Good Morning all.
The title of this post may confuse those of you who were not present at the 0030 screening of "Cloverfield". The simple explanation is that Uncle Phil (more specifically, a radiocative, mutated Uncle Phil) was my prediction for what the monster ie "Subject: Cloverfield" in the film was going to be. Suffice to say that I was incorrect, however, I shall continue to refer to the creature as Uncle Phil so as to not give too much away.
Plot (WARNING: SPOILERS):
Rob is a company Vice-Chairman who resides in a fashinable loft in Manhattan but is set to start a new life in Japan. Naturally Robs' friends and Brother wan't him to have a farewell to remember so they organise a leaving party at the aforementioned loft complete with fully stocked bar, disco lighting and Robs' best friend Hud filming the whole thing as a leaving present.
With the set-up concluded, the plot can begin to thicken. Rob seems especially interested in one party guest in particular, Beth. It transpires that the pair have feelings for each other, but neither of them quite knows how to act knowing that Robs' future seems to lie in Japan. Rob and Beth fight. Beth goes home. We, the audience share a personal moment of exposition with Rob and his friends, we bond with them, then the "earthquake" hits. Only that was no earthquake. A better, if still shaky, view from the roof reveals a huge explosion and the first, long-distance shots of Uncle Phil crashing the party. If this were another version of Manhattan, the Ghostbusters would have been promptly called and everyone could have sat down, had a cup of tea and thought about re-evaluating some of their life choices. However, this film is firmly rooted (at least its human element) in reality and so explosions lead to debris, debris leads to panic and panic gives way to legging it as fast as possible in the opposite direction.
"Running you say? That doesn't sound like an awfully interesting film concept". But stop. Running away just wouldn't do. What about all that Beth related set-up. Cue Robs' cellphone ringing. Apparently Beth is trapped and bleeding. It's dashing heroics time, but all filmed in a way that for anyone seated even remotely near the front of a cinema auditorium may cause bouts of uncontrollable vomiting (also epileptics take note: Reel 4 is quite "flashy").
So, skipping ahead. After lots of pretty effects shots and not so pretty deaths, Beth is rescued. Now we can proceed to escaping New York. With no sign of Snake Pliskin and Uncle Phil still on the rampage, this was always gonna be tough.
Do the friends make it out alive? Will Uncle Phil be vanquished? Why do I sudennly want a can of Mountain Dew and a new Nokia? These are questions that I shall let you answer for yourselves. Uncle Phil is waiting.
Technical Notes:
Cinematography: The look of this film is absolutely amazing. Far from being distracting, I found the hand-held, amateurish style of shooting to be immersive. It made it that much easier to not only feel the terror of everyone in shot, but to bond with the characters. This could be described as a chase movie, a monster movie or a sci-fi movie, but I would much rather think of it as a series of intimate character portraits that happen to be divided by gunfire, explosions and a rampaging Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Editing: After the screening I heard some people say "that must have been the easiest film in the world to edit". I must disagree. Although the footage being shown is "as found" and the transition from scene to scene and reel to reel is accomplished by means of a simple cut with the addition of a moment of static (as if to imply the camera has been turned off at one point and back on again later) , there is much subtler editing at work. Scenes covering long runs through the New York streets are handled excellently, so much so that cuts are seamless and barely noticable. This almost invisible but incredibly effective editing is probably one of the main factors that contributes to the somewhat lean 85 minute running time of Cloverfield. The film rushes by at an alarming rate, never giving you a chance to get bored or ask questions.
CGI: Practically flawless. From images of a burning New York City to the images of Uncle Phil himslef (although his screen-time is only around 10 minutes in total...and you have to wait for the money shot), nothing feels out of place. Characters, locations and sets all blend seamlessly into one and other. The attention to detail is astounding; portions of scenes that are only on screen for a matter of seconds and "events" that are occuring on the periphery look like they have been given the same meticulous treatment as the more obvious or in-your-face effects. Coupled with the dynamic style of shooting Cloverfield accomplishes a level of realism not often seen in "monster" movies no matter how large the budget.
Screenplay: I don't have much to say about the screenplay other than it works. The witing is understated and avoids the cliches of men suddenly finding their macho side or the oft-used ample-breasted, screaming blonde. It genuinely does feel like the audience is watching a home-movie, just not one that could be sent into "You've Been Framed" even taking the amount of people that fall over in the film into consideration.
Sound: Six tracks of digital sound have been used to their maximum effect. We see a bunch of people standing, open-mouthed, all looking to their left and suddenly a monstrous roar will blast forth from all of the speakers on the left hand side of the auditorium and then echo behind the screen and then to the right as if the audience were surrounded by the skyscrapers of New York City. It's an unsettling effect that made me feel on edge and somewhat enclosed. Brilliant.
In Conclusion:
A monster film in which the monster is not the main attraction. I know that this will dissapoint some, but I found that the focus on the human aspect of the film made the the tragedy and loss of the story that much more effective and poignant. Any film that works on this kind of scale and manages to retain such a personal atmosphere deserves to be rewarded with your ticket money. Several scenes did literally make my jaw drop. Talks are already underway to make a second installment. Using the same techniques a second time around could never feel as fresh and exciting. So what can Matt Reeves and JJ Abrams do to draw in the audiences a second time around? I sit in anticipation.
***** (Five Stars)
The title of this post may confuse those of you who were not present at the 0030 screening of "Cloverfield". The simple explanation is that Uncle Phil (more specifically, a radiocative, mutated Uncle Phil) was my prediction for what the monster ie "Subject: Cloverfield" in the film was going to be. Suffice to say that I was incorrect, however, I shall continue to refer to the creature as Uncle Phil so as to not give too much away.
Plot (WARNING: SPOILERS):
Rob is a company Vice-Chairman who resides in a fashinable loft in Manhattan but is set to start a new life in Japan. Naturally Robs' friends and Brother wan't him to have a farewell to remember so they organise a leaving party at the aforementioned loft complete with fully stocked bar, disco lighting and Robs' best friend Hud filming the whole thing as a leaving present.
With the set-up concluded, the plot can begin to thicken. Rob seems especially interested in one party guest in particular, Beth. It transpires that the pair have feelings for each other, but neither of them quite knows how to act knowing that Robs' future seems to lie in Japan. Rob and Beth fight. Beth goes home. We, the audience share a personal moment of exposition with Rob and his friends, we bond with them, then the "earthquake" hits. Only that was no earthquake. A better, if still shaky, view from the roof reveals a huge explosion and the first, long-distance shots of Uncle Phil crashing the party. If this were another version of Manhattan, the Ghostbusters would have been promptly called and everyone could have sat down, had a cup of tea and thought about re-evaluating some of their life choices. However, this film is firmly rooted (at least its human element) in reality and so explosions lead to debris, debris leads to panic and panic gives way to legging it as fast as possible in the opposite direction.
"Running you say? That doesn't sound like an awfully interesting film concept". But stop. Running away just wouldn't do. What about all that Beth related set-up. Cue Robs' cellphone ringing. Apparently Beth is trapped and bleeding. It's dashing heroics time, but all filmed in a way that for anyone seated even remotely near the front of a cinema auditorium may cause bouts of uncontrollable vomiting (also epileptics take note: Reel 4 is quite "flashy").
So, skipping ahead. After lots of pretty effects shots and not so pretty deaths, Beth is rescued. Now we can proceed to escaping New York. With no sign of Snake Pliskin and Uncle Phil still on the rampage, this was always gonna be tough.
Do the friends make it out alive? Will Uncle Phil be vanquished? Why do I sudennly want a can of Mountain Dew and a new Nokia? These are questions that I shall let you answer for yourselves. Uncle Phil is waiting.
Technical Notes:
Cinematography: The look of this film is absolutely amazing. Far from being distracting, I found the hand-held, amateurish style of shooting to be immersive. It made it that much easier to not only feel the terror of everyone in shot, but to bond with the characters. This could be described as a chase movie, a monster movie or a sci-fi movie, but I would much rather think of it as a series of intimate character portraits that happen to be divided by gunfire, explosions and a rampaging Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Editing: After the screening I heard some people say "that must have been the easiest film in the world to edit". I must disagree. Although the footage being shown is "as found" and the transition from scene to scene and reel to reel is accomplished by means of a simple cut with the addition of a moment of static (as if to imply the camera has been turned off at one point and back on again later) , there is much subtler editing at work. Scenes covering long runs through the New York streets are handled excellently, so much so that cuts are seamless and barely noticable. This almost invisible but incredibly effective editing is probably one of the main factors that contributes to the somewhat lean 85 minute running time of Cloverfield. The film rushes by at an alarming rate, never giving you a chance to get bored or ask questions.
CGI: Practically flawless. From images of a burning New York City to the images of Uncle Phil himslef (although his screen-time is only around 10 minutes in total...and you have to wait for the money shot), nothing feels out of place. Characters, locations and sets all blend seamlessly into one and other. The attention to detail is astounding; portions of scenes that are only on screen for a matter of seconds and "events" that are occuring on the periphery look like they have been given the same meticulous treatment as the more obvious or in-your-face effects. Coupled with the dynamic style of shooting Cloverfield accomplishes a level of realism not often seen in "monster" movies no matter how large the budget.
Screenplay: I don't have much to say about the screenplay other than it works. The witing is understated and avoids the cliches of men suddenly finding their macho side or the oft-used ample-breasted, screaming blonde. It genuinely does feel like the audience is watching a home-movie, just not one that could be sent into "You've Been Framed" even taking the amount of people that fall over in the film into consideration.
Sound: Six tracks of digital sound have been used to their maximum effect. We see a bunch of people standing, open-mouthed, all looking to their left and suddenly a monstrous roar will blast forth from all of the speakers on the left hand side of the auditorium and then echo behind the screen and then to the right as if the audience were surrounded by the skyscrapers of New York City. It's an unsettling effect that made me feel on edge and somewhat enclosed. Brilliant.
In Conclusion:
A monster film in which the monster is not the main attraction. I know that this will dissapoint some, but I found that the focus on the human aspect of the film made the the tragedy and loss of the story that much more effective and poignant. Any film that works on this kind of scale and manages to retain such a personal atmosphere deserves to be rewarded with your ticket money. Several scenes did literally make my jaw drop. Talks are already underway to make a second installment. Using the same techniques a second time around could never feel as fresh and exciting. So what can Matt Reeves and JJ Abrams do to draw in the audiences a second time around? I sit in anticipation.
***** (Five Stars)
1 comment:
Damn you for posting about Cloverfield!I really want to read your post, but i am trying to keep the entire film a mystery until i can find somekind of town or dwelling in Wales which is showing it!
I know though that i'll be in the cue, and some Homer Simpson-esque figure will be walking by and completely give the game away! Especially if they realise i'm English....i can totally see that happening!
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