For those that did not see Beowulf this past weekend and have been patiently awaiting the internet debut of the new crystal clear Cloverfield trailer, I'm happy to say that Apple has scored your first look and are hosting it as we speak, in several formats. As we expected, some sort of monster (or, from the looks of it, monsters) attack New York City and a bunch of good-looking kids decide to record the whole experience in case -- ya know -- they survive and Hollywood comes calling. Actually, that's not the reason they give -- "people are gonna wanna know how it all went down" -- but if I were filming, I'd be thinking dollar signs.

The film itself looks pretty wild; picture The Blair Witch Project, but with a steadier camera and a lot more special effects. I also like the ways in which they go about hiding the monsters in the trailer, and I hope they do the same in the film -- I, personally, wouldn't want to see the actual monsters until close to the end. It's a great idea, one that definitely adds some originality to the old school monster flick, and after watching the trailer, I will indeed show up to watch the entire film up on the big screen. Why not? Sure, none of the kids appear to have New York accents, but do they ever? I mean, take a look at Peter Parker; for a kid who grew up in Queens, he has absolutely no accent whatsoever. So be it. Cloverfield. Looks cool enough. Are you in?

UPDATE: A new website for Clovefield has launched, though all it does at this time is link to the Apple trailer.

By the power of J.J. Abrams, I give you the following nuggets of fanboy info:

• The brand spanking new Cloverfield trailer is now online! Only some dude (or dudette) recorded it on their cell during a sneak preview of Beowulf and you can hardly see the thing, it's crazy blurry. But what you do see is the title ... and, as previously reported, it's ... Cloverfield! Can I get a f*ck you J.J. Abrams for that one! Months dude, months. And you decide to say, "F*ck it, let's just leave it as Cloverfield." Then again, that's the title most people associate the film with, so I don't blame them (marketing-wise) for not changing it up too much. But ... still. Anyway, I'd personally stay away from watching the cruddy YouTube pirated trailer if I were you (not worth it, trust me), as a new clearer version will most likely hit the net within 24 hours. Will the film live up to all the hype? Sure it will ... just look at Snakes on a Plane. Or not. [via Filmstalker]
• Screenwriter Justin Marks (aka the guy they brought in to f*ck up He-Man) was interviewed recently in the new issue of Toy Fare, and he had plenty to say about his take on the new, updated, re-imagining, blah blah of everyone's favorite 80s blonde-haired surfer warrior on steroids. Here's a sample of the interview (which can be read in full over on IESB): Marks says, "He-Man is sword-and-sandals meets science fiction. If you avoid it and just try to make it sword and sandals, then it becomes a boring movie. If you just try to make it science fiction, it's going to be really kitschy and weird, and it's not going to be true to He-Man. You have to make it both. So we have to come up with specific ideas, grounded, that would spawn a world that was people carrying around swords, and yet, guys like Tri-Klops running around with his spinning visor and this sort of nano-technological way about him. What is the sorcery that can create stuff like that?" God bless my man, and good luck!

Almost every day I receive an email from another online movie writer pointing me toward a "hot" story they've written on a "hot" topic. Some of these I decide are worthy of a post, some are not. This evening Devin from CHUD was the latest name to pop into my inbox, and he's got some tasty Halloween treats that I personally think you might want to check out. First off, the first full-length Cloverfield (or 1-18-08, or Untitled J.J. Abrams Mind-F*ck) is said to be arriving on November 16, with a confirmed title, but Devin claims to have seen the trailer (or an earlier version of it) and he's published a full report with all kinds of details. Most notably, he says the trailer ends with the title Cloverfield. Granted, knowing Abrams and his crew, they may not stick a title in until the very last minute. Additionally, even if this is the real title, I wouldn't put it past Abrams to change it once all these reports start cropping up online.

Moving on ... based on the description, the trailer seems pretty cool. Lots of what we've seen before; people running, screaming, military folks, rockets, helicopters, the Statue of Liberty's head on the ground somewhere -- but, finally, it seems we get a tiny glimpse of this monster (or shall I say, group of monsters) that are attacking New York City. According to Devin "...there's footage of army guys running and shadows on a wall. Shadows of a screaming woman being attacked by a small monster (possibly two - either she's being pulled away from the monster by someone behind her or there's another monster behind her). It's confirmed: the movie has a big beast and small ones. Like the American Godzilla." He also adds that we briefly see another, larger monster pass between two buildings, but he couldn't make out the details. So it looks like Abrams and Co. will keep their monsters well hidden until closer to release.

Oh, and if it ends up the flick is called Cloverfield, well, that'd be totally lame. I vote for Super Kick-Ass Monster Movie! But that's me.