i think they were written brilliantly. i think the subtext was dead on. if i follow your take on them, it’s just another mediocre, petty bunch of vapid 2D displaced sitcom characters playing high school during a monster attack. they were WAY more interesting than you describe.

the actor playing marlena was in fact playing a bitch, but a fantastic bitch, and gave the best performance in the film. totally amazing. her disconnect from the others grounded the rest of the characters.

just my op, though. glad you liked the film. as i said before, this kind of subtext (albeit more cheerful i hope) could make for a remarkable trek film.

#56
yes indeed! the critters had justified critter motivation; they hate decadent upper west side yuppie parties because they weren’t invited! i’ve BEEN to those parties, and let me tell you, those people are monsters!

…are you suggesting the creatures were marxists? cool.

So the human characters are more monstrous than the giant monster who is murdering people by the thousands, simply because…they’re yuppies?

Paging Dr. Marx!!

What is it with sequels these days? Don’t get me wrong; a follow up to Cloverfield would be great, but almost everyone’s suggestions for a sequel so far have essentially boiled down to “exactly the same film, but with a steadier camera!”

People are suggesting a military point of view? What kind of story would that be? We got the military point of view already in the first one. Guys with guns desperately shooting the thing to no avail. Shelter scene where the evacuation is being arranged. Evacuation. What more could you possibly add to that?

The reporter point of view would be a little more interesting but again, we’ve already seen it when Hud stopped to watch the news at the electrics store. Reporters try to give a story. Parrasites attack. Reporters GTFO or die. What more can be said without it boiling down to the same film with a different intro and characters?

A bunch of people want more answers, but why? Some of the greatest horror films leave you with no answers. Alien for example. Was there ever an explanation as to where they came from? No. Does the film suffer for it? No! Did the sequel suffer for not expanding on their origin? Hell no!

And even if we did go down the more answers route, who the hell would have them? Where would we find a scientist on Earth that would have any other explanation than “well we saw on that tape there that it fell out of the sky… Er… That’s pretty much all we have right now.” Sure, they could discet the dead parrasite samples, but do you want a two hour scientific essay on its internal organs for a sequel? It’s not like the monsters gonna have a “Made on Rigel V” or an “If found…” tag on it.

Yes, the first film is great and it’s so refreshing to see a film about the characters for once, instead of just watching victim after victim pop from an Alien attack (the plot to AvP R if you haven’t seen it yet,) but we’ve done that now. Instead of seeing the same thing, how about we focus on the “what’s next?”

I won’t ruin the end for anyone, though it’s probably widely known by now, but for those of you who have seen it think about what happened at the end of the film. What kind of an impact would that event have on the world? What was the fate of the monster? Was it the only one? What will the human race do now that we know that not only are there aliens, but they’re this hostile?

Rather than re-hashing everything we’ve just seen, we should take a look at what’s next, keeping it focused on the characters again. There would have to be another, or the same monster, or maybe the little ones grow so there’s more than one, or maybe it’s set years later and humanity is fighting for survival in a world overun! For the love of god though, PLEASE don’t just do the same thing again. It’s the best way to ruin a story or make it into a crappy rinse-and-repeat franchise (go Freddie K!)

Lastly, non-belligerency confirmed; Dude, go watch the film again.

Rob wasn’t risking life and limb to save Beth because he felt bad about what he said to her last. That was just a moment of guilt. He was doing it because he’s loved her since they went to college together. Hud and Jason discuss this after Beth has left the party.

As someone pointed out to you already, he repeatedly insisted that the others not follow him and on more than one occasion. The other’s followed him willingly themselves because of their close bonds to each other.

Going from conversations at the party it would seem Lily is part of the core group of friends and was planning to, or was already engaged to marry Jason. On losing Jason both she and Rob shared a bond through that loss. Knowing Rob loves Beth, she maybe didn’t want him to go through the same loss she suffered and wanted to help for that… Of course it’s more likely she wanted to save Beth because they were clearly close friends (Lilys knowledge of what had happened between Beth and Rob indicate that their relationship is personal.)

Hud would stick with the group because as stated, Rob was his “main dude.” Also, he wasn’t the smartest guy in the group and was probably (and understandably) too scared to part ways. Personally I think it’s more likely that he stayed through friendship, however that’s just conjecture.

Marlena (the bitch, as you call her) was probably the only exception as she was so shell shocked after the dust cloud and witnessing people being eaten that she didn’t know what else to do… However, based on her friendship with Lily and the fact that she was obviously fairly intelligent and caring she may have chosen to do so herself. Again, conjecture based on things said and actions taken.

Lastly, your accusations that Marlena is a bitch are unfair. The only reason she was being so sarcastic with Hud (the only noticable bitchiness) is because:

A. She’s an attractive women, ergo she probably gets a ton of guys constantly hitting on her which isn’t fun.
B. She’s been invited to a party for someone she hardly knows, and because her only friend there is occupied she’s left by herself in an uncomfortable situation.
C. A guy who clearly isn’t the sharpest tool in the box starts hitting on her. She politely declines but the guy – who’s obviously only into her for her looks as she’s only met him breiefly in the past – doesn’t take the hint and keeps hassling her.

In film form it comes across in such a way that you feel sorry for Hud (I guess) but in real life it would probably be incredibly annoying being in at a party you don’t want to be at with a guy hassling you (from your p.o.v.) with the sole intention of seeing your underwear on his floor. As a result, and after repeated attempts to dissuade him, she starts being sarcastic to him. Despite all this, however, she still risks her life (ultimately fatally) in order to save him. It seems to me that you’re jumping an unholstered gun by calling her a bitch since she’s clearly just an attractive, intelligent girl in the wrong place at the wrong time being hassled by an idiot with a camera. Consider how you’d react in the same situation.

Anyway. Regarding a sequel, I’d love to see a story that focuses on the people and their reactions, to the aftermarth of the situation and any new dangers that arise. If they’re just going to go through the same motions with a steady-cam then I don’t see the point in spending the millions of $.

Maybe if the film only costs 60-70 million it could turn a profit. Remember, the most successful Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Voyage Home, only made 109 million dollars domestically. With inflation thats just over 200 million dollars today. Also, remember this was at the absolute height of Trekdom, which slowly petered out by the end of TNG.

Factoring in the drop in interest in Trek (even with renewed interest made by this film) I just don’t see the return to the “Golden Age” of Trek. Unless the film is made as a brain dead action film (Transformers, etc.) I don’t see it pulling in the “youth” crowd who “know” Trek is for “geeks or nerds.” Its an unfortunate reality.

I’m expecting Mission Impossible numbers domestically. Not bad, but probably only enough that Paramount will sit on a sequel decision until the release of the DVD.

;-)