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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Do the top people who make a film take on the look and mood of same? Or does the film take on the look and mood of these top people? Consider this photo of Mamma Mia writer, director and co-producer Catherine Johnson (l.), Phyllida Lloyd (center) and Judy Craymer (r.), which was used for a 7.6 N.Y. Times profile by Sylviane Gold. What does this photo tell you (or at least suggest) about the character and tone of the film?

Johnson, Lloyd and Craymer

Four Issues<< previous | next >>Little Taste?

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 7, 2008 at 12:32 AM

comment #1

bmcintire says ...

That they are women who get along well (or can at least successfully project the appearance as such) and that you are turning into an asshole in regard to this yet-as-unseen film.

Much like the photo you keep trotting out of Will Smith and Akiva Goldsmith, this just portrays you as a goddamned sourpuss.
If you are that desperate for hits, just trot out the old Public Radio-style plea for cash and be done with it.

Posted by bmcintire at July 7, 2008 2:24 AM

comment #2

bmcintire says ...

That they are women who get along well (or can at least successfully project the appearance as such) and that you are turning into an asshole in regard to this yet-as-unseen film.

Posted by bmcintire at July 7, 2008 2:24 AM

comment #3

D.Z. says ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080707/people_nm/madonna_marriage_dc

Posted by D.Z. at July 7, 2008 2:38 AM

comment #4

EDouglas says ...

There should be word balloons from their heads saying...

"OH"... "MY"... and "GOD!"

That's what you were getting at, right? :)

Posted by EDouglas at July 7, 2008 4:21 AM

comment #5

pauly says ...

Chick flick is what it tells me.

Posted by pauly at July 7, 2008 5:24 AM

comment #6

supertaster says ...

Upbeat people to make an upbeat film?? Who needs plants to make us suicidial when there are happy people in this world!!!

Seriously, Wells, just because you are miserable and hate life it doesn't mean everyone must.

Posted by supertaster at July 7, 2008 6:19 AM

comment #7

Zimmergirl says ...

Sadly, posting this tells more about you than it does the film or anything else. You're the only blogger I know who delights in stomping down fledgling projects that need all the help they can get. Too bad these women weren't, in reality, 16 year-old boys then you'd be worshipping them, eh? Nothing quite like being young and male I guess.

Posted by Zimmergirl at July 7, 2008 6:31 AM

comment #8

mitchtaylor says ...

Whoah! Mamma Mia's going to have some hot MILF on MILF action? HOLY SHIT!

Posted by mitchtaylor at July 7, 2008 6:34 AM

comment #9

GLee2112 says ...

looks like it's going to be an all-lesbian revue. wells would fit perfectly in that picture.

Posted by GLee2112 at July 7, 2008 6:43 AM

comment #10

corey3rd says ...

that the only way you can truly experience Mama Mia is to be squished together like sardines.

Posted by corey3rd at July 7, 2008 6:52 AM

comment #11

tophertilson says ...

"You're the only blogger I know who delights in stomping down fledgling projects that need all the help they can get."

MAMMA MIA is a fledgling project that needs all the help it can get?! It's a worldwide juggernaut that has netted (not just grossed) hundreds of millions of dollars. This isn't a little indie blossom to be nurtured. It's an offshoot of a global franchise.

Those women in that picture are smiling for a reason.

Posted by tophertilson at July 7, 2008 7:08 AM

comment #12

MickTravis says ...

Word, bmcintire. Word.

Posted by MickTravis at July 7, 2008 7:15 AM

comment #13

p.Vice says ...

[Deleted for unnecessary mean-spiritedness.]

Posted by p.Vice at July 7, 2008 7:25 AM

comment #14

cjKennedy says ...

The weird thing is the amount of energy he's already devoted to this film.

Posted by cjKennedy at July 7, 2008 8:08 AM

comment #15

gruver1 says ...

Wells to zimmergirl, bmcintire: Oh, come on! What I wrote was simply my very first thought when I saw this N.Y. Times photo, my point being that the movie, or the movie that Mamma Mia seems to be in the trailers, seems to be incarnated in their faces, inner attitudes, body language, etc.

Let's say, for example, you were reading a N.Y. Times story about the director, writer and co-producer of Ridley Scott's Nottingham movie, and you saw that photo? Honestly -- wouldn't there seem to be something a little incongruent about that? Go down the list -- would you accept without question the notion that these women wrote, directed and co-produced The Day The Earth Stood Still ? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ? Pineapple Express?

What if this was, let's say, 1976 and a Times photo claimed that these women wrote, directed and co-produced All The President's Men? I mean, these women as represented in that particular photo? Would you say, "Yeah, they look the type"?

See my point? Just as dog owners tend to look like their dogs and vice versa, movie markers to some extent tend to look like or...you know, seem to spiritually embody or reflect the movie they've made. Is that really such a neg-head notion? In your minds, not mine.

That photo of Akiva Goldsman and Will Smith that I've run twice is another example. Look at their faces, threads and body language and particularly Goldsman's "oh my God what you've just said, Will, is so funny I'm going to have a major hernia!" laugh, and you can almost see what Hancock turned out to be. That big group shot of Spielberg, Ford, Lucas, Shia Lebouf, Karen Allen and Ray Winstone taken during the making of Indy 4? That shot too seemed to express or carry the basic DNA of the film itself.

I mean, here I am, the good shepherd out on the hillside with my sheep and my goats and my Charlton Heston robe and sandals, just using my modest powers of observations to create items, attitudes and ideas, and you two are growling like wolves, hissy-fitting and calling me names and whatnot.

I simply saw that photo, read the identifying caption and said to myself, "Well, that fits, doesn't it? I mean, look at those guys and consider the tone and spirit of the Mamma Mia trailers and what the show and the film are said to be. They all seem to have come from the same gene pool." That's all I said, Mr. and Mrs,. Pisshead.

I'll expect an apology from you both within...oh, I'll give you until noontime.

Posted by gruver1 at July 7, 2008 8:33 AM

comment #16

GLee2112 says ...

i don't know if they'll apologize but i will for calling you an old lesbian.

Posted by GLee2112 at July 7, 2008 8:36 AM

comment #17

gruver1 says ...

Wells to GLee2112 A lesbian, eh? One who understands and shows sensitivity for the female side of things, and is correspondingly sensitive/sensuous in this or that erotic realm? Thanks -- I accept the compliment. But for calling me an "old" lesbian you are one nose-hair away from being banned, pal. For mine is the Old Testament hand that smiteth.

Posted by gruver1 at July 7, 2008 9:42 AM

comment #18

joemart says ...

These women are smiling because no one has slapped their ass with a lawsuit for blatantly ripping off "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell". C'mon MGM lawyers sick'em.

Posted by joemart at July 7, 2008 10:06 AM

comment #19

Arizona Joe says ...

Supernumerary hype surrounding "Mamma Mia" will surely grate.

However, if the acting is not too schmaltzy and the singing & arrangements are good, it will be a huge hit. A lot of folks will really enjoy it.

The show has done a huge business, especially with touring companies. Another thing is that there is bias against it, because most males treated ABBA with derision. Hence, "Mamma Mia" has a definite feminine shading to it. In that regard, the photograph sort of fits.

As far as the derision of Akiva Goldsmith, I'm all for it. His writing is tailored for marketing men and not the human condition. Our generation does not have Clifford Odets. We have Akiva.

Posted by Arizona Joe at July 7, 2008 10:17 AM

comment #20

frankbooth says ...

The photo tells me it's a Cronenbergian story about conjoined triplets.

Can't wait!

Posted by frankbooth at July 7, 2008 10:18 AM

comment #21

Ponderer says ...

"Go down the list -- would you accept without question the notion that these women wrote, directed and co-produced The Day The Earth Stood Still ? "

Interesting choice (though I assume you're talking about the remake). Let's take this back a few notches. Does Robert Wise look like The Day the Earth Stood Still, and The Sound of Music, and The Haunting? I don't think so. Which of these did Wise look like?

Not that you don't have a certain point (I've always thought that Cameron Crowe looks like a Cameron Crowe film), but it seems to fall apart when you get to directors with very broad palettes.

Posted by Ponderer at July 7, 2008 10:22 AM

comment #22

Mgmax says ...

At first I thought it was a picture of the stars of Sex and the City without makeup.

Posted by Mgmax at July 7, 2008 10:22 AM

comment #23

Studly Semite says ...

Attention all young studs - MAMA MIA will be cougar central.

Posted by Studly Semite at July 7, 2008 11:07 AM

comment #24

nemo says ...

I love that revolting Akiva Goldsman picture! I really love your caption on it the last time. Don't listen to people who call you a sourpuss. You should run it again. You should run it several times a year!

Posted by nemo at July 7, 2008 1:07 PM

comment #25

p.Vice says ...

Wells -- When you see the movie, tell me if my "mean-spirited" comments were off-target.

Posted by p.Vice at July 7, 2008 1:48 PM

comment #26

The Bandsaw Vigilante says ...

They look like a clique of Bush Security Moms.

Not surprising, since MAMMA MIA! is one of Dubya's two favorite musicals.

Posted by The Bandsaw Vigilante at July 7, 2008 1:57 PM

comment #27

Joshua Mooney says ...

Three middle-aged women are involved in the production and directing of "Mama Mia"? So what? It's a movie based on a Broadway musical that was based on ABBA songs. Apparently, the musical was a hit, hence: the movie. What tone, Jeff, were you expecting for this one beyond what you are getting? And why?

Posted by Joshua Mooney at July 7, 2008 2:13 PM

comment #28