Okay, I made it through 12 weeks of this series, but my schedule finally caught up with me. I am totally slammed this week and won't be able to read Cloverfield until the holidays, then will jump back here with my observations. However I hope someone has read the script and will post their take on it.

I'll throw out some thoughts. I actually quite love the way this script is structured. On page 31 the last line before the action starts and the monster strikes is Jason's statement of the theme ("You gotta learn to say 'fuck the world' and just hang tight to the people you love"). And the first thing you see after Rob rescues Beth and gets out of that room is The Monster (bringing our heroes face to face with The Monster for the first time; it's just glimpses before then). Even the flashbacks are not intrusive. I know they're screenwriting no-nos, but they're used in such a way that they paint and color the entire relationship over the course of the story. You get a full picture of who these characters are/were and what they were like before the break-up and how it ended in their heads. My friend even remarked that they're interspersed in such a way that they just remind you what Rob's thinking about/fighting for when it feels like they've gotten away from it. Also, every death is a growing escalation. Shocking, but each one tops the last one. Sorry, I'm a fan. This is possibly my favourite script ever >.>

Great, Matt. Feel free to take the lead in the discussion this week. Tomorrow: Characters.

I'll keep it short since I am, well, short on time. I must confess that the movie was just okay to me. I have trouble with Monster type movies. At least this one was mostly hidden because most monsters look really bad. Alien is an exception. The first 30 pages were just not that interesting to me. As Matt said about the line on page 31 that is when it felt like it started to move. The 2nd Act was better and I did feel the escalation. The camera directions were a bit tedious, but necessary for this. The 3rd Act was solid although I found the ending slightly dissatisfying. One is left a bit hanging although it makes a good setup for CF2! All in all the script was well written and the flashbacks did work well because of the setup.

I see what you mean about the first thirty pages and why you (or anyone really) might feel the first thirty pages would be the slow or "uninteresting" part of the movie. I dunno, though. There's a lot of exposition and character development necessary for later. It does a good job of setting up the relationships and getting them rolling because once the script hits page twenty one it doesn't ever stop running. Me? I actually rather like this section, and (while it is overwritten a bit here) it does a good job conveying a tremendous amount of information effectively, efficiently, and funnily. Goddard uses Hud helps make it better, allowing for dramatic irony and tension because (hypothetically) everyone knows what's coming and that it's coming. It's just waiting for the hammer to drop. But the end, I must disagree. Everytime I watch the movie or read the script I'm impressed by how much catharsis and closure I feel about the story of Beth and Rob and how they end up at the end of it. I'm kinda in love.