Cloverfield 3.5/5 reviewed by Mike

I have a theory about J.J. Abrams. That theory is that the man in brilliant at coming up with cool concepts, but drops the ball when it comes to developing them. It could be an interesting new premise, or a quirky twist on an old mainstay, but he's got a lot of ideas. Good ideas. The problem is that ideas are a dime a dozen. The idea is the easy part--it's the development of that kernel of an idea into something meaningful that makes an artist (writer, director, musician, etc.) into something great. Unfortunately, this is where Abram's often fails--as shows like 'Lost' and 'Alias' attest--the great ideas coming out of Abram's mind never seem to go anywhere, never get resolved, and end up spinning into labyrinthine trails of plot instead of something powerful. And Cloverfield is the same way, but even so, it sure is an entertaining ride.

The kernel of an idea for this flick is simple: take an old school monster movie, ala 'Godzilla' and the like, and tell it from an "on the street" perspective. What's it like to be on the ground during the monster's attack through the city? To further this effect, the film is simulated to look as if it were shot by a tiny handheld camera (which, in addition to having the longest battery life EVER also has 5.1 digital surround sound...). We meet a shallow group of young yuppie New Yorkers, who, at the verge of evacuating, find that they must go back into the heart of the city to rescue their trapped friend, who our protagonist is in love with.

You're forced to swallow a few ridiculous pills--the battery life, a large handful of seemingly impossible coincidences, army officers acting in a way no army officer ever would... But for me, those impossibilities were ok--after all, we're talking about a monster movie here, so it's all part of the suspension of disbelief. And aside from this, the movie is executed wonderfully. The camera style--although nausea inducing for many people--does a great job of really capturing the terror that an event like this would create. The effects look pretty good, and everything feels like it's really happening. There's a sense of scope, and a powerful, tangible sense of actually being in the city that a lot of action movies fail to grasp. The acting is what it should be, and, although there's no music in the film, the end credits have a great piece of music thats a fantastic tribute to the scores of old monster movies, if you're into that (I'm a closet Godzilla fanatic, so the piece really stood out to me).

Ultimately, though, as great as the execution is, the idea is flawed from the start. There's no resolution, you never find out what the monster was, where it came from, or if it gets stopped, or really anything else--because there can't be. If that happened, the film would betray it's own idea and be the weaker for it. But the severe lack of resolution or closure makes it weak as well. Although I felt incredibly disappointed by the film's ending, I can't imagine any other, better way for it to end (well, there's a few deatils I might change, but I'm nit-picky) without betraying itself.

All said and done, the movie was very entertaining and I felt like I got my money's worth. It's a monster movie that's scary and exciting the way most monster movies aren't. And although ultimately, it's not really a story as much as an exercise in film making, it's still a good time at the movies.

See this movie if:
-You're a monster movie fan--monster movies are scary again!
-You want some good escapism to get your mind off something
-You want a short, yet satisfying experience--this clocks in at just above 80 minutes.

Don't see this movie if:
-Lots of shaky cam makes you nauseous. Seriously, about 1/3 of the viewers with me had to leave. It's EXTREME.
-You're expecting deep characterization, relationships, or thematic material
-You want something deep to challenge your thinking. This is a fun saturday afternoon flick.

2007 Year In Review - by Chris (Joe)

My apologies dear reader, I have slacked off tremendously of late. I have been SEEING movies, just not sitting down and writing reviews for them. Partly I blame malaise, and partly the uninspiring movies I have been seeing of late. But, alas, it is a new year and I will vow to whip the crew back in to shape and we will remount our horses and ride on more vigorously than ever! Hazaa!

Now, with that out the way, I would like to do a special feature posting for you as a peace offering.

2007 was a pretty solid year for movies. I say this without even seeing everything I wanted to see, so that is certainly a good year. I missed quite a few movies that I know I would probably like fairly well. Nothing that I am absolutely heartbroken for missing, but still, you get the point. Yet, without seeing everything I intended to, I still took in some very quality films this last year, as well as some terrible films. In light of that fact, I want to do a brief year in review with some select categories and brief recaps. I’m also doing a special “Year In Review” rating on the same scale as our normal “out of 5” rating. This is simply my hindsight score for the movie, which may differ from my original review’s score based on a movie growing on me since the first time I saw it. Enjoy!


Movie I Liked That Got the Most Disagreements:
Fantastic Four 2 (Y.I.R. Rating 3/5) – FF2 got ripped by critics and comic bookers and my other movie friends, but I have to say, as a superhero type comic movie, I really liked it. It was straight forward, had pretty cool effects, decent story, and no weak performances. I’m sorry, but you were all wrong about this one…it was pretty good.

Most Anticipated Movie That Didn’t Let Me Down:
The Simpsons Movie (Y.I.R. Rating 3/5) – This category just refers to the often occurring problem I have where I will really be looking forward to a movie coming out and then it finally does and I end up not liking it. The Simpsons, thankfully, did not do that to me. I was really looking forward to it, it came out, and I was very pleased with the result. A good solid showing in the theater for one of my long time favorite shows.

Worst Use of Good Talent:
1408 (Y.I.R. Rating 2/5) – You have Sam Jackson and John Cusack AND your movie is based on a great Stephen King short story. The end result of that mix should be a home run. Instead 1408 was more or less a mess that left me feeling disappointed and a little sad.

Biggest Disappointments:
Transformers (Y.I.R. Rating 1/5) – I know a lot of you liked the movie. I’m sorry, I thought it was terrible. Not enough Transformers IN the Transformers movie, too many meaningless plot lines and human characters, bad CG designs, terrible dialogue, rushed ending…etc, etc, etc. I hated it. Sorry
I Am Legend (Y.I.R. Rating 2/5) – My good friend Matt described this movie perfectly: “28 Days Later mashed up with Cast Away, but not doing either of them as well as the original.” I think that is pretty spot on, PLUS they absolutely desecrated one of my favorite novels. Shame on you!

Worst of 2007:
Spiderman 3 (Y.I.R. Rating 0/5) – Terrible, terrible, terrible. What else can I say? I left the theater SO very mad after this one. Just an all around BAD movie that didn’t do anything well, in fact, it pretty much did everything poorly. If you want to learn how NOT to make movies, watch Spiderman 3. Too bad too, the first 2 were pretty enjoyable. Then again, the first 2 didn’t have gay, dancing, emo Peter Parker.

Top 3 of 2007:
#3 – Sunshine (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – Sci-Fi Thriller perfection. I love this movie. The best word to describe the experience of seeing it in the theater: Awe-inspiring. In my review when this movie came out I described sitting in my seat with my mouth gaping open for most of the movie. It is that awesome an experience. Go buy a big HD TV and watch this movie on it. The team of Alex Garland, Danny Boyle, and Cillian Murphy repeat their brilliance of 28 Days Later with Sunshine.

#2 – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – Not quite a western, not quite a biopic, not quite a historical period piece, Assassination ended up being some sort of hybrid of all of those genres, and VERY effectively. This is the sort of movie that you don’t want to end. The performances are SO good you wish you could watch the characters for days. If Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck don’t win Oscars for this movie it will be treasonous. An absolute beauty of a film.

#1 – Eagle Vs Shark (Y.I.R. Rating 5/5) – OK, let me say this first. Declaring a favorite of the year was very tough. If you talk to me in a couple of weeks I might put these 3 films in a completely different order. They are all that good. However, if hard pressed to declare a favorite, as I am doing now, I think Eagle Vs Shark would win first more often than not. The reason is simple: Sunshine and Assassination are amazing films, but they don’t hit as hard emotionally as EvS. I’m a sucker for a movie that gets you a little in the heartstrings…especially when it is a quirky comedy that does it, hence my love of Wes Anderson. But don’t misunderstand me, this is no Wes rehash! This is a completely unique and wonderful movie that will make you laugh out loud and then make you cry a little secretly to yourself so your girlfriend doesn’t see you. And if that isn’t enough, it is a product of New Zealand…so how can it not be great?!?


There you have it. My little Year in Review for you. I hope you liked it, and if you didn’t…well, you’ve broken my heart. See you in 2008 real hard!