Cloverfield: Shaky disaster of a disaster, or Godzilla-sized important?

Cloverfield is tanking.  With the excellent trailer and all the hype, it looked to be a boffo blockbuster.  The first weekend pulled in huge numbers. Most critical reaction was positive.  However, negative word of mouth from all who left the theater at the end (or before the end in order to puke from motion sickness) has brought its second weekend's take plummeting down into single digits.

Despite the poor reaction, one person who liked it is author Jonah Goldberg.  His article on the meaning of Godzilla movies is worth checking out.