Random Thoughts of Mine...

Some Thing Has Found Us

Earlier this evening (Friday), I went with a friend of mine to see Cloverfield at a local movie theatre. In this movie, a giant monster attacks New York City and we see it through the eyes of a small group of friends. You can say Cloverfield is like Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project. The movie is a tape that is supposedly "found" after the monster attack on NYC. If you are prone to motion sickness, then you should use caution when seeing this movie because of the jerky hand-held motions used to film it.

Cloverfield stars Michael Stahl-David as Rob Hawkins; Mike Vogel as his brother, Jason Hawkins; T.J. Miller as Rob's best friend, Hud Platt; Jessica Lucas as Jason's girlfriend, Lily Ford; Lizzy Caplan as Marlena Diamond, who Hud has a crush on; and Odette Yustman as Beth McIntyre, the girl that Rob has a crush on.

Rob & Beth have been friends for a while and sleep with each other, keeping it a secret from their friends and family. Jason and Lily plan a surprise going-away party for Jason, who has landed a job in Japan and will be leaving soon. They decide to record it and going-away messages from friends on video for Rob. Lily wants Jason to do it, but he enlists Rob's best friend, Hud, to do it for him. During the party, Beth arrives with another guy on her arm and this upsets Rob. They both get into an argument and as she's leaving, Rob says something to her that he later regrets. Some time after this is when earthquakes rock the apartment building that the party is in. They turn on the news and learn of an oil tanker that has capsized in New York Harbor. The apartment is close to the harbor, so they all go to the roof, when a huge explosion occurs north of them. They all run onto the streets to flee the flaming debris that almost kills them, only to witness the beginning of the monster's attack. Everyone flees and attempts to leave Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge, when Rob receives a call from Beth. She's trapped in her apartment and asks him to come and get her. This is when the monster destroys the Brooklyn Bridge, trapping the friends in Manhattan. Rob decides to rescue Beth, over the objections of the others, who decide to not leave anybody behind and to help Rob.

The film is made from the perspective of Hud and his friends and the jerky handheld camera work is disorienting at times, but can make some people jump out of their chairs almost. The filmmakers wanted to tell this story from the perspective of people living through it, and it does make you feel like you are there with the characters on screen, going through this monster attack with them. This way, you can share in the terror of the characters as the monster terrorizes Manhattan. There are some funny moments in the movie and some moments that will thrill and scare people too. I do recommend Cloverfield to you and it's probably going to be this year's most innovative movie. Below are 2 clips from the movie. The first clip is from Rob's party and Hud is trying to get Marlena to record a message for Rob. The second clip is the beginning of the monster's attack.


Rob Is Leaving


Party Explosion




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