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Author Topic: Cloverfield  (Read 1240 times)

Seanchai
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Cloverfield
« on: January 19, 2008, 01:05:34 PM »
I like less verite in my cinema.
 
Overally, it was okay. An average movie. I wouldn't rush out and see it unless, like myself, you really want to know what the secrets of Cloverfield are. You do get to see the monster - not as clearly as you'd like, but I know what it's like.
 
There are two problems with the movie. First, it's about fifteen minutes before the monster shows up. You get to see the party. And the party. More party. Party drama. More party. Party. Party. Party. Second problem: The goddamn shaky cam. I know it's supposed to be cinema verite and it's all part of the premise, but it got old after a while. They did some clever things with it at times, but it got old after a while (like, you know, three minutes).
 
There was some good stuff. Surprises. Nice humor.
 
Should you see it? Did you like the Blair Witch? If not, no, don't see Cloverfield.

Seanchai
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Seanchai
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Cloverfield
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2008, 01:29:55 PM »
Thinking about it, Cloverfield, I name thee BlairZilla.

Seanchai
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Drew

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« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2008, 02:00:36 PM »
I'm looking forward to seeing this on it's UK release.

And yes, I enjoyed The Blair Witch Project. Partial and confused 'documentary' accounts of monstrous and supernatural events have been a favourite of mine since I first read Lovecraft as a teenager.
 

beejazz

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« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2008, 12:50:23 AM »
Quote from: Seanchai

Second problem: The goddamn shaky cam. I know it's supposed to be cinema verite and it's all part of the premise, but it got old after a while. They did some clever things with it at times, but it got old after a while (like, you know, three minutes).
Seanchai

Yeah... shaky camera bugs the hell out of me... it's my real beef with things like new-school bsg, 24, and even the whole Bourne thing (parts of it, anyway). Do they think they're making things more exciting by shaking the camera while people talk in hushed serious tones?

Or is this something else?

Blackleaf

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Cloverfield
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2008, 09:39:21 AM »
Hearing about the shaky camera made up my mind -- I'll wait for the DVD so I can take breaks! :)

When I saw Blair Witch in the Theatre, by the end of the movie I was SO wishing they had gotten lost with a Steady Cam.  I mean... even semi-competent film students could hold the camera a bit more steady than that.

barf.

jgants

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« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2008, 11:13:14 AM »
Yeah, I too am another person who was thinking about seeing Cloverfield over the weekend but once I heard about the shaky cam decided that my money would be better spent elsewhere (like watching Alien v Predator Requiem at the cheap theater).

It's too gimmicky for me.  I loathed Blair Witch because of it (though Blair Witch would have been mediocre at best even with award-winning camera work since it was essentially listening to people whine for 90 min).
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Dr Rotwang!

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Cloverfield
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2008, 12:54:59 PM »
The trouble with ShakyCam is that while it can be annoying as hell, it can be equally effective in giving you that immediate, you-are-there experience.

Frankly I'm no big fan of it visually, but I like its effect.  Ergo, I am a very conflicted man torn from within by two desires...
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Callous

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Cloverfield
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2008, 01:46:00 PM »
Quote from: jgants
(though Blair Witch would have been mediocre at best even with award-winning camera work since it was essentially listening to people whine for 90 min).


You're not lost.  You have a stream.  Follow it downstream and you will get clear of the woods.  Stop crossing the stream and walking in circles!

By the end of the movie, I was SO rooting for the witch...
 

Seanchai
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Cloverfield
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2008, 02:28:23 PM »
Quote from: beejazz
Or is this something else?


As Dr. Rotwang said, I think its meant to be immersive. And I do think it helps with that. But I'd still rather not. Or, at least, I'd rather have Cloverfield with a lot less of it.

Still, I'm jonesing for an unrated Cloverfield DVD...

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J Arcane

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« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2008, 02:30:58 PM »
I fucking HATED Blair Witch with the intensity of a thousand suns.  Everything about both the movie and the marketing was a concentrated clusterfuck of stupid the likes of which I had hoped no one would ever try to emulate.

Apparently my hope was in vain.
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Blackleaf

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« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2008, 03:22:15 PM »
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!
The trouble with ShakyCam is that while it can be annoying as hell, it can be equally effective in giving you that immediate, you-are-there experience.


In small doses, absolutely.  But when it gets to the point that the audience is looking away from the screen because it's making them feel sick... it's doing the opposite.

In school I saw one experimental film where it was all Super 8 camera stuck out a car window as they drove across Canada  (aka grainy... jerky... blurring... trees).

After about 10 minutes I was starring at my shoe and waiting for class to end.  If your captive audience would rather look at their shoe than your movie... that's film making failure right there. :haw:

Dr Rotwang!

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« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2008, 09:27:53 PM »
Funny, I started looking at my shoe about....5 minutes into Sweeny Todd.
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jgants

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« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2008, 10:41:49 PM »
Quote from: Stuart
In small doses, absolutely.  But when it gets to the point that the audience is looking away from the screen because it's making them feel sick... it's doing the opposite.


Yeah.  I love the TV show, "The Shield" and liked the cinematography of the movie,  "The Kingdom" - and they both use some shakycam mixed with regular shots and other stuff.  I can handle that.  Even the last Bourne movie didn't really bother me.

But a whole movie of that ala Blair Witch is just too much.
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Tom B

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Cloverfield
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2008, 11:42:12 PM »
Just saw Cloverfield the other night.  I thought it was excellent, and enjoyed it more than about any movie I've seen in the last year.  One of the major reasons I enjoyed it actually was the shakycam approach and the sense of realism it lent the movie.  I also enjoyed the party scenes. It quickly established the characters and their relationships.  Very nicely done.

For comparison, I enjoyed The Blair Witch Project for the unique approach to filming it.  Didn't care that much for the actors (or characters), but thought it was an interesting take on the horror genre.  Never got around to picking up the DVD.  I'll definitely be picking up Cloverfield.
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RChandler

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Cloverfield
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2008, 12:49:49 PM »
I wasn't too fond of the cute twentysomething yuppies. I was hoping to see them all die. They had way too much screen time.

I was fond of the monster. It was cool. But we didn't get a glimpse of it until fifteen or twenty minutes in, and even then, they just kept teasing us with it. It wasn't actually shown to us until the end of the movie.

There were a few exciting/suspenseful sequences, but this felt a lot like the 1998 Godzilla (the execrable American one): too much people talking and running, not enough monster destruction. In a Japanese monster movie, Godzilla emerges, fucks shit up, then leaves, and *then* the humans show up and start planning retaliation (generals strategize, mad scientists scheme, pilots prepare to deploy crazy new experimental vehicles, et cetera). So you've got your fill of the beast, and you're ready to see people strike back.

The shaky cam was annoying, and I felt kind of ripped off by the way that we never got the glory shots that you expect in this kind of movie -- monster eats people, monster fights military, monster tosses cars around. Lots of people who have seen the movie still can't tell you exactly what it looks like.

Compared to The Host (an excellent monster movie from Korea), this is a big old 'meh'. Had I known, I would have waited for Cloverfield to come out on DVD.

In brief, I went to a monster movie, but what they gave me was Dawson's Creek.
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