Cloverfield Update: Harry Knowles Goos All Over Cloverfield!!!

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 10, 2008

Alright, so you probably know exactly where this is going. Everyone on the web seems to want to always rip on AICN’s Head Geek Harry Knowles when he writes a glowing review of a film that is, to say the least, suspect. And it is not for good reason. If Knowles wasn’t such an icon in the world of online movie geekery, his credibility and reputation would be on par with now former Maxim critic Peter Hammond. But then again, having read ole’ Harry’s book, thus having a little insight into why he is the way he is, I can understand why he LOVES just about everything out there. And I certainly don’t blame him — he is a movie geek, not a critic. Critics are people that enjoy a bad film — soulless, egomaniacal mudslingers that enjoy ripping someone else’s hard work to shreds. Harry just digs movies.

I tell you that story to tell you this: Harry has seen and reviewed the upcoming J.J. Abrams-produced monster flick Cloverfield — and it appears that he liked it. In his review over on AICN, Knowles said the following of the film:

“Utterly Brilliant.”

“CLOVERFIELD is a bold genre-reinvention unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”

“The movie is fucking brilliant. It’s what we were told it was going to be. An intimate perspective on an impossibly grand scale human disaster beyond most human levels of comprehension.”

“The creature isn’t the groundbreaking thing about the film. It is, but it isn’t.

You see, what has me so excited about this film is that this is the giant monster movie that isn’t at all like any giant monster movie we’ve seen before… but is exactly that movie.”

“Like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, but instead of Nazis it’s a giant monster.”

“It is all at once art, commercial and grotesquely gleefully gargantuan.”

“This is like an INDIE film – that you’d dream Spielberg would make. Remember the beard’s WAR OF THE WORLDS? Now just imagine that, but with the disarming nature of handheld photography.”

“This is a towering movie. A complete reinvention of the disaster movie, the giant monster movie and even the love story.”

Alright, so here comes the part where I break this down for you non-AICN types. As I have been a reader of Harry’s gloriously disheveled geek Mecca for many years, I can say that I have developed what I like to call “The Harry Knowles Filter”. So when Harry says “CLOVERFIELD is a bold genre-reinvention unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” it probably means that Cloverfield has some pretty cool effects and is at least fresh.

And when he says “You see, what has me so excited about this film is that this is the giant monster movie that isn’t at all like any giant monster movie we’ve seen before… but is exactly that movie.” It means that we don’t get to see much of the monster, but it is pretty cool when we do.

And finally, when Harry spews things like “Utterly Brilliant” at the beginning of his review, he is just trying to get his name on the poster. It’s cool Harry, I don’t blame you.

Although, I still don’t understand this line: “Like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, but instead of Nazis it’s a giant monster.” If that is true, we are in for one interesting ride courtesy of director Matt Reeves.

All-in-all, Knowles’ review proves one thing: those who are having panic attacks every time a movie website posts the words “Cloverfield Monster” in an article header are going to wet their pants while watching this film. For everyone else, this review has very little bearing — but then again, Knowles knows the legions of geeks that he leads — and there probably won’t be a dry seat among them.

For more Cloverfield news and reviews, click here. We will have our first reviews for you mid-week next week and exclusive interviews with cast and crew on opening weekend, so stay tuned!

Read more articles by Neil Miller