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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Anne Thompson alerted me this morning to A.J. Benza and Neal Gumpel's "Real Guys" series -- obviously a concept riding the coattails of Marcia Nastair and Lorenzo Semple's "Reel Geezers." Here's their riff on 21.

I agree with Thompson that the Geezers offer more interesting insights and issues, but Benza and Gumpel feel like the real thing to me. They process and talk about movies in the manner of "real guys" (i.e., men who enjoy saying it straight but at the same time have some sort of trepidation about being too intellectual). It's culturally valid, it's fairly unpretentious and it adds to the national dialogue so I don't see a problem. Are they Andre Bazin and James Agee? No, but are they pretending to be?

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 4, 2008 at 11:09 AM

comment #1

Chicago48 says ...

This is the future of movie critics....move over Ebert & Roeper....you're headed to Youtube, and honestly, it seems a natural place for movie critics vs. TV. Movies criticism doesn't need a long sililoquoy(?) just an honest opinion from ordinary people. Everybody's different...the critic isn't the last word nor the only word. I like reading all views, even those in IMDB message boards.

Posted by Chicago48 at May 4, 2008 12:34 PM

comment #2