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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November 12

Slumdog Millionaire

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A Christmas Tale

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Dostana

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The Betrayal

November 30

Eckhart Cheer

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Drew McWeeny's combo-review piece on The Dark Knight and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, posted this morning at 7:38 am, is too sprawling and wind-baggy. He's a first-rate writer but it wore me down. That said, here's the best graph in the whole piece -- a tribute to Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent performance in the Chris Nolan film.

Eckhart "deserves some praise as well for the way he brings Dent to life, and for finding a way to play earnest without becoming overbearing," Drew says. "Dent's a more difficult role than the Joker in many ways because there aren't as many big emotions you can play. He's a decent, upstanding man who believes in doing things right, in prosecuting criminals instead of fighting them on a street level, and little by little, he's actually making a difference.

Eckhart, in short, "gives the guy an inner life, just enough quirk to make him seem human, so that when the inevitable tragedy (which really is awful as laid out in the film) occurs, it's not a simple on-off cartoonish lurch into violence for Dent. We feel it. We believe it. Dent's physical trauma may be exaggerated, but the emotional side of it is pitch-perfect. And his work as Two-Face is just sad and angry. He's nothing like the Joker. Hell, I'm not even sure I'd call him a villain."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 30, 2008 at 12:36 PM

comment #1

Mr. Gittes says ...

To follow Mr. Wells here:

http://movies.ign.com/articles/884/884876p1.html

Posted by Mr. Gittes at June 30, 2008 1:17 PM

comment #2

Aladdin Sane says ...

I missed the spoiler warning of Drew's, but it's a good piece. Can't wait for either film. Now I'm just going to forget the sorta major plot point that was spoiled. Haha.

Posted by Aladdin Sane at June 30, 2008 1:19 PM

comment #3

breadlymoore says ...

"too sprawling and wind-baggy"

That could apply to anything on AICN.

Posted by breadlymoore at June 30, 2008 1:59 PM

comment #4

Monument says ...

It never fails to amuse me when I read complaints about spoilers on movie sites. It's like playing with matches and then being surprised when one burns you.

If you don't want spoilers about a certain film, avoid articles about said film until you have seen it yourself.

Posted by Monument at June 30, 2008 2:30 PM

comment #5

Aladdin Sane says ...

I wasn't complaining. I just said I missed the warning. It was like halfway through. It's AICN. I know what I'm getting into when I read the reviews of the main writers there.

Posted by Aladdin Sane at June 30, 2008 3:13 PM

comment #6

LexG says ...

Eckhart's hilariously overwrought bloviating in WACK DAHLIA was one of the most embarrassing things ever committed to cinema -- "A SOFTCORE NUDIE???? RAAAAAAAAAAAWRRRRRR HULK RAGE, PROJECTOR SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!" And don't even get me started on that goofy bit where he's on his front lawn like a total douche.

So glad to hear he's back to being awesome.

Posted by LexG at June 30, 2008 4:01 PM

comment #7

renorambler says ...

I'd forgotten about Dahlia. Maybe just trying to put it out of my mind. But I really like Eckart in many other things. Especially Possession, which is a guilty pleasure that I don't really feel guilty about. Labute did a good job adapting a difficult book to the screen. I hope Eckhart's perf in the DK doesn't get overwhelmed by Ledger and Bale but it's probably inevitable.

Posted by renorambler at June 30, 2008 4:38 PM

comment #8

erniesouchak says ...

I'm not an Eckhart fan, but he's also excellent in "Towelhead."

Posted by erniesouchak at June 30, 2008 8:36 PM

comment #9

Josh says ...

What on AICN isn't long and wind baggy?

They should have hired an editor there years ago. The site is unreadable

Posted by Josh at July 1, 2008 6:31 AM

comment #10

DavidF says ...

Where is DZ to swoop in and make some reference to Tommy Lee Jones?

I imagine something along the lines of...

"Perhaps if he can be funnier than Tommy Lee Jones this film will make some money. I'm guessing between the dead cowboy, the dark tone and the length this thing is looking at $65 million tops at the box office. If it makes more, I'll eat my hat (or perhaps try to spin what I've said and pretend it never happened.)"

Posted by DavidF at July 1, 2008 8:45 PM