AC/AL/SV 2008 85m ENGLISH CAST: Michael Stahl-David, T.J. Miller, Jessica Lucas, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Mike Vogel & Chris Mulkey CREDITS: Director: Matt Reeves; Screenwriter: Drew Goddard; Producers: J.J. Abrams/Bryan Burk; Director of Photography: Michael Bonvillain; Production Designer: Martin Whist; Editor: Kevin Stitt; Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick THE SYNOPSIS New York City. Young executive Rob Hawkins (Stahl-David) is given a going-away party by his older brother Jason (Vogel), Jason’s girlfriend Lily (Lucas) and best buddy Hud (Miller). Showing up is his other best friend, the lovely Beth (Yustman)--whom Michael carries a torch for--even after they’ve been intimate. She shows up to the party with her boyfriend and Rob’s hurt. Well, so is Beth, since he’s moving to Japan to take on a new job. The Downtown drama takes a backseat when explosions rock the city. Turns out a really huuuuuge alien has arrived and is causing some serious damage to the topography. Getting their friends out of the apartment, Rob, Jason, Lily, another guest named Marlena (Caplan) and Hud try to evacuate--with Hud carrying around a camcorder to record the horrifying-yet-historical events as they unfold. Somehow, Beth (who left the party earlier in tears) contacts Rob and informs him that she’s trapped in her building. Rob formulates a plan to go rescue her. The others come along, but some don’t survive the night. The military’s in town too--and it’s going to take an Aramgeddon to bring this creature down! THE CRITIQUE CLOVERFIELD is a ragtag science-fiction/thriller that puts you (the dizzy viewer) front-and-center during a massive alien monster’s hellish onslaught on New York City. Concurrently fun and frightening, this one gives an old sub-genre a jumpstart. Thanks to the camera as POV, we get 90 minutes of camerawork that wouldn’t pass muster in any year one film school program. Naturally, this is all done on purpose—and part of CLOVERFIELD’s secret charm. Yes, the movie looks like it was shot for a $1.50. Yes, the camera probably came from Circuit City. Yes, these attractive, slacker-type, metrosexual kids must all perish in a fiery hellstorm. Yes, this genre movie is definitely one for the YouTube generation! Yes, I’m getting old! And no: I’m not hating the attractive, slacker-type metrosexuals!! Eat ‘em all, large monster creature!! Hah-HAH!! Seriously, the cast of new faces works to the movie’s advantage in many ways—one being that when they get eaten or zapped, we haven’t grown too attached to them. This isn’t an Irwin Allen disaster epic! No Shelly Winters, no Charlton Heston! No “Morning After” theme song either! Still, I must add that the lovely Odette Yustman (Beth) stood out for me—just because she’s smokin’! Lead actor Michael Stahl-David was good too. He wasn’t annoying or wussy, so I didn’t dislike his earnest character. Still, he’s no Chuck Heston, dammit! Anyway, CLOVERFIELD is a brainchild of super/über mini-mogul J.J. Abrams (producer of TV’s Lost, Alias & Felicity; director of feature films Mission: Impossible III & Star Trek [2009]). This pastiche of the “monsters/aliens from outer space” sub-genre traces its roots back to classics such as It Came From Outer Space (1953) & Independence Day (1996)--and be sure to mix in those wonderfully campy Godzilla movies–all the while exerting its own post-internet/geeked-out/amateur filmmaker identity in a winning way. Usual Abrams TV collaborators, director Matt Reeves (Felicity) and screenwriter Drew Goddard (Lost/Alias) create an exciting, terrifying and downright believable scenario that marries NYC lifestyles (loft apartments, subways, etc.) with the post-modern cinema equivalent of the storyteller’s pen: the video camera. Much like its cinematic progenitor, The Blair Witch Project (1999), the recorded footage shows (as well as tells) the events that had transpired. What works about this approach is that it’s recorded “live”—so we see the same thing that the characters see in an immediate and unpredictable fashion. Zombie-King George Romero used this same technique in his quietly-effective Diary Of The Dead (2008). OK—back up a second! Yes, it is all faked “reality” and there is no real “live” situation. However, the filmmakers—and I use that term loosely here (as no film was ever used in this production)—successfully create a cinéma-vérité look and feel to the proceedings. Hey, it sure as hell felt real to me! The HD digital cinematography gets a paragraph of its own. Under the auspices of another Abrams cohort, TV cinematographer Michael Bonvillain (TV’s Lost/Alias/Felicity), CLOVERFIELD was shot using several different types of digital cameras: one for principal photography (aka: the POV stuff); one for the VFX (more on that later) and one for everything else. Shot entirely in 16:9 format, the obvious confines of the video blow-up works nicely to create a “realistic” and “low-grade” scenario. Other tech credits (editing, costumes, etc.) are sharp. A big kudos for the production design team for dressing a near-perfect facsimile of downtown Manhattan in a Hollywood studio backlot and many interiors were shot on local California sound stages. Oh--and some external sequences were also shot in the real New York City, by the way! VFX are really solid on this relatively low-budget show ($25 million)—with 4 big FX houses sharing the workload. It’s nice to see that much of the budget went to creating some sterling VFX—as opposed to funding some prima donna Hollywood star’s on-set trailer or the like. CLOVERFIELD’s only drawbacks are nestled within its successes. The POV-style camerawork is quite jittery, causing some viewers to succumb to motion sickness (not me, though—as I sat at the near-top of the stadium-style auditorium). Furthermore, the TV background of the filmmakers shows its colors here--as this movie feels like it could have originated on something like the Sci-Fi Channel, as opposed to, say, the cinematic & operatic B movie-hiding-in-A movie clothing known as Independence Day. Just a minor quibble. Also, the screenplay is rather blasé about any real character development and we sure as hell get no rationale as to who or what this cosmic interloper is. Some may call it “minimalist” cinema; others may call it lazy writing. As it stands, the impetus is on the alien monster gobbling up NYC and some of its attractive, slacker-type metrosexuals. Thank you Mr. (or Ms.) Tentacled Space Creature. See you in the sequel! THE BOTTOM LINE CLOVERFIELD is a kick-ass genre movie that moves and never stops after a hazy, lazy opening. Knock-out, big-budget-esque VFX--combined with cheesy video footage makes this one an easy watch—if you don’t get motion sickness! Still, a well-done take on a very old premise and recommended for the geek factor and post-modern, cinéma-vérité style of narrative storytelling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_camerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_view_shothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_producerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_directorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Televisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenwriterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernist_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_camerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footagediaryofthedead.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_stockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmmaking#Productionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cin%C3%A9ma_v%C3%A9rit%C3%A9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_cinematographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal_photographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_effectshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16:9#16:9_standardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costume_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_%28filming%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_budgetinghttp://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cloverfield.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_moviehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenplayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequelshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20shapeimage_2_link_21shapeimage_2_link_22shapeimage_2_link_23shapeimage_2_link_24shapeimage_2_link_25shapeimage_2_link_26shapeimage_2_link_27shapeimage_2_link_28shapeimage_2_link_29shapeimage_2_link_30shapeimage_2_link_31