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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Loose Guru

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A guy who hears things and is usually on (or close to) the money says that Mike Myers' conduct on The Love Guru "has once again raised the bar for nutty behavior and he's driven everyone at Paramount over the edge. Crazy, crazy, crazy." In short, the usual-usual. Eccentricity and exactitude sometimes go with the territory. If you want to deal only with moderate people and moderate behavior, work for the insurance industry. No surprise if what I'm hearing is even half true. I did some Entertainment Weekly reporting about Myers back in the Wayne's World (and Wayne's World sequel) heyday, and I heard plenty so don't tell me.

Masters on Valkyrie<< previous | next >>Note of Concern

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 8, 2008 at 6:34 PM

comment #1

Rosebudsthesled says ...

The only guy worse than Mike Myers is Ben Stiller. I know somebody who once had a fax machine thrown at her by him. Jerk.

Posted by Rosebudsthesled at April 8, 2008 7:08 PM

comment #2

actionman says ...

the film looks like a steaming pile.

Posted by actionman at April 8, 2008 7:42 PM

comment #3

breadlymoore says ...

I don't get it...is he a screamer? Control freak? Bully?

At least give us a little more to chew on here.

Posted by breadlymoore at April 8, 2008 8:04 PM

comment #4

Jeffrey Kunze says ...

actionman: "the film looks like a steaming pile."

Nice. I like the attitude.

My interest rate for this movie is 8.54%. Even the title makes me shutter.

On a side notes, just watched River's Edge ('86) for the first time. It had potential but ultimately played like a poor man's Blue Velvet...and they both came out the same year.

Any opinions?

Posted by Jeffrey Kunze at April 8, 2008 8:17 PM

comment #5

jesse says ...

Really, Rosebud? I heard second-hand from a lighting guy who worked on Keeping the Faith that Norton was kind of an ass, but Stiller was super-nice.

Posted by jesse at April 8, 2008 8:18 PM

comment #6

Josh Massey says ...

If Stiller were really like that (with any regularity), do you think he would have lampooned himself like that on "Extras?"

Never met the man, just wondering.

Posted by Josh Massey at April 8, 2008 8:38 PM

comment #7

actionman says ...

"Nice. I like the attitude."

what do you mean, Kunze? do you not agree with me that it looks like shit? it seemed like you did...

river's edge was a strange and fucked up little movie as I recall, though I don't remember when I last saw it. Maybe when I was in college...I remember it being like Bully.

Ever seen Mean Creek? That was a startling film.

what's really interesting about Rivers Edge is the director, Tim Hunter. He may not have had much luck in features, but damn, his tv resume is ridiculous: 90210, Twin Peaks, Eerie, Indiana (loved that show when I was a kid), Homicide, Carnival, Deadwood, House, Law & Order, Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Wow.

Posted by actionman at April 8, 2008 8:49 PM

comment #8

nemo says ...

The usual-usual? That's a new one.

Which reminds me, we haven't heard mezzo-mezzo in a long, long time.

Posted by nemo at April 8, 2008 8:58 PM

comment #9

actionman says ...

I really, really HATE the trailer for Guru. Haven't been turned off by a movie like this in a long time.

Posted by actionman at April 8, 2008 9:08 PM

comment #10

Malone says ...

I've worked on set with Mr. Myers on a movie and found him exacting but mostly pleasant.

Posted by Malone at April 8, 2008 9:20 PM

comment #11

BurmaShave says ...

At least Peter Sellers made the occasional masterpiece. Though I did enjoy his work in 54 tremendously, which I sat through again on TV the other night/morning.

Posted by BurmaShave at April 8, 2008 10:30 PM

comment #12

The Winchester says ...

Peter Sellers also did more than one character, and, if I'm not mistaken, was funny.

Posted by The Winchester at April 8, 2008 10:35 PM

comment #13

scooterzz says ...

questionable behavior aside, sellers doesn't even belong in a conversation about myers....

Posted by scooterzz at April 8, 2008 10:51 PM

comment #14

hiviper says ...

you sat through a RERUN of 54 and stayed awake? That should be the cure to insomnia right there.

Posted by hiviper at April 8, 2008 11:14 PM

comment #15

Jeffrey Kunze says ...

what do you mean, Kunze? do you not agree with me that it looks like shit? it seemed like you did...

No, actionman, I am agreeing with you. I like to hear you trash a movie every now and then.

Posted by Jeffrey Kunze at April 9, 2008 5:51 AM

comment #16

JChasse says ...

Ah, "River's Edge"...

That movie came out the day after my uncle died. To say that the family went over the top would be an understatement. Needed to get away from the madness the night before the funeral (if I remember correctly, it might have been Memorial Day weekend, which meant that he died on Thursday and they couldn't bury him till Tuesday), so I saw "River's Edge", and appreciated a story where someone died and no one gave a whit.

Posted by JChasse at April 9, 2008 6:06 AM

comment #17

actionman says ...

Kunze....did you read my Heartbreak Kid review? Worst movie of last year....truly horrendous.

Posted by actionman at April 9, 2008 7:10 AM

comment #18

Edward says ...

I'm proud to say I haven't seein the trailer to Love Stinks ... er Guru and even less interest in the film. How's that for quickly dismissing a film!

I really like Wayne's World bye the way.

Posted by Edward at April 9, 2008 8:05 AM

comment #19

George Prager says ...

The trailer for this is awful. Mike Myers is mugging for the camera in a way that would make Bob Hope blush.

RIVER'S EDGE. Love it. Saw it at a huge suburban multiplex on opening weekend. Multiplex not attached to mall.
Great movie to watch on a Saturday afternoon while hung over.

Posted by George Prager at April 9, 2008 8:53 AM

comment #20

Jay T. says ...

Yeah, this one time I was walking down the street in Santa Monica and Ben Stiller picked up a table from a cafe and hurled it at me and hit a moving car. Then he grabbed an oil candle from another table and a napkin and burned the place to the ground with an impromptu molatov cocktail.

No, but seriously, you can't just say he threw a fax machine at someone without a little more information... C'mon!

Posted by Jay T. at April 9, 2008 9:25 AM

comment #21

Rich S. says ...

Is it just me, or is something suddenly missing from the website?

Posted by Rich S. at April 9, 2008 9:47 AM

comment #22

parttimesaint says ...

Rich S.: No, it's not just you. Looks like someone couldn't take what he was dishing out.

Posted by parttimesaint at April 9, 2008 9:54 AM

comment #23

dangovich says ...

No one ever chewed scenery with such relish as Crispin Glover did in River's Edge.

Also, this movie looks bad. As in, "I'm a powerful guy, let's see if I can pitch the most ludicrous premise ever and see if they'll buy it" bad.

Posted by dangovich at April 9, 2008 10:11 AM

comment #24

actionman says ...

what's missing?

Posted by actionman at April 9, 2008 10:12 AM

comment #25

Indeed says ...

actionman: "what's missing?"

We were playfully messing with Wells after he posted a photo of himself. We said he looked a little "well fed" to use his terminology, that he should start as a romantic lead in an Apatow film, etc.

It was all in good fun.

Posted by Indeed at April 9, 2008 10:23 AM

comment #26

Indeed says ...

start = star

Posted by Indeed at April 9, 2008 10:24 AM

comment #27

rocco says ...

can dish it out but can't take it...can comment on society but can't be commented upon. How do you take seriously a critic who runs from criticism?

Posted by rocco at April 9, 2008 10:32 AM

comment #28

christian says ...

If Jeff didn't have a bloggy jihad against people who physically offend him, he wouldn't have had any comments on his appearance at all. There's a karmic lesson in there somewhere...

As fer Myers, I had hopes he was going to achieve a Woody Allen type cultural satirist level after SNL. Deiter is a brilliant creation as was his Simon and the first Austin Powers is witty, clever; one of my favorite comedies ever. I think he relishes too much pop culture crapola hence we get Paris Hilton in THE CAT AND THE HAT, Timberlake in TLG, SHREK etc. But he was great in 54 and he has a lot of untapped potential when he wants to get off the trivia train.

By the way, my friend worked close with Myers on TLG and said he was delightful if not all over the place. Jessica Alba on the other hand...

Posted by christian at April 9, 2008 10:43 AM

comment #29

storymark says ...

What picture? There was no picture. You all imagined it. Wells has always, and will always, look exactly like the image in the banner.

You can go about your business. Move along, move along.

Posted by storymark at April 9, 2008 11:12 AM

comment #30

Jesse Perry says ...

To Wells: Jeff, talking about your Wayne's World reporting . . . was it you who reported on Carvey and Myers getting into an argument over the Wayne's World 2 script, with Myers attempting to throw Carvey out a window?

Looking online now, I can't find it. Could someone confirm that I'm not crazy?

Posted by Jesse Perry at April 9, 2008 11:13 AM

comment #31

iamjoe says ...

This movie looks bad, and tis all Mike Myers fault for recycling his old bits. It looks like the same Austin Powers/Dr Evil/Fat Bastard/Shrek voices he has done for the last decade.

He needs to do dark comedy ala Very Bad Things to gain some credibility back; he can always supplement income with Shrek 8 & 9.

Posted by iamjoe at April 9, 2008 11:19 AM

comment #32

JapAdapters says ...

Aside from the first WAYNE'S WORLD, which was mildly amusing, the only Mike Myers movie I like (including the awful Shrek franchise) is SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER, which -- I believe -- he didn't write. He strikes me as a guy that success (especially of the awful Austin Powers movies -- good idea, bad implementation) has ruined. Other people should be writing his shit, or more accurately, he should be an ACTOR in other people's movies.

Posted by JapAdapters at April 9, 2008 11:29 AM

comment #33

Arizona Joe says ...

Mike Myers has induced a lot of laughs in me. But these stories about bad behavior behind the scenes are not surprising. I always thought that his amiable talk of U.K. relatives and trading hockey cards belied a peremptory, aggressive personality.

What happened to the days when big stars were uncommonly gracious? What happened to us all?

"Rivers Edge" is no "Blue Velvet." I have never met young people so uncompassionate and phlegmatic that they could kill somebody and just stand around talking about it. I know it was based on a true story. And given the "In the Valley of Elah," maybe that's the sensibility of the younger generation.

In the industrial midwest, I did meet people like Frank Booth. They didn't suck down nitrous oxide quite like that, but they were menacing, drug addled, and said things like, "Suave, goddamn you're suave." They also had a predilection for Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Roy Orbison. Also, I was involved in an incident similar to when Jeffery Beaumont was pursued in a car to his house.

The sociopaths in "Rivers Edge" and for that matter, "Pulp Fiction" I could not relate to. "Blue Velvet" for all its violence and demeaning exaggeration, struck me as true. I was Jeffery Beaumont.

Posted by Arizona Joe at April 9, 2008 11:37 AM

comment #34

Sean says ...

> the awful Austin Powers movies -- good idea, bad implementation

Anyone seen OSS 117? More a satire than a parody, but I found it many multiples funnier than all the Austin Powers put together.

Posted by Sean at April 9, 2008 11:39 AM

comment #35

Sean says ...

> the awful Austin Powers movies -- good idea, bad implementation

Anyone seen OSS 117? More a satire than a parody, but I found it many multiples funnier than all the Austin Powers put together.

Posted by Sean at April 9, 2008 11:41 AM

comment #36

Terry McCarty says ...

actionman wrote:
what's really interesting about Rivers Edge is the director, Tim Hunter. He may not have had much luck in features, but damn, his tv resume is ridiculous: 90210, Twin Peaks, Eerie, Indiana (loved that show when I was a kid), Homicide, Carnival, Deadwood, House, Law & Order, Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Wow.

His feature (from two/three years ago) CONTROL, a thriller with Ray Liotta, Willem Dafoe and Michelle Rodruguez, was a not-bad B-picture worth renting on DVD.

Posted by Terry McCarty at April 9, 2008 12:52 PM

comment #37

Terry McCarty says ...

Re Christian's comment about Jessica Alba:
So you're implying she's the Raquel Welch of her generation regarding temperament?

Posted by Terry McCarty at April 9, 2008 12:55 PM

comment #38

christian says ...

So I've heard. But she lacks the sizzle that made Welch the hottest babe of the 60's. Alba is simply tapioca.

Posted by christian at April 9, 2008 1:14 PM

comment #39

BurmaShave says ...

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19870529/REVIEWS/705290301/1023

Ebert's review of RIVER'S EDGE. Great. Only dated in it's hilarious description of Crispin Glover as a 'young Eric Roberts'.

Posted by BurmaShave at April 9, 2008 3:20 PM

comment #40

MDOC says ...

Arizona Joe wrote ""Rivers Edge" is no "Blue Velvet." I have never met young people so uncompassionate and phlegmatic that they could kill somebody and just stand around talking about it. I know it was based on a true story. And given the "In the Valley of Elah," maybe that's the sensibility of the younger generation."
These are totally different generations grandpa. Rivers Edge is based on a true story that took place in 1981, those people have kids that are old enough to be in Iraq.
I'm not trying to be a nit picky dick, I just thought it was worth considering. I liked your Blue Velvet point.

Posted by MDOC at April 9, 2008 4:27 PM

comment #41

Jay T. says ...

Fair question: when did filming of The Guru take place? Is is possible Alba was in the early days of pregnancy? Cause God knows that will make any woman demanding...

Posted by Jay T. at April 9, 2008 5:42 PM

comment #42

Mark B says ...

"What happened to the days when big stars were uncommonly gracious? What happened to us all?"

There are a few left, although the field has shrunken: George Clooney, Adam Sandler (yes, I'm serious) and Matt Damon all seem to have extremely positive reps with both co-workers and fans. However, for every George Clooney there are at least fifty Alec Baldwins.

Posted by Mark B at April 9, 2008 7:39 PM

comment #43