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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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Bruce McDonald's The Tracey Fragments (Thinkfilm, 5.9) is apparently the first feature ever to be composed entirely of "Mondrian-like" split screens. The Canadian-produced film is also propelled, to go by festival reviews, by Ellen Page's tour de force performance as 15 year-old Tracey Berkowitz, who recaps her recent history as she "sits on the back of a city bus, naked except for the tattered curtain she's wrapped in, and looking for her missing brother, whom she fears she has hypnotized into believing he's a dog."

I've avoided seeing this film for a long time (it was first screened at the 2007 Cannes market, and then shown at Toronto last September, then at the AFI Festival in November). Now the release date is less than a month off, the side-stepping is over and I'm going to have to face it like a man. I just don't want to know about a girl whose brother thinks he may be a dog. I'm done with that stuff in my life. I'm not much for nearly naked teenagers in the backs of buses either. I've been in some very strange places in my youth and can relate on some level, but even when I was a somewhat reckless and irresponsible kid I didn't know anyone who was screwed up enough to think they were a dog, and if I did I would have avoided them like the plague.

I love the fact, however, that The Tracey Fragments was filmed in 14 days but took 9 months to edit. I also love the fact that "as part of the promotion for the Canadian release, the distributor released all of the original footage as downloadable torrent files and encouraged people to re-edit the footage into whatever they saw fit...this is believed to be the first theatrically-released film to make its footage available in such a fashion....entries ranged from music videos to a complete re-edit of the film in linear order, without split screens."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 13, 2008 at 12:06 PM

comment #1

cjKennedy says ...

It plays better than it reads. It's still fruity and more than a little pretentious, but it slaps the smirk off of Juno's face.

Posted by cjKennedy at April 13, 2008 12:15 PM

comment #2

BTS says ...

I saw this about a month ago and was ready to bolt inside of 45 seconds. The only thing that kept me there was that my ride as seated elsewhere and it was freezing outside.

Posted by BTS at April 13, 2008 12:18 PM

comment #3

BTS says ...

I saw this about a month ago and was ready to bolt inside of 45 seconds. A headache of a movie. The only thing that kept me there was that my ride was seated elsewhere and it was freezing outside.

Posted by BTS at April 13, 2008 12:19 PM

comment #4

Nick Plowman says ...

I cannot wait to see this, both the edited and unedited versions. I love me some Ellen Page indeed.

And Craig, if it is better than Juno, you know I am in :)

Posted by Nick Plowman at April 13, 2008 12:25 PM

comment #5

cjKennedy says ...

Well Nick, you know where I stand on the Juno question so take that opinion for what it's worth, but I will say if you like Ellen Page you should definitely check out Tracey Fragments.

Posted by cjKennedy at April 13, 2008 12:32 PM

comment #6

scooterzz says ...

and if you think the smirk gets slapped off juno with 'tracey' on 5/9, wait 'til you see 'an american crime' on 5/10........there's REALLY no smirk there....

Posted by scooterzz at April 13, 2008 12:50 PM

comment #7

LYT says ...

I loved this movie.

The bit about her brother maybe believing he's a dog is a minor point in the film itself.

The form of the movie is make-or-break. I totally rolled with it, and my friend walked out after five minutes -- it's like the comic book panels in Ang Lee's Hulk multiplied by twenty or so.

But the form makes perfect sense when it becomes clear at the end the extent to which it represents Tracey's perceptions, and why. It's Memento-esque in that regard.

Posted by LYT at April 13, 2008 1:13 PM

comment #8

cjKennedy says ...

Scooterz, having seen The Girl Next door based on the same story, I can imagine American Crime is 100% smirk free.

Have you seen it? Is it good or just disturbing? Or both?

LYT. You're right, some people just aren't going to have the patience for this movie, but those that do will be rewarded. If I was a betting man, I'd say Wells would last about 7 minutes.

Posted by cjKennedy at April 13, 2008 1:40 PM

comment #9

scooterzz says ...

cj -- i watched a screener last night... really good performances from keener and page but the film is every bit as disturbing and hard to watch as 'ketcham's girl next door'..... i'm not sure why they needed to tell the story again......

Posted by scooterzz at April 13, 2008 2:06 PM

comment #10

Edward says ...

What's with the Juno hate? My wife and I just saw it today and we both loved it. We have a teen-aged daughter and there was a lot we could relate to. Ellen Page is terrific in Juno and that's enough reason for me to want to see The Tracey Fragments

Posted by Edward at April 13, 2008 4:11 PM

comment #11

Herpesdating says ...

Yes, many herpes girls are dicussing this movie on the blog page on our site now. And seems there are many fans of him on that STD site

Posted by Herpesdating at April 13, 2008 6:17 PM

comment #12

lazespud says ...

I went to the trouble of downloading all the video files when the contest was announced several months ago. Turns out the contest was only open to Canadians...

The whole thing was like 12 gigabytes.

Anyway, it was basically incredible to have all of the footage available to edit any which way you'd like. I could easily see film schools taking the footage and using it as a basis for film editing class...

I find Page to be a great actress, but I confess that watching her perform many of the scenes in take after take, she seemed whiny and nasally... you end up realizing how much of a performance is the work of a careful editor.

Posted by lazespud at April 13, 2008 6:24 PM

comment #13

JD says ...

I also thought it was incredible and I barely even noticed the narrative (if that makes any sense). This is 98% an aesthetic experience and, on that level, it's amazing. The editing and the score are particularly great. I barely noticed Ellen Page, though she does have annoying moments -- her trademark, apparently -- here and there.

Posted by JD at April 13, 2008 6:35 PM

comment #14

lipranzer says ...

I like Page, but I also want to see this because I like Bruce McDonald as a director - you are all hereby encouraged to track down HIGHWAY 61 and HARD CORE LOGO if you haven't seen them yet.

Posted by lipranzer at April 13, 2008 8:19 PM

comment #15

DavidF says ...

lipranzer wrote EXACTLY what I was going to write.
Those two films are must-sees. Highway 61 for its dry humour and unique take on a particular side of America (and its portrayal of the devil), and Hard Core Logo for being one of the best movies made about rock and roll; it's the dark side of Spinal Tap and just as good in its way.

Posted by DavidF at April 14, 2008 7:07 AM

comment #16

nemo says ...

"Bruce McDonald's The Tracey Fragments (Thinkfilm, 5.9) is apparently the first feature ever to be composed entirely of "Mondrian-like" split screens. "

Timecode? 2000, Mike Figgis.

Posted by nemo at April 14, 2008 3:56 PM

comment #17