Cloverfield Tagged Articles at Cinematical

If you still haven't seen Paranormal Activity, I don't know what you've been waiting for. Seeing the horror flick in theaters is one of those great moviegoing experiences -- the more people in the theater to scream and laugh with the better. Besides, I can only imagine that watching the thing at home would be so frightening you'll never be able to sleep soundly again. Oh, that probably appeals to many of you scary movie fans, in which case you'll be glad to know you have to wait only a little over a month more to pick up the DVD or Blu-ray of this little movie that could.

Paramount will release Paranormal Activity to home video on December 29, just in time to give you something to purchase with the gift card you got over the holidays. Both the DVD and Blu-ray come with the theatrical version of the film as well as an unrated cut that includes an alternate ending (presumably the original one). And the Blu-ray includes a digital copy of the theatrical version, so you can play the movie on your iPod and watch it while hiding underneath your covers.

By Eugene Novikov, reprinted from the Telluride Film Festival, 9/11/09

Once the novelty of the first-person, subjective-camera horror flicks (Blair Witch, Cloverfield, Quarantine, Diary of the Dead, etc,) wore off for me, I started having logistical issues with the genre. After a while, you can't help but start paying attention to the inherent implausibility of the characters as persistent, skilled camerapeople who keep rolling when any reasonable person would have ditched the damn camcorder long ago. That may seem insanely picky, but it's what happens when the same flawed device is foisted on me time and again.

I had some of the same objections to Paranormal Activity, which screened at Telluride in advance of a planned release by Paramount, and nearly two years after it first premiered at Screamfest in Los Angeles. But the movie is so skillful in every other way -- and so much fun -- that I essentially told myself to shut the hell up. Oren Peli's feature debut, the story of a woman haunted by a relentless and malevolent demon, is a terrific companion piece to this year's Drag Me to Hell, with Sam Raimi's old-fashioned horror chops replaced by the masterful execution of a conceptual gimmick.

As much as I enjoyed the shaky-cam mayhem of Cloverfield, I'm pretty bummed about the idea of Matt Reeves helming a remake of the 2008 vampire film, Let the Right One In. Even before the original film had hit theaters stateside, there were deals in place for Reeves to remake the film for U.S. audiences -- and that's what has me worried. Whenever something is remade for North America, what it usually means is that a little 'sanitation' is in order. For better or for worse, audiences tend to react badly to seeing children in a decidedly non-childlike way, and that's what made The Right One so memorable. But I guess I better get used to the idea, because Reeves recently told the L.A. Times that he's been scouting locations and that a second draft of the script has already been completed and now has the new title, Let Me In.

Let the Right One In was the story of Oskar, a young boy living in the suburbs of Sweden who begins a friendship with a vampire child named Eli who has moved in next door. For Reeves' remake, he's kept the time period in the 80's, but relocated the story to Regan-era Colorado. Most importantly, he's promised that he won't be making his Oskar and Eli any older in an attempt to appeal to the 'Twilight Crowd', and the success of his remake will all come down to who Reeves casts for his two leads. The director has already started working with Avy Kaufman to try and find the perfect cast, and luckily, Kaufman has experience when it comes to casting 'creepy kids', having been the casting director for The Sixth Sense and The Ice Storm.

After the jump: the original film's director and screenwriter give their two cents...

Trailers have been part of the movie-going experience for almost a century, dating back to when they were shown after the feature (hence "trailers"), not before. Today, many people cite the coming attractions as one of their favorite things about going to the movies, and what's not to like? A trailer often has every single good thing about a movie, condensed into 2 1/2 minutes. That saves you a lot of time.

The scholars at IFC.com have compiled their list of the 50 greatest trailers of all time, presented in the very popular one-item-per-page format that all Internet users love. Great trailers aren't necessarily for great movies. In fact, a lot of these selections are for bad movies. It's the trailers that are good. And what constitutes "good"? IFC says, "Ultimately, we decided that the best trailers are those that most effectively combine art and commerce, and that sell and entertain with equal skill." Amen to that.

I'll be a spoiler and tell you their choices for the top five: Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian at #5, Miracle on 34th Street at #4, followed by Cloverfield, Psycho, and, in the top spot -- the best trailer of all time -- Alien. What do we make of the fact that the top three (in IFC's estimation) are for thrillers? And what did they leave off the list?

We've got the Alien trailer from YouTube after the jump, where no one can hear you scream.

Curious about what's been happening at WonderCon in San Francisco this weekend? Me too! Let's see what the Internet says.

Cloverfield Sequel? J.J. Abrams acknowledged that ideas for a sequel "or at least a follow-up" to last year's big-grossing, doc-style monster movie Cloverfield are being kicked around. Insisting that a sequel "better not be a business decision," Abrams said: "We have an idea for something that's pretty cool ... It's something that would be related to Cloverfield and hopefully we'll do something sooner than later, because the idea's pretty sweet." Abrams appeared at WonderCon to premiere a new trailer for some space movie thingy. [Daniel Fienberg at HitFix.]

Terminator for Teens? Director McG continued to play the guessing game about the rating for Terminator: Salvation. Are they aiming for PG-13 or R? At a panel, he teased the audience with the prospect of a topless scene by Moon Bloodgood. (Alas, the new trailer does not include that scene.) Later, McG claimed that T:S was made without giving a thought to rating, while also referencing the Kate Winslet posing scene in the PG-13 rated Titanic. For her part, Ms. Bloodgood said: "I'm a woman, I have boobs, it's a beautiful shot." [Edward Douglas at Coming Soon.]

Green Lantern Goes Russian? Anton Yelchin, the Russian-born actor who has prominent supporting roles in both Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation, denied a rumor that he was being considered to play Hal Jordan in Green Lantern. "No one has said anything to me. I imagine I'm just too young. I mean, it's a great character but I don't know anything about it." Yelchin will turn 20 next week. [IESB.net]

After the jump: News on Disney's hand-drawn The Princess and the Frog.

I have to admit, I'm a geek for all things Joss Whedon, so you can pretty much guarantee my interest in anything -- even if it is a tired horror cliché. Case in point: Whedon and Drew Goddard's (Cloverfield) horror-suspense, The Cabin in the Woods. The 'mystery-shrouded' project with MGM and UA has finally made their first honest to goodness casting announcement, but it is not who you might expect. The Hollywood Reporter has now confirmed that Richard Jenkins (Burn After Reading) is currently in talks to star alongside Bradley Whitford (star of the beloved political drama, The West Wing) in the suspense-horror.

Considering that the film is being made by the man responsible for Cloverfield, it shouldn't come as a surprise that most of the details about the story have been kept under wraps. What we do know about the flick, is that it will be a twist on the classic horror tale of 'sexy teens' stranded out in the woods -- and as someone who has been a long-time fan of Whedon, I know better than anybody that the guy knows how to do a 'variation on a theme'. Whedon wrote the script with Goddard (who will also direct), and Whedon will act as one of the producers for the film. In previous encounters with the press, Goddard said Cabin has, "...a harder and darker edge, but it's also got classic Whedon qualities. It'll rip your heart out and be heartfelt at the same time." -- Which will probably mark one of the few times in horror that we might actually give a damn about the folks being slaughtered before our eyes.

The Cabin in the Woods is scheduled for release on Feb. 5, 2010. Which is a far cry from an earlier promise of an October release, but when you are dealing with anything 'Whedonesque', a little patience doesn't just help; it's pretty much a requirement.

If you're a movie buff, you probably spend most of January catching up with all the awards movies released in December, especially since most of them initially open in big cities, and then expand across the country. But movie critics see all the December movies in December, leaving only January movies in January. And it doesn't take long to notice that January has become a dumping ground for terrible movies that no one wants and no one wants to see (witness: Bride Wars, Paul Blart Mall Cop, Not Easily Broken, Hotel for Dogs, The Unborn, etc.). But fortunately, that's not a hard and fast rule; every so often a true gem comes along in January, perhaps misjudged by the powers that be, or just overlooked.

1. Cloverfield
Released January 18, 2008
In last year's surprise hit, a group of twentysomethings race across Manhattan, dodging a giant city-stomping monster, to rescue Odette Yustman. Because... wouldn't you? It feels like a low-budget monster movie, but also features top-of-the-line effects and citywide destruction. Its characters may struggle for interesting things to say on camera, but the film nonetheless reveals hidden depths. It's vaguely similar to The Blair Witch Project and Diary of the Dead, but has its own ideas. (It was recently chosen by the editors of the prestigious French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema as one of the year's ten best films.)

Not sure if you folks remember, but at the end of 2007 a dude by the name of Matt Shapiro pieced together a couple of pretty cool videos (called 2007: A Year for Drama and 2007: A Year for Action) that were basically a well-edited montage of films from that year. Well, Shapiro is back again with another video chronicling 2008 called 2008: The Cinescape, and set to the tune of Hoppipola by Sigur Ros, the video takes a look back at all the movies we loved to watch and talk about and watch again throughout the year. This time around, however, Shapiro cuts out any and all pieces of dialogue and simply edits the images to the music. The video itself is a tad heavy on The Dark Knight, Cloverfield and WALL-E (or at least it felt that way), but it's fun to watch nonetheless. Check out a list of movies (in order of their appearance in the video) after the jump.


[via Slashfilm]

When we were kicking around ideas for year-end superlative Cinematical Sevens, I was proudly tasked with chronicling the year's finest in big-screen mayhem, violence, destruction and other such shenanigans. When I was kicking around ideas for said feature between me, myself, and I, there were too many titles to leave off the list, so instead of highlighting only a mere couple of movies, I've opted to sort these puppies out by specific manner of cinematic excess.

So there.

1. Most pervasive destruction - The Joker may have terrorized Gotham to the tune of a destroyed hospital, a wrecked helicopter, a sunken SWAT truck, a toasty fire engine, and a golden district attorney, but even he can't top the Cloverfield monster's swath of destruction across the real-life Gotham. Statue of Liberty? Gone. Brooklyn Bridge? History. Central Park? Adios. And that's not including all the Hollister stores that our protagonists might've fled to. (On a smaller scale, though, Inside's lady in black terrorizes a pregnant woman on Christmas Eve to the point of all but painting every last wall in her house with the blood of her victims. Gotta love the French!)

Which year-end lists are really worth caring about? What films got a boost from the Broadcast Film Critics and Golden Globe nominations, like Happy-Go-Lucky, and which ones got lost in the shuffle? What's Iron Man doing on the AFI Top Ten Films List, anyhow? And what long, epic films are perfect for enjoying with a turkey sandwich on Boxing Day? Joining James this week to talk about all these topics and more is Kris Tapley of the weblog In Contention. You can listen to the podcast here at Cinematical by clicking below:



As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.