"Cloverfield"

[Baldwin]

@xtisme

Still doesn’t explain how they had the energy to climb up 49 flights of stairs then traverse a building that probably wouldn’t be very structurally intact anymore leaning like that…or how the building COULD lean like that without falling over.

I could have done it in my twenties. People in crises do extraordinary things. Would you have preferred they gave up halfway through and just sat down until the end?

Early in the movie, we see a skyscraper collapse, pancaking down and creating a huge dense cloud of dust and debris that pours down the street toward our characters. We don’t have to guess that that might be realistic; thanks to 9/11 we know what such an event looks like. I wonder if the movie could be a little traumatizing for anyone who was near Ground Zero on 9/11.

[BlackKnight]

@DrFidelius

Maybe the monster carried the head of the statue around for a little bit

“Alas, poor Liberty! I knew her, Gamera.”

I liked the movie fairly well. It’s not revolutionary or anything, but it effectively did what it set out to do - tell a “monster destroys Manhattan” story from the point of view of hapless victims. It strained credulity a few times (beyond the monster bit, I mean). The pacing was just fast enough, with enough pauses, to keep things interesting.

The monster(s) looked good, for the most part. The clearest shots were the worst though. The shot that Hud got right before Hud got got was very CGI. It looked cool, just not realistic. That said, the motion of the creature, if not the coloring / texture, was better than most monster movies. Better than Peter Jackson’s King Kong at least.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

I found it very underwhelming. The monster itself was ok, and a few individula scenes were effective, but the movie’s major problem is that the core of main characters are all a bunch of douchebags. They seem like a a bunch models from a blue jeans commercial trying to seem “real,” but there’s nothing real about them.

I was particularly put off by the subplot of douchebag number one going back to save his worthless, Barbie doll girlfriend. I’ve always found that to be an irritating disaster movie cliche anyway (hero always has to “go back” to save either his woman or his child because his family is so much more important than everybody else’s family), but it was esepcially egregious in this one because it undercut the “realism” they were trying to create by going on autopilot with a hackneyed, overused movie device. I wish they’d at least found a way to turn some of the cliches on their heads instead of just following them right by the numbers.

I think aside from my inability to like or care about the characters, the movie’s utter predictability was the most disappointing aspect. It’s really extremely conventional once you get past the novelty of the hand held camera.

It did make me want to see a cinematic treatment of World War Z, which I think would lend itself much better to movie’s central conceit of on the ground, amateur footage of a horror movie monster attack.

[Baldwin]

@Diogenes the Cynic

I found it very underwhelming. The monster itself was ok, and a few individula scenes were effective, but the movie’s major problem is that the core of main characters are all a bunch of douchebags. They seem like a a bunch models from a blue jeans commercial trying to seem “real,” but there’s nothing real about them.

Can you explain this in a way that makes sense? Be specific.

[DigitalC]

@Diogenes the Cynic

It did make me want to see a cinematic treatment of World War Z, which I think would lend itself much better to movie’s central conceit of on the ground, amateur footage of a horror movie monster attack.

Its coming

[Orual]

I quite liked it. The main characters weren’t smart, or particularly sympathetic, but I thought they behaved believably for semi-drunk/shellshocked folks.

I loved the unique look of the monsters, and how the big one sounded like Godzilla.

The best scene for me was when Hud turned on the nightvision in the subway tunnel. Nearly jumped out of my seat, I did.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@Baldwin

Can you explain this in a way that makes sense? Be specific.

They all look like models. None of them have any personalities beyond their looks. They’re smug and self-satisfied. Their “relationships” are shallowly defined. Their dialogue is workman-like and lacks either wit or insight about what’s going on. There’s nothing to them. They’re just eye-candy. I never felt like there was any reason to root for them

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@DigitalC

Its coming

Cool. I wish there was some more information about it, though.

[nameless]

@Diogenes the Cynic

They all look like models. None of them have any personalities beyond their looks. They’re smug and self-satisfied. Their “relationships” are shallowly defined. Their dialogue is workman-like and lacks either wit or insight about what’s going on. There’s nothing to them. They’re just eye-candy. I never felt like there was any reason to root for them

I think it’s not bad for us to take a certain self-satisfaction in the sudden loss of their privileged yuppie status, but I definitely came around at the end of the movie. I did feel bad for Rob and Beth. Not so much Hud, since he was mostly comic relief.

I agree that perhaps some more insightful dialogue would not have been amiss, but if I’m attacked by a monster the size of a skyscraper, I will undoubtedly spend more time screaming profanities than making witty observations. It felt real to me.

Come on you didn’t laugh at Homeless guy on fire or something else… also terrible…?

Did anyone else notice that the only real survivor was the (maybe) black woman? Take that, horror film convention!

[Ale]

@Wile E

The boyfriend and I were discussing the film and we decided that monsters really, really hate New York. I was picturing King Kong, Godzilla and this creature all wearing I “heart” New York t-shirts with the circle with a slash over the heart. Perhaps the back could say “I destroyed New York and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms also attacked New York, I know some aliens have attacked New York, too. Can anyone think of any other monsters that have not “hearted” New York?

ETA: Sorry that last comment may be a hijack, is it worth starting a new thread?

Why monsters go to New York for their city busting debut? because…

If I can make it there
Ill make it anywhere Its uuup to youuuu, Newwwww York…

Now I have the image of Godzilla like Michigan J Frog, top hat and all, dancing and singing down Fifth Avenue, smashing a building with every kick of his legs

[blondebear]

I wonder if there was more than one “big” monster. Does the “US 477” designation imply that there were 476 others?

[Wile_E]

@Orual

I quite liked it. The main characters weren’t smart, or particularly sympathetic, but I thought they behaved believably for semi-drunk/shellshocked folks.

I loved the unique look of the monsters, and how the big one sounded like Godzilla.

The best scene for me was when Hud turned on the nightvision in the subway tunnel. Nearly jumped out of my seat, I did.

I’m sure I muttered “oh shit!” at that scene. I knew what would happen when he turned on the night vision but it still had an effect. I don’t think I was the only one in the theater who muttered “oh shit!” either.

[Baldwin]

@Diogenes the Cynic

They all look like models. None of them have any personalities beyond their looks. They’re smug and self-satisfied. Their “relationships” are shallowly defined. Their dialogue is workman-like and lacks either wit or insight about what’s going on. There’s nothing to them. They’re just eye-candy. I never felt like there was any reason to root for them

Are you sure we saw the same movie? (I love how different people’s reactions can be to the same material.)

Most people on the planet are smug and self-satisfied, to some extent. (Including both of us, judging from the character we display in our posts.) Do you automatically dismiss characters who show flaws? Yeah, they’re yuppies. So what? The disastrous events of the movie shortly bring everybody to the same level of trying to survive.

It’s a 94-minute movie; how much time did you want spent establishing the depth of the relevant relationships? Hud’s a good friend, albeit not terribly bright. The dialogue between brothers Jason and Rob rang true to me: “I love you, but you’re kind of a douchebag.” We barely get to meet them, then they’re thrust into the most nightmarish, harrowing night of their lives. The dialogue’s almost entirely believable, and adds to the documentary feel.

One little thing that annoyed me that I forgot to mention – when they go up on the roof and see a huge explosion downtown, they hear it the same moment. You see this in movies all the time, and I’ve learned to accept the convention, but in this case, it’s really stupid because the scene was specifically supposed to simulate footage of a real event. If you’d seen the explosion, but heard nothing until several seconds later, it would have really helped the verisimilitude.

I’ve met people who honestly don’t understand this. They’ve somehow grown to adulthood without understanding that sound travels way slower than light, so that you’ll see a distance event well before you hear it. Maybe they’ve never seen a thunderstorm, or maybe there’s something missing in their brain.

[JohnT]

@Baldwin

One little thing that annoyed me that I forgot to mention – when they go up on the roof and see a huge explosion downtown, they hear it the same moment. You see this in movies all the time, and I’ve learned to accept the convention, but in this case, it’s really stupid because the scene was specifically supposed to simulate footage of a real event. If you’d seen the explosion, but heard nothing until several seconds later, it would have really helped the verisimilitude.

I remember the scene as Hud filming Rob, they hear an explosion, then the camera is swung to the left to show the building being destroyed.

Regardless of the monster or shaky CGI, to me the most jarring “take me out of the movie” aspects were the survival of the camera itself - I don’t know if it’s a Sanyo or whatever, but its casing, lens, and memory sticks are made of 100% pure Unobtainium. That might help y’all narrow your searches.

At the end, I was hoping for a sequel, essentially the same attack shown from a different angle… like from the President’s perspective, or the general who is overseeing the operation, using the same cinema verite style (but with less shaky-cam).

[Just_Some_Guy]

@Baldwin

I’ve met people who honestly don’t understand this. They’ve somehow grown to adulthood without understanding that sound travels way slower than light, so that you’ll see a distance event well before you hear it. Maybe they’ve never seen a thunderstorm, or maybe there’s something missing in their brain.

Don’t be silly. Everyone knows that the speed of light in the earth’s atmosphere is only about 700 miles per hour. This is why jets that go faster than that have to use radar to find their way.

[Aioua]

Wow, that was crazy. Crazy awesome.

Are we still doing spoilers? I have some theories, but I don’t want to blackbox them needlessly.

[Spice_Weasel]

Saw it tonight. Assuming we’re dispensing with spoiler boxes now…

I want to make it clear that I am the easiest person to frighten in the world. Jurassic Park, for example, scared the bejesus out of me. I don’t even watch real horror movies. My willingness to see this film is not something I can explain… something just appealed to me, maybe my affinity for watching shit get blown up.

That said, this movie did not scare me at all. I remained relatively detached throughout the majority of the film. I think the handheld camera thing sort of took me out of the movie a bit–for the first 15 minutes because of all that damn jiggling, and then later because of all the exposition (which had to be there to develop the setting, but which was unlikely to end up on someone’s camera.)

It was totally awesome to watch the buildings blow up and things get obliterated. My favorite part was the climb up into the hi-rise apartment because you couldn’t really tell which way was up or down and you have to believe it would have been pretty disorienting to be in that situation. Also, you gotta feel for Beth. That scene was the closest I came to imagining myself in the same situation.

I thought the dialog was reasonably realistic. I agree that there wasn’t much to love about the characters. They were just pretty people living apparently idyllic lives, reminded me of just about every other horror movie that’s been made.

The monster itself was beautiful. I was glad they didn’t do the Godzilla or T-rex template… it truly looked like something extraterrestrial and unique. I have to admit for one brief, fleeting moment my little heart was whispering, please be Cthulhu please be Cthulhu please… but alas, it was not to be. The creature was lovely. My husband agrees, he just regrets there not being more of it in the film. It would have been nice to see it actually doing more direct damage–watching it take out buildings and eat people, for example.

Finishing the film, it became clear why there were not abundant spoilers before the release of the film. As the OP says, as far as we knew it was about a monster attacking Manhattan. And having finished watching it, I can say that this is exactly what is about–there’s not really anything to add. I would look forward to seeing a sequel, just to get some questions answered about what the hell happened.

Overall, this was a movie with a unique concept that stuck to convention in just about every way other than how it was filmed. I also have to respect it for its refusal to explain itself. I was underwhelmed by the writing, but I still got to see things blow up, and the CGI on the monster itself was freakin’ awesome. I give it a solid B.

[cmyk]

@Aioua

Wow, that was crazy. Crazy awesome.

Are we still doing spoilers? I have some theories, but I don’t want to blackbox them needlessly.

Fire away…

[Love_Rhombus]

Say it, liked it, wanna see it again. I liked the damn mystery and that it didn’t feel “safe” like a Godzilla movie. I agree that I likely wouldn’t have gone back, but if my friend went, I would go with him, because I am that fool.

I expected to get sick, and so sat a higher in the theatre, but I did’t get ill at all. I fun, jumpy, interesting and clever idea. I give it thumbs up. Not a all-time classic, but very enjoyable.

[Love_Rhombus]

Had another thought but too late to edit, so: People have criticized the allusions to 9/11. if it were set in Chicago or Seattle would they say this? Obviously not. It’s a disaster movie in New York, an iconic place. Should we never have that city get destroyed in the movies because of the terrorist attacks?