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A Few Words About A few words about...™ 10 Cloverfield Lane -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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I seldom read reviews before I see a film, as I hate spoilers, even the tiniest.

That mindset has been confirmed after seeing, albeit a bit late to the party, 10 Cloverfield Lane, directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who now on my serious follow list.

The film might be considered in league with Room, or Wait Until Dark, but it holds a myriad of wonderful surprises.

For those who've not experience the film, the less said the better.

From a tech perspective, the Blu-ray is all there, as it was shot with a Red Dragon and Panavision glass to a DI. Zero problems.

Audio presented in Dolby Atmos helps in every way possible.

Buy it. And enjoy.

As an aside, how many are aware of the Cloverfield connection, beyond the first film?

Image - 5

Audio - 5

4k Up-rez - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Highly Recommended

RAH
 

Doug Otte

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I watched this film last weekend. First of all, I'm not at all a fan of JJ Abrams' films. He strikes me as someone who loves and knows film, but his projects too often seem like a teenage film student trying to imitate his favorites. I feel the same about Tarantino.

Anyway, I was very pleasantly surprised by 10 Cloverfield Lane. It was a well-written character piece that happened to take place in the universe of a previous horror film. Only the last few minutes decayed into silly and improbable action sequences, but that didn't spoil my entertainment. The acting was very good all around.

Thanks for the recommendation, Robert!
 

John Houston

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I would love them to make a sequel to this one. Solely because after so many horrific, 2-dimensional female character heroes in those God-awful superhero movies, the actress in this one actually had a 3-dimensional role, like a real human! Shocking from Hollywood, I know.
 

WillG

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I watched this film last weekend. First of all, I'm not at all a fan of JJ Abrams' films. He strikes me as someone who loves and knows film, but his projects too often seem like a teenage film student trying to imitate his favorites. I feel the same about Tarantino.

Anyway, I was very pleasantly surprised by 10 Cloverfield Lane. It was a well-written character piece that happened to take place in the universe of a previous horror film. Only the last few minutes decayed into silly and improbable action sequences, but that didn't spoil my entertainment. The acting was very good all around.

Thanks for the recommendation, Robert!

As an aside, how many are aware of the Cloverfield connection, beyond the first film?

I really don't think the two Cloverfield movies share the same universe. The circumstances of "Lane" would almost certainly require mentions of the events of the first movie.

As for connections:

You see a "Kelvin" gas station in the movie, but as far as I understand "Kelvin" is a J.J. "Trademark" that is not specific to Cloverfield (There's a character in "Lost" named Kelvin and in "The Force Awakens" Rey makes reference to Kelvin Ridge on Jakku etc. There is also a reference to "Slusho" the soft drink company that the male lead in the first "Cloverfield" movie is moving to Japan to work for and the company that may have been responsible for awakening the Cloverfield monster according to the online backstory
 
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Doug Otte

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Hi Will. I don't know what you mean by "...don't think the two Cloverfield movies share the same universe." What I mean by "same universe" is:

They both take place during/after the same invasion by huge aliens.

Thanks for the connections to other Abrams projects you cited, but those don't link the stories, which I what I meant.
 

TravisR

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If I remember correctly, Kelvin is the name of J.J.'s grandfather so that's why that name pops up alot. Another popular Abrams-ism is the number 47 (precinct 47 of Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens, 47 survivors of the plane crash in Lost, it's in the Star Trek movies, it's all over Alias) but I'm not sure if it's in 10 Cloverfield Lane.
 

WillG

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Hi Will. I don't know what you mean by "...don't think the two Cloverfield movies share the same universe." What I mean by "same universe" is:

They both take place during/after the same invasion by huge aliens.

Thanks for the connections to other Abrams projects you cited, but those don't link the stories, which I what I meant.

What I meant was that in the "world" of "Lane", the monster attack I'm NYC never happened. Otherwise, when Howard was telling Michelle of their situation, she almost certainly would have said something like "Like that thing that happened in New York?"
 

TravisR

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^ There's nothing specifically stating it but I thought that the attacks were all basically simultaneous so one area wouldn't really hear about another area being attacked because they were too busy dealing with their own situation.
 

WillG

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^ There's nothing specifically stating it but I thought that the attacks were all basically simultaneous so one area wouldn't really hear about another area being attacked because they were too busy dealing with their own situation.

Can't be because:

Michelle has a very recent iPhone
 

Todd Erwin

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Watch out - the Trachtenberg brothers are taking over Hollywood!

I attended an after-school program in suburban Philadelphia with Dan Trachtenberg's older brother, David, who was nominated for an Eddy for editing Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. And I remember Dan when he was just a wee lad.....
 

Winston T. Boogie

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I really enjoyed this film and had a great time watching it. I did not like Cloverfield and remember practically nothing about it I found it so...well...forgettable. This film however is a beautifully made thriller in the Hitchcock/Rod Serling tradition that features something so many films in this genre seem to have forgotten about or don't care to create...good well developed characters...and a very nice twisty turny story that keeps you glued to it for the whole of the running time. The acting is top notch and the characters, all three of them, are very interesting.

Rather than throwaway characters and a group of stereotypes that spew lousy dialogue just to fill time between action sequences this film actually gives us three excellent characters in what is basically a one room play...and it all works wonderfully.

If you enjoy thrillers or something like William Friedkin's Bug, I think this is certainly one you should check out.
 
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WillG

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You're applying the real world to a fictional world. There's no right answer but I have no problem thinking that both movies are happening in the same world and I think that's the intent of the creators too.

I got in this same argument with Johnny Angell in the Ghostbusters thread. We're not taking about movies that take place in Middle Earth here. They're fictional stories that have fantastical elements, but they do take place in our world. So, I don't see anything wrong with drawing conclusions based on real world things that are shown in the movie.

If at some point in the movie Michelle escaped the shelter by teleporting outside, would you accept that because it's a fictional world.
 

WillG

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The acting is top notch and the characters, all three of them, are very interesting.

I thought Goodman's character was especially well done. Clearly unhinged but keeps you guessing about who he really is and never knowing exactly what he might do next. The others were good as well, but one slight criticism I had was...
I thought they laid it on slightly thick that Michelle was the kind of person who ran away from things. And it kind of makes the very last scene obvious
 

TravisR

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I got in this same argument with Johnny Angell in the Ghostbusters thread. We're not taking about movies that take place in Middle Earth here. They're fictional stories that have fantastical elements, but they do take place in our world. So, I don't see anything wrong with drawing conclusions based on real world things that are shown in the movie.
Like I said, I can't say that you're wrong but I just don't think they were worried about phones being accurate. And I'm cheating but unless there's a specific date stated in the first movie, I could say that Cloverfield takes place in 2016 but everyone just happens to be using old phones and technology for some reason.
 

WillG

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Like I said, I can't say that you're wrong but I just don't think they were worried about phones being accurate. And I'm cheating but unless there's a specific date stated in the first movie, I could say that Cloverfield takes place in 2016 but everyone just happens to be using old phones and technology for some reason.

Yeah that was kind of my next point. Was going to say that if J.J. really meant for the two movies to take place at the same time than Michelle having an iPhone 6 would be a pretty big detail when, essentially, Millenials in NYC were using camcorders and flip phones. Even if no dates were mentioned It's a pretty big stretch.
 

Stephen_J_H

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I think the connection is a little more vague that "taking place in the same universe" more along the lines of:
Cloverfield is meant as anthology "tag": any further films using the Cloverfield moniker will deal with different circumstances connected with an alien invasion. ANY alien invasion.
 

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