Cloverfield

Pros: Handheld camera works well, impressive pacing
Cons: A few flaws and cliches

A flicker of lights and the shaking of the walls suggest an earthquake at a Manhattan loft party. The news station reports that an offshore tanker has capsized. Those in attendance rush out to witness the streets in mayhem, when suddenly the head of the ...

Pros: Interesting concept
Cons: Not much of a plot. Headache inducing shaky camera made it hard to watch.

In the last several years, I have seen many movie trailers that have ended up showing entirely too much and have even given away important information. That didn't happen with the trailer I saw for Cloverfield. It showed just enough to ...

Pros: Special effects, pacing
Cons: Nothing original, terrible narrator, very shaky camera--not for the motion sick.

Cloverfield is the child or cousin of The Blair Witch Project, I am Legend, Alien, Godzilla, and a bit of a forgotten film called Miracle (and likely some I have not yet seen).  It is a derivative of all of them but it has just ...

Pros: Moments of humor, first-person perspective, more about people than monsters.
Cons: Over too quickly.

When I was a kid, I always loved Go dzilla movies (still do, in fact). But back then, I was too young to realize the larger symbolism-Godzilla was just Godzilla, a really cool giant monster that went around trashing ...

Pros: It was only 85 minutes.
Cons: The whole movie.

We finally got the see the much raved about Cloverfield in the theater last night. We should have chosen Jumpers instead. Cloverfield is based on a premise like the Blair Witch Project, in which a character in the film uses a handheld ...

Pros: no pros in this film
Cons: darkness overrides production

For once I get to bash a monster flick in the same decade as it was released. Never seeing any trailers for this film, and reading only summary comments from viewers, I walked into it basically unaware. A monster on the loose in New York is about as rare ...

Pros: Good intentions
Cons: Terrible execution

We begin with a going away party for Tokyo-bound  NY exec Michael Stahl-David, filmed (poorly) by his friend Hud (J.T. Miller), on Stahl-David’s brother’s (Mike Vogel) hand-held camera. An arrival by his ex-girlfriend and her new beau is ...

Pros: Decent use of camera work, lighting, and motion to build suspense.
Cons: Constant motion made me sick. Writing and Plot left a lot to be desired.

Note: This review will not reveal any major plot deals, concentrating instead on the overall movie going experience. Blair Witch Project This movie is filmed using the same first-person camcorder effect as The Blair Witch ...

Pros: nail-biting presentation, exceptional camera technique, very original story, combination of horror/scares/monsters
Cons: none

Cloverfield created a buzz unlike any I have seen since the first preview for the 4th Star Wars film hit theaters. The original trailer for Cloverfield teased audiences everywhere with what looked to be some sort of monster film, but not committing to ...

Pros: Plenty of action and suspense, that's for sure!
Cons: Camera work is intentionally shaky / jerky and the ending is unresolved.

I'm going to start this review by telling the truth. When the movie Transformers was released the opening previews included one for an intriguing film that wasn't even named at the time. We weren't sure what the film was about but we were pretty sure ...

Pros: fun to watch, good cast, unique experience
Cons: monster still looks CG, you'll wish it was longer

After months of rampant viral marketing, from “homemade” films of folks at Rob’s party that play on the possible story behind the monster, to the brief story cameo in a Japanese manga overseas, Cloverfield is a viciously intriguing effort to ...

Pros: Decent (not great) giant monster busts up the city movie.
Cons: Glacier-slow start. Dull, annoying, interchangeable, Yuppie-Scum characters. Tired BWP production values.

I'm a big fan of all those old Japanese giant radioactive monster movies: Godzilla, Mothra, and Gamara (who could forget Gamera...?). Can we have a little Confession Time here? I saw ...

Pros: Really nothing.
Cons: Man, I wanted to bite Hud’s head off myself.

Maybe it's an age thing, maybe it's a New Yorker-doesn't-want-to-see-bad ly-done-street-disaster-thing but at any rate, I have a thing against "Cloverfield." This film's buzz seems to be resting on its marketing--you know, famous for being ...

Pros: Moments of character and pace
Cons: Nonexistent plot, Generic character elements, Camera work makes no practical sense.

It is a rare thing that I go into a film almost completely ignorant, blind if you will, to what I am about to see. Because I am a big fan of "Star Trek" and the next "Star Trek" film is a project that J.J. Abrams is involved with, I learned about the ...

Pros: Wow! All I can say is WOW!
Cons: Shaky camera, very short movie

I had no idea Cloverfield would be such an awesome movie. Like many people, I was intrigued by the early trailers for the film, but I never saw the movie in theaters. I knew it was shot using handheld cameras and there were a lot of complaints ...