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)

Upcoming

August 27

Traitor

August 29

Babylon AD

College

Disaster Movie

Goal II: Living the Dream

I Served the King of England

My Mexican Shivah

Sukiyaki Western Django

Year of the Fish

Young People F*cking

September 3

The Pool

September 5

A Secret

August Evening

Bangkok Dangerous

Everybody Wants to Be Italian

Mister Foe

Ping Pong Playa

Save Me

Surfer, Dude

Roly-poly cancer patient

email this story
read comments (26)
post a comment

The Bucket List's IMDB synopsis says it's about two terminally ill older guys -- Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman -- who "escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die." I'm not going to make any negative assumptions because Rob Reiner is directing. Just because North, Ghosts of Mississippi, The Story of Us, Alex & Emma and Rumor Has it bit the dust is no reason to think rashly.

The problem, for me, is this: Nicholson looks too well-fed to play a dying cancer patient. I've looked at a lot of online photos of people with chemo baldness and they're not all emaciated or even thin, so I can't say Nicholson's appearance is necessarily inaccurate. But I've seen or run into several late-stage cancer patients with concentration-camp bodies in my time. Plus Nicholson has always radiated a certain boisterous life force, and it seems you'd have to do more than shave his head to make look like a man withered by cancer and facing death.

If he had dropped 30 or 40 pounds for the role a la Christian Bale, then I'd be on board. But Jack can't do that. Jack has his pleasures, his lifestyle...Jack has to be Jack. So a grinning, hale and hearty, roly-poly dying cancer patient will have to do.

The Bucket List (Warner Bros.) is due to come out in November, but the IMDB says it'll open in Argentina on 9.20.07.

Fake Smith photos<< previous | next >>Talkign to "Zodiac's" Graysmith

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 28, 2007 at 12:49 PM

comment #1

bacio says ...

is this the remake of the German film "knocking on heavenÂ´s door" (which was a sort of remake of a Dutch film?) cause it has the exact same storyline, only the protagonists were a lot younger.

Posted by bacio at February 28, 2007 1:14 PM

comment #2

wayne76 says ...

I think I'm just going to go on ahead and make a negative assumption precisely because Rob Reiner is directing.

Posted by wayne76 at February 28, 2007 1:25 PM

comment #3

lesterg says ...

How is Reiner still getting studio work?

It's been twelve years since his last hit (a modest one, at that) and over fifteen since his last blockbuster.

Posted by lesterg at February 28, 2007 1:43 PM

comment #4

jeffmcm says ...

Jack is also not a crazy youngster like Christian Bale who will probably ruin his health permanently if he keeps up with the yo-yo dieting. If I was in my 60s I wouldn't alter my waistline either - it's called acting.

Posted by jeffmcm at February 28, 2007 1:49 PM

comment #5

rocco says ...

Several issues...Jack is 70, not sure his doctors would condone dropping 40 lbs so he can pretend to have cancer. Use your imagination...

"I've looked at a lot of online photos" and "I've seen or run into...". Never "known"? Well if not, god bless you...

Posted by rocco at February 28, 2007 2:05 PM

comment #6

Alan Cerny says ...

Sounds almost exactly like this movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097487/

Posted by Alan Cerny at February 28, 2007 2:29 PM

comment #7

Mark says ...

isn't this like complaining about Talledega Nights because Will Ferrell is too tall to be a successful stockcar racer? i mean, it's an effen comedy; get over it.

but in a related note, was anyone ever bothered by the hands of Jason Robards in Magnolia? way too strong and unshaky for someone on their deathbed.

Posted by Mark at February 28, 2007 2:29 PM

comment #8

jeffmcm says ...

You're joking about Robards, right? Since he in fact died a few weeks after the movie was released?

Posted by jeffmcm at February 28, 2007 2:46 PM

comment #9

jeffmcm says ...

Sorry - a year and a few weeks.

Posted by jeffmcm at February 28, 2007 2:47 PM

comment #10

Mark says ...

i'm not joking or trying to be insensitive. it didn't ring true, but i'm judging this on the hands of my grandfather, whom actually resembled Robards otherwise.

Posted by Mark at February 28, 2007 2:49 PM

comment #11

jeffmcm says ...

Then the obvious conclusion is, not every dying person looks the same.

Posted by jeffmcm at February 28, 2007 2:56 PM

comment #12

Josh Massey says ...

I think Reiner would make an interesting case study. The guy was just knockin' 'em out, right and left in the '80s. I mean, great, bordering on classic films: This Is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally..., Misery, etc. He tapered off just the tiniest bit with A Few Good Men and The American President, but then it was complete free fall, starting with North and continuing through Rumor Has It. (Ok, he did make North before President, but still.)

Posted by Josh Massey at February 28, 2007 4:18 PM

comment #13

Joe Leydon says ...

Alan: I have to agree -- Hawks is the first movie I thought of when I heard about The Bucket List. BTW: It's worth tracking down, because Timothy Dalton is terrific in his role.

Posted by Joe Leydon at February 28, 2007 7:20 PM

comment #14

vulgar71 says ...

I'm glad someone else pointed out that a 70-year-old man shouldn't be losing 30 - 40 lbs. to play a role of a cancer patient.

Posted by vulgar71 at February 28, 2007 9:11 PM

comment #15

Terry McCarty says ...

"How is Reiner still getting studio work? It's been twelve years since his last hit (a modest one, at that) and over fifteen since his last blockbuster."-said lesterg.

It doesn't hurt to have Castle Rock's Alan Horn running WB.

Posted by Terry McCarty at February 28, 2007 10:57 PM

comment #16

cjKennedy says ...

For admittedly entirely irrational reasons based on bad memories of a college roommate, I can't f'ing stand When Harry Met Sally, but otherwise I totally agree with Josh. Spinal Tap, Sure Thing, Stand By Me and Princess Bride weren't just pretty good movies, they're among some of my favorites. After that? Bubkes. Nada. Crapola.

Here's hoping The Bucket List goes up to eleven. You know....one louder.

Posted by cjKennedy at March 1, 2007 12:20 AM

comment #17

High Chaparral says ...

It's not uncommoon for steroids to be used as part of cancer treatment; one of the main side-effects of them is weight-gain.

Posted by High Chaparral at March 1, 2007 1:16 AM

comment #18

Chicago48 says ...

You're wondering about Reiner getting work, I'm wondering why Nicholson is still getting work, and when will Morgan Freeman stop playing buddy to white guys?
(and I'm a black person)

Posted by Chicago48 at March 1, 2007 6:38 AM

comment #19

The Movie Man says ...

I agree about Reiner's work in the last decade, but I feel his best movie is more recent than people think, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT. It's a wonderful, overlooked film and the best modern approximation of some of the great, idealistic social comedies of the 1930s and 1940s.

Posted by The Movie Man at March 1, 2007 8:05 AM

comment #20

Rod32303 says ...

Since when was constant commercial success a barometer for who gets to direct? When was Brian DePalma's last blockbuster? Before "The Departed," and "The Bourne Supremacy," when did Scorsese and Greengrass, not to mention the other three directors, have a blockbuster box office champ? Whatever, Reiner needs to pick better SCRIPTS - and even some of the bombs were interesting (I still think he got it right with some of "The Story of US").

And get the fuck off Morgan Freeman. He can do whatever he wants, as far as I'm concern. Go look at his early successes ("Street Smart," "Clean & Sober," "Glory," "Nurse Betty,") before complaining, or, better yet, write a script for him and submit it. Seems like actors take what they feel is both interestering and offered.

Posted by Rod32303 at March 1, 2007 8:07 AM

comment #21

Rod32303 says ...

I'm also a black man, fyi.

Posted by Rod32303 at March 1, 2007 8:08 AM

comment #22

Josh Massey says ...

"but I feel his best movie is more recent than people think, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT."

That film was over 13 years ago. It's not that recent.

My personal favorite of Reiner's is Stand By Me, but that probably has something to do with being 10 when it came out. It was the first movie I saw about kids that wasn't a cartoon like The Goonies or Explorers.

Posted by Josh Massey at March 1, 2007 10:30 AM

comment #23

cjKennedy says ...

Morgan Freeman wasn't a buddy to white guys in '10 Items or Less' last year and no one went to see it. Perhaps it sucked, but still.

Posted by cjKennedy at March 1, 2007 12:14 PM

comment #24

Cadavra says ...

Well, if people can accept Depardieu starving to death in GERMINAL...

Posted by Cadavra at March 1, 2007 3:58 PM

comment #25

The Movie Man says ...

Morgan Freeman also wasn't the buddy in SEVEN (he was with a white guy but I think its pretty obvious he was the star), he also wasn't the buddy in the detective movies he did after that (Kiss the Girls, etc.) they weren't too good, but they were lead roles and he was, personally, quite appealing in them.

It's been said, but I think Freeman's best work in sometime is his performance in NURSE BETTY.

Posted by The Movie Man at March 1, 2007 5:03 PM

comment #26