Cloverfield afterthoughts

It's been a few days since I watched Cloverfield and I thought I'd write another post about it now that the whole experience has sunk in and passed. A review of sorts. This of course means that if you haven't gone to see it, stop reading. I will spoil it for you.

First off, I like that the actors are all no-names. I didn't recognize anyone in the film and that just adds to the realism. Had the movie featured the kids in Transformers or one of the dorks from Superbad, that effect would have been diminished. Duh.

The documentary style of the film is what really sells it and emphasizes the realistic aspect. Yes, some of the "amateur" qualities are probably digitally added (like the out of focus shots) to make it look more non-professional. You can see the production values and the slickness of it. But the point is Cloverfield pulls off the look and feel of four kids filming a disaster on their video camera, making it easier for the suspension of disbelief.

On a side note, I can't help but think of the documentary style described about the Navidson Record of the impossible labyrinth in House of Leaves. Yeah, I'm in the middle of reading it. But the similarities between this film and the book jumped out at me. Surprisingly, I found a much more concrete connection between Cloverfield and House of Leaves. The character Lily Ford actually has an interest in the book as explained by the Cloverfield Despoiler Wiki and as seen on her Myspace profile.

The unveiling of the monster itself also drives the movie along. I love that you only see bits and glimpses of the monster as the characters attempt their rescue mission. The brief shot of the monster's face as the four antagonists escape into the subway was startling! The limited camera angles and the lack of a long, cinematic view of the monster increases your desire to see what in the world New York is up against. I kept wanting the camera to move slightly to the side or to take at least two more seconds with a shot of the colossus. When you finally see a steady view of the thing towering over Hud, it becomes a great payoff for the audience. Very effective.

Now, there are some questions remaining. This doesn't mean that the films plot line is bad or lacking. Quite the opposite, it makes you want to delve deeper into the whole incident that occurs in Cloverfield.

• What, exactly, is the Cloverfield monster? An alien? A deep sea beast that lay dormant in the ocean? A weapon engineered by clandestine organizations with far-flung idealistic motives?
• What is the object that falls from the sky into the water in the Coney Island scene? Is that some missile to wake it up? Is that the monster itself? The monster egg? Does that mean it's an alien? Or was it dropped there on purpose?
  
• Since the events occur at "INCIDENT SITE U.S. 447" and the monster is still alive by the end of the film, does that mean other sites had attacks? By other monsters? Or this one monster that went on a rampage? By the way, who whispers "its still alive"?
  
• Are the tiny creatures baby monsters? Are they parasites on the Cloverfield monster? A separate species? Why do they make people explode? What happens after someone explodes?
  
• This question has really been bugging me: What happened to Lily? She got on a separate helicopter so did she survive? Did she make it out of New York? What's her story? Is she gonna be the basis for the sequel?

The good: Cloverfield is a great action/disaster film told in a convincing fashion that makes you want to keep watching until the monster is right in your face!
The bad: Having anyone spoil the movie for you.
The warning in theater ticket booths: This film may cause motion sickness.

Giant monsters never die!

As the first film I went to watch in 2008, Cloverfield was a good choice. It's the monster movie for modern times. It's told through the point of view of a hand held camera documenting New York as it is attacked by the monster. I've kept up with the hype of it for some time and I'm glad that it didn't disappoint. The trailers are widely available and set up the premise of the film. Other than that, I don't want to spoil any part of it (at least not now; I do have a lot of unanswered questions) so just go watch it.

I want pancakes!

This looks potentially osm:



The music quickly reminds me of part two. Luckily, from what I read, the series will take place right after the events of part two as Sarah and John Connor become criminals on the run. This is gonna need some good story writers to prevent it from being another franchise cash in. I'm still hooked on that music, though. That soundtrack was menacing and mechanical at the same time which I believe really captures the feeling of dread during Judgment Day. I see this as a positive sign so far for the tv series and I hope they keep that sense of panic and lurking evil for the storyline. Check out this trailer and this clip from the series which contain the great music I was talking about. You may recognize the girl Terminator from Firefly and/or Serenity. It would have also been cool if Linda Hamilton returned to the role of Sarah Connor but Lena Headey so far seems to get into the role pretty well. Sarah Connor now seem more nurturing and human than the eerily robotic quality that she had in T2, perhaps to show an evolution in her character after the events of that movie. More info on the wiki.

Here's something else:



I remember I first saw a preview of this before the lame Transformers movie although back then it was only a teaser and there was not name for the movie. It's getting quite some hype even though the monster has only been glimpsed between the two buildings in the trailer. Hopefully it lives up to the hype. More info here.

I remember this!

I watched the episode of the 1940s alien baseball player in Roswell, the carnivorous subterranean fungus, and the hillbilly kid with the lightning bolt power (with appearance by Jack Black). It made me remember a time during the 90s when I was really into UFOs and aliens. I read books, I watched the documentaries, I watched the films based on actual events and I watched the X Files.

One film that really scared me was "Fire in the Sky". I ended up watching it by myself which, at that young an age, wasn't the best idea. The realistic probability of the film, the horrible experiments, and the look of the freakin aliens messed up my head. The endless tunnel was also horrible to watch. I think I imagined myself confined to it and couldn't sleep. What freaked me out even more was the fact that, according to the film, it was based on actual events.

Of course, now I like the film and have researched the backstory that it is based on. Man, I have a book that outlines the steps to do IN CASE one experiences an encounter of the first, second, and third kind. I still keep in mind the tips I read in case I ever happen to film a ufo or extraterrestrial being. I can remember the various hotspots in the US for alien and ufo activity.

I remember how excited I was when, on a return trip to Mexico with my family, we stopped at Roswell, NM. The very town where, during the 1940s, a ufo is said to have crashed at and left one surviving alien. All of which was reportedly covered up and "explained" by the US government. I went to the museum, got a book, and a t-shirt. It's kind of weird that the incident has been commercialized but I guess the small town has to cash in somehow.

It's a strange turn of events that I now reside right next to Area 51. The place that doesn't exist but if you step past a certain boundary you'll be shot on site. It is now reported that this military installation is a testing site for new and classified technology. Of course, others believe that it holds deeper secrets and has something to do with reverse engineering alien technology. Others say actual alien beings work and/or live there.

Anyway, all this remembering of my past interests got me thinking about a general sense of a comeback. I mean, a lot of things are being remade or reimagined or sequel-ized or remixed. These are really the years of the comebacks. The Spiderman films are based on a comic from the 70s. So are the X-men films and the other Marvel films. The Lord of the Rings films are based on an old series of fiction. Street Fighter IV is development, which brings back memories of quarters spent at the arcade. Battlestar Galactica has been reimagined. Led Zeppelin just performed their first show since years ago. Even the X Files is getting another shot. Of course, these are just examples of some of the good comebacks. The other cash-ins on nostalgia are just that: cash-ins.

Which makes me think that this phenomenon is probably not limited to just this decade. I mean, things come back all the time. Street Fighter IV is the third sequel to an old arcade fighting game (which still has some old arcade cabinets still taking quarters). The comics have several stories reimagined and updates are made constantly. And most big bands or musicians always attempt a "reunion" or "comeback" at some point in their careers.

"Game over"

Just watched "Saw IV" today and really enjoyed it. The traps, the gore, the violence! Awesome. Another cliffhanger ending left me wanting to watch the next two movies already. Gotta wait until next Hallowe'en I guess.