Cloverfield......HOLY EFFIN A! [WARNING: SPOILERS INSIDE!!!]

[StlKj]

Sorry, Hud is an obnoxious sheep. He is easily led by his two friends, Rob and Jason. He's a schlub with no sense of appropriateness. He protests going along, but he does so anyway. Of course, part of that is because we need him to go along so we can see what happens, but he's a follower. He doesn't really go along to help, but to observe.

Yes, Marlena (sp?) goes along because they're the only ones she knows, but she still makes that choice. She's not bullied into going. She's following someone she admittedly didn't even know, to help a potentially dead person she didn't really know.

Lily goes because she loves her friends and needs to help. Of the four characters, she is the least selfish or self-involved. She throws the party for her friend. She wants him to have a good time. She immediately nurtures the shell-shocked Marlena the first time the monster goes through. She is the one who comforts Rob after talking with his mother. She is the one who volunteers to go for Beth. I was glad she seemingly made it out.

Bottom line, they willingly follow along with a man clearly in shock after losing his brother, and clearly only concerned with finding the woman he loves. They have their own reasons for doing so, but it's not because Rob "makes" them go.

 

[aijalon18]

he doesn't make them but obviously no one wants to be separated. he is the stronger personality, basically the leader. he led them to their death. he was selfish and stupid. the girl was already bleeding and should have been dead where she had been bleeding with a rod through her chest. and when marlena was bitten that asshole is still trying to worry about beth and not helping marlena till she ends up exploding.

and lily i think just lost her mind when her boyfriend died. and like i said her reaction was very bizarre.

 

[StlKj]

he doesn't make them but obviously no one wants to be separated. he is the stronger personality, basically the leader. he led them to their death. he was selfish and stupid. the girl was already bleeding and should have been dead where she had been bleeding with a rod through her chest. and when marlena was bitten that asshole is still trying to worry about beth and not helping marlena till she ends up exploding.

and lily i think just lost her mind when her boyfriend died. and like i said her reaction was very bizarre.

Nah, Beth shouldn't have been dead. She had the magic shoulder wound that everyone alway survives from in tv and movies. My buddy and I even joked about getting tats that say "shoot here" or "rebar here" in case anyone ever attacks us.

In the movie in my mind, Lily loves Rob just a little more than she does his brother.

And we'll just have to disagree on the Rob thing. Many would find his need to get back to Beth as heroic and a true expression of love. The bottom line is, we need Hud to go to film, we need Marlena to go to suffer her gruesome fate for the cool factor, and we need Lily to go to suggest that there really is something to Rob that makes you want to go with him, even when you know you should be running away.

 

[aijalon18]

Nah, Beth shouldn't have been dead. She had the magic shoulder wound that everyone alway survives from in tv and movies. My buddy and I even joked about getting tats that say "shoot here" or "rebar here" in case anyone ever attacks us.

In the movie in my mind, Lily loves Rob just a little more than she does his brother.

And we'll just have to disagree on the Rob thing. Many would find his need to get back to Beth as heroic and a true expression of love. The bottom line is, we need Hud to go to film, we need Marlena to go to suffer her gruesome fate for the cool factor, and we need Lily to go to suggest that there really is something to Rob that makes you want to go with him, even when you know you should be running away.

no doubt his quest for beth moved the story along. however i would have preferred if they scrapped this love bullshit and just showed them making there way to rescue. it could have still been amazing. they couldn't think of any other creative way to force them on an alternate route?

 

[prepneck0285]

I loved it. It was what it was supposed to be, a Monster movie from the POV of a video camera. And I thought Hud was hilarious.

And when I watched it, 9/11 never popped into my head at all. Not until I read people saying that it 'reminded' them of that. It's a movie, a Monster movie attacking a city, people need to get over it, can't walk around being offended all the time. New York is a famous place and a lot of movies are shot there/based there all the time. I mean c'mon, what could be more perfect of a city?

Did any of these critics bust Olive Stones balls when he was insensitive enough to try and cash in on 9/11? He probably got praised for it.

***Applauding***

 

[VaseFace808]

I thought it was a good movie for what it was. Well done & enjoyable (But I also went into the movie knowing it wasn't going to answer every question like most monster movies would)

Anyway, what surprised me the most was how anxious I was. Near the beginning when they guys are outside talking to Rob for a bit & then that first big "boom" I was nervous, even though I saw this in this in the commercials I was still tense & bit scared LoL

Personally I think the best parts are before we actually see big parts of the monster & we just see the military going all out attacking something (pretty exciting)

Wish it was a bit longer & hope to see a sequel

 

[prettyboysing]

Jumping on a little late, but I just saw it last night. All in all I thought it was rather boring. I got really annoyed at some of the dialogue, mainly: "Rob, Rob, Hey Rob, dude, Rob, Rob come on Rob, Rob"

I think the premise was really good. The idea of it going back and forth between the two different tapes was decent, but maybe a little too obvious in its meaning.

The monsters were great and I kind of like that you never get much info about them. It's very much like Dracula that way (the book, not the movies). It would have been more effective if I cared anything about the other scenes. As it was, I was just waiting around for the monsters to show up again.

More than likely, the scenes that really evoked the 9/11 images to people were after the first hit. When people were running in the streets running from the cloud of dust and then standing around with everything caked in the dust coughing and hugging and confused. However, if you want realism, that's it. It goes back to a lot of Americans thinking that 9/11 was the only time a city in the world has been attacked.

All in all, I was just mainly bored. It was a little too realistic. Not "disturbing" realistic, "there a reason professional writers make up dialogue instead of people talking like they normally talk" realistic.

 

[GL]

i'm sorry guys but i have to disagree with you about the dialogue in the film. had they put any more 'polish' on it would have killed the effect. after all, they are supposed to be normal folks running on adrenaline and terror.

 

[VaseFace808]

I agree

I mean if I was on the run from a God knows what 25 story monster, I highly doubt I'd be able to say anything more than "Oh my god, dude, ahh!" & large number of expletives LoL

Anyone else get a chill at the end when Rob & Beth were saying I love you to each other? That was really the only moment that took me out of the 'monster movie' mindset & made me feel really sad for the characters...I'm such a dork

 

[GL]

^ oh i know! i thought it was sweet really...

and did anyone else notice the music in the closing credits? it sounded very much like something out of a toho movie. i wonder if that was some sort of a homage to the big g or something along those lines...

 

[StlKj]

Agreed.

Between the dialogue complaints and the camera complaints, people obviously don't understand that this is supposed to be a "first hand account" type of movie. Not a polished film with a steady camera. If it were me in their shoes, I would probably be shitting my pants too much to think of anything else to say except, "Oh God, holy shit! Oh God!"

Don't forget "Fuck, Holy Fuck, No Fucking way, Fuck me!"

And "we're fucked."

 

[socalistud3]

i loved it...thought it was a great movie...and the shaking camera wasn't as bad as i thought it would be and it added a realness

 

[Kraseviya]

When my boyfriend saw it he said everyone in the theare was shouting "I want my $10 back!"

 

[falconfan]

So I finally saw it but I really don't see what all the hub bub is about. Wasn't good. Wasn't bad. Just was. Very run of the mill characters. Very one dimensional plot. Very dependent on special effects... which is fine. I mean I was entertained but it's nothing special. I've seen this before it was a little movie called "The Blair Witch Project"... same "innovative" POV and same ending, including the contrite monologue to the camera and unsure but seemingly unescapable death of the protagonists. I mean really it was Blair Witch in a city with a huge monster instead of mind bending that results from an unseen monster. Entertaining at the time... nothing special.

 

[prepneck0285]

Re: Cloverfield......HOLY EFFIN A! [WARNING: SPOIL

So I finally saw it but I really don't see what all the hub bub is about. Wasn't good. Wasn't bad. Just was. Very run of the mill characters. Very one dimensional plot. Very dependent on special effects... which is fine. I mean I was entertained but it's nothing special. I've seen this before it was a little movie called "The Blair Witch Project"... same "innovative" POV and same ending, including the contrite monologue to the camera and unsure but seemingly unescapable death of the protagonists. I mean really it was Blair Witch in a city with a huge monster instead of mind bending that results from an unseen monster. Entertaining at the time... nothing special.

Now I understand your personality.....(not in a bad way) but I get it....This is an argument that cant be won with you....but I cant complain, at least you saw it

 

[GL]

Re: Cloverfield......HOLY EFFIN A! [WARNING: SPOIL

here's an interesting article and even though there is a spoiler warning i went a head and whited out the copy.

12:00 AM, 23-JANUARY-08

Easter Eggs Abound In Cloverfield

The mysteries surrounding Cloverfield do not stop with the film's release on Jan. 18: According to director Matt Reeves, there are little easter eggs scattered throughout the film itself. That's in addition to the viral marketing elements all over the Internet that provide hints about the history of the monster that destroys New York City. (There are spoilers ahead!)

For example, after the credits roll audiences can hear some static-y noise, followed by a few indistinguishable words. Reeves, who actually spoke those words, coyly refused to reveal what he said.

"I can't tell you that," he said during an interview with reporters on opening day. "At the end of the thing we were doing the mix. We were just about done. We'd mixed all of that great music and I turned to [co-producer] Bryan [Burk], and we said, 'Let's just do one more little thing.' There was a thing in [the] teaser trailer where I'd jumped up to the mike and said, 'I saw it! It's alive! It's huge!' And that all got turned into people thinking we were doing Voltron, because I speak so quickly that they thought I said, 'It's a lion. It's huge.' But I actually said, 'It's alive.'"

Some enterprising fans have decoded the message (SPOILER: he says what sounds like "It's still alive!" played backward).

"I apparently have some diction and enunciation problems," Reeves added.

There have also been rumors that there's something--perhaps a creature in the water--in the last shot featuring Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and Beth (Odette Yustman) in pre-attack happier times at Coney Island. Again, Reeves played it coy.

"Is there a creature?" he asked rhetorically. "I will tell you, there is something in that shot as well. There is something. You have to look at that shot. There is something going on in that shot. Whether or not it's a creature or something else ... "

Reeves added: "The thing about that shot is that almost nobody sees the shot, but once you see the shot and the thing in it, you'll never stop seeing it." Cloverfield is in theaters now. --Ian Spelling

-link-

 

[StlKj]

Re: Cloverfield......HOLY EFFIN A! [WARNING: SPOIL

I've now seen it twice, and I have to say, I like it even more now. I've checked out a lot of the viral marketing, not all, and what they've put out there really fleshes out the story and starts to draw a picture of what was going on. Hell, I've even checked out the characters' myspaces, where you gain a little more insight into each character, and even find out a possible motive for Marlena to stay in the picture (on Jason's myspace she makes a comment seemingly in jest, but in checking out the film again, you believe that maybe she wasn't joking).

All of the extra stuff (or easter eggs as the article GL provided calls them) just adds to the experience.

 

[theFallenGod]

Re: Cloverfield......HOLY EFFIN A! [WARNING: SPOIL

the thing that gets me the most are the mental midgets that went to this movie and are decrying it...

innovative, genius, and outstanding are the words I would use to describe this.

Those that hated it just didn't get it. They all wanted Monster Movie Archetype # 776

 

[falconfan]

Re: Cloverfield......HOLY EFFIN A! [WARNING: SPOIL

the thing that gets me the most are the mental midgets that went to this movie and are decrying it...

innovative, genius, and outstanding are the words I would use to describe this.

Those that hated it just didn't get it. They all wanted Monster Movie Archetype # 776

Or possibly they wanted plot, characterization, and a creative ending... maybe one that didn't have a half ass irrelevant semi-twist that was meant to surprise but adds nothing to the story. I know crazy things to ask for in a movie.

 

[theFallenGod]

Re: Cloverfield......HOLY EFFIN A! [WARNING: SPOIL

Or possibly they wanted plot, characterization, and a creative ending... maybe one that didn't have a half ass irrelevant semi-twist that was meant to surprise but adds nothing to the story. I know crazy things to ask for in a movie.

I don't know what movie you saw but there was a plot... the characters were believable and you actually felt for them... and the ending was good... better than "oh the monster is dead everyone is safe and happy like every other Hollywood monster movie."