2008 Woodie Awards
Movie Review: Cloverfield
Joe Mayers
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Lifestyle
It can be argued that the scariest movies are those where you're not quite sure what is terrorizing the characters. To put it plainly, our imaginations are capable of conjuring up far greater horrors than those which Hollywood can digitally produce. A horror film's letdown typically occurs once the ghoul, or what have you, is revealed to the audience.
With this fact of "hiding the ghoul" in mind, let us turn to this year's newest monster movie, "Cloverfield". The premise of the film is fairly simple: A monster invades New York, it destroys everything in its path, and from its skin rain smaller versions of the man-devouring, insect, creature-thing. Now, if there were ever a storyline where I would conclude that the ghoul needed hiding, it would be this storyline. And I am happy to say that the makers of Cloverfield acknowledged this golden rule of horror, and, in a rather inventive way, managed to keep their monster hidden. This feat was accomplished by the staging of the film's subplot: The going away party of our protagonist, Rob - an event captured on a hand held camera by Rob's best friend Hud. When the monster attacks Hud simply decides to keep the camera rolling. This paves the way for footage which only hints at the monster's presence in chaotic, motion sickness-inducing clips. We see the monster's feet smashing cars, his gangly silhouette from eight city blocks away as his tail rips through a building. We see the head of the Statue of Liberty tumbling wildly down the street. We see this only in broken, jumbled, and quite terrifying clips. And all of this is entirely excusable because Hud is, after all, no professional cameraman. The point is that up until the very end of the film, the audience never possesses a full grasp of what Rob's going away party - along with the rest of New York City - is really up against. I believe that it is along these lines that Cloverfield achieves its greatest success.
Couple this achievement with the fact that we get the added bonus of the emotional intimacy the use of a handheld camera provides. This intimacy reveals a number of subplots to the audience - a love story, a flirtatious infatuation, etc. All of these become ever-more haunting when taking into account the doomsday implications of the film's opening: these jumbled, chaotic moments were the last of the character's lives. With these facts considered, I give Cloverfield a rating of: $3 Movie Night. It's an entertaining film, but perhaps not for the Cinemark's obnoxious $9.00 fee. Enjoy it this next second Tuesday and appreciate that the filmmakers let our imaginations run wild for as long as possible.
And now....OSCAR
PREDICTIONS by a worthless, inexperienced, movie fan:
BEST MOTION PICUTRE: "No Country for Old Men." The Cohen brother's flawless film deserves the win for the chills it gave and the thoughts it stirred
BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day Lewis, "There Will be Blood." Is there really any question about this one? It's Daniel Day Lewis.
BEST ACTRESS: Ellen Page, "Juno." Page is the Alan Arkin of 2008. Juno was perfect for what it was, and Page made all of that possible.
BEST DIRECTOR: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Schnabel made the imagination of a stroke victim live and breath in one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen.
With this fact of "hiding the ghoul" in mind, let us turn to this year's newest monster movie, "Cloverfield". The premise of the film is fairly simple: A monster invades New York, it destroys everything in its path, and from its skin rain smaller versions of the man-devouring, insect, creature-thing. Now, if there were ever a storyline where I would conclude that the ghoul needed hiding, it would be this storyline. And I am happy to say that the makers of Cloverfield acknowledged this golden rule of horror, and, in a rather inventive way, managed to keep their monster hidden. This feat was accomplished by the staging of the film's subplot: The going away party of our protagonist, Rob - an event captured on a hand held camera by Rob's best friend Hud. When the monster attacks Hud simply decides to keep the camera rolling. This paves the way for footage which only hints at the monster's presence in chaotic, motion sickness-inducing clips. We see the monster's feet smashing cars, his gangly silhouette from eight city blocks away as his tail rips through a building. We see the head of the Statue of Liberty tumbling wildly down the street. We see this only in broken, jumbled, and quite terrifying clips. And all of this is entirely excusable because Hud is, after all, no professional cameraman. The point is that up until the very end of the film, the audience never possesses a full grasp of what Rob's going away party - along with the rest of New York City - is really up against. I believe that it is along these lines that Cloverfield achieves its greatest success.
Couple this achievement with the fact that we get the added bonus of the emotional intimacy the use of a handheld camera provides. This intimacy reveals a number of subplots to the audience - a love story, a flirtatious infatuation, etc. All of these become ever-more haunting when taking into account the doomsday implications of the film's opening: these jumbled, chaotic moments were the last of the character's lives. With these facts considered, I give Cloverfield a rating of: $3 Movie Night. It's an entertaining film, but perhaps not for the Cinemark's obnoxious $9.00 fee. Enjoy it this next second Tuesday and appreciate that the filmmakers let our imaginations run wild for as long as possible.
And now....OSCAR
PREDICTIONS by a worthless, inexperienced, movie fan:
BEST MOTION PICUTRE: "No Country for Old Men." The Cohen brother's flawless film deserves the win for the chills it gave and the thoughts it stirred
BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day Lewis, "There Will be Blood." Is there really any question about this one? It's Daniel Day Lewis.
BEST ACTRESS: Ellen Page, "Juno." Page is the Alan Arkin of 2008. Juno was perfect for what it was, and Page made all of that possible.
BEST DIRECTOR: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Schnabel made the imagination of a stroke victim live and breath in one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen.
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