Why I Love Cloverfield

There is a lot of nonsense in Cloverfield. Beyond the fact that a giant alien monster creature lands in Manhattan and trashes the entire city, there are also a great deal of puzzling narrative missteps. The story might have its flaws and the characters are not much to write home about but this is a film where style is king and wow is it a breathless ride.

Director Matt Reeves created something truly visceral, immediate and immersive. If a monster did land in Manhattan and someone was there to film it, this is what it would be like. It clearly borrows (some would argue highly insensitively) from the horrific amateur videos of 9/11 that were broadcast on the news, in documentaries and have now found their homes on YouTube. The destruction of buildings and iconic landmarks, dust covered streets and people, and the emergency services seeming completely out of their depth are all recognisable elements from the handheld home videos of people who grabbed their cameras on September 11th 2001.

Found footage films often have a problem with believability despite their aesthetics being designed to convince you of their veracity. The main problem is that no one believes that a character would keep filming when faced with imminent danger and especially the very real prospect of their own demise. However, this is another area where Cloverfield excels. In giving the duty of camera operating to funny guy Hud, the audience can totally buy in to the idea that this guy just wants to keep filming. First he is reluctant when offered the job of documenting the leaving party of Rob. Then he quickly finds it fun and assumes the responsibility that has been handed to him. Even after the party is rudely interrupted by a giant monster tearing off the head of the Statue of Liberty and throwing it down a street, Hud decides it is still his duty to document the events in which he finds himself a participant.

His continued filming is completely believable. In light of all the videos from 9/11, we know that people desire to film and share this kind of extraordinary footage. Like Hud says, people WILL want to see how it all went down. His reactions from behind the camera feel real. He screams, repeats his cries to God over and over again, and his confusion and fear are constantly palpable. His filming is not the work of a calm professional but instead the haphazard flailing of a terrified individual.

Like Heather from The Blair Witch Project who was determined to keep making that goddam documentary even when she was losing her mind, (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!!) Hud keeps filming right until his death. His last surviving friends realise the importance of the camera in capturing their legacy and record their last messages to the world before being blown to smithereens. It's a wonderfully bleak ending that leaves the audience to decide if the bombing actually managed to kill the monster. In a final bit of bitter irony, the previously recorded Coney Island day trip of lovers Rob and Beth flashes up on the screen as Beth says to camera 'I had a good day'. If you look carefully, you will see something crash into the ocean in the distance. It's a perfect bit of non-linear storytelling that ends the film on a deeply sad note (even if you don't care much for the hipster characters) by taking us back to the beginning of the story just as all is lost.

For all its flaws, I love Cloverfield nearly as much as I love The Blair Witch Project. Forget any versions of Godzilla, Cloverfield is the definitive monster movie of our generation.

More from I Love That Film:

Buy my book on The Blair Witch Project

Deconstructing Cinema: Cloverfield

Characters With Cameras 

Results for the Best Found Footage Film 

New York at The Movies

The day I met new Star Wars star John Boyega

After the announcement that John Boyega is going to be a central character in Star Wars: Episode VII, it has taken me a whole day to realise/remember that I met Boyega at an Attack the Block screening and Q&A back in 2011. I chatted to him outside the screening and got some photos and I even remember saying to him and Alex Esmail that they were going to be big, big stars after this film. Obviously I had no idea how big Boyega is about to get!

I couldn't believe Attack the Block was not a massive hit so I'm pleased that at least Boyega is now going to be a mega-star in one of the biggest films of all time! Check out my pics:

Boyega on stage left

Boyega takes pics of his cast mates

Boyega and cast mates

Edgar Wright was also there!

Wish I'd had the guts to get a photo with him!

The Summer of 2050 at the Cinema

Picture it. The summer of 2050 at the cinema. The studios probably already are. They've already got their sure thing tent poles already picked out and ready to grab the masses, pulling in ridiculous profits. Their market research has led to more 'sure things' than ever before.

Marvel Phase 14 is well under way with Avengers 14 out next summer. Star Wars Origins have seen spin offs of every major character in the original Star Wars trilogy from birth to puberty to retirement and episode 16 is due any day now. Spiderman is on his sixth reboot, Fast and Furious 50 promises to be a landmark in the franchise and vampire and zombie movies are still selling well.

J.J. Abrams and his two offspring will of course be directing most of these with Christopher Nolan producing from his death bed. Elderly stars like Tom Cruise and their increasingly important stunt doubles are mo-capping for digitally rendered versions of their younger, prettier selves and still making the studios a mint.

The summer schedules are filled with blockbusters and the trailers are now six minutes long and feature excerpts from every major set piece expertly edited together with juicy sound bites of increasingly ridiculous and repetitive dialogue. 

The cinemas all have bouncers who patrol the aisles with night vision goggles, looking for pirates at work. They watch you endlessly as you try to watch the film, trying even harder not to notice them. There are now nearly 10 minutes of messages warning you not to pirate movies or you will kill cinema.

The average length of a film is now just shy of 3 hours and cinemas have gotten wise, having an interval in most and sending staff in to sell you food and drink, scratch cards, merchandise...you name it. The second half is usually filled with kids waving light sabers excitedly in the air. Many people take the option of a three course meal for the duration of the film and wear bibs due to the difficulties of eating in the darkened cinema.

The norm will be to tweet, text and Facebook your friends during a film (even if they are in the seat next to you). Thankfully most phone batteries don't last as long as a film anymore, so by the second half most have died and all those bright white lights have disappeared (to be replaced by kids with replica plastic lightsabers).

Franchises rule, originality is dead, but at least audiences still love the movies. 

More moaning at I Love That Film:

The Cinema Experience

Is modern marketing ruining the movie experience?

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

In my mind, what J.J Abrams has done with the Star Trek franchise is nothing short of a miracle. The Star Trek of 2009 and its sequel have made space, the final frontier exciting, sexy and a bold step forward/backward. Whereas the last film was pretty much Enterprise Assemble and had to deal with bringing the crew together, Into Darkness wastes not a moment, plunging us straight into the action at warp speed and rarely slowing down.

I'm one of those people who never saw a single Star Trek film before Abrams came on board and I never really had an interest. Speaking from this perspective, Star Trek Into Darkness makes perfect sense to me. It all comes down to the central relationship between Kirk and Spock, brilliantly played by Chris Pine and particularly Zachary Quinto. Right from the opening set piece, their contradicting personalities and priorities are to the fore and the bromance sizzles with bust ups but also a deep mutual understanding.

The supporting cast are also fun though they get little to do compared to Benedict Cumberbatch's villain. Spurting monologues like a true thespian, Cumberbatch goes for grand, strutting around with steely eyes, and excels as the terrorist threatening the crew and more. John Harrison is a fearful creation with a worthy cause and he raises the dramatic stakes incredibly going from foe to (sort-of) friend to foe again.

The action and special effects are spectacular but never overwhelm in the same way as some of the more CG assisted scenes in other summer blockbusters (namely Man of Steel). All in all Abrams has nailed the reinvention and whether he chooses to return for a third Star Trek film or not, he has set the franchise up beautifully for further adventures. Let's all cross our fingers and hope that he can he can do the same for the galaxy far far away...

Recent reviews at I Love That Film:

Monsters University Review

Man of Steel Review

This is the End Review 

Fast and Furious 6 Review

21 & Over Review

Iron Man 3 Review

Olympus Has Fallen Review

Spring Breakers Review

Stark Trek Into Darkness vs Man of Steel

I like to taunt movie fans occasionally with a painful question. If you could only see one summer blockbuster at the cinema out of Star Trek Into Darkness and Man of Steel, which one would it be?

Last Summer, I posed the same question about Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises and then I followed it up with a JGL vs JGL post with Looper taking on Premium Rush. Looper trashed Premium Rush but Prometheus and the Dark Knight came out pretty even.

I'm always fascinated to see what is making people tick and what is likely to draw the biggest crowds in my spectacularly unscientific polls. I'm particularly curious with films like these that have such a massive in-built fan base that they never really stand a chance of failing. Despite the negativity about Superman Returns, it still made a tidy profit and the Star Trek series plodded along nicely for ages!

Man of Steel looks to be on much more solid ground with Christopher Nolan involved and Zack Snyder directing. Warners will be hoping to hell this one works so they can get on with a Justice League movie and setting that up in a series of Marvel competing stand-alones. Superman has his legions of fans but a re-invention is always vaguely risky. However all signs look good for this to take a slightly more grounded approach to the franchise with Henry Cavill not wearing underpants on the outside and Michael Shannon on villain duties as General Zod. Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner as dual Daddies won't hurt either.

Star Trek on the other hand has the dedicated Trekkies plus a whole new generation of fans (myself included) who were sucked in by the gripping tractor beam of J.J. Abram's exceptional reboot. The trailers have been spectacular but the handling of the characters with the excellent new cast plus the addition of Benedict (everybody loves) Cumberbatch promise that this will be brilliant. Early reviews are looking extremely promising!

So my question to you is: if you could only see Star Trek Into Darkness or Man of Steel in the cinema this summer, which one would it be?

Man of Steel brand new TV spot



And full trailer



And Star Trek Into Darkness trailer



Watch the trailers again. Think carefully. This is a big decision. Which one will it be? Star Trek or Mr Superman? Klingon or Kal-El?  The choice is yours!

More Star Wars Sequels and Spin Offs Every Summer

Disney has announced that every summer for the foreseeable future will now see a new Star Wars film unleashed on audiences. Starting in 2015 with J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII, every summer will now be dominated by a sequel or spin off from George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away.

The news comes as little surprise to any fan keeping their eye on the internet for updates on the new Star Wars films since Lucas decided to sell the rights. What is slightly disconcerting is the sheer regularity of product that Disney intends to dish out for fans of Star Wars.

Following hot on the heels of Abrams’ hotly anticipated trek into a new science fiction franchise, what can fans expect from future Star Wars films?

Created by Josh Lange

With the announcement that Abrams’ is responsible for the seventh entry in the main timeline of films, following on from the prequels and the original trilogy, it is safe to say that once every two or three years, we will be getting a Star Wars: Episode VIII and Episode IX. With those potentially taking up the summers of 2017 and 2019, the next question is will there be an extension in the future? Could the summers of 2020 and beyond feature a fourth trilogy of Episodes X, XII and XII? Will Abram’s stick around long enough to shepherd the franchise boldly forwards?

In the meantime, my thoughts have turned to what will be the Star Wars films filling multiplexes between the main episodes of the franchise and who will be taking the reigns for Disney?

Spin offs have already been rumoured for a young Han Solo, Boba Fett, Yoda and Lando Calrissian. The prequels already gave us the back-story on Anakin, Leia and Obi Wan but there is still plenty of room for further expansion with a huge range of characters from the universe.

The spin offs have an impossibly huge universe as set up by Lucas but also by the endless amounts of fan fiction that have already been written around the characters and even the most minor and insignificant ones at that.

Created by Josh Lange

The trick for Disney will be to keep the franchise fresh and approachable to newcomers without alienating the long term fans. Too much introducing of new cute and fluffy characters will lead to accusations of trying to sell toys as with the introduction of the Ewoks back in Return of the Jedi. Too much focus on existing characters might take away some of the mystery and allure surrounding particular characters.

With J.J. Abram at the helm of the first in the new summer Star Wars films, Disney has made a smart move and will likely get off to a good start. His Star Trek managed to appease long term fans while attracting a whole new audience to that science fiction franchise. The question is will he be able to do the same with Star Wars and what will his involvement be in the further sequels and spin offs?

More to the point, will this Disney cash cow continue to deliver the goods for may summers to come or will the Star Wars udders dry up pretty quick?

Super 8 Trailer

Wow! Kids with cameras. Riding bikes. Missing dogs. Missing people. Aliens on the loose? Train crashes, explosions, a small town under attack! This film looks like it may have everything.

The soundtrack to the trailer inspires awe and fills me with nostalgia for Spielbergs old movies. The kids, the adults, the time and place all feel so Spielbergian and takes me back to films of the eighties where the kids are resourceful, wide-eyed heroes.

With JJ Abrams directing (and continuing a familiar idea of characters with cameras... see also the Abrams produced Cloverfield), and Spielberg producing, I'm hoping for a similar vibe to The Goonies or Back to the Future, films which Spielberg also produced but left the reigns to directors he trusts.

Love the sense of mystery that has been created in the trailer- reminds me of the excitement caused by the trailer and viral marketing for Cloverfield all over again! August 19th feels like a long wait!