Cloverfield

SPOILER
i hated the characters, and was happy to see the girl explode and the two of them die at the end. Almost all of the dialogue at the beginning was lame - i think at one they even called each other douchebags, which is how i felt about all of them. they did an awful job of making us feel any connection with the characters.

how come the guy could never hold the camera straight, even when they werent running.

I wish the monster had chewed them all up.

Overall, novel idea, excellent special effects, mediocre movie.

[quote]MikeSh wrote:
SPOILER
i hated the characters, and was happy to see the girl explode and the two of them die at the end. Almost all of the dialogue at the beginning was lame - i think at one they even called each other douchebags, which is how i felt about all of them. they did an awful job of making us feel any connection with the characters.

how come the guy could never hold the camera straight, even when they werent running.

I wish the monster had chewed them all up.

Overall, novel idea, excellent special effects, mediocre movie. [/quote]

With respect to the camera - most people suck at taping stuff - especially if they have little experience at it. Plus the guy was a douchebag.

Character development was bound to be limited based the on the concept. Like Blair Witch we are seeing a snippet of time from the first person. They did what they could with the opening sequence and the party.

I suppose we could have used more information on what was going on elsewhere, ie was this isolated to NY or were there multiple attacks.

What we do know is that JJ Abrahms loves to leave you asking more questions no matter how many answers you get - just like on Lost.

I liked the movie, thought it was pretty decent–also only paid $5 for a matinee, so that helped. Not sure I would have liked full price for that one…

The wife didn’t care for it, but that type of camera work usually gives her a migraine(screwed up my stomach a little–at least I think it was that).

Movies like this are frustrating to me, cause while I’m watching these people reacting to what’s going on, I keep thinking how I would react in that situation(I know, a little ghey). And then I get pissed when they make what I consider to be stupid decisions(masked killer is chasing hot teenage chick, she runs past the front door to run upstairs…duh).

I did laugh my ass off when the characters run into the Army(middle of a firefight). Not due to any errors, just imagining ‘normal’ people falling into that situation. Woulda scared the bejeezus out of me too, which was part of what made it funny. I’m dumb, I know…

Cheap, explotative 9/11 porn. Terrible acting. Total waste of 80 minutes.

It’s somewhat important when viewing this film to look at it in the context of technology use by today’s youth. I believe JJ himself has said it’s a commentary on home video of events like 9/11 and the videos soldiers make in Iraq. It’s also a poke at rich Manhattan kids who would do something so obviously stupid. The actors play their part perfectly. Everything from the party to their mannerisms is a spot on reenactment of the stereotype of people in my generation.

Some people may say that the characters were boring because of this. It’s important to remember that when you’re watching a other movies the actors are trying to move you. They are trying to bring some emotion in you out. These characters are not those type of characters. They are supposed to be regular ass people and the beauty of what they did is to act exactly like that. Normal people are not nearly as dramatic and entertaining as actors are.

Spoiler alert Following same italics outline as above. This spoiler is in refernce to my previous post.

It’s somewhat important when viewing this film to look at it in the context of technology use by today’s youth. I believe JJ himself has said it’s a commentary on home video of events like 9/11 and the videos soldiers make in Iraq. It’s also a poke at rich Manhattan kids who would do something so obviously stupid. The actors play their part perfectly. Everything from the party to their mannerisms is a spot on reenactment of the stereotype of people in my generation. For example, when the head of the statue of the liberty lands in the street next to everyone, all the people come around and start taking pictures and video with their phones. Also, notice that everyone in the movie is a young 20 something Manhattanite. maybe JJ has something against rich white kids? Some people may say that the characters were boring because of this. It’s important to remember that when you’re watching a other movies the actors are trying to move you. They are trying to bring some emotion in you out. These characters are not those type of characters. They are supposed to be regular ass people and the beauty of what they did is to act exactly like that. Normal people are not nearly as dramatic and entertaining as actors are.

I didn’t like the fact that it was just a monster.

I wish that there was more to back up what the monster was I guess. All of a sudden a monster comes out of the sea and fcks sht up? Ok, but why?

It was worth seeing though. But I swear if I have to see another movie where young (12-19) kids are just saying sht in the silence to laugh about; I’m gonna sit behind them and put them in a sleeper hold.

[quote]TheWookiee wrote:
SPOILER DISCUSSION
Italics rule followed

Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 �?? February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer. Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire (including his classic works “'Round Midnight” and “Blue Monk”). He is often regarded as a founder of bebop, although his playing style evolved away from the form. His compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, and are impossible to separate from Monk’s unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations. I have a question for those that have seen the movie regarding the timing on the closing shot issue. Timing-wise, how much later was ship capsizing versus the Coney Island trip? I know the explosions during the party occurred sometime after, but I wonder if the item from space was followed soon thereafter by the capsizing. Even if it wasn’t instantaneous it could be assumed there might be a delay between that event and the capsizing. So, it may not be a sequel set-up; rather additional exposition as to how it began. Of course, if it came from space there is certainly room for a sequel anyway. Little is known about Monk’s early life. He was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of Thelonious and Barbara Monk, two years after a sister named Marian. A younger brother, Thomas, was born a couple of years later. Monk started playing the piano at the age of nine; although he had some formal training and eavesdropped on his sister’s piano lessons, he was essentially self-taught. In 1922, the family moved to Manhattan, living at 243 West 63rd St. Monk attended Stuyvesant High School, but did not graduate. He briefly toured with an evangelist in his teens, playing the church organ, and in his late teens he began to find work playing jazz. Monk is believed to be the pianist featured on recordings Jerry Newman made around 1941 at Minton’s Playhouse, the legendary Manhattan club where Monk was the house pianist. Monk’s style at the time was described as “hard-swinging,” with the addition of runs in the style of Art Tatum. Monk’s stated influences include Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and other early stride pianists. Monk’s unique piano style was largely perfected during his stint as the house pianist at Minton’s in the early-to-mid 1940s, when he participated in the famous after-hours “cutting competitions” that featured most of the leading jazz soloists of the day. The Minton’s scene was crucial in the formulation of the bebop genre and it brought Monk into close contact and collaboration with other leading exponents of bebop including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Kenny Clarke, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Milt Jackson.

[/quote]

Little is known about Monk’s early life. He was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of Thelonious and Barbara Monk, two years after a sister named Marian. A younger brother, Thomas, was born a couple of years later. Monk started playing the piano at the age of nine; although he had some formal training and eavesdropped on his sister’s piano lessons, he was essentially self-taught. In 1922, the family moved to Manhattan, living at 243 West 63rd St. Monk attended Stuyvesant High School, but did not graduate. He briefly toured with an evangelist in his teens, playing the church organ, and in his late teens he began to find work playing jazz. Monk is believed to be the pianist featured on recordings Jerry Newman made around 1941 at Minton’s Playhouse, the legendary Manhattan club where Monk was the house pianist.My interpretation of it is that it’s an explanation for where the creature came from. I don’t have any clue as to how long the delay was, but maybe there are timestamps on the video? Monk’s style at the time was described as “hard-swinging,” with the addition of runs in the style of Art Tatum. Monk’s stated influences include Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and other early stride pianists. Monk’s unique piano style was largely perfected during his stint as the house pianist at Minton’s in the early-to-mid 1940s, when he participated in the famous after-hours “cutting competitions” that featured most of the leading jazz soloists of the day. The Minton’s scene was crucial in the formulation of the bebop genre and it brought Monk into close contact and collaboration with other leading exponents of bebop including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Kenny Clarke, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Milt Jackson.

[quote]B rocK wrote:
I didn’t like the fact that it was just a monster.

I wish that there was more to back up what the monster was I guess. All of a sudden a monster comes out of the sea and fcks sht up? Ok, but why?

It was worth seeing though. But I swear if I have to see another movie where young (12-19) kids are just saying sht in the silence to laugh about; I’m gonna sit behind them and put them in a sleeper hold.
[/quote]

Spoiler
The only thing harder than starting an exercise and nutrition plan is following through till the bitter end, without giving up or giving in to the “this is too hard” or “I’m just not meant to be lean” excuses. Sometimes, however, even perseverance is not enough. It often takes something more high-tech to enable you to get rid of that last little bit of body fat that seems permanently affixed to your body. We don’t really get a good idea of where the monster came from, except that it is presumable the thing that falls from the sky in the last Coney Island scene. Why he came up on land though - If you notice the first news cast we see of about the monster while Rob is getting a new phone battery from the elctronic store, you see that there are what appear to be mini-me’s falling off of the creature. What you see if you look closer is that the big creature is rubbing his back on one of the buildings making the little creatures fall off. My guess is that these smaller creatures were some sort of parasite that he was trying to rub off. You know the fat I’m talking about. The last few pounds that seem to defy physiology, calling your body home no matter what you do.

For men, those pounds tend to linger at the belt-line, either in the front or on the lateral aspect of your lower back. Women tend to find those pesky last few pounds in the lower glute/upper hamstring region, or just out to the side on the widest part of the hips: the saddlebag region.

Did anyone else laugh their ass off for a good minute when the cockgobbler taping replies “Something else. Also terrible.” to the dumb girls question of “What was that?!”

I thought the movie was entertaining, and if they dont make a sequel explaining everything, I’m gonna be pissed.

Yea I really liked Hud, the cockgobbler. He reminds me of that douchebag, inappropriate friend that every group seems to have.

One thing to notice concerning a sequel. When they are trying to cross the bridge to get out of the city and Hud turns the camera around to look back at the overturned oil tanker and the statue of liberty, you can see there’s another person video taping as well when Hud pans over. JJ may be planning to use this guy as well.

Brilliant movie…

I found my self with a silly euphoric smile on my face throughout the entire last half of the movie.

This is def a go-see-at-the movie-theater movie. The theatre we were in had the sound turned up so loud you could actually feel it in your chest.

This looks like it will be an amazing series. Hopefully they will be able to get movies out fast so we can have the story continue.

I’m really shocked that so many of you liked the movie. I walked out disappointed but saying to myself “eh, that wasnt TOO bad” but woke up hte next morning and was like “no, htat was pretty stupid.”

ARRRR - HERE BE SPOILERS:

Ava Devine (born January 22, 1974) is an American pornographic actress known primarily for her surgically enlarged breasts, “dirty talk” and a willingness to perform a variety of sex acts during sex scenes. Some of her more extreme porn videos include urination and bukkake oriented films.
She grew up in Long Island, New York as a self-described “pretty normal kid.”[1] At age 18 she began working as a call girl.[1] During this time she learned a great deal about sex (including the male anatomy, the intricacies of her own, fetishes, points of view, techniques, and turn ons that many different people had) so that “by the time I got into porn nothing was new or taboo or scary.”[1]

[i]My main complaint is that I thought there was no story. Monster attacks Manhattan. Dude goes to save his girlfriend/not-girlfriend while chaos ensues. The End. You even know they’ll die, since the movie says at the beginning “Property of the US Govt. Recovered in the area formerly known as Central Park.” So they either got killed or dropped the camera (thats what I thoguht might happen when Hud bought it) While I was frustrated with the lack of explanation as to the creature and what it was, where it came from, etc, I recognize that any explanation probably would’ve been stupid and requiring of a greater suspension of disbelief than I was willing to give, so I give them a pass on that one.

Also, the FX were GREAT - thank GOD we actually see the monster and it’s not some frigging cheap ripoff like blair witch project, or contact (spoilers for contact) (whenever I think of that movie I think of Cartman’s classic line “I sat through that g-dd-mn movie for two f-cking hours and the alien was her f-cking grandfather?!?!?” hilarious) and I actually thought the fact that the whole thing was filmed on a Handycam was really really cool. It wasnt innovative in teh sense that it wasnt the first time, but its certainly rare, and I thought it was well used. The idea that this may be the first in a series of movies is encouraging to me, maybe there will be enough built up to get some kind of storyline here.[/i]

She entered the porn business at age 28 - as she puts it, “They weren’t even doing half the things I did as an escort. I was like, what? I’m only getting half of what they (were earning).”[1]

She has been called the “lady of the lake” of porn, in that she embodies the myth of the promiscuous woman willing to have sex with anyone at any time.[2]
In 2005, Ava had what she called “malpractice surgery [surgery gone bad]” which put a hold on her film career. In October 2005, she underwent breast reduction surgery and had a lift, reducing her bust to 36DD. She resumed working in January 2006 with plans to continue.

Don’t capitalize the i in the italics tag. That should work.

my bad. guess one of the mods fixed it. Thanks guys!

been reading the cloverfield secrets blog. I am cautiously optimistic once again…

[quote]ghost wrote:
…Also, I was frustrated by the fact that we as viewers don’t have any more information as to what’s going on than the main characters. Stupid as it seems, I don’t like being kept guessing for this type of movie…
Another thing is that it was difficult to associate with the characters; the intro combined with flahsbacks throughout the movie certainly help the viewers get to know the main characters, but there’s not much depth to any of it.
I’m not going to give it away, but the ending was a huge cliffhanger. Kinda ruined it for me after all this buildup.[/quote]

I have to differ with you. I WANTED to be kept guessing the whole movie. A flash here…a flash there. That, to me, was what was so cool about it.

I didn’t want to be shown the whole thing too early; it would ruin the fun.

Now, if they never showed us, I woulda been royally pissed, but they showed just enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. Speaking of piss, I had to go about the last 40 minutes of the movie (too much Diet Coke), but did not budge.

Great movie. Nearly perfect. I thought the party went on a bit too long, but then again it kind of lulled you into a false sense of security.

Scott

I agree with you about the party scene. I also think the best thing about the movie is that you only know what the characters know.

[quote]KBCThird wrote:
I’m really shocked that so many of you liked the movie. I walked out disappointed but saying to myself “eh, that wasnt TOO bad” but woke up hte next morning and was like “no, htat was pretty stupid.”

ARRRR - HERE BE SPOILERS:

Ava Devine (born January 22, 1974) is an American pornographic actress known primarily for her surgically enlarged breasts, “dirty talk” and a willingness to perform a variety of sex acts during sex scenes. Some of her more extreme porn videos include urination and bukkake oriented films.
She grew up in Long Island, New York as a self-described “pretty normal kid.”[1] At age 18 she began working as a call girl.[1] During this time she learned a great deal about sex (including the male anatomy, the intricacies of her own, fetishes, points of view, techniques, and turn ons that many different people had) so that “by the time I got into porn nothing was new or taboo or scary.”[1]

[i]My main complaint is that I thought there was no story. Monster attacks Manhattan. Dude goes to save his girlfriend/not-girlfriend while chaos ensues. The End. You even know they’ll die, since the movie says at the beginning “Property of the US Govt. Recovered in the area formerly known as Central Park.” So they either got killed or dropped the camera (thats what I thoguht might happen when Hud bought it) While I was frustrated with the lack of explanation as to the creature and what it was, where it came from, etc, I recognize that any explanation probably would’ve been stupid and requiring of a greater suspension of disbelief than I was willing to give, so I give them a pass on that one.

Also, the FX were GREAT - thank GOD we actually see the monster and it’s not some frigging cheap ripoff like blair witch project, or contact (spoilers for contact) (whenever I think of that movie I think of Cartman’s classic line “I sat through that g-dd-mn movie for two f-cking hours and the alien was her f-cking grandfather?!?!?” hilarious) and I actually thought the fact that the whole thing was filmed on a Handycam was really really cool. It wasnt innovative in teh sense that it wasnt the first time, but its certainly rare, and I thought it was well used. The idea that this may be the first in a series of movies is encouraging to me, maybe there will be enough built up to get some kind of storyline here.[/i]

She entered the porn business at age 28 - as she puts it, “They weren’t even doing half the things I did as an escort. I was like, what? I’m only getting half of what they (were earning).”[1]

She has been called the “lady of the lake” of porn, in that she embodies the myth of the promiscuous woman willing to have sex with anyone at any time.[2]
In 2005, Ava had what she called “malpractice surgery [surgery gone bad]” which put a hold on her film career. In October 2005, she underwent breast reduction surgery and had a lift, reducing her bust to 36DD. She resumed working in January 2006 with plans to continue.[/quote]

KBC,

Your ‘spoiler-hiding-text’ kicks ass.

[quote]B rocK wrote:
But I swear if I have to see another movie where young (12-19) kids are just saying sht in the silence to laugh about; I’m gonna sit behind them and put them in a sleeper hold.
[/quote]

I saw this movie on opening day at around 3pm, and had about 10 other people, all adults, in the theater with me as it started up.

Just as the opening scene came on, in comes just over 20 kids, maybe 10-12 years old, no parents, accompanied by the never ending shrieks that follow anywhere that a group of pre-teens go.

Yelling, giggling, running around, ‘whispering’ in that type of whisper that is louder than anyone could possibly talk normally, flirting in that obnoxious ‘OH MY GOD, PLEASE NOTICE ME!!!’ way that kids that age do, the whole bit.

I could have strangled every one of them with a smile on my face. I want to have children less and less with every public encounter I have.