Cloverfield (**½)
Director: Matt Reeves (Felicity)
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas
Seen: February 9th 2008
**½ Out of ****
Using relatively unknown actors, producer JJ Abrams has created an extremely cool and memorable disaster flick. The hand-held camera also does this film the world of good, since it makes you feel like you are right there in the action, at times nauseatingly so.
The special effects are, even though toned down, brilliant, and there’s not a single moment that you feel like this could not be a real video recording found at the scene after the event.
The first 20 to 25 minutes drags things out a bit since the film starts with a surprise party for Rob, who’s leaving for Japan. Now if only he had left earlier… suddenly the building shakes, the power goes down, and things spiral out of control, with our group headed for the streets. And just as they reach ground level something comes flying through the night sky, glancing off a building, trashing cars, things explode, and it comes to a stop in the street. It’s the head of the Statue of Liberty… fantastic.
Now our cameraman starts running a lot. And he can’t keep the camera still. And the motion sickness can most certainly grab you by the throat from here on in. In fact one of our friends left the cinema about halfway through, too much camera motion. But below that there are some genuine scares, above ground level our group flees from the terrible monster, the GodzillaTM -like apparition raining down destruction on the city. And as they go below ground into the subway levels the monster’s little (and incredibly creepy and horrifying) “friends” terrorise them. And the viewer, since we’re practically there anyway with this filming technique.
And somewhere in the back of our heads this handheld camera makes us wonder, how is its battery still going? A small consideration, I know, but the movie, above all, must go on…
Now as you see at the beginning of the film, the tape you are watching was found in the old Central Park in New York, and this is what the military (or whoever picked it up) has to go on if they want to figure out this attack. A very effective film with actual scares and actual people. This was fun, but I don’t know if I want to do it again.
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas
Seen: February 9th 2008
**½ Out of ****
Using relatively unknown actors, producer JJ Abrams has created an extremely cool and memorable disaster flick. The hand-held camera also does this film the world of good, since it makes you feel like you are right there in the action, at times nauseatingly so.
The special effects are, even though toned down, brilliant, and there’s not a single moment that you feel like this could not be a real video recording found at the scene after the event.
The first 20 to 25 minutes drags things out a bit since the film starts with a surprise party for Rob, who’s leaving for Japan. Now if only he had left earlier… suddenly the building shakes, the power goes down, and things spiral out of control, with our group headed for the streets. And just as they reach ground level something comes flying through the night sky, glancing off a building, trashing cars, things explode, and it comes to a stop in the street. It’s the head of the Statue of Liberty… fantastic.
Now our cameraman starts running a lot. And he can’t keep the camera still. And the motion sickness can most certainly grab you by the throat from here on in. In fact one of our friends left the cinema about halfway through, too much camera motion. But below that there are some genuine scares, above ground level our group flees from the terrible monster, the GodzillaTM -like apparition raining down destruction on the city. And as they go below ground into the subway levels the monster’s little (and incredibly creepy and horrifying) “friends” terrorise them. And the viewer, since we’re practically there anyway with this filming technique.
And somewhere in the back of our heads this handheld camera makes us wonder, how is its battery still going? A small consideration, I know, but the movie, above all, must go on…
Now as you see at the beginning of the film, the tape you are watching was found in the old Central Park in New York, and this is what the military (or whoever picked it up) has to go on if they want to figure out this attack. A very effective film with actual scares and actual people. This was fun, but I don’t know if I want to do it again.
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