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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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"Factory Girl" size-up

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Radar's Jeff Bercovici (i.e., "Fresh Intelligence") scans the "half-baked" Factory Girl Oscar-heat situation. My understanding is that the extra shooting was done in early to mid November, and that it's not that much of a problem to insert new scenes into an already- constructed feature. Still, Harvey Weinstein and director George Hickenlooper need to get cracking.

"Dreamgirls" rocks NYC<< previous | next >>The Eagle Has Landed

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 29, 2006 at 04:05 PM

comment #1

msthollyung says ...

You say it happened, he says it's happening: "entire new scenes—not reshoots—still being shot in New York". Literally every hour counts now with a 12/29 release date.

Posted by msthollyung at November 29, 2006 04:58 PM

comment #2

NYCritic says ...

At the rate they're going on this -- they will be shuttling wet film from the lab directly to the cineplexes on Dec. 29. This doesn't sound like Oscar-worthy stuff to me -- and if they have to delay it to next year, it will have that "has been" stink all over it.

Weinstein Company films for this year are not all that strong as far as contenders for awards. Maybe Days of Glory can eke a Foriegn Language nomination, Shut Up & Sing a documentary nod, but the rest of the stuff is a mixed bag. Bobby is tanking faster than Flags of Our Fathers, Breaking and Entering has a lot of problems as does Miss Potter. It may be that Harvey's lost his golden touch.

Posted by NYCritic at November 29, 2006 09:13 PM

comment #3

insidah says ...

I wouldn't count Bobby out - there seems to be good word of mouth about it here in Los Angeles...and it's a def. lock for best song and maybe a best supporting actor or actress (S. Stone was great)...that song will BRING DOWN THE HOUSE when it's performed at the Academy Awards.

Posted by insidah at November 30, 2006 07:39 AM

comment #4

renorambler says ...

The subject matter alone has me seeing this film opening weekend. It's a bonus that Sienna Miller is in it. I hope Guy Pearce does not disappoint as Warhol.

It's too bad that "reshoots" seems to translate to "damaged goods" in the blogosphere. It could just as easily mean that it will elevate the film from good to great.

Posted by renorambler at November 30, 2006 07:40 AM

comment #5

bipedalist says ...

Reshoots elevating the film from good to great? LOL! Even if you get over THAT, which is pretty tough to get over, you still have the Sienna Miller stink - a tabloid darling - her antics with Jude Law, her badmouthing Pittsburgh or whatever. It's like Lindsay Lohan. She needs an image makeover before she'll be in contention again. Then again, as I always say, never underestimate the power of a fine piece of tail.

Posted by bipedalist at November 30, 2006 07:53 AM

comment #6

renorambler says ...

Equating Lindsay L with Sienna Miller? Oh, please....

LL is a little girl playing dress up. SM is an actress (even if she does happen to be "a fine piece of tail.")

Posted by renorambler at November 30, 2006 10:38 AM

comment #7

ms.thollyung says ...

It's weird how reshoots got such a bad rep. I think people get psyched to see a movie, and they want it yesterday. Directors sometimes die for reshoots and don't always get them because they're soooo expensive to do.

Posted by ms.thollyung at November 30, 2006 12:11 PM

comment #8

bipedalist says ...

That's hilarious. You know, LL was and is considered "an actress" as well. Re: Miller - It doesn't matter how good she is -- she will have to get over the general perception that she is a twit. An Oscar nom would do that but, aye, there's the rub. Getting an Oscar nod is harder when you're generally thought of as a twit.

Posted by bipedalist at November 30, 2006 12:21 PM

comment #9

Edward says ...

All the comments about reshooting makes me wonder if shooting digitally would speed the process. And if the film was projected digitally they could send the file right from the lab to the theaters. Food for thought, I know it's not this simplistic a process.

Posted by Edward at November 30, 2006 12:38 PM

comment #10

renorambler says ...

Glad you put "actress" in quotes... :-) My point of course is that LL is more celebrity than actual actress (and also that reshoots shouldn't necessarily be considered a bad thing). LL has little substance despite (or because of?) starting out so young in commercials, tv, etc. It's my opinion (and I don't think I'm alone in this) that SM has some acting chops and has studied (Lee Strasberg Institute if I recall correctly) to get where she is.

I do think Sienna hurt herself with some of the bad press. But let's face it, tell most people that there's a new movie with SM in it and they'll say: Sienna who? Tell somebody that there's a new movie with LL and they'll definitely know who she is (even if they run the other way because she can't act-haha). Bad press only actually hurts if people know who you are.

When all is said and done if SM lights up the screen in Factory Girl it will be (Weinstein's campaign and) the performance that people remember. Not what she said about Pittsburgh.

Posted by renorambler at November 30, 2006 01:01 PM

comment #11

t.holly says ...

Sasha knows her stuff and that means Sienna has to deal with her twit factor, Harvey can't buy it for her. He can buy reshoots -- it's very generous of him to save the movie. Let's hope the reshoots match the originally shot stuff.

Ed, it doesn't really matter how they shoot it, it still has to be work flowed up the wazoo, in/out and around, back and forth to the stage, finalized and reprocessed, prepped, formatted and delivered. Oh yeah, and edited for picture, sound and music. The Radar guy writes "...the window for getting even a rough cut in front of them (critics/voters) is rapidly closing." What if they see it rough, make decisions, and then Harvey changes it? That's not fair, it's got to be the final product.

Posted by t.holly at November 30, 2006 01:44 PM

comment #12

t.holly says ...

Any word on Harvey's reputation, the scissorhands part, in all this, or is Hickenlooper a happy camper? P.S. Did Finke's piece about the no-quote everything-for-free screenwriting biz make you sick?

Posted by t.holly at November 30, 2006 01:57 PM

comment #13

JWEgo says ...

Jesus Christ you people.

1- Hickenlooper is basically off the film, okay. His coke habit ruined it for him.
2- LL and SM are both dumb bimbo whores.
3- No one will care about this piece of shit.
4- They were still shooting in NYC LAST NIGHT you chowderhead Jeff.

I am Jeff Well's Ego!

Posted by JWEgo at November 30, 2006 05:09 PM

comment #14

T.Holly says ...

Fabulous info. Who was directing last night?

Posted by T.Holly at November 30, 2006 06:13 PM

comment #15

kimi98 says ...

Hollywood Elsewhere

Upcoming

"Factory Girl" size-up

msthollyung says ...

NYCritic says ...

insidah says ...

renorambler says ...

bipedalist says ...

renorambler says ...

ms.thollyung says ...

bipedalist says ...

Edward says ...

renorambler says ...

t.holly says ...

t.holly says ...

JWEgo says ...

T.Holly says ...

kimi98 says ...