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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E-Film Critic's Eric Childress is wondering why Paramount is using Iron Man quotes from the relentlessly elastic and seducable Peter Travers along with old-time accomodators like Jeffrey Lyons and Gene Shalit plus Moviemantz's Scott Mantz. "Couldn't find anyone better than that, Paramount? Seriously? You may not wanted to associate your superhero flick with the online geek sites, but at least some of them write more than just dumb-dumb phrases like Lyons and Shalit."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 3, 2008 at 8:36 AM

comment #1

LYT says ...

I don't know about Mantz, but Shalit is a familiar face to a lot of people, and Rolling Stone is a familiar name.

How often do you see Larry King quoted on a poster for a movie that actual critics like? The general public doesn't pay enough attention to know who the soft touches are.

Posted by LYT at May 3, 2008 12:49 PM

comment #2

LYT says ...

...and I just read the whole piece and see that Erik wants me to have my critical credentials revoked on the basis of one review, because it isn't helping his argument.

So my challenge to Erik is to prove me wrong. Name me a movie that came out this year prior to Zombie Strippers that delivers on what it promises to the same degree.

I've seen movies subsequent to it that are better, but stand my story -- at the time I saw it, Zombie Strippers was, to me, the best. Which is at least partially due to there not being many great movies so far.

Posted by LYT at May 3, 2008 4:15 PM

comment #3

Erik Childress says ...

Well, Snow Angels certainly had a lot of snow in it but certainly not a whole lot of angels - so in that respect I guess your Zombie Strippers argument holds water.

But I'd say in those terms which you base your best film of the year solely upon - Cloverfield, Diary of the Dead, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Son of Rambow ALL delivered precisely what they promised. In Bruges even exceeded expectations and each one of them would qualify IMHO as good films. Something I can't say about Zombie Strippers despite truth in titular advertising.

Posted by Erik Childress at May 3, 2008 5:27 PM