I was introduced to the Cloverfield movies with 10 Cloverfield Lane in the theater. It was a really tight psychological thriller with excellent performances and a scifi twist and I loved it. After that I saw the original Cloverfield on demand. It’s in a found footage format that can be dizzying at times but the original Cloverfield was scary with some incredible scenes and packed a punch. (Those spider things, my God.) So when I saw the ad during the Super Bowl last night for Cloverfield Paradox I wondered why this was the first time I was hearing about it. I just assumed that I had missed the news, which is surprising as this is my job. It turns out that Netflix dropped Cloverfield Paradox, also produced by JJ Abrams, with no advance press, almost no leaks to industry sources (there were rumors though), and no news whatsoever. It’s a full length film and was available on demand on Netflix after the Superbowl. They pulled a Beyonce and people are eating it up. It stars by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, Chris O’Dowd and Ziyi Zhang and is directed by Julius Onah. Here’s the plot:
“In the near future, a group of international astronauts on a space station are working to solve a massive energy crisis on Earth. The experimental technology aboard the station has an unexpected result, leaving the team isolated and fighting for their survival.”
[From Netflix via CNN]
The Verge interprets the trailer as a film that will “help tie the previous two films together, providing some sort of origin story for the mysterious happenings that occur in both Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane.” They also point out that only a streaming service could do this of course, and that there’s no way a regular film could just appear out of thin air like this.
I’d read a couple of reviews which were very positive and I was all set to watch this, but Rotten Tomatoes has it at 13%. Still, it’s on Netflix so it’s not like I have to drive somewhere, spend $10-$15 and then sit there for two hours. I’ll give it a chance. I love this genre and the other two films were well worth watching. Also, Ava Duvernay is here for it:
Woman of color-led, sci-fi thriller released worldwide day + date w/ big Netflix muscle for black director, his super producer + POC cast. No advance press, ads, trailer. Straight to the people. Gamechanger. Congrats to helmer #JuliusOnah + my dears JJ, Gugu, David. #Cloverfield pic.twitter.com/m186Hprhqz
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) February 5, 2018
Westworld also dropped the trailer for season two last night along with the release date, which is April 22. That seems like a long time away but it’s much sooner than the fall release date I expected. Dolores is narrating, Maeve is leading animatronic bulls against a swat team of humans, and it looks like the hosts are running the show. I am here for this and am somewhat grateful it will be on HBO instead of Netflix because I’ll be forced to watch it in weekly segments instead of losing an entire weekend in front of the TV.
Here’s another trailer for Cloverfield Paradox. It looks scary!
For all of his flaws as a director, I actually really like JJ Abrams films? There’s a kind of pulpy, retro feel to his movies that I like. He doesn’t always succeed in the storytelling, but I like what he’s trying to do most of the time. I didn’t hear about this movie until this morning, so I’ll be glad to see when I get home.
I do too. I think his works reflects a pure love for movies – it’s not perfect, but fun.
A friend of a friend worked for him for a while and it sounded like a great company.
He didn’t direct this, just produced it. Some no name directed it.
Does anyone else wish we could go back to a time where binging wasn’t the norm?
Watching just episode of anything feels useless and unsatisfying!
Honestly, I don’t have the focus or time to truly binge watch. I can make it about 3-4 episodes (or approximately 3-4 hours max) for a show I REALLY like, but then I’m out. It took me more two weeks to finish Stranger Things back when it was the new craze.
That Westworld trailer is EVERTYTHING. The Runaway piano cover is such an amazing music choice.
I loved Westworld Season 1 – really looking forward to this!
SO EXCITED!!!! I love that the two female characters who were so ill-used for so long have stepped into roles as bad-ass leaders and they are at the centre of everything. Incredible!
It was good. I have questions about the tie-in with the original and the sequels. I need Gugu in ep 9. Make it happen, JJ!
I watched that Cloverfield paradox last night and it was bad. I can’t wait for Westworld to come back since i don’t have GOT to look forward to this April. The trailer looks awesome!
It wasn’t great but it had its moments (OMG the arm bit actually had me rolling with laughter – love Chris O’Dowd). I can see why it was a straight-to-Netflix joint, but honestly it was a fun Sunday night watch.
The reviews have stunk for this. It’s been dropped without notice in the hope that it attracts eyeballs before people read the critics.
Absolutely adore Gugu, glad she’s getting a lot of work, this year. Totally deserved.
Gugu is brilliant. This is not the type of work she should be getting, unfortunately.
This movie was fucking awful. It’s cool what Netflix did, but I wish they did it with a movie that was better. They knew it was terrible when Paramount offloaded it to them, so I guess they thought they might experiment with it. Ava’s shilling is kind of embarrassing too, considering how bad it is.
I need to re-watch Sam Junipero.
It’s great marketing. Turn its dumping into an event, release it immediately, and watch it become a thing before the critics start ripping into it. This is the way every bad film will be launched in the future…
My husband and I were too tuckered out after the bowl to watch it, and I had a late work day yesterday so we could only get through half of it Monday night. So far I’m enjoying it though, and I can’t wait to see the last half after work today.