Cloverfield (2008)
*SPOILERS THROUGHOUT*
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Lizzy Caplan, T.J. Miller, Jessica Lucas, Mike Vogel, Odette Annable, Clovie the Cloverfield Cloverer
Directed by: Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; Let Me In; The Pallbearer)
Synopsis: A monster attacks New York and privileged hipsters must film or DIE!
Best part:
I love it when scenes are shot like this, giving you just enough about what’s going on without overloading it. It’s the anti-Michael Bay.
Worst part: Hud talking.
Best line:
Nudity: The monster is shamefully unclothed.
Overall: A lot of people give this movie a lot of unfounded flak. Yes, the buildup with the relationship drags out way too long. Yes, everything seems to weirdly happen to just this group of people, like the monster is following them. Yes, Hud is annoying. Yes, there’s no reason 96% of this should have been filmed by him. But if you’re willing to put down the stupidity of him always having the camera on and shooting everything while his life is in danger, then it’s really a fantastic giant monster movie, and probably the best one in the past several years. This movie just hits the right note with me. I love the way it’s shot (again, forgetting the guy constantly filming) and the overall feel of this huge event going on while focusing on just a handful of people (much like Signs, which I actually really like until the ending). I liked the parasites (also kind of dumb, but made for a cool subway scene) and the infection that makes people explode. Compare this movie to Super 8, which is a much more straightforward monster movie that is really pretty awful. Cloverfield hooked me and a lot of people in with its marketing campaign of puzzles and mystery, with everyone trying to figure out what the hell the movie was about and what the monster was (like people insisting it was a live-action Voltron movie, which wouldn’t make any sense to keep secret) and I honestly thought it paid off. If you’ve already seen this and didn’t like it or haven’t seen it at all, you should check it out and just clear the camera thing out of your mind and enjoy the ride.
Score: 9 fields of clover and monsters (out of 10)
Hard Ticket to Home Video 
It’s been a long time since I’ve sen this but I don’t remember liking it. Not enough monster, too much talking. I should watch it again.
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I agree Brian, I love this kind of massive event viewed through a small lens kind of thing. Same with Signs. Hud was an asshole though
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If they ever met, this monster would be Godzilla’s bitch.
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I will never forgive Super 8 for being the bastard that it was at the end. J.J. Abrams and I are now filing divorce settlement papers. Fuck that guy.
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But despite the hundreds of thousands of pieces of metal lying around and being sucked up by the alien’s machine it needed the kid’s locket of love in order to take off!
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Worked as a monster movie. Not much else, except for that. Good review.
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Well good thing it was a monster movie.
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Yeah, it’s not a bad movie I don’t think. Can’t believe you didn’t like Super 8 though! Loved that!
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It was way too schmaltzy and made very little sense.
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I really didn’t like this one when I first saw it, but it’s been a while. Maybe I ought to give it another go as you say!
Adam.
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Hey! : ) For some reason I was expecting you to trash this and was contemplating whether I should admit that I actually kind of fucking loved this movie at the time. Not seen it since – wondering if it’s aged well (not that it’s exactly old) & if I’d still like it as much.
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It’s not the first time you’ve been wrong about me and it won’t be the last.
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I’m glad you like this one! I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to when I first watched it. And I actually kind of like Hud…don’t hold that against me.
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Someone once sent me a pic of cloverfield and they thought that the pic was real. wtf
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Was it the one where the monster had huge jugs?
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LOL ! I think that one was real!
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Maybe fake. I’d have to give them a good squeeze to know for sure.
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I love this movie! One of my guilty pleasures. Of course I also enjoyed Super 8. Maybe I’m just a sucker for giant monsters?
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The Super 8 monster was more medium-sized. About the size of Godzilla’s big toe.
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Must be a bitch for that guy to buy shoes!
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He’s more of a flip-flop kind of monster.
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