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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: Cloverfield (1-18-08) » Cloverfield: General / Updates
[REVIEW] Minneapolis Free Preview Showing 1/14
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Pandafarmer
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Joined: 09 Jan 2008
Posts: 69

 		[REVIEW] Minneapolis Free Preview Showing 1/14
Just walked in the door from the Minneapolis preview showing. Went with a pretty big crew of people and got a nice varied slice of what people thought. I will say that the "Paramount Screening" thread covers spoilerish stuff. I hadn't read the spoilers there on purpose beforehand, but looked right before starting this thread. He/she was right on and didn't miss a beat.

Since we all know the premise of the movie so I'll go ahead and cut to the chase and really review the thing...

THE PROS...

- Likable characters with great snaps of dialog. The reactions are very believable, and the banter between friends, even in crisis is very much in tune with what I'd think my group of friends would behave under similar circumstance. Some fantastic quips that broke up the white-knuckle action. You knew they were friends and that they were running on desperation and instinct alone.
- The creature and general EFX shots are fantastic. I had just seen I Am Legend and my biggest complaint there was everything looked so "fake" and CGI-ish. This movie was filled with beautiful effects shots and they did a fantastic job "blowing things up." Crisp city scapes, and the brief glances we get of the creature are always awe inspiring.
- The sound was solid, esp during scenes where the monster wasn't on screen. You always felt it was nearby and that it was a close threat.
- Action was fun, constant, and never slipped into boredom. There were definitely some instances of non-believable moments that took me out of the world, but the movie chugged along at a healthy pace and always kept you wanting to see the next bit of destruction and monster.
- You really get the feel that this thing is HUGE, and very much unstoppable. While they don't make any efforts to explain it's origin... they don't need to because you're having so much wide-eyed fun.

THE CONS...
- Hud's point of view was a little unrealistic. For myself... if I'm responsible for "documenting things" and I keep telling everyone that is my goal... would I ignore the 30 story beast looming in the distance, or would I zoom in on my buddies? This makes for a few instances where we as the audience WANT to see the monster, but are only given very brief shots and quick pan aways. I would have loved to get more than a few seconds to really look at the thing.
- The "plot." A wee bit thin, and definitely could have used more expansion. We get it... he's in love, he wants to rescue his girl. But why? All we are really given is glimpses of dialog that hint that they have always had this "thing" that recently came into fruition. Granted, under crisis... we reach out to the comfort of others... but why are all of his friends going along with this hairbrained idea? Once they finally reach her building... the amount of effort they put into reaching her is simply ridiculous.
- The last 10 mins.
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Once they get out of said ridiculous situation and try to escape in the chopper, things go very badly. We are then to believe that they survive the 70 story plunge from the air in a chopper and their well armored pilots don't. Some hours later they all crawl out of the wreckage, only to be face to face with the creature (who apparently was waiting there the whole time and no one noticed). This huge creature thinks it's much more interesting to eat something 5 feet tall instead of just moving along to find a way of escape from the army. This also got a little old that no matter WHERE the group goes... the monster was not too far behind. Manhattan is BIG. The monster is too... but I find it a little odd that no matter where the group goes... MGP is just minutes behind. But to be fair, how else are we to find ourselves within sight of it for movie's sake?

- Camera shake. While it never bothered me once (someone who gets sick on roller coasters), it definitely had a different effect on others. One of my friends said he'd only watch it again on DVD so he wouldn't have to deal with the shake, and there was a large pool of barf in the aisle on the way out of the theater.

Overall, it was a VERY enjoyable time. The move outweighs my complaints with a absolute FUN monster movie. It's definitely worth owning on DVD, and I would personally pay to see it again and suggest it to anyone who has been looking forward to a solid brainless monster picture and have been disappointed by over-Hollywood style creature films. If you're going to go and be picky about the lack of "Game elements," then wait for the DVD and don't ruin it for your friends who don't care what a Slusho is.

Going to bed, so I can't stay up and answer questions... but I'l be on in the morning! Hope that helps!

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:33 am
Last edited by Pandafarmer on Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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starshiptrooper
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 		Date of the attack is when?
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:46 am
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The Enchanted One
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

 		Can you tell us what happens after Rob and Co. are in the convenience store? You know when the widget ends? Very Happy

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:48 am
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Cookson
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 		Is this the monster? Or CLOSE to it?

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o306/WmHohenzollern/cloverfield5flat.jpg

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:49 am
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xboyonfirex
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 		eh, your cons are fickle... It's a movie. yeah, if it were completely real. i probably wouldn't take my camera off the monster... but that doesn't make for a good movie though. And honestly, if you're talking about realism- it's a monster the size of a skyscraper... that's not very realistic. So your cons are just fine with me. Because I'm going to watch a movie, not actual events.

And I am now hoping that the date this all happens is May. Just to piss some of you off. What I don't get is that we're doing this ARG/ARE/VMC to get away from life. Life tends to be too stressful. But for some of you are making this ARG/ARE/VMC stressful.

[QUESTION]

Is it Jamie on the couch?

Has anyone noticed that in all these interviews, no one throws any emphasis on the ARG/ARE/VMC? Not exactly important is it?

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:00 am
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Pandafarmer
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Joined: 09 Jan 2008
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 		Hey guys... sorry to bitch and run... as an answer to questions:

1 - Date of the attack is NOT in January. I didn't grab the actual date, but yes, the movie is OOG. The date stamp is on the camera the entire time, and I just didn't think to pay attention to it after I saw that the party happened as "not in Jan." The theory appears to be that the tape is found in January, or is being broadcast to the "viewer" then, though that would be complete speculation.
2 - The wiget ends and
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
the windows blow out. It's not as huge an explosion as they lead you to think, and they quickly gather outside the store and start debating frantically about what to do. Jason brings everyone together and they decide to walk to the Bridge and get out of town. This is very realistic since I was just in NYC a couple of weeks ago and found out through this site where 401 Broadway was. I then walked down Broadway and found myself right there by the bridge much to my surprise! To think I had trotted the same path as our beloved team of MGP nibblets!

3 - The picture:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
That is indeed the closest picture I've seen to the monster, and I hadn't seen that one yet. I had just thought before bed last night that the other one with the flatter head just didn't match quite right for me, but that one is much better. BUT, as everyone else has said, you really DON'T get a clear shot full body of him (which is one of my complaints). I would say that the picture makes him look like he moves like a freaking dynamo and uses his muscles like a "monster" would punching and busting shit up, but really he moves quite awkwardly. When I remember read that he "moved like a bat" I had a hard time picturing it, but it makes perfect sense to me now. When you see him from the ground, you never really know what part of the body you're seeing, and it's not until you see it from the air do you really get an idea of how this thing works physically. They really try to give you a sense of scale early on, which is really why I didn't buy the attack on Hud.

4 - my gripes. Yeah I'm bitching a bit, but I am also going on what some of my friends said too. We are all average joe movie fans who love us some good monster movie action. It's definitely one of the best films I've seen in a while and I feel satisfied, not disappointed at all even after "buying into the hype."
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
I would say I was perfectly fine with everything until they get to Beth's apartment. If we are supposed to treat this film as a supposed "found videotape" and Hud keeps talking about how he HAS to document everything... I just have a really hard time really justifying all the characters behavior. Even when I was a twenty something I never would have been able to climb 50 flights of stairs then hop over a collapsed building top that looks like it could come down at any minute. They don't play the romantic angle up nearly as much as they could have to justify this, and the only thing I really can say is that they must have been in some severe survival mode to go to the lengths they do to rescue her.

They clearly could have made the film 10 mins longer, showed some really heart rending scene from Coney Island to make us go "I Get It!" and given us a better ending than the one we have with Hud being eaten and the others cowering under a bridge while some obvious real action was going on that we never see. Heck I would have been thrilled if the chopper had flown off safely and they show a shot of NYC being ripped to shreds by bombs.

5 - As for Jamie... I honestly have not followed the Jamie website, so I cannot confirm. Sorry!
6 - The ARG... What I really think will happen, and I HOPE will... is that the game continues. We will see some "aftermath" type stuff and find out what happens to the creature. I can say that from the ending:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
I don't think they NUKE NYC, they just carpet bomb the place enough to cause some serious damage. We are never given any proof they do anything but become more aggressive with the bombing campaign. That and we know Lily gets out alive, or are at least not given any clear proof her chopper goes down. She could very well "carry the torch."


Hope this helps. I'm quite busy at work so I may not be able to answer more questions till later... sorry!

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:42 am
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carson1213
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 		no screenings until the 15th
How can you see it on the 14th?
I thought we established no screenings til the 15th. Cloverfield
clues even says Minneapolis screenings on the 15th, not the
14th. I am beginning to think that JJ is actually all these
posters and there is no actual movie. Just some
big psychological experiment.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:43 am
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Pandafarmer
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Joined: 09 Jan 2008
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 		I hope you're not being serious. Just go and enjoy the movie. As for doubts on when the Minneapolis screening was:

http://www.sourcecandg.com/

This is the comic store that "sponsored" the event. Feel free to call them.

As for cloverfield clues, I sent him the info myself once I found out, he must have assumed I got the info wrong since it was a day off. I don't know how they got to be the first place in the world to publicly screen it, but they do most of the early screenings of sci-fi and fantasy films. I saw Silent Hill the same way and got my tickets from this same place.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:06 am
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Pandafarmer
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 		http://www.1-18-08news.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7173

Found this on a another site, a guy who was at my same showing.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:34 pm
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konamouse
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 		Re: [REVIEW] Minneapolis Free Preview Showing 1/14
Pandafarmer wrote:
and there was a large pool of barf in the aisle on the way out of the theater.


Ugh!
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:55 pm
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lethalvenom
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 		pandafarmer, what would you give the movie out of 10 and and why?
also, did you think the monster was awesome or shit?

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:44 pm
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Pandafarmer
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 		I'd give the film a solid "B." Most of my party ranged from "B" to "A-" in their ratings... My gripes above were basically the main gripes of everyone in my group. The only person in my group of 8 or so who didn't like it was my wife, who doesn't enjoy monster movies at all in general. Even then she admitted it was "fun" and a "good monster movie."

The monster is really unique. It doesn't run around just bashing things, it's clearly a stranger in a strange land and behaves quite irritated and confused as opposed to "OMG I KILL STUFF!" I think he's pretty cool, but if you're looking for some beefy muscle creature tearing buildings in half, you won't see that action. The movie is really not about the beast at all and focussed more about the group of friends. The monster is really very much the side story in this movie.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:57 pm
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Lawlbringer
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Pandafarmer wrote:
I'd give the film a solid "B." Most of my party ranged from "B" to "A-" in their ratings... My gripes above were basically the main gripes of everyone in my group. The only person in my group of 8 or so who didn't like it was my wife, who doesn't enjoy monster movies at all in general. Even then she admitted it was "fun" and a "good monster movie."

The monster is really unique. It doesn't run around just bashing things, it's clearly a stranger in a strange land and behaves quite irritated and confused as opposed to "OMG I KILL STUFF!" I think he's pretty cool, but if you're looking for some beefy muscle creature tearing buildings in half, you won't see that action. The movie is really not about the beast at all and focussed more about the group of friends. The monster is really very much the side story in this movie.


There you have it, folks.

B out of 10.

Tune in next week when we review X-Men 4- Mutints UNTIE!

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:16 pm
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Cookson
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Lawlbringer wrote:
Pandafarmer wrote:
I'd give the film a solid "B." Most of my party ranged from "B" to "A-" in their ratings... My gripes above were basically the main gripes of everyone in my group. The only person in my group of 8 or so who didn't like it was my wife, who doesn't enjoy monster movies at all in general. Even then she admitted it was "fun" and a "good monster movie."

The monster is really unique. It doesn't run around just bashing things, it's clearly a stranger in a strange land and behaves quite irritated and confused as opposed to "OMG I KILL STUFF!" I think he's pretty cool, but if you're looking for some beefy muscle creature tearing buildings in half, you won't see that action. The movie is really not about the beast at all and focussed more about the group of friends. The monster is really very much the side story in this movie.


There you have it, folks.

B out of 10.

Tune in next week when we review X-Men 4- Mutints UNTIE!


I LOL'd at the "B out of 10" comment...

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:18 pm
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Pandafarmer
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 		Very Happy I did too. But I guess that would give it a 7-8 ish from a collective group of my friends.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:20 pm
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