drew godard Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I trust all of you out there had a wonderful Fourth of July; one that included catching at least one showing of Transformers, as well as a preview for that secret J.J. Abrams-produced Blair Monster Project Movie. I've written a couple posts about this mysterious project before ever having seen the much talked-about trailer, but that's now changed. I caught a screening of Transformers with a group of peeps for my friend's 30th birthday on Tuesday (yes, he wanted to see Transformers for his 30th, and I fully supported him in that decision). I thought the trailer (which followed a group of partygoers onto the streets of Manhattan -- via handheld camera -- as a bunch of explosions slowly begin to cripple the city) was pretty damn rad. And I'm impressed that more information about the film hasn't leaked online ... yet. Kudos to Abrams, his team and Paramount for keeping a tight lid on this thing -- the marketing on it thus far has been pretty damn entertaining.

And it continues today with a brand new teaser website for the film. 1-18-08.com will apparently be the flick's new home, and the domain was registered by Paramount wayyy back in March before anyone knew a thing about "Cloverfield" (or whatever it's called). Right now all that's up there is a photo of two awestruck faces and a time stamp in the lower right-hand corner that reads 01/18/2008 12:36A. I believe the two faces in the pic belong to females, and their mouths are open as if to say, "What the hell is happening right now" or "Did a giant robot really just take a piss on John Turturro?" I have a feeling they'll try to keep this one a secret for as long as they can, although there's a good chance we'll see some sort of promotion for it later this month at San Diego ComicCon. In the meantime, we do know that Abrams is producing, Drew Goddard wrote the script and, from what we hear, Matt Reeves is directing. Is it another Godzilla movie? Does it have something to do with Lost? Or, could it be entirely new ... and we're just conditioned to immediately think everything is either a remake or sequel?

Today brings more news about that mysterious J.J. Abrams project Cloverfield, which recently unleashed a bizarre kickass trailer in front of Transformers. Here's what we know so far: The film is due out on January 18, 2008, it's produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot (Lost, Alias), Paramount Pictures is distributing, and it's apparently a monster movie shot from the POV of handheld video cameras. After viewing said trailer, our own Scott Weinberg said it looks like "The Blair Witch Project meets the Godzilla remake." Well, now, AICN say they know who's directing Cloverfield (or whatever the hell it's called): Matt Reeves. Who? Well, believe it or not, but Reeves was an executive producer and writer on the TV show Felicity, and he also helped the Mark Wahlberg flick The Yards and Under Siege 2. His only big-screen directing gig to date was on The Pallbearer, which he also co-wrote.

Keep in mind that Cloverfield is not the title of this movie; I believe it's the top secret name they're using right now to hide the real title, if there is one. AICN also claims that Drew Godard (Lost, Alias, Buffy) penned the script, and that the featured monster is something called The Parasite. With all the Lost folks involved, some fans speculated that Cloverfield could be a companion piece of sorts to the show. Personally, I'm in the camp that thinks this is a totally new flick -- I just can't understand all this secrecy. What do they have to hide? Is all this hush hush just a plot to drum up internet buzz for the project, or is there another reason why no one will talk about it? Regardless, I think a monster movie told from the POV of folks running around with video cameras has the potential of being a really fun ride, so long as the damn camera doesn't shake repeatedly and give me a headache. We already know there will be a host of major Star Trek XI announcements later this month at ComicCon, so look for more Cloverfield info to be revealed at that time.