One of the nice things about my regular web gig is that I can rationalize going to see advance or midnight screenings of movies. As some PW regulars have mentioned Cloverfield in various comment threads, I’m cross-posting an expanded version of my usual non-spoilery review here. Indeed, I am putting most of it it”below the fold,” given the premium the movie’s makers put on secrecy.
Cloverfield is — as the trailers and ads suggest — “The Blair Godzilla Project” — a giant monster movie told as a video verite mockumentary from the point of view of a group of friends and acquaintances in NYC at the wrong time.  There are some non-spoilery viral videos of faux Italian, Spanish and German news clips that suggest the feel of the movie collected at /Film.
Would you like to know more?
My general verdict is that Cloverfield is good, but not great. I suppose NYC natives may feel queasy about some of the 9/11-esque imagery, though similar images appeared in Spielber’s non-NYC-based War of the Worlds. I do not think there is any sort of 9/11 political subtext to the movie, which was a relief.ÂÂ
I congratulate the filmmakers for managing to keep the monster — and one of its unique facets — largely secret in the Internet age. I’ll put this one spoiler in white text, so that you will not see it unless you highlight it with your mouse: unlike your traditional Godzilla-esque monster, the beast here has some sort of lice or parasites that leave their host to do some very nasty things themselves. End of spoiler.
What makes Cloverfield good, as opposed to great, however, is that the backstory for the main characters is not as fleshed out as it could have been, given the clever way it was presented. This weakness, combined with the fact that the focal character, Rob, is not always sympathetic, almost ensures that the character the audence is likely to identify with the most is Hud, the movie’s largely unseen cameraman.ÂÂ
That dynamic gives the movie a strange symmetry, as the monster itself is more glimpsed than seen. Indeed, I suspect people will debate whether the monster should ever be fully revealed. My take would be they should have actually waited for the moment where it is fully revealed, and shown a bit less in a couple of distance shots.ÂÂ
Cloverfield is a movie ultimately more about style than substance.  But is stylish and gives the audience enough to keep it worried about whether some or all of the cast will survive.
P.S.: Personally, I missed the tiny, singing Asian hottie twins.
OT, but does anyone know what the hell is going on in New York this morning? I turned on the TV and both CNN & Fox are broadcasting from Atlanta and saying there was some kind of “Incident” last night.. and totally not giving any specifics.. The only footage I’ve is some jumpy home video footage from Jersey.. but it looks like NY’s on fire.. and I’d swear it looks like F-18s dropping their load on the city.. but thats nuts.. What the F**k is going on?? Even the local military bases are closed.. Local news says Ft Lewis is locked down and transport jets are pouring out of McChord and Boeing Field going east.. One guy army guy they interviewed mentioned an operation ‘Cloverfield’.. WTF is ‘Cloverfield’?
Hud or CHUD?
good Lord. run outside and jump in front of the first truck you see. that is the only escape.
I almost dont want to see the movie. It cant help but be a letdown in some ways if only because it’s the end of what’s been a very entertaining story.. The movie isn’t the main attraction in this case. It’s just the final chapter in a story that’s been unravelling for months as an elaborate viral marketing campaign from JJ Abrams and company..
The 21st century person gets most of their macroview of the world through TV and the internet.. Only a tiny part is seen first hand. I’ve never seen the horrors of the Iraq war with my own eyes.. or the displaced poor of New Orleans after Katrina.. or the Clinton smarm.. Or Britney sans panties.. yet I feel like I have because TV and the Internet have brought them all into my home..
For the last year Bad Robot Productions and others have created a story filled with evil multinational corporations polluting our world and poisoning us with Slusho, a dedicated environmental underground that makes PETA and Greenpeace look like weekend warriors and numerous ordinary people that go about their lives chatting back and forth on MySpace or Facebook or their own websites.. They created a world that’s every bit as ‘real’ as the one I read about in the news each day.. except their’s has a better monster..
Now it’s 01/18/08… I hate to see it end.
I was awakened by a lou8d noise this morning, and as I lay there in the darkness trying to figure out what was going on I felt a strange impact on my head.
Then my wife said, “Turn off that damned alarm clock, will you!?”
I think the charm is in the tension between the B-Movie mythology that they make no apologies for and the sincerity and intimacy of the style they shoot it in. Hillary would probably approach this movie with a lot of enthusiasm cause she has the mad suspension skillz.
It would have made a great companion piece to “Cloverfield” to film a couple hours of faux CNN/FOX news coverage of the attack of the monster on New York.. It would be interesting to imagine how the Cable News would cover such an event.. How much the government would allow to be shown.. how much suppressed.. The stories from the imbeds and Peter Arnet describing the shock and awe from atop The Dakota.
Anyone remember the movie that was filmed to look like the CNN coverage of a nuclear terrorist attack from a boat in Charleston Harbor in SC? That was scary in the way it was almost indistinguishable from the real life tragedies I’d seen up to that point.
I loved that movie.
The best review I ever heard of the Blair Witch Project was “idiots who couldn’t find their way out of the woods get killed while filming themselves.” If this is no better, and the characters in the movie are no more sympathetic than those fools in Blair Witch, then I say the heck with Cloverfield. I can watch my own kid’s videos of the dog if I want badly blurred, jumpy, unframed video.
It was Special Bulletin (1983)
Check it out if you get a chance. It was years ahead of it’s time in portraying the way cable news would come to come live breaking events.
should say “come to cover..”
oops..
I absolutely loved Blair Witch. I think a lot cause I did a lot of spooky foresty things when I was little. Whatever, it really worked for me.
blair witch was great, a year before it was released and you had no idea it wasn’t real. those of us who saw it long before it made it to theatres had something special, because as time went on, it became obvious that it was all fake. but for those few months when you didn’t know it was, it was possibly the scariest thing you ever saw.
The bouncing camera made me want to puke after about 15 minutes.
I’m probably not the only regular here that remembers Celluloid Wisdom.
Cap’n Ed members cause he still links there.
That is what this site was called when I first came here, Slarti.
Yeah, a little tribute for the long-timers.
I did forget to mention that if the bouncing camera thing affects you, do not sit up close for Cloverfield.
Austin Mike,
The charcters here end up having more motivation than the BW kids, and are on balance nicer, iirc. But early on the movie one of the main charcters does call Rob a “douchebag,” and not without justification.
I would add that the viral Internet stuff may enrich your viewing, but is by no means needed. This is very much a stand-alone piece.
I have some thoughts on the realtionship of Cloverfield to Special Bulletin, which was a more direct descendant of the Welles take on WotW, but I don’t want to get spoilery.
I think in this sort of situation in Manhattan I’d probably look for a douchebag and then stick real close. Especially with the bigger monsters I don’t always trust my own instincts.
Blair Witch was awful. Just awful. I never saw a more boring movie in my life, nor one where I so much wanted the characters to die so the movie could end.
Did I mention that the character were idiots and I wanted them to die? Or that the movie was so boring I kept falling asleep? Oh, and the ending was stupid.
curmudgeon. You are so never going to Disneyland with me.
I got kicked off Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland.
BW has been out awhile so I’ll be a little spoilery in suggesting that Jim in KC wanting the characters to die and not liking the ending is not entirely consistent.
The Blair Witch Project was one of the stupidest, most inane films I had ever seen until I was walking alone through the woods at dusk roughly 6 months after having seen BWP. Only then did it become one of the most terrifying films ever.
My terror quickly subsided and my opinion of the movie returned once back in the safe confines of my cabin. *grin*
Yeah, but Karl, they could have died three minutes into that piece of shit and I would have been much happier. Assuming that they did die, which I can’t definitively say is true. That guy at the end looked like he was just taking a leak in the corner, if you ask me.
Blair Witch WAS pretty bad, but I know plenty of people who loved the darn thing. Different strokes and all that. The “bouncy POV camera” is going to annoy the crap out of me. I still wonder why hollywood thinks we like the B-POV type filming? It doesn’t make me feel like I’m there as I don’t see bouncy when I move around, my mind filters it out. Nature’s software > MS or Apple anyday. /shrug
Still, I’m going to see it tonight and hopefully I won’t long for Mothra. Mmmm… Mothra. Kaiju wa sugoi desu!
The only expectation I carry with me are the expectations of being mildly entertained. Any more than that and I might have to see the new Star Trek film by JJ Abrams as well.
Awesome .. I’ve been looking up reviews and info for this film, and it seems to be getting pretty solid ratings. And it’s really interesting that they’re promoting the film with the fallen Statue of Liberty..it definitely sets an undertone of the America being attacked..Maxim actually did a little bit on it.
http://www.maxim.com/Entertainment/MoviesThatMangletheStatueofLiberty/slideshow/673.aspx?src=dx18:mtd
MOTHRA-SON, KAITEI NO MITSU !!!!
(ok.. my Japanese is pretty limited.. so sue me..)
I would have enjoyed The Blair Witch Project more without the viral advertising and elaborate backstory.. if I’d gone expecting a “Tense Psychological Thriller” rather than a witch horror movie… Even a perfectly aged filet mignon wont do when you’re hankerin for a greasy Cheeseburger.
OK, just got back from seeing Cloverfield. AWESOME! SUGOI! I was amazed at how well it worked. I think Karl is correct in how Rob is mostly not easy to identify with, but I think this was on purpose. Huck is us, the audience, and Huck is reacting in much the way we would, I think. Huck is socially clueless and portrays our confusion as well. I fully recommend this movie. Also, the Star Trek preview is pretty sweet as well.
*SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER*
I think the “little” bugs falling off are parasites. Many creatures in the ocean (and above water as well) have some sort of parasite that is part of their life cycle. I think Kipling had something to say about fleas and such, and this is what I think they are. I also thought they were more of a plot device than anything else, as something that lives deep underwater, eating the whatever off of a giant beastie, I’m sure is going to have trouble when it emerges into the relative lower pressure of our airy environment.
Then again, who knows? I’m waiting for a sequel now. Something with more explanation.
*END OF SPOILER* *END OF SPOILER* *END OF SPOILER*
Also, there’s plenty of full frontal nudi… er, monster footage, so I’m not exactly sure what Karl is referring to. Still, Kaiju lovers will find this a quite excellent addition to the genre.
If the music at the end of the credits doesn’t have you singing “MOTHA-RAHHH,” then you need to turn in your official “Shobijin Appreciation Society” card when you leave.
Now if only I understood what the faint and crackled messages at the end of the movie credits were…