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Cloverfield
This was a film that I can understand why people hate it, and I can tell them why their hate is unfounded. This isn't a classical monster film by any means, but instead a well made re-imagining of the genre. And it also doesn't follow the conventions of Hollywood with how it is made.
While a handheld cam is much more likely to be seen as a technique now, there hasn't been a handheld cam used quite as effectively as this before. Even the originator of the handheld cam (or popularizer) in The Blair Witch Project wasn't able to pull it off as effectively as is done in this film. This film makes the audience a part of the film as the footage is made to see extremely realistic. There was only one real scene where it didn't seem like a movement of a camera that would be natural for a person with a handheld camera to make.
This however doesn't detract from what the film as a whole does.
What a lot of people dislike about this film is the fact that it isn't as sotry driven as most current films. This film is more about the emotion it creates in the audience as a separate emotion then any sort of empathy emotion created for the characters on the screen. It is meant to give the audience that same feeling of terror and confusion that the characters feel on the screen. They don't even do any explaining as to how the monster is stopped or where it came from in the film, because that isn't the point of the film. It is about the audience being caught in the emotion of confusion and terror that is going on. There is some empathy created for the characters because of the minimal story that there is, but that is secondary to the raw emotion.
Another thing about this film is the dialog. While Hud (the camera man) does have some odd one-liners that seem to some to be out of place, for the most part it is realistic dialog, which is what they were going for. I tend to think that most of Hud's dialog is fairly realistic as it seems like how he is dealing with what is going on is by talking and humor (albeit most likely unintentional humor), and it is a defensive mechanism for his character to stop feeling the terror of what is going on around them.
One final thing that this film does that works really well and was very interesting was it intercuts what was supposed to be already on the tape in the camera as points where Hud misses the point where he had stopped taping, after most likely having rewatched the footage that he had shot. That definitely added some depth to both Rob and Beth in the film knowing some history/back story on them.
Overall a very good film I thought. It was both entertaining and different for film. I can understand why people don't like it, but I think that they tend to miss the point of the film, or really can't see past the fact that they got motion sick.
Overall Grade: B+
Story: B
Acting: B
Audio/Visual: A
This was a film that I can understand why people hate it, and I can tell them why their hate is unfounded. This isn't a classical monster film by any means, but instead a well made re-imagining of the genre. And it also doesn't follow the conventions of Hollywood with how it is made.
While a handheld cam is much more likely to be seen as a technique now, there hasn't been a handheld cam used quite as effectively as this before. Even the originator of the handheld cam (or popularizer) in The Blair Witch Project wasn't able to pull it off as effectively as is done in this film. This film makes the audience a part of the film as the footage is made to see extremely realistic. There was only one real scene where it didn't seem like a movement of a camera that would be natural for a person with a handheld camera to make.
WARNING: "Cloverfield" spoilers below
When Hud pans the camera over and sees the tank/military vehicle get crushed, it moves horizontally quickly, but there isn't any notable vertical shake to it
This however doesn't detract from what the film as a whole does.
What a lot of people dislike about this film is the fact that it isn't as sotry driven as most current films. This film is more about the emotion it creates in the audience as a separate emotion then any sort of empathy emotion created for the characters on the screen. It is meant to give the audience that same feeling of terror and confusion that the characters feel on the screen. They don't even do any explaining as to how the monster is stopped or where it came from in the film, because that isn't the point of the film. It is about the audience being caught in the emotion of confusion and terror that is going on. There is some empathy created for the characters because of the minimal story that there is, but that is secondary to the raw emotion.
Another thing about this film is the dialog. While Hud (the camera man) does have some odd one-liners that seem to some to be out of place, for the most part it is realistic dialog, which is what they were going for. I tend to think that most of Hud's dialog is fairly realistic as it seems like how he is dealing with what is going on is by talking and humor (albeit most likely unintentional humor), and it is a defensive mechanism for his character to stop feeling the terror of what is going on around them.
One final thing that this film does that works really well and was very interesting was it intercuts what was supposed to be already on the tape in the camera as points where Hud misses the point where he had stopped taping, after most likely having rewatched the footage that he had shot. That definitely added some depth to both Rob and Beth in the film knowing some history/back story on them.
Overall a very good film I thought. It was both entertaining and different for film. I can understand why people don't like it, but I think that they tend to miss the point of the film, or really can't see past the fact that they got motion sick.
Overall Grade: B+
Story: B
Acting: B
Audio/Visual: A