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J.J. Abrams: 'Cloverfield' Was Made For TV

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Paramount », Exhibition », Home Entertainment », Movie Marketing », Remakes and Sequels »

Those of us who saw Cloverfield in theaters this past January watched the monster movie in the wrong way. According to a new Reuters article, the movie's producer, J.J. Abrams, says it's really meant for home viewing: "The thing about this movie -- probably more than any I think -- is that it is better on DVD than in the theater," Abrams told Reuters. "Because the movie is like a videotape. It lives on your TV. In many ways, it is supposed to be viewed on a (TV) monitor."

Interesting. Wait, so does that mean I was correct when I wrote in my column, "The Exhibitionist", about Cloverfield being "theatrically inappropriate"? I went so far as to say that it had no business being shown in theaters at all, which I'm sure Abrams doesn't agree with, and I also said that it was most appropriately viewed in a YouTube window. I received some of my harshest criticism ever for that column, yet I don't mean to now jump around bragging that I was right and the commenters were wrong. Anytime a post on Cinematical can get 42 responses (or more), in which movie fans get into a heated discussion about films, formats and fun (as in the adjective used to describe the experience of seeing Cloverfield in a theater), is 100% a good thing. Yes, even when I'm said to be "misguided" or "having an off day".

Check Out 5 Minutes of Cloverfield!

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Movie Marketing », Trailers and Clips »



We've seen parts of this before, but here's that party scene from Cloverfield in all of its glory. I have to say -- even though I wasn't entirely intrigued by the random trailers, seeing it as a full clip has piqued my interest. Just like the trailer, instead of trying to scare us with eerie music and cinematic ploys, the creeps are from curiosity, and the viewer wondering what in the hell is going on -- just like the people on-screen. It looks like it will work pretty well. Whether that holds through the whole movie, we'll have to wait and see, but I'm liking what J.J. Abrams has done in seemingly destroying New York City (the video coming from an area formerly known as Central Park).

The clip also reveals Theo Rossi, one of my favorite younger actors out there. He played a bully with possibly-evil plans on Veronica Mars, and he recently had one heck of a sad death on Grey's Anatomy, so hopefully he's actually throughout the film, and not just a quick glimpse in a party scene. I also must say -- gotta love people who are more interested in taking cell phone pics of a ravaged and thrown Statue of Liberty head than getting the hell out of there.

This video is the latest part of Cloverfield's viral campaign, and they say sharing the clip widget can score you a prize, so good luck and share away!

And personally, I'm still holding out hope that the evil thing is the same as this clip.

Meet the 'Dragon Wars' Combatants!

Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Movie Marketing », Images », Cinematical Indie », War »

It has the greatest, most literal title since Snakes on a Plane, but hopefully Dragon Wars won't be as disappointing. The South Korean movie -- which features American actors, settings and dialogue -- has already made a ton of money back home, and it's due to open in the U.S. on September 14. I shouldn't have to tell you what it's about, since the title explains all you need to know, but here goes a try: an evil, giant, serpent-like creature arrives in Los Angeles with an army of soldiers and monsters in order to find an ancient 'gift', which is located inside a 20-year-old girl, who is the reincarnation of a Korean who possessed the 'gift' 500 years ago. The 'gift' is some sort of magic that will turn the serpent-like creature into a dragon. A local reporter, who happens to be a reincarnated warrior who protected the girl centuries ago, now has to stop the ancient creatures and save her. Makes no sense to me, and so it probably makes less sense to you, so let's just say it's about what the title says: dragon wars.

Anyway, if you're really curious and want to know more specific information about the crazy, hard-to-follow plot, MTV Movies Blog has some helpful visual aids that provide some background about the different creatures we'll see in the movie. There seem to all be paintings rather than screen captures, and include Dawdlers, Dragons, Bulcos, Imoogis and Evil Imoogis. The Evil Imoogie, named Buraki, is the serpent-like creature mentioned above that attacks L.A. Apparently Buraki really, really wants to become a dragon, which is shown as being similar to the long, Eastern-styled dragon familiar via Chinese mythology. Meanwhile, the Bulcos, described as mutated birds, look more like the Western type familiar to fantasy fans. The Dawdlers are the coolest looking, though, mainly because they rocket launchers attached to their backs make me think of Dino-Riders. Admittedly, I'm probably more confused after looking at these renderings, but at least I'm intrigued. Despite the crazy plot, I think Dragon Wars (formerly, and also, known as D-War) is going to be another cool monster movie from the country that gave us The Host.
 
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