Mark Kermode reviews Cloverfield - BBC Radio 5 Live

[karezza6]

I vomited watching Cloverfield.

[DeadCamper]

The problem with The Last Broadcast was that the ending completely ruined a fantastic build up. And that's a rather big problem.

[chanceie12]

REC is a materpiece.

[SamHain1031666]

@chanceie12 I totally agree, i just recently watched Rec and Rec 2 for my first time and i thought they were both loads better than Cloverfield, actually the best hand cam films ive ever seen. The best thing about Rec is the fact that both Rec and Rec 2 are amazing films, the sequel really digs deeper into why theres an outbreak and peopel are changing, who said teh Spanish couldnt do horror........actually, i did, and i take it back

[ShaneBeacham]

My second favorite of the "found footage" kind of movies behind the first [REC]

[annmaria]

This is one of the worst films I have seen for quite a while. I don't often turn over from a film I have paid for. In fact, I never do. Ridiculous. It would have been better if it was just a straight film with characters and a story but the idea that this guy had a camera in his hand the whole time just drove me crazy, very very poor.

[4chanGANGBANG]

he talks so much shit, somebody kill this guy plz

[EcologicalFighter]

@4chanGANGBANG Go back to 4chan and take Cloverfield with you.

[Kotowboy]

I love monster movies, but i was bored rigid by The Host.

[DulBeat]

I don't think the idea of Cloverfield was supposed to be a post-9/11 movie. If a giant monster the size of the building really tore up New York, it would be awfully smoky.

[weareskaters]

@nj4kd orrrrrrrrrrrrrr he knows much about horror and understands how excellently executed that film actually is.

[jazzzjasper]

"Doctor von Plotexplanation" LOL

[BlowDeBloodyDoorsOff]

I am not going to watch this film and even if I do, it won't upset me if I know the ending, so, what is the ending? A shape falls in the sea and then someone says 'he's still alive'. What's going on?

[BlowDeBloodyDoorsOff]

i met and sat at dinner with Simon Mayo once, he's a nice chap actually.

[haseyes]

@BlowDeBloodyDoorsOff he raped my cat

[BlowDeBloodyDoorsOff]

@haseyes Are yo sure it wasn't you, dressed up as Mayo. A comment like that could only come from someone suffering a delusional break from reality. Sort your head out and keep taking the pills.

[natmanprime]

@BlowDeBloodyDoorsOff no, really? and there's me thinking he was a CUNT

; )

[FrogmortonHotchkiss]

The characters were pure eye-candy devoid of personality - a roving camera with no central characters might actually have improved this film.

The Host may well be the greatest monster movie ever.

[TheSphinxNL]

Kermode kind of misses the basic premise of this movie, I think.

"The military" isn't to blame for the catastrophy, the only reason it's called "formaly known as Central Park" is because they nuked it at the end of the movie.

"Cloverfield" is the title given to the whole happening, because US military and their codename fetish. The entire movie basically is a piece of eyewitness journal in a massive file about the happening.

[mackychloe]

Good review, Good movie,  .......Just don't think too much lol

[rhatcher010]

@mackychloe lol that there is some good advice

[mackychloe]

@rhatcher010 lol Thanks

[soundslave]

lol 'Dr. Von-plot-explanation'. Very good.

[skinwalkerxxx]

camera men...and women. lol PC Mayo

[chanceie12]

Im surised that he actually liked this , i liked it myse.

[yerbibby]

kermode,, nailed it

[TheHappydead]

alright movie ..... but the final reveal of the monster is disapointing........... i

[zeratul1987]

has the doctor reviewed REC or REC2? Both great films.

[DanielMumby]

@zeratul1987: He reviewee Rec 2 a couple of weeks ago - described it as "the Michael Bolton of horror movies"

[jernqvist]

I hate how when people talk about "Lost footage" films always talk about Blair Witch, but almost never about Cannibal Holocaust (1980).

[joenesmit]

@jernqvist Two reasons imo

1. A lot of people have seen BW and pretty much everyone has heard about it, people who have actually seen CH are pretty rare

2. CH was a movie about 'lost footage', BW was a movie presented as 'lost footage'.

[magnolia972]

it is not easy to satisfy me (cinematically) because i'm almost forty and i've seen a lot of good and bad movies but i was bound for 84 minutes...that the reason why i did not think it was a bad movie. sure it was no masterpiece but what are the pople expecting? the story wasn't the newest.... take it as it is!

[SandBarAndYou]

I actually had this bad dream that the scene with the helicopter going down wasn't the end. Afterwards, some monster apears in front of the camera and looks retarded. Lol, yeah, I'm glad the movie ends with the helicopter going down.

[Samplelord]

What is the monster?

An anorexic Rancor...

There's 15 /20 min of monster carnage in the whole friggin"monster" film.

The rest is crybaby yanks doing stupid shit...like finding a chick you fucked...once.

Another failed review..

[menamestom]

I wish my camcorder battery lasted that long, with the light on as well!

I thought it was a pretty good film with pretty annoying characters.

[Needham90]

The Host is a brilliant film!!!!

[moeezS]

The South Park episode was perfect.

[indianna22]

I think this was the most over-hyped film of last year. All the characters are vacuous idiots which totally ruined the film. I thought it was boring.

[BRm2008]

not just for 50 yr olds. are these ny party kids annoying..

[massivedickweedohyea]

@BRm2008

it makes it awesome when they get killed.

[Jackpwnsn00bz]

Mark is wrong about the monster's origin, it's actually a prehistoric being asleep at the bottom of the ocean that was awakened when a satellite dropped from the sky and hit it. There are hints of this throughout the film and in the viral marketing.

[rp1816]

True, though if you come to the movie cold (I only saw stuff on the internet after I watched it, not knowing what it was going to be about at all) it is basically kept secret - there is a sense of menace around the military, but difficult to know exactly what is going on.

[spooksmagee]

What fell into the water near the end of the film was totally not a satellite.

[naraicks]

almost it was awoken by oil drillers or something, it was explained in a comic in japan i think

[B1ggu5]

Example?

[Jackpwnsn00bz]

Look into it yourself.

[DanthemanCTU24]

The first time i saw Cloverfield i was blown away, i still love it and i followed quite alot of the internet hype, which made it even better!

[billfenner1967]

Worst part of the film was that the protagonists were upper-middle class twenty-somethings who were completely annoying and astonishingly dull witted, as was evidenced by their observations of the giant space lizard: "Dude, that's, like, unreal ... dude!"

[Nate2764]

but on the other hand it makes it more real to have the main characters be just average everyday people who just happen to be recording the events.

[BRm2008]

@billfenner1967 yeah i agree. they were annoying older teenyboppers

[kpear59]

The best thing about this movie for me is trying to figure it all out after its finished, cause theres all weird clues and shit thoughout

the constantly moving camera made me feel sick though :P

[SpeedFreakNO]

I thought you'd hate it :P I hope for a follow up movie where you see things properly :P

[underdogg20]

Whaha, Kermode is awesome! Loved his impression of Dr. Von Plotexplanation.

[biglebowski123]

horrible movie

[Linkified]

So true, this mark kemode must not know much cos Godzilla didn't have anything to do with the US its a japanese character who came from a mysterious island known as monster island. 84 minutes is a joke for a film nowadays should be £2.50 entry and everyone leaves with £200

[doosher]

Yes Mark Kermode, reknowned and respected film critic, doesn't know much about films...He didn't say Godzilla was American he meant that the original film and the character were metaphors for Japanese fear US nuclear testing, possibly in a post Hiroshima and Nagasaki world. If that makes sense.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a 84 minute film. Why do something in 3 hours when you can do in half the time?

[SpeedFreakNO]

Agreed. Duration isn't a way to judge wether a movie is good or bad :P

[liquidgeorge]

@doosher I totally agree. As GZA from Wu-Tang Clan once said: "Too many songs that's mad long/Make it brief son, half short and twice strong"

[ollymcguirk]

hahaha you really have no clue do you. this guy is one of the best critics alive, he has such a deep knowledge of so many genres, if its crap he says it if its ok he says it if its good he says it. could it maybe be, just maybe that YOU are wrong. he says very clearly that it is a good fun pop corn movie, he isnt saying its a kubricj movie, he says its good fun and enjoyable which it was.

[imlan123]

He doesn't decide if it's good or not...-.-

But Cloverfield is amazing :P

[slantedeskimo]

my main problem with apocalyptic/disaster movies is that i hate the slow parts.i'm always into the chaotic parts,where the survivors or refugees are running around the destroyed landscape.but i hate it when they find a quiet place to hide and we watch the characters do one of three things,or all of them:they discuss and figure out what they witnessed,figure out where they're going to find safety,or we get to know and/or sympathize with them.i don't need character arcs in apocalypse movies.

[papaspaulding]

I know what you mean but then without them you dont really have a movie you just have a cgi extravaganza that may as well be a 1.40 min music video?

I thought myself this was a really bad movie.

[slantedeskimo]

true. it's more of i don't want the character arcs if they're not worth it, which they're usually not in typical zombie/apocalypse movies. like children of men is one of my favorite movies, and even with the awesome cinematography and established atmosphere, the movie wouldn't have worked as well without the characters being as interesting as they were.same with 28 days later, the characters enriched the movie.agree tho, wasn't a fan of cloverfield either.

[themage747]

worst movie ever, worst camera work ever, worst lighting ever, worst actors ever, worst everything ever !

[mintyspace]

I loved this film, its fun and scary

[liu11]

i would like to see mark review some less popular movies, not the major hollywood releases that already receive major advertisements

recommendations for good movies would be nice

[bumratbob]

they were very cliche but not "THAT" annoying

[xeractus]

Wow, that's go to be the only Mark Kermode review that I 100% agree with.