my welcome with this post.

So let’s all talk a breather and I encourage you to come back later in the day for my take on the nominations, the snubs and even The Razzies! Lots of award talk to go around!

See you soon!