Cloverfield (2008)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Matt Reeves

Writer (WGA):

Drew Goddard (written by)

Release Date:

18 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Some Thing Has Found Us

Plot:

Revolves around a monster attack in New York as told from the point of view of a small group of people.

Plot Keywords:

New York | Video Camera | Explosion | Apartment | Monster

Awards:

1 win & 11 nominations

Cast

Lizzy Caplan	...	Marlena
Jessica Lucas	...	Lily
T.J. Miller	...	Hud
Michael Stahl-David	...	Rob Hawkins
Mike Vogel	...	Jason Hawkins
Odette Yustman	...	Beth McIntyre
Anjul Nigam	...	Bodega Cashier
Margot Farley	...	Jenn
Theo Rossi	...	Antonio
Brian Klugman	...	Charlie
Kelvin Yu	...	Clark
Liza Lapira	...	Heather
Lili Mirojnick	...	Lei
Ben Feldman	...	Travis
Elena Caruso	...	Party Goer

Also Known As:

1-18-08 (USA) (promotional title)
Cheese (USA) (fake working title)
Clover (USA) (fake working title)
Monstrous (USA) (promotional title)
Slusho (USA) (fake working title)
Untitled J.J. Abrams Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, terror and disturbing images.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Singapore:PG | UK:15 | Argentina:16 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Ireland:15A | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-13 | Australia:M | Czech Republic:15 | Hong Kong:IIA | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44015) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Germany:12 | Brazil:14 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:15 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Denmark:15 | New Zealand:M | Japan:PG-12 | France:U (with warning) | South Africa:13V (13LV) | Iceland:14 | Peru:14 | Austria:14

Filming Locations:

Bloomingdale's Department Store, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Bad Robot

Trivia:

One of the original ideas for a title for the movie was "Greyshot," both a reference to the hand-held style of filming and the name of the bridge in Central Park where Rob and Beth take refuge.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the subway tunnel scenes, Rob's shirt seems to clean itself. At first it is dirty and sweat stained, then it is relatively clean, and then it is dirty again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Rob Hawkins: It's 6:42 AM. Beth's dad's place. He's out of town. And it's already a good day.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (#33.5)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Cleanup In Aisle 19

I haven't been this tense in a movie theater in sooooo long

With all of the crazy viral marketing (that started way too early) some people were worried if it could live up to the hype. It COMPLETELY surpassed my expectations, and I went in expecting it to be good in the first place. Once things pick up and start rolling about 15 minutes in, I didn't relax until the credits started rolling. Yes, they give you a few brief moments to catch your breath, but even then you're still on edge, waiting for the next attack. I can't imagine this movie being executed in any way other than the hand held approach. They somehow managed to pull off SEVERAL absolutely beautiful shots/camera angles while still fitting into the hand held setting. The acting and dialog is so natural that it doesn't feel like they're acting a script...at ALL. It's incredibly intense, you're really pulled into the character's corners, and it's filmed wondrously. If you get motion sickness easily, you'll probably want to wait 'till this is out on DVD. Other than that...GO SEE THIS MOVIE. It's one of the greatest monster movies of all time. Actually...scratch that...it's THE greatest monster movie of all time.