Cloverfield [mystery JJ Abrams film]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Unfortunately I don't think I could literally stomach watching this movie. A for the reasons James outlined. I.E. No reasonable plot with cool likable characters. [Since they all apparently die or something].

And then there's B The Cinematography. I was watching the previews in various venues and every time I felt the beginnings of motion sickness. As in I had to either avert my eyes or clamp my right hand firmly down on my mouth while I used the other to massage my temples.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Dagger]

Ended up going today, and It. Was. AWESOME.

It's been ages since I saw a movie in a theater where other people were so engaged--there was a lot of screaming and talking and nervous laughter, and it actually kind of added to the experience. I'm so going to drag all my friends to this when we get back to school. More than anything else (and James hints at this under his spoiler tags), it's very much a post 9/11 monster movie.

I really bought into it; I really believed that "[I]this[/I] is what would happen if..."

~Dagger~

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Yep, I think the best/biggest element is the idea that everything seems plausible in terms of the military and police response - this movie really gives you an idea of what might happen if this were real. And I think it does that more effectively than any other monster movie I've ever seen.

The shaky cam can be a bit of a pain, but you get used to it after about fifteen minutes. Your eyes do need to adjust.

Once you adjust, you'll find that the director does keep things pretty consistent, in the sense that you do see what you need to - it's far better than Blair Witch in that sense. I found that in this movie, I had a much better sense of my bearings than in Blair Witch.

This movie is definitely a good start to 2008. :catgirl:[/font]

[Justin]

I just got done watching it. I must say, I was very impressed. It was done with such an incredible touch of reality that it honestly had me going.

And that's rare in a movie. I wish I could read Japanese.

-Justin

[Nomurah!]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]Four friends and I piled into a small Japanese four passenger car last night to ride thirty miles to see this movie. Sure, it was well worth it. Though my friends didn't like it as much as me, I can't blame them. It's for select audiences... I don't see how people could get sick during it, I wasn't sick at all. In fact, if I had time, I'd go watch it again tonight, just so I could absorb all the missed details. You really do have to pay attention to the film. The whole film is about [I]irony[/I], and I do quite love films such as those. My friends complaiend about the ending, but I think I may have settled them down by telling them that it just wouldn't be a scary or mysterious, or perhaps, even a good film if at the end, they had [spoiler]lived, and if someone had taken the time to explain what the creature was (even though it's pretty clear that the monster "Cloverfield?" was most likely the result of government testing, which sadly, they were willing to destroy New York to get rid of) [/spoiler]... It did indeed remind me of 9/11.. I think some parts of the film have just... their own little value. Rob and Beth are clearly in love, and [spoiler] they die together, like a twisted Romeo and Juliet, involving nighthawks, bombs and a giant sea monster.[/spoiler]

The setting itself is beautiful, and the handheld is refreshing style, taken away from mindless films like Blair Witch project. The visual effects... are amazing. I was very pleased by them, and even more pleased by how realistic a monster-attacking- New York situation can be.

Good stuff. Definitely a 9 out of 10 for me. :D[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[AngryBarista]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Well now that a few people have seen the film, I hope that you all paid attention to the final scene of Coney Island on the handycam. [spoiler]It links Rob and Beth's day together to what happens a month later, as you see *something* fall into the ocean in the distance over their shoulders.[/spoiler]
One thing I personally didn't quite understand after the credits was the static. There were some words uttered, and until I went and looked it up on Wikipedia I was completely lost.
What's said makes the US military seem like they're a waste of time and money if you ask me...haha.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[are i]

[SIZE="1"]I saw it yesterday, and I think it's definitely one of my favorite movies now. I heard a lot of people in the theatre saying bad stuff about it, but given the previews, I can't see how they couldn't love it unless they just had no idea what they were going to see lol. The entire film is geared towards making you feel as though you actually are watching a tape that was made during the attack. There can't be too much hardcore character development, etc., without undermining the authenticity of a guy simply filming his experience. The camera angles might annoy some people, but they made me feel as though I were actually there. It kinda freaked me out, actually ^^[/SIZE]
[quote name='Satori'][FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]One thing I personally didn't quite understand after the credits was the static. There were some words uttered, and until I went and looked it up on Wikipedia I was completely lost.
What's said makes the US military seem like they're a waste of time and money if you ask me...haha.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Dang... I wanted to stay to see if there was anything after the credits, but they kicked me out to sweep the place :animesigh
Looks like I'll just have to see it again, to see what this is all about[/SIZE]

[ZachIsAPanda]

I was told that after the credits, it says
[spoiler]It's still alive[/spoiler]

[AngryBarista]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][SIZE=1][B][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]Yeah, I thought it was funny that after all the US Army could pull out of their rear end, [spoiler]they couldn't kill it.[/spoiler][/COLOR][/B][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

[quote name='Neuvoxraiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]And then there's B The Cinematography. I was watching the previews in various venues and every time I felt the beginnings of motion sickness. As in I had to either avert my eyes or clamp my right hand firmly down on my mouth while I used the other to massage my temples.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]I won't be seeing this for the same reason, even though I think it would be fun. But the parts where everything is shaking in the preview just made me feel sick as well. Which was odd since I don't usually get motion sickness.

[Anakoni Stark]

[SIZE=1] I saw it last night, and I thought it was pretty good. I didnt have a problem with the whole camcorder gig, but there were some parts that made me sick to my stomach, like when [SPOILER] Marlena exploded after she got bitten.[/SPOILER] and I dont understand why that happened... kinda made me mad that there's no explaination as to why any of this happened, with the exception of the prequel manga [which proally wont be translated for a couple of months]

what I dont understand is, why some people are freaking out about a post 9/11 sci fi film.

even though it was sparse, the humour was pretty good.

I really liked the film [some of the girls were pretty hot.], but my dad critized some of the planes that they used to kill the monster: "[B][I] Son, in real life, I don't think we'd use the F-18s, we'd go with the A-10s.[/B][/I]", but [SPOILER] after withstanding the motar shells, bombs, [B][I][U] AND[/B][/I][/U] the nuke. that thing is pretty tough.[/SPOILER]

also did anyone catch [SPOILER] the last segment that cut back to 22May and something fell out of the sky?[/SPOILER]

I didnt, but I did catch [SPOILER] the ending audio log[/SPOILER].[/SIZE]

[onenuttytanuki]

So who plans on buying the rumored manga prequel and/or the $99.99 figure that Hasbro is going to put out?

[Dagger]

Manga: yes.
Figure: no. Unless it's really mind-blowing. :animeswea

Took my friends to Cloverfield this afternoon. They enjoyed it, except for one poor girl who got motion-sick.

~Dagger~

[Ozymandius Jones]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="1"][quote name='Dagger']Ended up going today, and It. Was. AWESOME.

It's been ages since I saw a movie in a theater where other people were so engaged--there was a lot of screaming and talking and nervous laughter, and it actually kind of added to the experience. I'm so going to drag all my friends to this when we get back to school. More than anything else (and James hints at this under his spoiler tags), it's very much a post 9/11 monster movie.

I really bought into it; I really believed that "[I]this[/I] is what would happen if..."

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

It's been said that this is a "Monster movie for the youtube generation." Because, well, that's what we are, yeah? Something happens, we want [i]proof[/i]. We want to show it to everyone. The camera phones at the statue part made me laugh, because of how realistic it was.

I also thought the timing they had was awesome, with the whole party. I was startled by the first explosion, because I was listening to this party which was going on and yet about to fall apart.

I just got back from watching this an hour ago, and yes, yes I am a huge J.J. fan. Lost addict and all that - Darwin sounded a hun of a lot like Smokey, no? - but the viral campaign for this! It was freakin' huge, and looks like it'll be sticking around for a while.

I love viral advertising campaigns. <3

All in all, though, it entertained me and depressed me at the same time. Though, [spoiler]fairly sure Rob's alive. Dunno about Beth, but pretty confident for Rob. Which makes me sad. I loved Hud. Who....yeah. Is certainly [i]not[/i] still alive.

And I would also be happy (and not surprised) if Jason washed ashore somewhere after [url=http://community.livejournal.com/m15m/17991.html#cutid1]Darwin[/url] ruined the bridge. [/spoiler]

The worst part to me, though, was [spoiler]Marlena[/spoiler]. :(



[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Sephiroth]

[COLOR="Red"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I really want to watch this film, been looking forward to it for a while now

Unfortunately it's not out in England until February 1st[/FONT][/COLOR]

[onenuttytanuki]

Something that has crossed my mind what happened to the other Helicopter, the one that
the Lily was on?

Also, I wonder how long till one will be able to get Slusho buttons at say Spencers or Hot Topic.
I know Hot Topic has a t-shirt with the movie poster on it. But aside for that I haven't seen any other tie ins for Cloverfield,.

[Ozymandius Jones]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkOrange"][quote name='onenuttytanuki'][spoiler]Something that has crossed my mind what happened to the other Helicopter, the one that
the Lily was on?[/spoiler]

Also, I wonder how long till one will be able to get Slusho buttons at say Spencers or Hot Topic.
I know Hot Topic has a t-shirt with the movie poster on it. But aside for that I haven't seen any other tie ins for Cloverfield,.[/QUOTE]

Some people say [spoiler]It got out. Other people say when Hud, Rob and Beth's chopper crashes, you see another one burning right next to it. I was not paying much attention at the time (*hates helicopter crash scenes with a firey passion*) so I can't say I noticed. I like to think she got out. [/spoiler]

As for tie-ins.

[url=http://slusho.jp/]Slusho.jp[/url] has tshirts and hats. Also has the fun of being a movie / viral game tie in. <333333

[/JJ Fangirling][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[vegeta rocker]

Reasons why Cloverfield sucked:

1. I didn't care about any of the characters except for Marlena; just because it's supposed to be realistic from the point of how it would look shot from a handheld camera doesn't mean they can't act.

2. Plot: I'm gonna go save the girl I slept with once and was about to leave......

3. The whole justification of shooting every single thing including the floor...
If it was realistic he would have held it lower than his head so at least he can still have his peripheral vision intact. And apparently his handy cam has an eternal battery, he plugs in like once.

4. Was NOT impressed with the monsters design.

I'm not looking forward to the sequel, and YES there will be one.

[ZeitGeist]

[quote name='vegeta rocker']Reasons why Cloverfield sucked:

3. The whole justification of shooting every single thing including the floor...
If it was realistic he would have held it lower than his head so at least he can still have his peripheral vision intact. And apparently his handy cam has an eternal battery, he plugs in like once.[/quote]

I thought it was quite consistent with home movie quality. We've got heaps of the amateur stuff sitting around here and there were plenty of cases where someone has taped the floor or forgot to turn off record when done etc...

My handycam can easily last two hours filming nonstop, which is shorter than this movie.

[quote]
I'm not looking forward to the sequel, and YES there will be one.[/quote]

Well, you don't have to [spoiler] see the film.[/spoiler] :p

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Actually I think that the way the film was still realistically jerky (I'm sorry, but when you're running frantically you aren't going to be thinking [i]too[/i] much about camera placement) while still offering necessary angles at key moments was well done.

Having said that, a lot of people have trouble getting used to this style of film making. And generally I personally don't enjoy it. Cloverfield was the first movie of this style that I actually liked, really.[/font]

[vegeta rocker]

Hopefully the sequel (not sure if I will see it or not) will employ traditional cinematography.

I mean I understand this film was made for the Youtube generation, but i just hope endless clones don't follow it.

[quote name='ZeitGeist']

My handycam can easily last two hours filming nonstop, which is shorter than this movie.

[/QUOTE]


Yeah, but the time in the film is way longer than that. Dawn was breaking at the end of the film.

[Sandy]

We just returned from seeing this movie, and I want to throw in my few cents.

First of all, in comparison to the dozens of disaster movies I've seen, Cloverfield was very likable. It had all the special effects that a movie of that genre needs, but the characters and the point-of-view of the story were much more believable (as opposed to the worn-out concept of an ex-fireman/police/weather forecaster saving the day). Well, I wouldn't have made the choice to stay behind that the main characters made, but it wouldn't have made much of a movie then, would it? ;P

I don't get queasy easily, so the constant swaying didn't bother me after the beginning. Some of the scenes and effects were pretty awe-inspiring, though, like [spoiler]the skycraper leaning to the other.[/spoiler]

The movie kept me in it's hook (despite the lack of plot) until the end, which to me was unnecessarily prolonged. It should've ended when [spoiler]the chopper crashed, cutting straight into the Coney Island final scene. I mean, who could [I]really[/I] survive that sort of a crash and still be able to run?[/spoiler]

I of course missed all the cool ending stuff mentioned in this thread, although I did have a tingling that there could be something like that included. I loved the fact that they didn't give much exposition at all, it wouldn't have been nearly as believable as it was now. Imagine it: [spoiler]a soldier stops the main characters in the middle of the chaos to say "Hold up, strangers! I need to tell you that this monster was a creation of the government in a secret experiment!" etc.[/spoiler] XD

As for the possibility of a sequel, this movie was a rarity in that it actually didn't allude that. Of course, we didn't see the Eiffel Tower, the Big Ben and the Golden Gate Bridge fall, like in other disaster movies... XP But no, I don't see much point in making one - the concept movie is a one-time deal.

To sum it up, I think the movie is a gem, despite the fact that most people either love it or hate it. I think the same thing can be said about the genre as a whole.

PS. Finland was very prominent in the movie with all the Nokia commercials and cellphones littering the scenes. One of the women in the party in the beginning actually had the same cellphone as I do (although mine is black instead of pink). ;D