Where the Wild Rumors Roar
Posted on July 17th, 2007 at 10:23 am in Theories |
Hey All. Post numero dos por yo. See, I wasn’t happy butchering one language here, so I’ve decided to try for “mas”. De nada.
Since my last (and first) contribution here, I discussed 1-18-08 with my palz. It seems they share the sentiment I closed with on that article, but more so. And basically, they convinced myself to follow my own advice. So basically, at some point soon, I will probably distance myself greatly from all the online hype of Cloverfield - not because I am less enthused, or less willing to make an personal investment in this movie. No, I have to step away before I “know too much”. I’ve realized that a movie done in this fashion, with this sort of premise, that seems this well done should not be ruined by knowing too much. Heck, the less I know, the more I will enjoy it.
When does all this become too much? I’m not sure really. I’m probably going to ride that fine line till one thing takes me a little too far. Sorta like when your parents are talking frankly about something, and then one line that is riddled with TMI (too much information) about a personal/sexual/gastrological matter forces you to cover your ears, close your eyes, and attempt to run out of the room (1) before you take in any more sanity devastating info… and (2) without tripping over the coffee table. It’s a tough act, let me tell you.
One thing I can do to extend my tenure as First Assistant Guest Columnist (again with the assistant gag!) is to keep away from articles that are more like lines of investigation, and instead, focus on the unfounded speculation. Don’t get me wrong, I try to do my part to keep the false leads at bay. I am a fairly frequent editor of the wikipedia article on Cloverfield (verifiability, people!!!). So if you’re lookin’ for new nuggets of fact on Cloverfield, you got that, or one of the links on your right hand side… or, of course, most of these other articles. But when you think of Yooka, think of “wild theories”. And when you think of garbage, think of Akeem! (what movie, people?)
For starters, let me tackle the rumor (now totally debunked) that got me the most excited. The Lion rumor. Now, if you’ve been following the speculation since the beginning, you know there was a controversy about whether one of the few audible lines when the trailer (as in film preview, not as in Britney Spears) moves to the street seems to be “I saw it, It’s alive, It’s huge”. Now personally, as both a screenwriter (recreationally), and as one with an hobbyist’s interest in semantics and psychology, I find this line to be quite useless. I don’t just mean that it’s a bad line. If you are in the situation that this person is in, and you are somewhat level-headed, you would probably not say what is said here. For one, the words “I’m alive” were kind of confirmed by the roaring. Unless something happened where they assumed the cause of the roaring and the explosion was subsequently attacked big time (to bring into question the life status of the thing), then “It’s alive” holds no meaning.
I know what some of you are thinking. “Well, maybe he meant to confirm that it’s not a big tank, or robot? Maybe he meant ‘The threat is organic’ ?”. Well then, that’s a terrible choice of words for this case. Maybe he’s just not the brightest bulb on the tree, but if he saw what it was, and had new information, he probably would want to say something add to everyone’s knowledge of what it is (besides proclaiming it ‘huuuuge’), not just confirm what he, and most everyone else already assumed from what little they (and we) already know - that a big, earth shaking, roaring threat isn’t a missle, or a terrorist plot, or a meteor shower, or an earthquake, or a publicity stunt for NBC’s new fall lineup.
Like I said, other than the ‘huuuuge’ part, It’s a waste of breath. That’s why I was hoping it was lion. A big freakin lion looking monster. Well, that’s not really the reason I hoped it was a lion.
About the same time as I was making this observation, The Ethan Haas websites were also assumed by most to be linked to Cloverfield. This has also been debunked since then, but it intrigued me that one of the quotes you received from viewing the source code was that Apocalyptic reference that I believe someone somewhere attributed (or speculated) to paraphrasing a section of the Book of Revelations. Not everyone knows this, but in that Book, some pretty wild stuff happens. It’s pretty much the most controversial ‘official’ bible book. One interpretation I read years ago (admittedly from a more fanatical, over-the-top branch of Christianity, I wish I could remember which) was that the beasts (not to be confused with the Horsemen) were harbingers of the destruction of mankind. And after they come into the mix, special beings would be created specifically empowered by God to give mankind a fighting chance against a great evil. To summarize, they said the end would come by (1) Trumpets, (2) Beasts (the first of which was a lion) (3) Horsemen (4) Jesus. Man, I should teach Sunday School, all those kids would be out in time for football. Anyway, I think you see where I’m going with this.
I had high hopes that what would start out as just a monster movie would end up with deeply apocalyptical themes, and just a hint of a biblical interpretation/explanation. I mean come on - The Passion meets Godzilla?! Can you get more harsh than that?!?!!!1!!!!eleventy. In fact, I still think what the guy says sounds more like “A Lion” than “Alive”, and I’ve listened to the high quality trailer passed through an audio analysis program. Alas, the Ethan Haas sites are for a dice-and-paper role-playing game (and one, I’ll be taking a look at, BTW, as I love that stuff. Any White-Wolf fans out there?), and my hopes are crushed.
Anyway, that wraps up one of the few wild and improbable interpretations of what little we have on Cloverfield that I actually liked. In the future, I’ll be tackling more theories. Until then, happy net hunting!
11 Responses
What about the giant “Alien” comment from the New York Post article?
Also, is I remember Bible School, aren’t the beasts from the Biblio impossible to destory because of their omnipotent backing?
Finally, from what I can surmise, it loks as though a clean-up crew finds video cameras and replays the information on them for research. Does that not mean survivors? And if that means survivors, not neccesarily apocolypse?
Love the commentary.
thank you for defending the “it’s a lion” interpretation. i swear up and down that’s what i’m hearing, and i have been saying since the debate started that it makes NO sense to tell someone, “it’s alive.” it is simply not an informative statement, especially when someone asks you, “what is it? is it coming this way?” if it CAN come this way, then it is ALIVE. christ on a cracker, people!
Hehe, Glad you liked it guys.
Mike: Might be right about what you heard in Bible School. Then again, even though I am a practicing Christian, I believe that whatever the “true” message was in regards to the bible has gone through so many hands, and been uised for political purposes for so many millenia, that know one really knows for sure what the original message was. The politics of what books were voted into what would become the bible were quite interesting. So who knows.
Just read the NYPost article. Good stuff. Perhaps it’s an Alien Lion Form (or an ALF for short) :)
Same for the apocalypse. It is all in hopw you define the term, thus the genre of fiction known as “post-apocalyptic”.
Vince: Christ on a Cracker, indeed. Still, after the Haas sites are debunked, I personally doubt it’s what is being said. We’ll find out in January.
Great commentary, thoroughly enjoyed it.
I still think he says “I saw it! It’s Allive. It’s Shoes!”
Thanks, Lorenzo. Love your music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Music
Shoes, eh? Now THAT would be an interesting movie. “It’s not Godzilla… It’s GALOSHES!!!
Haha, we got a comedian over here! Nicely done.
i recently saw this thread on a new specualtion on the monster theme:
http://www.cloverfieldnews.com/2007/07/23/the-beast-from-20000-fathoms/#comments
it seems to fit into a lot of areas, but noone has seen the movie recently enough to see if anything else fits. I believe the monster goes thru new yourk to coney island.
I have a feeling this is a revenge flick. I mean, in order for this movie to work, it can’t just be the passive trashing of NYC without explanation, or plot, for that matter. All the Japanese references, the Slusho site, I believe are central to the plot, as is Rob. He’s a marketing guy. By nature, marketing folks are exploitive. Look at the Slusho site. That is so racist and stereotypical it’s not even funny. I think he works marketing for the Slusho company in the US and has done something to humiliate the tradition of the company, or people involved, or something. If more than one person at the party have Slusho shirts, I think that’s beyond coincidence and they either work for him, or are supporting his move to Japan to work at that company. The Japanese guy who briefly talks at the party does not seem pleased at all, if not pissed off. I think, somehow, this is a mystical film and the monster is conjured up to specifically kill this Rob guy, as way out as it seems, and NYC is just in the way. I mean, it’s coincidental this is happening on going away party? It’s coincidental that the head of the statue of liberty lands just outside where he is? Let me restate, in order for this to work singly from the point of view of personal video from the point of view of these characters, the explanation of the event must come from these people. I mean, they can’t stop and look through the shop window at a TV to get the lowdown on what’s going on. No scientist interviews, no experts. And certainly no TV reporters on a scene that is rapidly becoming rubble. SO, I think this creature has something to do - in the tradition of Japanese legends of monsters taking vengeance - with one or more of these characters. They cannot merely be witnesses.
And if this movie begins, as was stated on AICN, with rescue workers discovering the camera, thus starting the movie with it playing, the irony that it had to do with one person would be crushing.
Well Greene. I want to thank you for the contribution. It is well written and facinating. Unfortunately, I disagree with absolutely every part of it. No disrespect intended, because so much of what we are both talking about is still purely speculation. But I cannot see your estimation of what this film will be about come to fruition for so many reasons, that I honestly doubt I can find the time to explain them all.
I do have to compliment you on your imagination. To take what little fact about the movie we have, and assemble the idea that what the filmmakers are going for it a revenge story against a young marketing exec by a Japanese beverage company that summons a monster in the Atlantic to hunt him down for a poor depiction of their company and nation, with NYC just getting in the way. That’s just a series of incredible leaps. You should be a writer, and I do hope you are, or have plans for such, because I am sincerely interested in seeing what else you could come up with.
Anyway, as far as my take, I will just say this. I consider what Abrams said about Comicon, and visiting japan, and being overwhelmed by the memory of Godzilla movies, and thrilled by the thought of actually being in one… I think that is the best estimate as to what this movie is really about. It is the point of view of all of those bystanders in every Godzilla movie who only really get to run and hide without knowing what is going on. Or like the recent adaptation of War of the Worlds. It is very realistic for a cause not to emerge in times as chaotic as those depicted. Real life does not always satisfy the human need to always know “how and why”. Sometimes, we are in the dark, and that is also scary. That’s why I think, just like in War of the Worlds, we won’t find out any answers until much later in the movie (perhaps only after the crisis is averted). And we won’t have those answers because the main character is central to the cause of the crisis. Or even because he is some great hero. He’s just a guy, like you and me, who caught a few breaks, and wasn’t trampled under a skyscraper like hundreds of thousands of others who died without the foggiest clue of what was going on. That’s both more believable, more immersive, and less predictable in my opinion.
But we’ll both see for ourselves in January. Thanks for writing.
I wasn’t really intending to respond, because I usually just express a theory, and leave it alone, what with not having alot of information. But those of us who actually contribute to the creative process notice PATTERNS, which are not LEAPS. And your patronizing comments about what life deals us was just too much.
I would have been fine without that.
I am going with the info given. Folks who are writers and artists create patterns, unlike linear mathematical thinking fanboys who see only “ya, know, like that would be fucking awesome.” I don’t know what this whole thing is, nor do I claim to.
What I do know - and I hate to inject the word experience into this, but there you have it - that given all the information, and that means the people involved with the film and their past contributions, I have no choice but to believe this is something that is not a Comi-Con, Comic Store Guy From The Simpsons rehash of a concept that will just not work in the US. The remake of Godzilla did not work.
All I meant was that there seems to be something more to this than just the geek-boy, monster conjured up from radioactivity or global warming, or whatthefuckever. The critics would ruin it, and no amount of hand-held, Gen-Y actor junk will change that.
The trailer and the other marketing stuff screams of tragic figures, not a summer blockbuster released in the middle of winter! Knowing the writers and their work on Lost, this needs to be very dark, disturbing and intimate to work. Otherwise, no mere $30 million will show up onscreen on a hand-held, cute boy/girl venture.
There are too many foreshadowing things going on, regardless of the lisping ruin who did the web doc that was today posted on AICN. The absolute arrogance of people pronouncing what is likely or not I have not seen since the Star Wars prequel stuff.
I mean, all the numerical shit, and looking for background clues in pictures means nothing if you’re looking for creative patterns that follow throughout what you are given. Trailers are not cheap things, and this was not put together as “oh, this is what we got, so let’s just throw it out there.” Artists get where they are because, hopefully, that’s what they are. And there are a lot of connected things going on. What you call leaps, I call following patterns that make sense. Sorry, this is not a program, or a mathematical equation. There just might be this ART thing going on here, otherwise there’s no way a giant monster flick will go over. It has literally all been done, and everything you described has all been done.
SO let me break it down (and I should maybe apologize for attempting to give an assessment with my previous post.)
-$30 million budget, not alot unless you have a really good story, with good actors, a REALLY original idea and really HUGE and brilliant set piece.
-release date in the middle of January. Nobody cares, and staying away from Indy 4 is not a good enough reason, not with the extensive viral marketing that’s going on.
-everyone involved is not an idiot. We are being, for whatever reason, made to care about these characters months in advance of this film’s release. Again, another, sorry, creative arrow pointing toward a tragic story. This may not, in other words, be for the pocket-protector crowd.
- Everything about this points away from the “wow, ya know, like, this is totally awesome, like, dope kick-ass” SFX flick. It’s all been done.
- Granted, no one, and I do mean NO ONE, knows really anything about this, least of all the torture porn lovers at AICN. So - for those of you who are reading around - the whole zombie thing is a total complete turnoff.
At any rate, I mean all of this to be fun, because nothing this interesting has come along in a long time. I just really hope they don’t screw it up by being what most of these folks have, quite honestly, regurgitated. I’m just interjecting what I actually know and have experienced with the information given, unlike the comic store conjecture I see all over. Perhaps I should apologize for that, but not likely.
What I can only transmit is my hope that this project, whatever that is, does not spiral into the fanboy mentality: Intelligence without wisdom; imagination without emotion.
Seems like a cool thing going on. But then, I’m just a big Godzilla fan from way back. And monsters DO exist.