Discland
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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July 2

Hancock

July 3

The Whackness

July 4

Diminished Capacity

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

Holding Trevor

Kabluey

We are Together

July 9

Full Battle Rattle

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A Man Named Pearl

August

Eight Miles High

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Hellboy II: The Golden Army

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July 18

A Very British Gangster

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July 22

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July 23

Boy A




 

Hammond's early stab

At the not-yet-begun Cannes Film Festival "there is lots of speculation about Oscar potential for new Cannes entries from past academy nominees and winners like Fernando Meirelles, Atom Egoyan, Charlie Kaufman, Walter Salles, Steven Soderbergh, Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen and others, although the sad fact remains that since it won, no film other than Marty has gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar after also nabbing the Palme d'Or -- and that was in 1955!" -- from Pete Hammond's first Envelope column from Cannes.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 13, 2008 at 05:19 AM

comment #1

p.Vice [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Shouldn't he be more interested if any of these movies are going to be good, not whether or not they'll win an Oscar.

Posted by p.Vice [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 06:21 AM

comment #2

Walter Sobchak [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

"Marty"?!

Nice bit of trivia and one of the last Oscar films I would've guessed had won Cannes.

Somewhere Herb Stemple is smiling.

Posted by Walter Sobchak [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 06:26 AM

comment #3

lazarus [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

That statistic says more about the Academy's questionable taste than it does about the various Cannes juries. While the festival has certainly made some WTF? choices over the years, I would happily take their roster over what we're coronated in Hollywood.

Posted by lazarus [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 06:41 AM

comment #4

Jay T. [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

And Now for Something Completely Unrelated...

There Will Be Blood is available for pre-order on Blu-Ray at Amazon.com, shipping next Tuesday (5/20). Finally...

Posted by Jay T. [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 08:45 AM

comment #5

The Pope [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Okay, let's set Mr. Hammond straight. Since 1955, there have been 7 SEVEN Palme d'Or winners of Best Film. Just because they have all been recipients of Best Foreign Language Film does not mean that they should be overloooked. Check out the list:
Pelle the Conqueror
The Tin Drum
Un homme et en femme
La Dolce Vita
Black Orpheus
La monde du silence.

With the exception of Lelouche's film, that's a pretty tight crew.

Now look at the list of the American films that have won the Palme d'Or since 1955...

Frahenheit 9/11
Elephant
Pulp Fiction
Barton Fink
Wild at Heart
sex, lies and videotape
All That Jazz
Apocalypse Now
Taxi Driver
The Conversation
Scarecrow
MASH

Again, a pretty tight crew. But how many of them are Academy pictures? Most of them are festival pictures... films (especially the more recent ones) that needed the traction of a festival to launch themselves into an ever diversifying market.

Does Mr. Hammond really think for one second that the Academy was going to honor ELEPHANT?

Posted by The Pope [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 08:58 AM

comment #6

Jack Price [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Wait, didn't The Pianist win the Palme d'Or back in 2002 along with the Best Picture Oscar?

Posted by Jack Price [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:09 AM

comment #7

lazarus [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Chicago won that year, Jack. Polanksi, Brody, and Harwood won, but that was it.

Which begs the question. If your film has the Best Direction AND the Best Screenplay, not to mention the Best Actor, how is it NOT the Best Picture?

Posted by lazarus [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:26 AM

comment #8

hcat [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

You would think that since Pianist won best Director, actor, and screenplay it would also take the picture award, but that went to Chicago which by having the best song and supporting actress award somehow trumped it for best picture.

Posted by hcat [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:31 AM

comment #9

hcat [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Can't post fast enough damnit

Posted by hcat [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:32 AM

comment #10

LYT [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Because the Best Picture award is actually "Best Producer(s)," when you come down to it.

Posted by LYT [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:38 AM

comment #11

Berndog [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Just did a little research. Besides MARTY, the only other film to win both awards was THE LOST WEEKEND. In 1945.

Posted by Berndog [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:52 AM

comment #12

Edward Havens [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Does anyone really expect quality reporting from Certified Quote Whore Pete Hammond? This is a non-story from a writer looking to justify his being sent to Cannes on the Los Angeles Times' dime.

Posted by Edward Havens [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:52 AM

comment #13

Bilge [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

What's really stupid is the idea of turning either of these into a winner-take-all horse race. MARTY might be the only Palme d'Or winner to win Best Picture, but plenty of titles that premiered at Cannes have gone on to mainstream US success (Oscar-certified or otherwise) in all sorts of ways, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and MYSTIC RIVER being merely two very recent examples. (I direct you to The Pope's post, above.)

To boil it all down to: "Aaah, but who will win the Palme? And will they then go on to win Best Picture?" is, well, retarded.

Posted by Bilge [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 11:41 AM

comment #14

BurmaShave [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

NO COUNTRY should have won the Palme last year. That would have been a nice two-fecta that the Oscars and Cannes could be proud of.

Posted by BurmaShave [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 02:13 PM

comment #15

The Pope [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Burma, I think another way of putting it is... MASH / TAXI DRIVER / APOCALYPSE NOW / PULP FICTION should have won the Oscar in their years. That would have been a nice two-fecta that Cannes and the Academy could be proud of.

NO COUNTRY is a rock solid masterpiece... but to be fair though, so is 4 MONTHS. Yet, the two films could not be more different in their content, themes and styles... which brings us back, why are we even comparing Cannes to the Academy... I think to our initial and running observation is that Hammond is an idiot.

Posted by The Pope [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 03:52 PM

comment #16

Gaydos [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

I believe the only one-armed violinst to win the Jascha Heifetz award on a Sunday in a European winter with less than 17" of rain during a leap year was.....

Posted by Gaydos [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 04:02 PM

comment #17

actionman [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

This is off-topic but I am blown away with this news.

Werner Herzog. Nic Cage. Remaking BAD LIEUTENANT. Wowsers...

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985593.html?categoryid=13&cs=1


Posted by actionman [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 04:21 PM

comment #18

VoiceOfReason [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Has anyone here seen the vicky christina barcelona promo/trailer thing on youtube? Looks very cool and there's a brief shot of the girl on girl kiss.

Posted by VoiceOfReason [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 06:02 PM

comment #19

actionman [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

I saw it...looks like a fun movie...

Posted by actionman [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 06:16 PM

comment #20

BurmaShave [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

If Herzog is doing BAD LIEUTENANT than he might as well have used Bale, his best leading man since Kinski. Cage could do really good work though. Still don't understand the remake at all really.

Posted by BurmaShave [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 07:20 PM

comment #21

fielding [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

VoiceofReason, that "trailer" for Vicky Cristina Barcelona is actually the reel was shown to distributors at the North American film market a while back.

Posted by fielding [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 08:33 PM

comment #22

Mgmax [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Just think... an hour or two from now, a man is going to wake up halfway around the world...

...and start writing about what inbred racist hicks the people in West Virginia are.

The Wells abides. It's good to know he's out there.

Posted by Mgmax [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:47 PM

comment #23

Bob Violence [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

This is like pointing out that the Kinema Jumpo awards rarely predict the Best Picture Oscar winner, or something. Hey, Pete: it's an international festival.

Posted by Bob Violence [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 14, 2008 06:02 AM

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