Discland
edited by Jonathan Doyle
Cloverfield [BLU-RAY] (Paramount Home Entertainment, 6.3.2008) Disguised under deliberately goofy, yet deliciously edible-sounding, aliases such as Cheese and Slusho, Matt Reeves' Cloverfield was produced and rushed into theaters under an equally appetizing shroud of secrecy. From last year's incredibly elusive Super Bowl ad to the film's viral marketing campaign, Cloverfield had everybody scratching their heads and drooling in anticipation. Aside from the as-yet untitled title and the Blair Witch-ian visual style, the film's biggest appeal was the enigmatic creature who was last (un)seen hurling the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty onto the crowded streets of New York City. All we knew about the mysterious beast was that it was big and angry. Now that the highy-anticipated project has come and gone, one question has fortunately been answered: Cloverfield was a major success. (continued)

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August 27

Traitor

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Babylon AD

College

Disaster Movie

Goal II: Living the Dream

I Served the King of England

My Mexican Shivah

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Year of the Fish

Young People F*cking

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The Pool

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Everybody Wants to Be Italian

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RV's hinterland success

"Driven largely by smaller markets, RV" -- the laugh-free, critically-dismissed Barry Sonnenfeld family comedy starring Robin Williams -- "turned out to have the best legs of any major studio release this year, especially stronger than those of Mission: Impossible 3" -- from Ben Fritz and Dave McNary's 5.30 Variety story, which isn't so much about M:I:3's inability to crack $140 million domestic as the age-old axiom that there's no accounting for taste.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 31, 2006 at 4:27 AM

comment #1

Mike Gebert says ...

Okay, granted RV sucks its own bilgewater, but let's analyze this.

The movie year starts with gay cowboys eating pudding, that's all anybody talks about. Your only alternative seems to be, basically, Saw 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Then we're straight into the teen movies of summer. And in all of that, exactly ONE movie gets made for people over 30 who just want to relax and laugh at a movie. And it turns out to be a hit! What a surprise.

RV is sort of like a white Tyler Perry movie-- the success of something so dumbass nevertheless demonstrates that there's a huge underserved market which would also, quite probably, respond to something that was actually decent-- if Hollywood could figure out how to offer it.

Posted by Mike Gebert at May 31, 2006 7:13 AM

comment #2

Balls McDonough says ...

RV didn't suck, it simply WASN'T FUNNY ENOUGH.

Gebert, you actually have to see these movies to have an opinion on them.

Watch Hines sing along to "GTO" and tell me that isn't funny.

Posted by Balls McDonough at May 31, 2006 8:44 AM

comment #3

Mike Gebert says ...

Gregory Hines is in RV?

What's the precise difference between "suck" and "wasn't funny enough" again?

Posted by Mike Gebert at May 31, 2006 9:39 AM

comment #4

Nick says ...

Uh, Cheryl Hines. Gregory's dead.

Posted by Nick at May 31, 2006 11:40 AM

comment #5

Daniel Zelter says ...

"Best legs"?! According to Box Office Mojo, it only made $7 million in profit after costing $50 million. Williams hasn't had a hit since Patch Adams. Robots doesn't count, since he wasn't the selling point.

Posted by Daniel Zelter at May 31, 2006 12:16 PM

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