hoop-tober 2.0: film 5 *********************************************************************** remember when this film was released? how it was shrouded in mystery and intrigue? remember the first trailer when there is a party and then a loud bang and the next thing you see is the head of the statue of liberty flying towards you and then a date? i remember and i couldn't be more stoked for this film at the time. having j.j. abrams name attached couldn't hurt none either. when it finally came out i ran to see it in the theatres and i loved it. it ended up being a found footage monster movie a la godzilla. i loved it because it was a secret revealed, because it was a monster/horror/sci-fi flick, because it was entertaining, because found footage had not played itself out yet, because it was a great time at the movies. cut to last night and i just watched cloverfield for the second time. sadly i didn't love it as much as the first time out. i didn't because it was a lot more generic (in it's storytelling) than i remember (a boy treks through the chaos to find the girl he loves who never loved him back and his friends follow), because it is a found footage film (and it's played itself out), because it is filled with young adults/just past teenagers doing stupid things and is filled with music and scenes catered to teenagers more so than adults. that's not to say i didn't like this film this time out. i just didn't love it like last time. i was younger then and it catered more to my tastes back in '08. not that my tastes have changed, and not that i can't appreciate things made for younger crowds, it's just that this time out it was blaringly obvious. also the secret was out and i knew what to expect and what was coming. also the big screen and the big sound was replaced by my 40" tv and sound bar. it still had pretty good acting for the most part, excellent special effects and make-up, a cool looking monster (which seems to be copied all the time now), solid direction and great editing. the way it cuts between past and present and between scenes feels very realistic and is very well done. this is one of the better found footage movies out there, if not one of the best. and if there were a half dozen monster movies released over the last decade or two (pacific rim, godzilla, cloverfield, the other godzilla and a couple others i can't think of) this one fits right near the top. on a side note: two things always bothered me on found footage films. one, the everlasting battery and two, the need to film everything all the time. when it comes to a camcorder i have never seen a battery last more than 4 or five hours, ever. even on a cell phone. when it comes to filming everything all the time, like i said it always bothered me but these days everybody is literally filming everything pretty much all the time so i guess if a monster attacked their city you could be damn sure they would be recording every second. lastly: i'm shocked that in 2008 we were still using camcorders with tape. i thought that died out with the advent of the smartphone. go figure. production design: 9 out of 10 cinematography: 8 out of 10 re-playability: 7 out of 10 originality: 7 out of 10 costumes: 9 out of 10 directing: 8 out of 10 editing: 9 out of 10 acting: 7 out of 10 music: 8 out of 10 script: 7 out of 10 79/100