Something's Coming
January 15, 2016 5:08 AM Subscribe
"Yes indeed, it appears as though that long-talked-about sequel to the secretive Abrams-produced 2008 film Cloverfield is not only happening, it’s already in the can."
Previously, Previously
Previously, Previously
Apparently, from what I've read it's more of a "blood relative" than a direct sequel - at least that's what a quote I read and am too lazy to link on my phone said.
I thought it was a great trailer, though.
posted by kbanas at 5:30 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
I thought it was a great trailer, though.
posted by kbanas at 5:30 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
I think Rifftrax said everything that needs to be said about Cloverfield:
“Ah! The often-overlooked upside to the monster apocalypse: free Mr. Pibb.”posted by Fizz at 5:31 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Mary Elizabeth Winstead is an extremely watchable actress, and I liked Cloverfield, so I'm 100% on board with whatever this is.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:35 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 5:35 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I wasn't expecting this.
Then again, nobody was expecting what happened during Rob's farewell party.
posted by lmfsilva at 5:37 AM on January 15, 2016 [28 favorites]
Then again, nobody was expecting what happened during Rob's farewell party.
posted by lmfsilva at 5:37 AM on January 15, 2016 [28 favorites]
We've been told that the sequel is "set in the Cloverfield universe," but what I want to know is if it's also set in the Felicity universe.
posted by Sonny Jim at 5:45 AM on January 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Sonny Jim at 5:45 AM on January 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
Saw this film. Shakey cam. I'm pretty sure I've no need to see a sequel. You kids have fun, I'll be over here doing adult things, like catcching up on all of the star wars comics.
posted by evilDoug at 5:47 AM on January 15, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by evilDoug at 5:47 AM on January 15, 2016 [12 favorites]
The marketing for Cloverfield was way way better than the eventual film (oh god I was so obsessed with the Slusho stuff)... hope it's not the same second time around
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:47 AM on January 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:47 AM on January 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
Based on the trailer, my guess is 95% of this movie is going to be low-budget 'apocalypse survivors in a bunker' tropes, and maybe a tiny helping of CGI disaster porn at the film's climax, with John Goodman as a ringer, selling the hell out of whatever nonsense is in this movie's script.
While I like this sort of thing when it's done well ( Pontypool, to name a good example ), I can't work up much enthusiasm here. Ties to Cloverfield don't help, except maybe for marketing purposes. That movie wasn't exactly a classic for the ages either.
posted by KHAAAN! at 5:48 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
While I like this sort of thing when it's done well ( Pontypool, to name a good example ), I can't work up much enthusiasm here. Ties to Cloverfield don't help, except maybe for marketing purposes. That movie wasn't exactly a classic for the ages either.
posted by KHAAAN! at 5:48 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
If the marketing is just as good this time around, I'll be happy enough. That stuff got me really obsessed.
posted by lownote at 5:49 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by lownote at 5:49 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
All that was good about the last one was the marketing. The reality was shakycam Godzilla.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 5:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I always thought of the sequel(s) as South Park's Pandemic, and Pandemic 2 - the ones with the ginormous guinea pigs. ("OMG! It's...it's really furry!")
posted by wheek wheek wheek at 5:59 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by wheek wheek wheek at 5:59 AM on January 15, 2016
I could never bring myself to watch Cloverfield due to the found-footage nonsense.
posted by octothorpe at 6:11 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 6:11 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure you can call John Goodman a ringer. John Gallagher, Jr. is a fantastic actor in his own right. Anyway, I'm psyched. I loved the original.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:15 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:15 AM on January 15, 2016
I was quite excited for Cloverfield when all the teasers and the Slusho stuff came out before the film. In concept, I liked the idea of a massive monster attack happening to NYC as told from the POV of a group of friends, but in execution, it didn't work so well. (Mostly because I couldn't really bring myself to care about any of the characters.) The shaky cam stuff didn't make me nauseous, but it did make it hard for to follow the plot coherently. Given that it's a found footage story, that was probably the point.
posted by Kitteh at 6:17 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 6:17 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I can't think of any trailer that used (and altered) a pop song so effectively, but I'm worried that KHAAAN! has probably nailed the plot. (Although wouldn't be cool to have a trailer only show you what's in the first third of a film?)
posted by kimota at 6:24 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by kimota at 6:24 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm a sucker for small cast lifeboat/bunker movies, and John Goodman bumps this up a bit. Still, I'll probably wait for reviews.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 6:28 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 6:28 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm calling it now... Goodman turns into the Cloverfield monster at the end
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:34 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:34 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
If Goodman give a performance as good as or better than Barton Fink, he bumps it up a whole lot.
Something's Coming alright.
posted by Splunge at 6:39 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Something's Coming alright.
posted by Splunge at 6:39 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I liked Cloverfield mostly based on the concept. But, it really insisted you swallow one ginormous conceit that, in opposition of human survival instinct, some fool would continue recording everything while running to escape the monster apocalypse. That was pretty much the movie's downfall. It was too big a pill to swallow. That and, in such a huge city, our little band of survivors seem to always be where the fighting is. You just happen to be on the very street where the Statue of Liberty's head lands?
That said, there are worse ways to kill a couple of hours in the afternoon.
This one...I dunno. I like John Goodman and all, but, anymore, he's sort of always playing "John Goodman as..." Definitely a "Wait and see what others say" for me.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:43 AM on January 15, 2016
That said, there are worse ways to kill a couple of hours in the afternoon.
This one...I dunno. I like John Goodman and all, but, anymore, he's sort of always playing "John Goodman as..." Definitely a "Wait and see what others say" for me.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:43 AM on January 15, 2016
The marketing for Cloverfield was way way better than the eventual film
I knew I was going to like Cloverfield like 15 minutes in, when everything starts going sideways and the hero's phone runs out of batteries and the next thing he does is walk into a busted up store to get more batteries. Like, "I'm about to do something irrational, sure. But I don't need to be dumb about it."
Monster movies where the protagonists don't do anything obviously stupid are really refreshing.
posted by mhoye at 6:43 AM on January 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
I knew I was going to like Cloverfield like 15 minutes in, when everything starts going sideways and the hero's phone runs out of batteries and the next thing he does is walk into a busted up store to get more batteries. Like, "I'm about to do something irrational, sure. But I don't need to be dumb about it."
Monster movies where the protagonists don't do anything obviously stupid are really refreshing.
posted by mhoye at 6:43 AM on January 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
But, it really insisted you swallow one ginormous conceit that, in opposition of human survival instinct, some fool would continue recording everything while running to escape the monster apocalypse.
I live in Manhattan, and while that might not have been the case in 2008, I can totally see people doing that in 2016.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:45 AM on January 15, 2016 [22 favorites]
I live in Manhattan, and while that might not have been the case in 2008, I can totally see people doing that in 2016.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:45 AM on January 15, 2016 [22 favorites]
I missed most of the marketing for Cloverfield but caught it in the first weekend (I happened to be back from overseas at just the right moment), and while it had flaws, I admired the attempt. I also admire the idea of turning a straight-up Godzilla ripoff premise into a different genre in the same world, so I think I'll check this one out.
(The third one will be a romcom with occasional screaming in the background.)
posted by Etrigan at 6:49 AM on January 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
(The third one will be a romcom with occasional screaming in the background.)
posted by Etrigan at 6:49 AM on January 15, 2016 [10 favorites]
I live in Manhattan, and while that might not have been the case in 2008, I can totally see people doing that in 2016.
Whoa, this is true. iPhones were not the level of common as they are now. Seeing from a 7 year distance makes the whole video camera thing seem quite dated. Make Cloverfield now and there would be nothing but a sea of people with their iPhones taking footage and Instagram pics.
posted by Kitteh at 6:50 AM on January 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
Whoa, this is true. iPhones were not the level of common as they are now. Seeing from a 7 year distance makes the whole video camera thing seem quite dated. Make Cloverfield now and there would be nothing but a sea of people with their iPhones taking footage and Instagram pics.
posted by Kitteh at 6:50 AM on January 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
I am intrigued. Go on 10 Cloverfield Lane, tell me more...
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:55 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:55 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
So this is mostly a branding thing, I think. 10 Cloverfield Lane used to be called Valencia (and has already been screened as such with lots of positive buzz) and before that it was The Cellar, based on a script that got lots of buzz 3-4 years ago. I'm curious to see how, if all, they've attempted to integrate it into the Cloverfield universe. If anything it should get a lot more people to go to what is already considered a pretty solid film.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 6:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's a "Bottle Episode"
Mary Elizabeth Winstead is an extremely watchable actress...
This is exactly what I came here to say.
posted by The Legit Republic of Blanketsburg at 6:57 AM on January 15, 2016
Mary Elizabeth Winstead is an extremely watchable actress...
This is exactly what I came here to say.
posted by The Legit Republic of Blanketsburg at 6:57 AM on January 15, 2016
If the marketing is just as good this time around, I'll be happy enough. That stuff got me really obsessed.
It's 2016, and people now spectate the marketing for movies as if they were an essential aspect of the movies themselves.
I'm not passing judgement necessarily, just... this is interesting.
posted by JHarris at 7:09 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
It's 2016, and people now spectate the marketing for movies as if they were an essential aspect of the movies themselves.
I'm not passing judgement necessarily, just... this is interesting.
posted by JHarris at 7:09 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
(MetaFilter: a romcom with occasional screaming in the background.)
I loved Cloverfield personally, shakycam, implausible premise, and all. If the reviews are at all good, I'm probably seeing this.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 7:26 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
I loved Cloverfield personally, shakycam, implausible premise, and all. If the reviews are at all good, I'm probably seeing this.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 7:26 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Yeah, camphone footage all stitched together along with security cam footage, plus all those webcams pointing everywhere.
Basically one soul stuck in the basement of the NSA's super scooper database in Utah decides to edit together the end of the world in near real time.
posted by notyou at 7:36 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Basically one soul stuck in the basement of the NSA's super scooper database in Utah decides to edit together the end of the world in near real time.
posted by notyou at 7:36 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
10 Cloverfield Lane used to be called Valencia (and has already been screened as such with lots of positive buzz) and before that it was The Cellar, based on a script that got lots of buzz 3-4 years ago.
You mean it was "Cloverfieldized" after it was made and shown? Has anyone done that with an already-made film before, not counting fan edits? (I'm aware of scripts being retrofitted into existing franchises, as with Die Hard With a Vengeance.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:40 AM on January 15, 2016
You mean it was "Cloverfieldized" after it was made and shown? Has anyone done that with an already-made film before, not counting fan edits? (I'm aware of scripts being retrofitted into existing franchises, as with Die Hard With a Vengeance.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:40 AM on January 15, 2016
My friend sent me the trailer this morning and it reminded me so much of season 2 of Lost (specifically the opening scene with Desmond listening to Mama Cass while going about his morning) that I was immediately sold and will be there opening weekend (and will be watching Cloverfield tonight.)
posted by litereally at 7:40 AM on January 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by litereally at 7:40 AM on January 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
Basically one soul stuck in the basement of the NSA's super scooper database in Utah decides to edit together the end of the world in near real time.
If the one soul keep his VO to a minimum, I'd totes watch Cloverfield remade like that.
posted by Kitteh at 7:45 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
If the one soul keep his VO to a minimum, I'd totes watch Cloverfield remade like that.
posted by Kitteh at 7:45 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
(The third one will be a romcom with occasional screaming in the background.)
You mean like Mimic 2?
That and, in such a huge city, our little band of survivors seem to always be where the fighting is. You just happen to be on the very street where the Statue of Liberty's head lands?
With this sort of thing, you have to take it like the Weak Anthropic Principle. I.e., the whole reason we're following this band of survivors is precisely that, for whatever reason, they happened to catch a particularly representative cross-section of the events of that day. Other groups of people were out their documenting stuff who didn't see nearly as much, but there would be no point in making a movie about them because they didn't see anything interesting.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:50 AM on January 15, 2016 [15 favorites]
You mean like Mimic 2?
That and, in such a huge city, our little band of survivors seem to always be where the fighting is. You just happen to be on the very street where the Statue of Liberty's head lands?
With this sort of thing, you have to take it like the Weak Anthropic Principle. I.e., the whole reason we're following this band of survivors is precisely that, for whatever reason, they happened to catch a particularly representative cross-section of the events of that day. Other groups of people were out their documenting stuff who didn't see nearly as much, but there would be no point in making a movie about them because they didn't see anything interesting.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:50 AM on January 15, 2016 [15 favorites]
10 Cloverfield Lane used to be called Valencia (and has already been screened as such with lots of positive buzz) and before that it was The Cellar, based on a script that got lots of buzz 3-4 years ago.
You mean it was "Cloverfieldized" after it was made and shown?
Screening under a different name isn't uncommon, so as to minimize leaks. I doubt it got Cloverfieldized after it was made, since it's from Abrams' production company.
posted by Etrigan at 7:51 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
You mean it was "Cloverfieldized" after it was made and shown?
Screening under a different name isn't uncommon, so as to minimize leaks. I doubt it got Cloverfieldized after it was made, since it's from Abrams' production company.
posted by Etrigan at 7:51 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
Basically one soul stuck in the basement of the NSA's super scooper database in Utah decides to edit together the end of the world in near real time.
If the one soul keep his VO to a minimum, I'd totes watch Cloverfield remade like that.
Like Robot Chicken, but serious.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:51 AM on January 15, 2016
If the one soul keep his VO to a minimum, I'd totes watch Cloverfield remade like that.
Like Robot Chicken, but serious.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:51 AM on January 15, 2016
If the marketing is just as good this time around, I'll be happy enough.
The poster, at least, is pretty neat.
posted by straight at 8:05 AM on January 15, 2016
The poster, at least, is pretty neat.
posted by straight at 8:05 AM on January 15, 2016
Cloverfield was the only J.J. Abrams thing we really enjoyed, though the first ST reboot was tolerable (unlike the second one, "The Anglicizing of Khan").
We tried to watch Fringe a month ago - hard to believe how terrible it was. It moved soooo slowly... the characters were completely unbelievable, emotionally uninteresting to us, wooden - and completely lacking in any sense of humor. Can't imagine how anyone sat through a season of that...
We dropped it in favor of watching "Being Human" (the UK version) - again. It's simply astonishing how much more plot material they fit into each episode of that than Fringe, and how very human and engaging and funny and tragic the characters are.
But Cloverfield was excellent - though I suspect at least part of that is watching New York City being realistically destroyed, and watching the characters transformed from superficial, affluent young New Yorkers into terrified fleeing victims with some actual depth. It's not clear that the sequel in a bunker could have anywhere near the effect of the panicked flight through the R train tunnel surrounded by giant bugs barely visible...
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 8:06 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
We tried to watch Fringe a month ago - hard to believe how terrible it was. It moved soooo slowly... the characters were completely unbelievable, emotionally uninteresting to us, wooden - and completely lacking in any sense of humor. Can't imagine how anyone sat through a season of that...
We dropped it in favor of watching "Being Human" (the UK version) - again. It's simply astonishing how much more plot material they fit into each episode of that than Fringe, and how very human and engaging and funny and tragic the characters are.
But Cloverfield was excellent - though I suspect at least part of that is watching New York City being realistically destroyed, and watching the characters transformed from superficial, affluent young New Yorkers into terrified fleeing victims with some actual depth. It's not clear that the sequel in a bunker could have anywhere near the effect of the panicked flight through the R train tunnel surrounded by giant bugs barely visible...
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 8:06 AM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
JHarris: "It's 2016, and people now spectate the marketing for movies as if they were an essential aspect of the movies themselves.
I'm not passing judgement necessarily, just... this is interesting."
I definitely agree (but also judge myself a tiny bit). That said, Cloverfield's marketing included actual unique media that bordered on being considered 'tie-ins.'
posted by lownote at 8:10 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm not passing judgement necessarily, just... this is interesting."
I definitely agree (but also judge myself a tiny bit). That said, Cloverfield's marketing included actual unique media that bordered on being considered 'tie-ins.'
posted by lownote at 8:10 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
Hud made the movie. The scene with him panicking about burning homeless people in the subway tunnels was vintage Hud.
Oh Hud.
posted by maxsparber at 8:10 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Oh Hud.
posted by maxsparber at 8:10 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Category II Kaiju?
posted by benzenedream at 8:13 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by benzenedream at 8:13 AM on January 15, 2016
For example, all of these youtube videos were great, and the manga, while a bit much, was important in really fleshing out the world they built for the movie.
I wonder why it took them so long to make a sequel, actually. Clearly a lot was dumped into this, and it would have been a lot more interesting than those last few seasons of Fringe.
posted by lownote at 8:17 AM on January 15, 2016
I wonder why it took them so long to make a sequel, actually. Clearly a lot was dumped into this, and it would have been a lot more interesting than those last few seasons of Fringe.
posted by lownote at 8:17 AM on January 15, 2016
I liked Cloverfield because I'm a sucker for found-footage movies, but the thing I liked best is what all my friends who hated it constantly bitched about - you don't get a tidy explanation of what the monster is and how to kill it. They don't get scooped up by scientists in a lab who explain precisely what's going on, or run into a wizened old man who knows all the secrets, no one in the group of friends the movie follows turns out to have some secret connection to what's happening. They're just a totally random group of people caught in something they have nothing to do with and just need to get away from.
posted by skycrashesdown at 8:17 AM on January 15, 2016 [22 favorites]
posted by skycrashesdown at 8:17 AM on January 15, 2016 [22 favorites]
This is the only poster I see for it. Perhaps this is what straight meant to link?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:23 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:23 AM on January 15, 2016
Please, please give people better reasons for video-ing everything when you know they would just be dropping the camera and running for their lives. It prevents me from suspending belief and I actually do want to suspend belief and be there. Here's my idea.
1. They use video as a means of safety. The signal gets sent back and everyone knows where the person is.
Or:
2. They have some sort of rig on a helmet or an attachment that makes it part of their job to record.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:30 AM on January 15, 2016
1. They use video as a means of safety. The signal gets sent back and everyone knows where the person is.
Or:
2. They have some sort of rig on a helmet or an attachment that makes it part of their job to record.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:30 AM on January 15, 2016
I liked Cloverfield if for no other reason than it was lovely to see mopey, self-absorbed yuppie types get reminded that in fact they're not the center of the universe, and then, eaten.
The 10 Cloverfield Lane trailer seems like the movie is like The Purge with kaiju, and I don't know if that's going to get me into a theater. But with Goodman and Winstead in it, I'm willing to be convinced.
posted by jscalzi at 8:33 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
The 10 Cloverfield Lane trailer seems like the movie is like The Purge with kaiju, and I don't know if that's going to get me into a theater. But with Goodman and Winstead in it, I'm willing to be convinced.
posted by jscalzi at 8:33 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
We tried to watch Fringe a month ago - hard to believe how terrible it was. It moved soooo slowly... the characters were completely unbelievable, emotionally uninteresting to us, wooden - and completely lacking in any sense of humor. Can't imagine how anyone sat through a season of that...
Are we talking about the same Fringe with the excellent John Noble ? Season 1 starts a little rough, but then it really takes off.
posted by Pendragon at 8:35 AM on January 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
Are we talking about the same Fringe with the excellent John Noble ? Season 1 starts a little rough, but then it really takes off.
posted by Pendragon at 8:35 AM on January 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
Although not a great film, Cloverfield was a hundred times more enjoyable then Hollywood's last attempt to reboot Godzilla. I like the trailer for this but I am too jaded to get my hopes up for anything anymore... not revealing the monster is certainly a nice touch though.
posted by hoodrich at 8:51 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by hoodrich at 8:51 AM on January 15, 2016
Season 1 was a bit of an average x-files inspired series. However, it's after Peter (one of my favourite TV episodes ever) it really became something extraordinary.
posted by lmfsilva at 8:53 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by lmfsilva at 8:53 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
>Please, please give people better reasons for video-ing everything when you know they would just be dropping the camera and running for their lives.
I don't know--if YouTube is any indication, most people seem to feel they just cannot get close enough to tornadoes, burning fireworks factories, out-of-control rally cars, etc., etc...
posted by Sing Or Swim at 8:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
I don't know--if YouTube is any indication, most people seem to feel they just cannot get close enough to tornadoes, burning fireworks factories, out-of-control rally cars, etc., etc...
posted by Sing Or Swim at 8:57 AM on January 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
You don't really need to give people a reason to video everything. Even before the ubiquity of Facebook and Youtube, some people will risk everything to get a good shot. When the mountains over my house were on fire, I took lots of footage on my camcorder. I didn't really have a place to upload it back then (occasionally used a personal FTP server to send .mov's to friends), but I wanted the shot anyways. And I kept shooting even as the fire crews thought it would be a splendid idea if I left home and went somewhere else.
If something truly historical was happening, like a kaiju tearing apart Manhattan, I'd be one of those people who would alternate fleeing in terror with taking as many pictures and videos as possible. So the movie feels accurate to me on that score.
posted by honestcoyote at 9:11 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
If something truly historical was happening, like a kaiju tearing apart Manhattan, I'd be one of those people who would alternate fleeing in terror with taking as many pictures and videos as possible. So the movie feels accurate to me on that score.
posted by honestcoyote at 9:11 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
something something suspension of disbelief
can we, for the love of all that is star stuff, move past this conversation
posted by runt at 9:13 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
can we, for the love of all that is star stuff, move past this conversation
posted by runt at 9:13 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
But, it really insisted you swallow one ginormous conceit that, in opposition of human survival instinct, some fool would continue recording everything while running to escape the monster apocalypse. That was pretty much the movie's downfall.
Oy. I want to take issue with this sort of thing, as it is everywhere nowadays with the rise of the Internet Critic.
A character not giving The Right Answer or acting in line with what The Right Thing To Do is is not a plot hole, nor is it a problem with the storytelling. People do irrational things every minute of every day all the time everywhere forever. It's like when a character in a movie gets some historical fact wrong and the internet jumps all over it, as if the character is meant to be an accurate Wiki page. People are wrong about stuff. People do dumb stuff. I can absolutely see people busting selfies in front of the Cloverfield monster. That's not hard to swallow at all.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 9:20 AM on January 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
Oy. I want to take issue with this sort of thing, as it is everywhere nowadays with the rise of the Internet Critic.
A character not giving The Right Answer or acting in line with what The Right Thing To Do is is not a plot hole, nor is it a problem with the storytelling. People do irrational things every minute of every day all the time everywhere forever. It's like when a character in a movie gets some historical fact wrong and the internet jumps all over it, as if the character is meant to be an accurate Wiki page. People are wrong about stuff. People do dumb stuff. I can absolutely see people busting selfies in front of the Cloverfield monster. That's not hard to swallow at all.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 9:20 AM on January 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
This is the only poster I see for it. Perhaps this is what straight meant to link?
That's it. Sorry I messed up the link. I think the way they suggest the underground setting and work it into the typography is pretty neat.
(And I really like the chiseled look of the 'V', 'A', and 'N' in the title font.)
posted by straight at 9:22 AM on January 15, 2016
That's it. Sorry I messed up the link. I think the way they suggest the underground setting and work it into the typography is pretty neat.
(And I really like the chiseled look of the 'V', 'A', and 'N' in the title font.)
posted by straight at 9:22 AM on January 15, 2016
A character not giving The Right Answer or acting in line with what The Right Thing To Do is is not a plot hole, nor is it a problem with the storytelling. People do irrational things every minute of every day all the time everywhere forever.
"Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to make sense."
The statement "x seemed too implausible to suspend my disbelief and took me out of the movie" can't be wrong anymore than "I wasn't scared," or "It didn't make me laugh."
I think the thing that would make Cloverfield seem implausible today is that everyone is so familiar now with taking videos with their phone that it seems unlikely Hux would get stuck mindlessly filming everything. He might be filming all the time and take stupid risks to film when he should be running, but I think he'd turn it on and off more. The instinct to preserve battery life might be stronger than the instinct for survival.
posted by straight at 9:36 AM on January 15, 2016
"Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to make sense."
The statement "x seemed too implausible to suspend my disbelief and took me out of the movie" can't be wrong anymore than "I wasn't scared," or "It didn't make me laugh."
I think the thing that would make Cloverfield seem implausible today is that everyone is so familiar now with taking videos with their phone that it seems unlikely Hux would get stuck mindlessly filming everything. He might be filming all the time and take stupid risks to film when he should be running, but I think he'd turn it on and off more. The instinct to preserve battery life might be stronger than the instinct for survival.
posted by straight at 9:36 AM on January 15, 2016
Cloverfield would work really well in 2016 as a Periscope.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:37 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:37 AM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
The statement "x seemed too implausible to suspend my disbelief and took me out of the movie" can't be wrong anymore than "I wasn't scared," or "It didn't make me laugh."
Sure, and I don't fault anybody for saying so. Seeing Leo's breath fog the camera in Revenant took me out of the movie, and I think not deliberately, it wasn't some Brechitian exercise in alienation.
That being said, there are some people who draw that line in surprising places. I have met people who don't like musicals because they can't handle that people just start singing. I mean, fine, but, you know, musical.
For a lot of us, refusing to suspend disbelief because somebody won't stop filming with his camera is like refusing to suspend disbelief because somebody is texting when driving. You're welcome to be flummoxed by it, but we're going to go ahead and wonder if you're actually a part of the modern world or a visitor from the distant past who also stares at microwaves in wonder.
posted by maxsparber at 9:55 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Sure, and I don't fault anybody for saying so. Seeing Leo's breath fog the camera in Revenant took me out of the movie, and I think not deliberately, it wasn't some Brechitian exercise in alienation.
That being said, there are some people who draw that line in surprising places. I have met people who don't like musicals because they can't handle that people just start singing. I mean, fine, but, you know, musical.
For a lot of us, refusing to suspend disbelief because somebody won't stop filming with his camera is like refusing to suspend disbelief because somebody is texting when driving. You're welcome to be flummoxed by it, but we're going to go ahead and wonder if you're actually a part of the modern world or a visitor from the distant past who also stares at microwaves in wonder.
posted by maxsparber at 9:55 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
For a lot of us, refusing to suspend disbelief because somebody won't stop filming with his camera is like refusing to suspend disbelief because somebody is texting when driving.
Or who turns 90 degrees while driving to give their passenger a Meaningful Look that they hold for a good thirty seconds or so, in city traffic where there are clearly other vehicles on the road.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:04 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Or who turns 90 degrees while driving to give their passenger a Meaningful Look that they hold for a good thirty seconds or so, in city traffic where there are clearly other vehicles on the road.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:04 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Or who turns 90 degrees while driving to give their passenger a Meaningful Look that they hold for a good thirty seconds or so, in city traffic where there are clearly other vehicles on the road.
I have a friend who does that.
More than once it has resulted in screaming, "MIKE! EYES ON THE ROAD! EYES ON THE GODDAMN ROAD!!".
posted by mephron at 10:16 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
I have a friend who does that.
More than once it has resulted in screaming, "MIKE! EYES ON THE ROAD! EYES ON THE GODDAMN ROAD!!".
posted by mephron at 10:16 AM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
That being said, there are some people who draw that line in surprising places. I have met people who don't like musicals because they can't handle that people just start singing. I mean, fine, but, you know, musical.
But it's not natural!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:21 AM on January 15, 2016
But it's not natural!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:21 AM on January 15, 2016
There's a great scene in the completely ignored 1991 Billy Zane film Blood and Concrete where he's in a car that Darren McGavin is driving, and McGavin turns to look at him, and then just keeps looking at him, and won't stop looking at him, and Zane panics, but McGavin is STILL staring at him, and it starts being hilarious.
I remember almost nothing else about the film.
posted by maxsparber at 10:24 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I remember almost nothing else about the film.
posted by maxsparber at 10:24 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Monster movies where the protagonists don't do anything obviously stupid are really refreshing.
And while there are a number of times the characters made choices that were... dubiously sensical, it really helps to realize that the majority of the cast members are immediately coming out of a large party where it is very likely they are moderately to very drunk. Think of it in the same framing as World's End, and the decisions made become much more easy to relate to.
posted by FatherDagon at 11:55 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
And while there are a number of times the characters made choices that were... dubiously sensical, it really helps to realize that the majority of the cast members are immediately coming out of a large party where it is very likely they are moderately to very drunk. Think of it in the same framing as World's End, and the decisions made become much more easy to relate to.
posted by FatherDagon at 11:55 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
This looks like one of those "Truly, Man is the Monster" films. But I really liked Cloverfield. It made me queasy because of the shaky cam. I'll go see this.
It's fun to see Goodman play an of-the-rails maniac.
posted by hot_monster at 11:58 AM on January 15, 2016
It's fun to see Goodman play an of-the-rails maniac.
posted by hot_monster at 11:58 AM on January 15, 2016
It's fun to see Goodman play an of-the-rails maniac.
One of the reasons that this century is not as good as the last one is that so far we have had eight Coen Brothers movies (nine as of early next month) and John Goodman has been in only one of them. No one does a good screaming fat man scene like the Coens, and no one can deliver like Goodman.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:42 PM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
One of the reasons that this century is not as good as the last one is that so far we have had eight Coen Brothers movies (nine as of early next month) and John Goodman has been in only one of them. No one does a good screaming fat man scene like the Coens, and no one can deliver like Goodman.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:42 PM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
This looks like one of those "Truly, Man is the Monster" films.
I look forward to seeing John Goodman play Richard Wayne Gary Wayne in the alternate universe where the world might have actually ended.
Uuuuuuuuuuunbreakable!
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 12:52 PM on January 15, 2016
I look forward to seeing John Goodman play Richard Wayne Gary Wayne in the alternate universe where the world might have actually ended.
Uuuuuuuuuuunbreakable!
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 12:52 PM on January 15, 2016
Screening under a different name isn't uncommon, so as to minimize leaks. I doubt it got Cloverfieldized after it was made, since it's from Abrams' production company.
And remember, the original movie's name of "Cloverfield" itself was a working title as well. Cloverfield is the freeway exit off the 10 in Santa Monica used to get to the Bad Robot offices on Olympic blvd. It only became the official name after the hype from the teaser got too great.
posted by sideshow at 12:56 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
And remember, the original movie's name of "Cloverfield" itself was a working title as well. Cloverfield is the freeway exit off the 10 in Santa Monica used to get to the Bad Robot offices on Olympic blvd. It only became the official name after the hype from the teaser got too great.
posted by sideshow at 12:56 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
One of the reasons that this century is not as good as the last one is that so far we have had eight Coen Brothers movies (nine as of early next month) and John Goodman has been in only one of them.
He's been in four: Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Big Leibowski, and Inside Llewyn Davis
posted by sideshow at 1:02 PM on January 15, 2016
He's been in four: Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Big Leibowski, and Inside Llewyn Davis
posted by sideshow at 1:02 PM on January 15, 2016
And Raising Arizona. But apart from Inside Llewyn Davis, these are all more than fifteen years back. It has been a long haul.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:23 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:23 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I loved Cloverfield, I thought it did a good job of touching on all the fears: Giant monsters, tiny fast monsters, Heights, the dark, getting bombed, flying, Mr Pibb and boring video of parties with boring affluent people I don't want as friends.
I think my only real grip was how the scale of the monster changed depending on situation, sometimes it was big enough to wreak buildings, nimble enough to leap up and eat helicopters and then somehow small enough to notice one lone person on the ground and bother to eat them.
I'm going opening night and if you ask nicely I'll put my jacket on the seat next to me and hold you a spot.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:31 PM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think my only real grip was how the scale of the monster changed depending on situation, sometimes it was big enough to wreak buildings, nimble enough to leap up and eat helicopters and then somehow small enough to notice one lone person on the ground and bother to eat them.
I'm going opening night and if you ask nicely I'll put my jacket on the seat next to me and hold you a spot.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:31 PM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I enjoyed Cloverfield much more when I saw it as the story of a small lost child with terrible balance that bravely finds its mother. There is some collateral damage. Some horrible hipsters cruelly film it but it overcomes.
posted by eyeofthetiger at 1:49 PM on January 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by eyeofthetiger at 1:49 PM on January 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
I hated Cloverfield. Partially the illness of shakycam, partially still unprocessed 9/11 brain bits.
Missing this too.
posted by mephron at 2:12 PM on January 15, 2016
Missing this too.
posted by mephron at 2:12 PM on January 15, 2016
He's been in four: Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Big Leibowski, and Inside Llewyn Davis
Barton Fink and Big Lebowski were not this century.
posted by brundlefly at 5:49 PM on January 15, 2016
Barton Fink and Big Lebowski were not this century.
posted by brundlefly at 5:49 PM on January 15, 2016
I hated the shaky cam/someone's-gotta-film-this! conceit of Cloverfield, and for any directors out there, I have a solution to to this problem. You can have your found-footage movie, but set it ever so slightly in the future so that there are drones filming characters, little bees with HD cameras. They follow the action around, no shaky cam, no audience eye rolls at the implausibility of one character or another actually filming this shit when we're gonna die!
Go on Hollywood, take my idea, my gift to you.
posted by zardoz at 7:14 PM on January 15, 2016
Go on Hollywood, take my idea, my gift to you.
posted by zardoz at 7:14 PM on January 15, 2016
I'm not sure you can call John Goodman a ringer.
Yeah. But close enough IMO. When he's good he is so good, like in Argo.
posted by Camofrog at 9:50 PM on January 15, 2016
Yeah. But close enough IMO. When he's good he is so good, like in Argo.
posted by Camofrog at 9:50 PM on January 15, 2016
Barton Fink and Big Lebowski were not this century millenium
ftfy (also true, and seems more overdue that way)
posted by otherchaz at 10:56 PM on January 15, 2016
ftfy (also true, and seems more overdue that way)
posted by otherchaz at 10:56 PM on January 15, 2016
This breaks a big part of the premise of the movie for me. The thing that made the original (Valencia) synopsis so interesting is that the female lead wakes up in this bunker and doesn't know if she is being told the truth about something horrible happening "out there" and the need to stay in this bunker. The Cloverfield tie in and the trailer spoil that there really is something out there to hide from.
posted by Megafly at 4:36 PM on January 17, 2016
posted by Megafly at 4:36 PM on January 17, 2016
A character not giving The Right Answer or acting in line with what The Right Thing To Do is is not a plot hole, nor is it a problem with the storytelling.
This is why I stopped watching How It Should Have Ended, because even with the irresistible nerd impulse to nitpick, it got tiresome. (To its credit, HISHE seemed to realize this as well, since it seemed to be moving toward a webseries about Superman and Christian Bale Voice Batman having coffee.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:32 PM on January 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is why I stopped watching How It Should Have Ended, because even with the irresistible nerd impulse to nitpick, it got tiresome. (To its credit, HISHE seemed to realize this as well, since it seemed to be moving toward a webseries about Superman and Christian Bale Voice Batman having coffee.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:32 PM on January 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Tagrutato: Employee of the month - 2016 Feb
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:48 AM on February 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:48 AM on February 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
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