Cloverfield 2!

[Famous Mortimer]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2016/01/15/jj-abrams-10-cloverfield-lane-is-coming-in-two-months

(or literally every other geek and movie website in the world)

I absolutely loved the original, and while this doesn't look anything alike at all (different writer and director, "normally" filmed), I'm really looking forward to it. More than any other recent cinema release, really. I don't know if that link has the trailer, but it's all Goodman, Winstead and the other bloke in a bunker, with nary a whisper of the creature. Excited!

[BritishHobo]

Just rushed here to link this! Fuck a doodle doo. I genuinely thought this sequel was dead in the water. Huge fan of the first one, I think it's absolutely brilliant. And what a fucking trailer. The cast, the music, the way it slowly starts to go sinister. Oh, fuck, YES.

[BritishHobo]

Shit me, it's out on March 11th, and all! They've managed to keep it completely secret until two months before it drops, that is  brilliant.

[Beep Cleep Chimney]

Phwooooooargh!  I'll have some of that. 

[gloria]

Yeah, this looks this absolute shizzle. A tense, play-like 3-hander with John Goodman set in the universe of the Cloverfield film?  Where do I sign up?  'Course, we (or at least I) don't know whether the bunker bit is the entire setting of the film or just the opening ten minutes...

[MuteBanana]

Blood relative is like someone around at the same time. Makes me think this is set during the same night as the first film.

[BritishHobo]

Hmm, I've been reading some stuff which has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. Apparently this was

Spoiler alert

a film that had nothing whatsoever to do with Cloverfield, Abrams or Bad Robot. It was just an indie thriller about a man keeping a girl in his bunker by telling her the outside is poisonous due to radiation - obviously without the audience knowing whether or not he's telling the truth. It seems like sometime last year they decided to bolt a Cloverfield link on and do some reshoots

[close]

Dunno how accurate that info is

[brat-sampson]

The trailer looks great, but that title is rubbish. It sounds like a sitcom spinoff.

[up_the_hampipe]

So there's no monster? Count me out. I loved the first one because it was a great monster movie. No monster, no sale.

[BritishHobo]

I'm not entirely sure

Spoiler alert

how extensive the reshoots are

[close]

I'm also not entirely sure how true it is. I like to think Abrams wouldn't knowingly

Spoiler alert

put the Cloverfield name on some random film, let them make a few connections, and then let it loose to trick everyone into thinking it's primarily a Cloverfield film.

[close]

But he did say it's 'a blood relative', which kinda implies it's only tenuously linked. Or does it? Maybe blood relative implies the connections are very strong. You know what, just forget it, alright? Forget it.

[Tiny Poster]

Hmm, I've been reading some stuff which has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. Apparently this was

Spoiler alert

a film that had nothing whatsoever to do with Cloverfield, Abrams or Bad Robot. It was just an indie thriller about a man keeping a girl in his bunker by telling her the outside is poisonous due to radiation - obviously without the audience knowing whether or not he's telling the truth. It seems like sometime last year they decided to bolt a Cloverfield link on and do some reshoots

[close]

Dunno how accurate that info is

Is Titus Andromeddon in this too?

[Famous Mortimer]

Hmm, I've been reading some stuff which has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. Apparently this was

Spoiler alert

a film that had nothing whatsoever to do with Cloverfield, Abrams or Bad Robot. It was just an indie thriller about a man keeping a girl in his bunker by telling her the outside is poisonous due to radiation - obviously without the audience knowing whether or not he's telling the truth. It seems like sometime last year they decided to bolt a Cloverfield link on and do some reshoots

[close]

Dunno how accurate that info is

Could all be part of the trickery - I'll keep my fingers crossed it's a belter.

[BritishHobo]

That's what I'm hoping. Claim is that it was shot for $5 million - I suppose if it's all set in a couple of rooms, and I don't know anything about the financial side of films, but that seems pretty low, especially for a film featuring John Goodman.

[BlodwynPig]

Official Trailer

[Glebe]

Well that was sudden! I was underwhelmed by Cloverfield and I wouldn't expect much from this, but I like the trailer. Could have a bit of a The Mist thing going on.

[mothman]

Cloverfield is one of those films where the mysteries it hints at, the questions it leaves unanswered, contribute toward the... glamour? ... of the piece. What is the monster? Where does it come from - extraterrestrial, subterranean, suboceanic? Why has it appeared now? Is it the only one of its kind (unlikely in a bilogical sense)? Is there a guiding intelligence? What about those weird bugs - are they part of the lifecycle, in a real or symbiotic capacity, or just parasites? What is it they do that makes people explode later? Lay eggs? When the US military say the area was "previously known as Central Park," in what context is that - how long after is it, what has happened in the interim that such a famous name/place is no longer appropriate to be called so?

And so often when such an impressive initial (and often intended to be sole) installment is followed-up on, they fuck it up. It's not just because often the driving force behind extending the story is a financial motive, but it certainly plays a part. Most if not all the mysteries cited above will be ignored or glossed over in favour of trying to recreate the shocks/scares/tone of the original.

For instance: Pitch Black. Great little film and one of the better antiheroes in cinema. I would have loved to see more of Riddick in a sequel. Sadly I got my wish. But rather than building on it and going... well, I'll be honest, I don't know where... they gave him a mythical background in a space-operatical universe, largely abandoning the gritty cyberpunkish backstory implied in the original. And the one thing they almost felt they had to have was to shoehorn in another race against time across a bleak planetary landscape - this time not the dark falling, but the sun rising! #seewhattheydidthere #lol I haven't see the third film, no idea if its good or bad but, even though I do quite like Chronicles of Riddick in some ways, there's no doubt the producers wasted a lot of audience goodwill there.

Or: 28 Days Later. I could have lived without a sequel. But Weeks I think started with a far more interesting premise: suppose it had just been the UK that was affected? What would it be like to have a rich populous country suddenly become a deserted plague pit? Who owns that real-estate? What about the assets? Every country in the world would be trying to get a piece of that. But no, instead you have a (very small) US military force building a beach-head to house the few Brits left alive for some reason, and choosing an obviously undefendable spot slap bang in the middle of the capital city; they then go down the small-family soap-opera route followed by the inevitable outbreak, and the running and screaming starts again. I'm not suggesting the film should have been about a conference in Geneva with the countries of the world arguing for a share of the pie, but that'd have made for a great spisode of a mini-series (think the TV film about the Wannsee Conference, or that episode of Torchwood: Children Of Earth where the UK government uses an alien threat to slip in a bit of eugenics on the population).

There's a third example I thought of just now but it's momentarily slipped my mind!

[Famous Mortimer]

There's a third example I thought of just now but it's momentarily slipped my mind!

The Matrix?

[mothman]

No, but it's probably a valid one.

[Glebe]

Super Bowl spot.

[BritishHobo]

The viral marketing has kicked into gear for this. The Tagruato website is back, and

Spoiler alert

John Goodman's character has a spot on the 'Employees of the Month' page.

[close]

The name on his t-shirt led people to

Spoiler alert

a website where a father's written a letter to his daughter about an underground bunker he's built for her that he needs her to go to immediately, because of 'them' being about to attack. He has to communicate with her through this website because her mother has blocked him from contacting her through phone or e-mail, presumably because he sounds fucking insane.

[close]

That's about all so far, but the Cloverfield Clues blog (which pretty extensively documented the viral marketing ARG for the first film back in 07/08) has been revived, so you can follow along there.

[St_Eddie]

Urh!  I recently read a verified reddit AMA (it's now been deleted because the OP was fearful of having it be traced back to him and therefore losing his job) from someone who's seen '10 Cloverfield Lane' and I am not happy!  The guy basically outlined the entire plot and like I said, this was a verified leak, so the chances of it being bullshit are extremely slim at best (he provided proof of his place of employment at a location that does indeed have access to the film and he even provided photos of the media containing said film, along with the ID numbers for it).

I love the original 'Cloverfield' and have been waiting for a potential sequel for years.  J.J. Abrams said that this new film is not a direct sequel and I was fine with that.  An original story set in the same universe as the first film, with a new monster sounded pretty good to me.  I was so hyped and had been avidly following the ARG (Alternate Reality Game - the same kind of viral marketing they used for the first film) since its announcement.

Huge spoilers follow...

Spoiler alert

Apparently, '10 Cloverfield Lane' isn't even set in the same universe as the first film and the big reveal at the end is aliens (with spaceships and all that jazz)!  Supposedly we see one of the aliens (possibly some kind of extraterrestrial blood hound) and it's about the size of a bear.  That's the big reveal.

Following the spoilerific leak, J.J. Abrams has since pretty much confirmed that the film's only ties with the original are thematic and 'Cloverfield' is now essentially an anthology series.  I'm so disappointed on so many levels.  Aliens have been done to death already and the origin of the LSA (from the darkest depths of our oceans), from the first film was so fresh and fascinating to me.  Also a damn sight more scary than little green men in flying saucers.

Couldn't they have called this '8 Super Lane' or something.  At least that association would make more sense!  I feel betrayed to be honest.  When I first read those spoilers, I was fuming.  Now after a good nights sleep, I'm merely disappointed but for the last couple of months now, I thought that it was a given that we would be getting a new film, set in the same universe.  What a let down.

I was primed to go and see '10 Cloverfield Lane' on opening day at the cinema but now I'll most likely wait for it on Blu-Ray.  It still looks like a potentially great film in its own right but I wanted an expansion of the universe established in the first film.  Damn you, J.J. - You gave 'Star Wars' fans too damn much fan service with 'The Force Awakens' and then you gave the 'Cloverfield' fans absolutely no fan service whatsoever in a film that carries the 'Cloverfield' name.  J.J. - What he giveth with one hand, he taketh away with the other.

[close]

[brat-sampson]

Spoiler alert

So it's the Far Cry 2 of movies... Shame.

[close]

[Dr Funke]

Positive review from Robbie Collin...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/10-cloverfield-lane/review/

[Malcy]

Hmm, was halfway through this thread thinking i'll go see this. After reading the spoiler post i might not. Wish i hadn't read it!

[St_Eddie]

Hmm, was halfway through this thread thinking i'll go see this. After reading the Spoiler post i might not. Wish i hadn't read it!

Sorry for spoiling things for you but perhaps it's better you know what a rip-off this film is now, rather than when you've paid upfront for the privilege?  I feel much the same way as yourself.  I'm pretty pissed off with J.J. Abrams at the moment.  I may even cancel that bouquet of flowers that I'd ordered him.  At any rate, I certainly won't be putting out for him tonight!

You may want to also resist the following spoiler, I don't know but it all sounds kinda shitty to me...

Spoiler alert

At the end of the film, Michelle destroys one of the spaceships with a molotov cocktail.   No further clarification needed, I feel.  Maybe it won't play as ridiculous as it sounds (a craft capable of interstellar travel being taken down with a bottle of scotch, a rag and a lighter) but for now... uuuuurrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhh!

[close]

[Malcy]

Sorry for spoiling things for you but perhaps it's better you know what a rip-off this film is now, rather than when you've paid upfront for the privilege?  I feel much the same way as yourself.  I'm pretty pissed off with J.J. Abrams at the moment.  I may even cancel that bouquet of flowers that I'd ordered him.  At any rate, I certainly won't be putting out for him tonight!

You may want to also resist the following Spoiler, I don't know but it all sounds kinda shitty to me...

Spoiler alert

At the end of the film, Michelle destroys one of the spaceships with a molotov cocktail.   No further clarification needed, I feel.  Maybe it won't play as ridiculous as it sounds (a craft capable of interstellar travel being taken down with a bottle of scotch, a rag and a lighter) but for now... uuuuurrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhh!

[close]

Ah no apology needed. It was in spoiler tags, I choose to read it haha.

[Glebe]

Currently 93% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Only 14 reviews so far, mind.

[St_Eddie]

Ah no apology needed. It was in Spoiler tags, I choose to read it haha.

You won't be saying that when I say...

Spoiler alert

Life is meaningless and you're going to die a lonely and bitter death.

[close]

...again, sorry for the spoilers but yet again, it's probably best that you know the truth now, before setting yourself up for disappointment.

Currently 93% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Only 14 reviews so far, mind.

Aye, I don't actually doubt that it's going to be a pretty darn good film in its own right but

Spoiler alert

I wanted an expansion on the universe established in the first film

[close]

.  Honestly, it's shit like this that drives one to ascend a tower and start picking off people with a sniper rifle.  Alright, so I might not go that far but I will certainly take a resentment poop out of spite, in private, at the very least.

*grumble*

[Glebe]

I still haven't read the Spoiler (although the impression I'm getting is that

Spoiler alert

it really only has a tenuous link to the first one... and quite possible no monster?

[close]

), but I've spotted very positive reviews on AICN and Cinema Blend while sitting around on me arse today. Guess I'll be adding it to my cinema list.

[Moribunderast]

As someone who hated the first Cloverfield (had to turn off fairly early as it was committing all the worst sins made by found-footage films) I was pleasantly surprised by 10 Cloverfield Lane. It's total B-movie silliness but I really enjoyed it - especially the last twenty minutes when

Spoiler alert

it goes bugfuck silly, with acid-burned John Goodman getting all stabby and UFOs and alien bloodhounds and whatnot.

[close]

Definitely not a film I'd recommend as a genuinely tense horror/thriller but it's a fun time.