Comments on: Review: Cloverfield

By: John

John — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:50:59 +0000

Finally saw this one, and was really impressed!

I didn’t know anything about it going in, except that the Statue of Liberty bought it. (See kids? The Internet should be used in moderation. It spoiled half of Peter’s review!)

Loved the camera work, even after I missed the first shot of the monster. Then the cast decides to REWIND THE TAPE to check out what I missed and leave me hanging? Awesome idea. Made me really anxious for the next glimpse I could get, and more vigilant in my viewing.

(Gimme a break about the budget though. I’m an audience member, not the studio’s accountant. What do I care?)

Thought the ending was perfect, save for the final shots of the monster. Keep that damned monster confined to the shadows and jumpy cuts, damnit! I hate having shit spelled out for me when there’s no reason to do so. It’s a fucking epidemic these days that needs to be stopped. (Right on, crackerjunx.)

By: R.J. Sayer

R.J. Sayer — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:51:17 +0000

agree with the review.

dead on, man. dead fucking on.

however, unlike everybody else, i find myself disliking the film as time moves on.

but maybe that’s just because most of the people i talked to actually liked it, and feel the need to defend it.

but with every waking second, i want to punch the whole bad robot crew in the face more than i did the second before.

one of the key problems: they were so focused on building a mythology - a marketing plan - that they forgot to build the fucking monster.

By: brandon

brandon — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:42:21 +0000

Fine piece of writing there Peter, I too enjoyed this film, but that enjoyment grew after hearing the same complaints from my audience as well. I didn’t call the old man in front of me a douche bag, but I did kind of feel sorry for him and for the rest of the people in that theater as well. I felt sorry for them because the whole point of going to a movie is to be entertained. Which cloverfield can definitely accomplish if given the chance. Instead they left upset or disappointed because “no one saved the day” or because “everyone died”. I’ll be interested to see how this does after it’s 2nd week of release, hopefully if it continues to do well people will realize not all good stories have to have a happy ending.

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:26:10 +0000

I have to say I was kind of disappointed, because I was thinking it was a Godzilla movie until nearly the end.

Jokes aside, I really didnt like the camera. It made me ill at times, and I’ve never had a bought of being sick in a movie, or even in the G-Force Accelerator. The spinning around was too much for me though. I cursed aloud (to the horror of 2 children sitting in front of me) when the bridge went out, because I couldnt see anything!

The other thing that really irritated me about cloverfield, is where the monster apparently eats people, but the bodies are still there.

That makes sense, right? Giant monster, but the bodies…still stay there.

By: crackerjunx

crackerjunx — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:23:34 +0000

let me say that i didnt read anything about this movie going into it. none of said speculation or predictions. i saw only the same trailer repeatedly and at the end, having endured stupid high school should-have-been-knuckle-children, i still loved it. the entire ride. it washed away all the californication of movies today. i loved the fact that we just dont know whats happening. i love the cast. the realism of the romantics. if asked. would i go back? yes. there is one person i would go back for. thats the humanity of this movie. it made it real for me. it was terrifying and had me pent up from the first rumble. the reality of the monster movie is that it just is what it is. godzilla was ridiculous and weepingly boring. and had terrible casting. this group of fresh faced adults, and i cant remember the last good movie i saw where no one looked like a child, made it real. it felt real. the bridge coming down. the roof top. the helicopter. and the story arc that had motion and emotion even without words. it was genius. we are so used to being spoonfed every idea. every small piece of information. every concept beyond our own reality. this movie demands you be semi intelligent enough to keep up and pay attention and adapt to the clusterfuck of chaotica. and anyone who didnt realize they began the movie already on the boat heading down the river styx must have been a part of the no child left behind program. and im sorry that happened. because the title itself warns you, at least in my opinion. i thought this movie was one of the best theater experiences ive ever had. besides the waste of oxygen poorly raised forever virgins children who sat behind me. may a large bug crawl into you nose and eat your face off while you sleep. honestly this redefines monster movies for me.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:54:30 +0000

Ha; I had the exact same thing happen in my theater. There was a fairly elderly couple in the row behind us, actually (one of them was crinkling a bag so much they must have eaten every last kernal of popcorn), that complained audibly when the movie ended. I love how people instananeously hate something when it isn’t what they expected.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:36:13 +0000

Same here. Credits hit and I thought, “Meh, Not Bad…” Then the theater erupted in those same cries of, “That Movie BLEW!” and I just started thinking, “It wasn’t that bad…” And then I started defending it more, when 45 seconds earlier I was resigned to it just being alright.

And then some schmuck in a red shirt kept talking so loudly to his unimpressed date about just how bad it was all the way out to the parking lot. At which point Christine, once again, reminded me how full of hate I am, so I ceased calling the guy a douchebag.

But he was.

By: Ripp

Ripp — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:07:33 +0000

I think I liked it even more when the credits rolled and about 90% of the people in the theater went “What? That’s it? That movie sucked.” Just because of the way they ended it. LOL @ stupid people.