Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008)

[Faux Hulot]

An interesting theory over at the Mobius Forum is that Cloverfield seems very similar to Miracle Mile.

If you've seen MM, you'll know that's no theory. The helicopter crash practically gave me a flashback.

[domino harvey]

Its quite strange that after all the hype caused by the original trailer, it's not included on the DVD

It's probably one of the Easter Eggs.

Stolen from DVDTalk, virtually indecipherable to me but for what it's worth

• Easter Eggs: Alpha Encounter - UNCONFIRMED - TAG VD #18 English
• Easter Eggs: Alpha Encounter - UNCONFIRMED - TAG VD #19 Spanish
• Easter Eggs: Alpha Encounter - UNCONFIRMED - TAG VD #20 French
• Easter Eggs: Alpha Encounter - UNCONFIRMED - TAG VD #21 Japanese
• Easter Eggs: Slusho!
• Easter Eggs: Person of Interest - JLVD Video 2
• Easter Eggs: Person of Interest - JLVD Video 5
• Easter Eggs: Person of Interest - JLVD Video 9
• Easter Eggs: Person of Interest - JLVD Video 11
• Easter Eggs: Rack 'Em & Pack 'Em
• Easter Eggs: Fighting the X

[tavernier]

Sold!

[maxbelmont]

I just recently caught the Matt Reeves' flick Cloverfield at the value cinema this past week and I have to admit I'm in the minority that actually liked the film. I'm not going to go down the easy road of claiming it's another metaphor for post 9/11 rhetoric or that there is no particular subtext (even though there is one huge subtext) in any part of the film. I'm going to just admit that I like it for what it is: a goddam good horror film.

[Svevan]

Watching Cloverfield did not evoke memories of 9/11.

9/11 amateur video
5 Minutes of Cloverfield

[toiletduck!]

What Svevan said, but also:

The biggest subtext, if there is one, is that Cloverfield does deal with how multi-media covers big emergencies in the country.

An aspect of our contemporary culture that was turned on its head by 9/11, no?

Also, I am in no way insulting the film through those comments. I think the film's ability to tap into a post-9/11 mindset is very well achieved towards the beginning of the film. You say why does it have to be post-9/11. I say, if it's successful, why not?

-Toilet Dcuk

[John Cope]

With a film like Cloverfield, he doesn't dumb down the film in that aspect because he doesn't need to. He knows that his audience has seen enough films of this genre to come up with the answer on their own.

Maybe, but alternatively one could argue that the numbing, routine, by-the-numbers familiarity of the film's set pieces is a negative rather than a positive. Reeves doesn't bother with backstory, true, but I suggest that's because he doesn't give a damn about it. While this can be an admirable trait it isn't here because all he does care about is his tricked up and thus purportedly fresh presentation of the aforementioned routine set pieces.

One of the things that I try to wrap my head around is that why does a film have to be a post 9/11 film? Ok, so it's set in Manhatten, it comes under attack, so it's automatically a post 9/11 film. What about the films the pre-date 9/11. Ghostbusters 1 comes to mind. I don't think that people are writing and saying that the Stay Puff marshmallow guy is a metaphor for Al-Queda. Watching Cloverfield did not evoke memories of 9/11.

All due respect to max, but I wonder if we saw the same film. His logic here is pretty weak. While it's true that Cloverfield may not have been conceived as some 9/11 analogy, it's just as possible that it was and, even if it wasn't, intent in this case seems irrelevant as the implication of images of buildings falling and masses running from an unknown fear while being swallowed up in billowing clouds of smoke could not possibly be missed by Reeves and company unless Reeves and company were morons, which is also possible. So Cloverfield has 9/11 resonance by default at the very least. Max's larger point seems to be more to the question of whether we can ever again be able to disassociate filmic images of NY destruction with contemporary imagination's most notorious one. This is a worthwhile question to consider though I suspect the answer has something to do with the inevitable generational loss of collective memory.

The biggest subtext, if there is one, is that Cloverfield does deal with how multi-media covers big emergencies in the country. In the age of YouTube, this film hits the mark.

And as with YouTube videos there's a stunning lack of irony, other than the sarcastic variety, at play in how the characters interact with media. The final testimonial scene is ludicrous rather than affecting for just that reason.

[maxbelmont]

So Cloverfield has 9/11 resonance by default at the very least. Max's larger point seems to be more to the question of whether we can ever again be able to disassociate filmic images of NY destruction with contemporary imagination's most notorious one. This is a worthwhile question to consider though I suspect the answer has something to do with the inevitable generational loss of collective memory

This is the point that I was trying to make. In my post 4 a.m. musings, I really missed, and missed badly, the point of what I was trying to say.

[Antoine Doinel]

Saw this tonight and I thought it was a well executed piece of popcorn cinema. After the (overly long) character introductions/party sequence, I thought Reeves really knuckled down and delivered a tightly edited thrill ride. There are a couple of great standout sequences and the handheld DV-gimmick never got old for me. There is a terrible goof toward the end of the film when

Spoiler

Hud is pulling Rob out of the helicopter using both arms and still manages to shoot film

but overall I found the film to be highly effective. Unfortunately, there appears to be a sequel in the works -- I don't think I need to ride this admittedly novelty flick again. But it was well done, and definitely a fun way to spend of a couple of hours.

[CSM126]

There is a terrible goof toward the end of the film when

Spoiler

Hud is pulling Rob out of the helicopter using both arms and still manages to shoot film

Spoiler

Well, to be fair, the camera was on a lanyard around Hud's neck so it's more than possible to leave the camera running with both his hands free.

[colinr0380]

I thought the film was a fun thrill ride (though I still prefer Blair Witch mainly because I get very scared of being lost in dark, creepy woods!) and particularly enjoyed the walking through the tunnels scene which of course made me think of James Herbert's Domain!

My one pretty major criticism of the film though is that there seems literally no breathing (or running) room for the characters - there's no sense of having to run more than ten feet into the next set to escape from the previous deadly threat. I'm guessing that was partly due to wanting to eliminate dead time from the film and keep it like a thrillride and partly through the way that the film was shot in little disconnected scenes pretending to be shot in sequence in real time. A couple of examples that I found particularly jarring were the scene where they get caught in the crossfire and run for the subway - Hud falls to the bottom of the stairs and is able to look up at the chaos outside and also over to the turnstiles which mark the edge of the next set. That does not seem to me to be far enough away from the chaos outside for them in the next sequence to (a) stay safe and (b) not to be able to hear quite clearly what is going on outside more than the bumps and rumbles they do hear.

Similarly after Marlena is taken away and the group is hustled out of the army HQ they literally go through a door into the corridor and then are told they're 'safe', but I wouldn't feel particularly safe standing just outside a room where a panic has occured. And when running back down the tower after rescuing Beth there are more jumps to get them out quicker. This might seem nit picking but I found those tiny details threw me out of the film a lot partly because the move from scene to scene has been made a bit too fluid. A bit of extra time (maybe just ten minutes which would still have left the film running under 90) spent just showing the characters running a bit further from one area to another might still have kept the tension up and covered this problem or at least strategically placed and obvious to the audience camera cut outs to make time jumps more obvious and make the flaw into a virtue. Without it I really don't get the sense of distance covered in crossing the city from the film, it still feels like the characters are moving from one created set piece to another with little continuity of space and tone, just the continuity of the actor's performances keeping things held together.

I'm not sure whether anyone else would find this a problem though and I did enjoy the ride the first time even while still noting the above, but I think this issue might stop it from becoming as repeatable as something like Blair Witch because the discongruities may become more rather than less apparent on further viewings. I would like to see this idea used again though with more of an attempt at realism showing the transitional moments giving more respect to the handycam style footage as an aesthetic device rather than exploiting the possibilities of the new ways it can hide loose ends.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

If you wanna get your Cloverfield geek on I stumbled across this blog dedicated to uncovering all the Easter Eggs pertaining to the film's backstory and possible sequel buried throughout the Internet.

There is some useful stuff too, like this post detailing all the various DVD incarnations of the film and what the differences are. Very helpful.

[domino harvey]

Our favorite former DVDBeaver reviewer has a hilariously inept review of this movie up on his blog, one which begins with talking about the Bourne Identity movies for no reason whatsoever.

[captveg]

Kudos to Bad Robot for keeping it a surprise all this time. JJ had everyone looking at Star Wars so intensely that this got made without any eyes on it, like a magician"s trick.