JohnDoe
Bryn
BrentonCloverfield (2007) - Trailer Included
January 17th 2008 01:14
BeastlyReality
Director: Matt Reeves
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yutsman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas
“I saw it! It's alive! It's huge!” – Hud
So last night John Doe crawled out of his lair to witness the only existing hand held footage of an unknown monster vacating it’s own den to decimate New York City.
A science fiction thriller so top secret even the name remained an enigma until very recently. Shrouded in mystery the title “Cloverfield” refers to the codename of the confidential government file that is investigating the tragic event.
“My name is Robert Hawkins. Approximately seven hours ago some *thing* attacked the city. If you found this, if you're watching this then you probably know more about it than I do.” – Rob Hawkins
The theatre goes dark, a few preemptive pounds of the subwoofer on the black screen represent heavy footsteps of a giant beast. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeel, A test signal sounds after some brief static the familiar home video colour bars appear.
An image suddenly emerges with the day/date and time displayed on the bottom left corner. A young man, Jason Hawkins (Mark Vogel) scans the room while randomly talking about the exciting day ahead.
Jason and a bunch of his metrolite buddies are throwing a surprise going away party for his brother Rob who has just received a huge promotion and is moving to Japan. What follows is 20 minutes of typical, dull home video banter as a bunch of self involved micro dramas unfold.
Abruptly the sound of an inevitable, boom, bang, crash thunders. The sky lights up, firing projectiles smash into building and the mass destruction begins.
John Doe says:
Taking the Cannibal Holocaust, Blair Witch project format to the next level, through a shaking hand held lens emanating inbuilt urgency. The haphazard coverage of stunning, eerily realistic visual FX form an authenticity because the style never punctuates or draws overt attention to the digital destructive illusion. For example, the Empire State Building crumbles and the camera only catches only a glimpse of it as it scrolls across the screen amongst a myriad of other devastations.
The fact that the opening is spent with a bunch of people we can’t wait to see digested increases the anxiety. The split second the action starts the momentum redlines pushing atmospheric tension through the roof in a tsunami of excitement.
Like teh Korean film "The Host", the script focuses exclusively on the experiences of a monster invasion from the perspective of a small group. Little is revealed about the origins of creature. Its fate remains ambiguous which appropriately keeps the viewer engaged trying to process the tiniest piece of information that comes from waterfalls of superfluous dialogue.
The fact we spend most of our time in the cataclysmic aftermath, rather than revealing the star attraction means eyes are always squinted in the hopes our curiosity will be satisfied.
Putting the monster genre into the real world gives the typical apocalyptic consequences more gravity in a post 9/11 media blitz world. The film does have its faults, the plot relies heavily on coincidence and the biggest is making it kiddie friendly. After establishing we are meant to believe everything, there is next to no swearing from these twenty-somethings and very little bloodshed. This pulls you out of the movies spell often. I’m thinking that when confronted with a ravenous carnivore as big as a skyscraper a few expletives are going to escape my mouth frequently. The minimal gore that is caught in the wild frame just didn’t have the punch Johnny anticipated and seemed flat.
The acting too is all over the place and upsets the carefully manufactured rhythm. Sticking with the rules of the genre it is appropriate the stars are typical Hollywood beautiful people but they fail to convince as real human beings.
John Doe had zero expectations going into this and is a self confessed loather of the JJ Abrams universe. So it gives pleasure to say I was pleasantly surprised by its content and impressed by the level of suspense achieved by the middle of the brisk 85 minute running time. Not overstaying its welcome the novelty doesn’t wear thin and JD found himself often giggling at the audacity of its often convincing conceit.
By its very nature this won't stand up to repeat screenings so make sure the first one counts. The sound in the cinema is brilliant but I can't help but think that viewing it on your TV screen would add to the believability.
Now John D is not going to give away anything about the creature except to say that there is a money shot and trust him the imaginative design makes it a notably unique entrant into the annuls of cinema history.
See the "Cloverfield" trailer below
Watch a JJ Abrams exclusive 5 minute clip from the film
Cloverfield Released Today in Australia
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yutsman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas
“I saw it! It's alive! It's huge!” – Hud
So last night John Doe crawled out of his lair to witness the only existing hand held footage of an unknown monster vacating it’s own den to decimate New York City.
A science fiction thriller so top secret even the name remained an enigma until very recently. Shrouded in mystery the title “Cloverfield” refers to the codename of the confidential government file that is investigating the tragic event.
“My name is Robert Hawkins. Approximately seven hours ago some *thing* attacked the city. If you found this, if you're watching this then you probably know more about it than I do.” – Rob Hawkins
The theatre goes dark, a few preemptive pounds of the subwoofer on the black screen represent heavy footsteps of a giant beast. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeel, A test signal sounds after some brief static the familiar home video colour bars appear.
An image suddenly emerges with the day/date and time displayed on the bottom left corner. A young man, Jason Hawkins (Mark Vogel) scans the room while randomly talking about the exciting day ahead.
Jason and a bunch of his metrolite buddies are throwing a surprise going away party for his brother Rob who has just received a huge promotion and is moving to Japan. What follows is 20 minutes of typical, dull home video banter as a bunch of self involved micro dramas unfold.
Abruptly the sound of an inevitable, boom, bang, crash thunders. The sky lights up, firing projectiles smash into building and the mass destruction begins.
The horror, the horror
John Doe says:
Taking the Cannibal Holocaust, Blair Witch project format to the next level, through a shaking hand held lens emanating inbuilt urgency. The haphazard coverage of stunning, eerily realistic visual FX form an authenticity because the style never punctuates or draws overt attention to the digital destructive illusion. For example, the Empire State Building crumbles and the camera only catches only a glimpse of it as it scrolls across the screen amongst a myriad of other devastations.
The fact that the opening is spent with a bunch of people we can’t wait to see digested increases the anxiety. The split second the action starts the momentum redlines pushing atmospheric tension through the roof in a tsunami of excitement.
Like teh Korean film "The Host", the script focuses exclusively on the experiences of a monster invasion from the perspective of a small group. Little is revealed about the origins of creature. Its fate remains ambiguous which appropriately keeps the viewer engaged trying to process the tiniest piece of information that comes from waterfalls of superfluous dialogue.
The fact we spend most of our time in the cataclysmic aftermath, rather than revealing the star attraction means eyes are always squinted in the hopes our curiosity will be satisfied.
Putting the monster genre into the real world gives the typical apocalyptic consequences more gravity in a post 9/11 media blitz world. The film does have its faults, the plot relies heavily on coincidence and the biggest is making it kiddie friendly. After establishing we are meant to believe everything, there is next to no swearing from these twenty-somethings and very little bloodshed. This pulls you out of the movies spell often. I’m thinking that when confronted with a ravenous carnivore as big as a skyscraper a few expletives are going to escape my mouth frequently. The minimal gore that is caught in the wild frame just didn’t have the punch Johnny anticipated and seemed flat.
The acting too is all over the place and upsets the carefully manufactured rhythm. Sticking with the rules of the genre it is appropriate the stars are typical Hollywood beautiful people but they fail to convince as real human beings.
John Doe had zero expectations going into this and is a self confessed loather of the JJ Abrams universe. So it gives pleasure to say I was pleasantly surprised by its content and impressed by the level of suspense achieved by the middle of the brisk 85 minute running time. Not overstaying its welcome the novelty doesn’t wear thin and JD found himself often giggling at the audacity of its often convincing conceit.
By its very nature this won't stand up to repeat screenings so make sure the first one counts. The sound in the cinema is brilliant but I can't help but think that viewing it on your TV screen would add to the believability.
Now John D is not going to give away anything about the creature except to say that there is a money shot and trust him the imaginative design makes it a notably unique entrant into the annuls of cinema history.
See the "Cloverfield" trailer below
Watch a JJ Abrams exclusive 5 minute clip from the film
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
It's a cool monster, eh? Looks good on the rough handheld footage...
Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
Sounds interesting. I'll wait to catch it on DVD.
Hope you're well JD. Happy 2008! Trust your new yar is going well so far?
Dusk
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Damn.
I think I will try to catch this sometime in the near future.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
It was the kinetic camera work that certainly added to the creatures effectiveness...hard not to spoil it for others so will stop now.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
You know me, I never spoil things for others and the main curiosity of the piece seems to come from the creature feature designs....maybe the money shot is already floating around online.
Awesome to see you, glad you had a great new years and 2008 is starting on a positive note. All is moving forward for me this year it seems. Fingers crossed!
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Don't own a DV camera, and with the thick security last night me thinks I would have ended up in deep poodoo.
I hate bootleg pirates anyway but in this case the shaky out of focus quality would probably match the films visuals.
Would be really cool if you dropped back with a few thoughts once you've seen it
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I really like the way this one is being presented (cinematography) ..
Lilla ...
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
It's the hand held format that elevates the experience for sure, without it this would be a lame duck from a scripting and acting POV. Makes for an exciting ride.
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
I'll try to catch it.
Was it cool or just average?
I am very disappointed with I Am Legend.
It is a Why Bother Movie.
I am a tough critic.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
The word "cool" sounds appropriate. It does engage and is a visceral thrill....but don't expect to much brain fodder.
It is being described in some reviews as a "Rollercoater" of a film and that about sums it up. Fun while your on it but afterwards there isn't much to do but join the line again or move on to the next heart racer.
Good popcorn fun that is at far better than Godzilla, Day after Tomorrow and films of that ilk.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Chuck out!