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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Cloverfield

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Keith, like a scientist

20:05 / 24.01.08

The backlash against the "good looking people" is really weird to me. Does it really bother everyone that much? They don't seem excessively better looking than us "normal people."

A bunch of friends throwing a going away party for someone plus some drama between friends with sexual tension doesn't automatically make this Melrose Place. It's a fairly normal set of events among a group of friends.

This would have been a shit monster movie without the setup like that for me. I enjoyed that they made it from the people's perspective instead of a wider angle focus.

I really enjoyed the movie beginning to end.

20:36 / 24.01.08

The backlash against the "good looking people" is really weird to me. Does it really bother everyone that much? They don't seem excessively better looking than us "normal people."

Did you see Beth? Holy cow, man, I mean wow.

But seriously, I'm not resentful that they're good looking, its just that it's a reminder of the artifice - as I was watching the very attractive group of people make their way through the chaos it occurred to me more than once that their faces are marketable - I think it's very likely that they were chosen for the cast because they're young and hip and sexy and appealing to watch, which equals more ticket sales. While I've been to parties or other gatherings where there's a high volume of attractive people (excepting myself, who is hideously ugly), which indicates that they do really exist, I somehow think that the film would lose the sheen of "marketable product" and be more convincing if there had been some members of the cast who were just sort of plain looking, but who gave really credible performances.

23:30 / 24.01.08

as for Central Park looking 'small,' I think that's just because the cam angles & shots made it look small. It looked real and genuine to me, and I see Central Park all the time. When you're in the middle of one of the many fields/lawns in that place, looking out from certain angles, it could look smallish (especially when your field of vision is confined by a tiny camera which is in close-up mode)

The park didn't look small, the monster looked small when it was in the park, especially when Hud was looking up at it.

While I've been to parties or other gatherings where there's a high volume of attractive people (excepting myself, who is hideously ugly),

Well, that guy that pretends to be you in pictures is a world-class hottie. Good casting!

I thought Hud looked fairly "normal" and Marlena was pretty in a non-super model sort of way. I agree with Keith, I guess I didn't read those people as being unusually attractive. I see college students every day who are at least as good-looking if not moreso. And I didn't think the actors' performances were all that bad, either.

01:10 / 25.01.08

Well, that guy that pretends to be you in pictures is a world-class hottie. Good casting!

CGI.

But thanks.

01:18 / 25.01.08

I'm the only person I know who's seen the movie who caught what was in the final shot --- the last, leftover bit from Coney Island.

Anyone else?

02:39 / 25.01.08

I certainly didn't stick around - only heard about it on a website somewhere. Didn't think it was the type of movie that would have a 'surprise thing at the end , after the credits' sort of thing. Clearly, I was wrong. Seems like it sets up for a sequel.

02:42 / 25.01.08

they end up in Coney Island???! That's quite a trek, from Central Park.

Also, my friend & I couldn't swallow that they WALK underground in the subway tunnels from Spring St. to 59th Street - it's a long walk for a REGULAR NY day. And there was really no hint of the passage of time in that scene - but I understand this is a nit-picky criticism and that obviously, they wouldn't want to waste time showing them walking and walking and walking... still, MAN, that's a long walk! About 70 city blocks.

07:01 / 25.01.08

Finder, I believe MrK is talking about the final scene just before the credits roll, when the recording goes back to the two of them sitting in the merry-go-round at Coney Island. I missed this myself, so don't take my word for it, but apparently either when the camera is out over the water or it's looking over her right shoulder, if you look closely, you can see something splash into the water.

The only thing after the credits is some scrambled audio; I couldn't make out what was being said, and I'll leave it to individuals to look it up if they want.

12:38 / 25.01.08

The audio message at the end supposedly says "It's still alive", backwards.

I didn't see the splash in the ocean at the end of the film, but my friends who saw Cloverfield with me claim they did.

15:23 / 25.01.08

the influence of a lifetime of Hollywood products infused in our front lobe also helps speaking in a forced, scripted way.

only if you're a douche.

Keith, like a scientist

15:31 / 25.01.08

Apparently the thing that falls into the ocean in that Coney Island video is a satellite that awakes the monster that's been in the ocean all this time, instead of it being the monster falling from outer space. It's all part of the viral website thing with the maker of Slusho, etc... I'm sure someone could explain it better than me.

20:34 / 25.01.08

Gee, for what I've heard (mostly from New Yorkers and Marvel Comics) Coney Island sounded like the place where monsters fell from outer space on a regular basis with very few people noticing it*

* just joking. I actually have no idea how Coney Island really is.

20:57 / 25.01.08

What I find weird now about this movie is, one week after it opened in theaters, I still can't find a realiable picture and/or production design of the monster in the internets. Every site seems to use a different fake monster pic. I might even have seen it already and not be sure about it...

21:44 / 25.01.08

I'm the only person I know who's seen the movie who caught what was in the final shot --- the last, leftover bit from Coney Island.

I didn't catch it, though I heard about it on the web. I figure it'll be something to look for on the DVD.

20:31 / 26.01.08

Something that's been bothering me since seeing the movie: when the partiers go to the roof after the first "quake/blackout," someone says something to the effect of, "Did you see it? Something's moving down there."

They scramble down to the street and, after a couple of minutes, Lady Liberty's head comes sailing in.

My question is: If it was already in Manhattan, did the monster carry the statue's head with it from the harbor, then toss it when it realized pushing buildings over was more fun? Was there another monster in the harbor playing catch with the Manhattan marauder?

15:14 / 27.01.08

Maybe it tried to swallow it, got stuck in its throat (that spiky crown of Lady L. can't be easy to digest),and then it spat it out?

22:33 / 27.01.08

I don't know why, but I really like that idea.

04:20 / 28.01.08

What I find weird now about this movie is, one week after it opened in theaters, I still can't find a realiable picture and/or production design of the monster in the internets. Every site seems to use a different fake monster pic. I might even have seen it already and not be sure about it...

Best I've been able to find. It's not a great shot, but it's the best I've been able to find. Found some production sketches of it last week, but they seem to be gone now.

08:57 / 28.01.08

Thanks, my victim! However, I'm still not sure if I saw it or not. I'll wait until the movie open in here.

Meanwhile, the monster's origin has been uncovered

09:04 / 28.01.08

must... resist... urge to c... to c.. ccclick... before... february fuh... fuh... first... argh

11:28 / 28.01.08

Actually, you can click it. It's just a Spoiler-free joke, no more.

16:14 / 28.01.08

I should make it clear that DBF's is the joke link, not mine; mine is very much full of actual spoilery goodness.

01:45 / 29.01.08

It is really quite amazing that tons of production design drawings of the monster, still frames of the monster, etc.etc. have NOT been on the net in large numbers, esp. since the movie's actual opening. Don't know quite what to make of that...

01:46 / 03.02.08

I have seen it.
It hit pretty much all of my personal panic buttons,so I'm a little freaked out right now. Maybe my exposure to fantasy and anime has weakened my disbelief,but I did identify with them; thus was this horrifying.

A BITE!! WE GOT A BITE!! And then she gets taken away and...*shudder* Own personal nightmare fuel.

20:44 / 04.02.08

So, a few days ago, some friends were trying to convince me to go see the flick while in NYC while under the influence of stuff and now that I saw it here in safe, sunny (er.. rainy-sunny) southern California, I'm happy I waited and was only mildly drunk.

I really dug it. People are complaining about the story, but really, it never felt like it was intending to be some grand narrative, as much as atmospherics and pacing and there it was a massive success. I loved the show-the-monster-on-TV-on-camera thing. I didn't mind the monster sneaking up on people, or the general lack of explanations just because it was so much more effective as something that didn't make sense. The cigarette-burns three act structure was entirely applied, and they stopped just short of climax which was the only sensible way to go.

The monster didn't have to be scary, but impressive, and and yes, I was impressed. I was impressed with the lack of expanations and the consistency of delays and moments which weren't stretched for our understanding/relaxation, but to get us all tense and impatient and then throw us quickly in a different direction. The bit with the helicopter and the monster was almost a relax-now delay, but it was so fakey of a moment I was laughing the split second before the bump because we've all watched enough movies to know how that scene's going to go.

16:11 / 05.02.08

i also liked how the news reporters NEVER refer to the monster as 'monster, creature' or anything remotely literal. They avoided anything that sounded remotely monster-y - I guess to make it seem more real and less sci-fi...? (also perhaps because they truly didn't know what it was, and the military may have instructed them to avoid those words..?)

18:37 / 05.02.08

So, a few days ago, some friends were trying to convince me to go see the flick while in NYC while under the influence of stuff

I don't think I would have been able to pass up an opportunity like that.

miss wonderstarr

13:26 / 08.02.08

I still feel kind of sick an hour after watching this movie. Physically, it made me feel as bad as I have when sitting in Accident & Emergency ~ it's the closest I've come to walking out of a movie for as long as I can remember, because it just made my stomach queasy and head swim. It did give me some interesting thoughts about the difference between this first-person camera and the FPS view in games, though.

In terms of what happened to its characters, I found it about as bleak and unpleasant as Blair Witch.

Overall, while I can admire the technical achievement of the CGI, I found watching Cloverfield a horrible experience in many ways, and not really pleasant in any ways.

miss wonderstarr

13:46 / 08.02.08

"Hud" is an unusual name, isn't it? (Even as an abbreviation of Hudson). I wondered if it was meant to evoke "Head-Up Display", like you'd see from a first-person POV, but... maybe I've just been thinking about that kind of thing too much.

14:18 / 08.02.08

You're not the first person to make that observation, MW. I've seen it mentioned in several places. I think there's an even chance it's intentional.

miss wonderstarr

14:23 / 08.02.08

Not sure whether to be reassured that other people thought it, or embarrassed for thinking I was being original! Doesn't really add up, though, because an HUD is surely like an array of status bars and visual representation of data, not just a camera point of view.

17:16 / 09.02.08

finally saw it yesterday and loved the whole thing. helped taking the bad taste of JUNO off my mouth. here's hoping a sequel doesn't ruin the whole experience that this was.

i got scared of walking in the street near the canals and beach here upon leaving the theater. even before we got to it, my girlfriend had jumped from the sidewalk after seeing a rat quickly run by, hehe. she loved the movie too, by the way. I want to watch CLOVERFIELD again as soon as a friend who's ill and couldn't come yesterday gets better.

i get easily sick with motion, so I knew beforehand I had to try a seat more in the back rows, and I took some deep breaths in the more shaky shots. even before the running starts things are shaky already.

it was great that it was just an account of a very shitty night getting caught on video without any explanations whatsoever - the whole 9\11 aethetic taken into full effect. i also got a WARRIORS vibe - with the journey through the island in the night, the subway and Coney Island playing a mythic role.

for everybody who missed the very final scene, here's a spoiler-y video of a close-up of the splash in the water. i don't know yet how it relates with the movie chronology, if it does at all. would a Tagruato satellite falling in the sea wake the monster this near NY's seashore? I'm trying to piece how the manga fits in here also - did the monster swam all the way from Tokyo to NY through the North Pole or South America's Land of Fire?

as for the movie design...

SPOILERS

it was interesting to see that it looked to me kind of like a cross between a grey lizard and a wingless bat, with long arms and folded hands with long fingers, red "breathings bags" in the sides of head. if you look at youtube for "cloverfield monster revealed real" you'll get at least two very good vids with it, one containing all the monster's main appearances in one cut. pretty scary shit. the small parasites were also uggly scary bastards, but the big monster loose in the city.

the human elements of the movie could have played better for me - maybe because all the characters i cared for died. and i was left with the impression that the best thing is simply trying to save your ass [most of the times]. if you try to help save someone else's, you'll be fucked.

SPOILERS

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:13 / 13.02.08

I just saw it, and I really enjoyed it. It's my favourite "get to the chopper" movie since Miracle Mile. Had a few really good shocks in there, and I may just be a sucker for this handicam stuff, but I found the immediacy REALLY made it for me. I'm pretty sure "Hud" had to be deliberate as a name- mw, the analogy doesn't have to be that accurate, if it makes the conection, which it clearly did in both your and my cases. I have a pet theory that they hadn't bothered giving that character a name during the planning, and "Hud" was used as a placeholder, and eventually someone went "you know what? Let's just call him Hud anyway".

I was kind of hoping (until a few months ago when shots got leaked) that we'd NEVER get to see the monster- that would have been brave. But the glimpses we get kind of work better. OK, at the end we get maybe a little too much monster, but hey, it's his party, and to complain about having too much monster in a monster movie seems a little churlish.

Yes, there are things that could break the immersion IF YOU LET THEM, though a guy who's become quite attached to the camera as a way of dealing with things never putting it down seems a LOT less implausible than, well, a BIG FUCKING MONSTER COMING OUT OF THE SEA, and if I were to start thinking like that then there'd be no movie at all...

tl;dr? I fucking loved it. Only my empty wallet prevented me going right back in there and watching it again.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

20:15 / 13.02.08

Actually, one thing which DID bug me...

...when Rob's mum phones. During a major disaster, who the fuck can get phone reception? During 7/7, there was bugger all for most of the day...

...again, less silly than A BIG FUCKING MONSTER etc...

14:26 / 14.02.08

Well, the reason why one can't get reception is because the lines are all taken, which means someone else must've made through. I can picture the mother siting at home, wacthing the news, trying desperatly to get in touch with her sons and after an hour or so, she finally made it. Tha phone call was actually my favourite non-action moment of the movie. which I anslo enjoy quite a bit. The ending made me sad, even though I kew it was coming, but that's because I was "emotionally invested" in the characters (I'm a sucker for stupid love-inspired heroics).

Just one thing: when the girl who got bit and sick was taken away by the soldiers/physicians, she was shot in the head by them, to "contain the infection" or whatnot, wasn't she? Her head didn'dt just blew up, right? And that huge shadowy shape that I thoug was a monster in the traillers was actually someone in hazmat suit shooting her in the head, right? Just to be sure.

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