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)

Upcoming

August 27

Traitor

August 29

Babylon AD

College

Disaster Movie

Goal II: Living the Dream

I Served the King of England

My Mexican Shivah

Sukiyaki Western Django

Year of the Fish

Young People F*cking

September 3

The Pool

September 5

A Secret

August Evening

Bangkok Dangerous

Everybody Wants to Be Italian

Mister Foe

Ping Pong Playa

Save Me

Surfer, Dude

The Searcher

email this story
read comments (18)
post a comment

90 minutes were eaten up this morning at the vet (the first of three all-in-one vaccines for Mouse), and then three and a half to four hours were consumed trying to find a place that could do a first-rate scan of a 41" x 18" poster of The Presbyterian Church Wager , the 1971 Robert Altman film that was renamed as McCabe and Mrs. Miller. I finally got it scanned and burned to a CD for $86.87; brand-new poster-sized prints will be ready by tomorrow or the next day.

My Sir Speedy guy couldn't scan full-scale one-sheets; ditto the local Kinkos and a place on Wilshire called Luscen. I went upstairs to an office of an architect named Jackson and asked where they scan their architectural drawings, and one of the office guys directed me to a place on Robertson just north of Olympic called Ford Graphics. Except the Ford guy only does black-and-white scans, and so he sent me over to the West L.A. branch on Military, which handles color.

Mouse, by the way, was with me the whole time and being fairly cool about it -- no crying, sitting on my shoulder, checking things out, etc.

Then as I began to remove the poster from the metal-and-glass frame at Ford we realized moisture has seeped in and the lower-right portion of the poster had stuck to the glass. I had to spend a long 10 minutes slowly slicing the sticky paper shreds off the glass with a razor blade. Then I had to wait for the scan to be done and put to disc, and then I had to go back to my Sir Speedy guy and give him the disc for digital touch-ups and printing.

It all reminded me that copying and restoring old materials is a fragile undertaking, and that you have to treat all the materials with kid gloves. But what a beauty this thing is. Those rich blues and reds, the Victorian-era trim on the perimeter, etc. About as rare as rare-ass movie posters come.

The cursive caption beneath the oval-shaped monochrome photo of Beatty and Julie Christie reads as follows: "Mr. John Q. McCabe & Mrs. Constance Miller -- Town of Presbyterian Church 1902."

Bigger, Better, Cooler<< previous | next >>Big Mouth

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 7, 2008 at 4:02 PM

comment #1

The Hoyk says ...

I always swear by Reliable Graphics in Van Nuys. (I think they're a chain, so there may ba a location closer to you) I've taken huge Italian posters in dodgy condition and gotten gorgeous scans and reproductions from them.

Posted by The Hoyk at July 7, 2008 4:41 PM

comment #2

bmcintire says ...

Beautiful. That's a shame about the moisture/glass.

Posted by bmcintire at July 7, 2008 4:42 PM

comment #3

admiralmpj says ...

Samys Camera on Fairfax, near the Grove can do large format scans as well...last I checked.

Posted by admiralmpj at July 7, 2008 5:08 PM

comment #4

Zimmergirl says ...

It was worth the trouble. It's truly lovely.

But what about:

"Mouse, by the way, was with me the whole time and being fairly cool about it -- no crying, sitting on my shoulder, checking things out, etc."

Aw. That's sweet. I've never heard of a cat traveling around like that.

Posted by Zimmergirl at July 7, 2008 5:12 PM

comment #5

Roman says ...

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.

Posted by Roman at July 7, 2008 5:14 PM

comment #6

Ponderer says ...

Boy, you have done a public service with this one, sir Wells; I never thought I'd see that poster.

Posted by Ponderer at July 7, 2008 5:15 PM

comment #7

Dzayson says ...

Wells should post more pics of that adorable kitty.

Posted by Dzayson at July 7, 2008 5:22 PM

comment #8

EOTW says ...

Wells: Post a pic of the kitty on your shoulder. Seriously.

Posted by EOTW at July 7, 2008 5:31 PM

comment #9

York "Budd" Durden says ...

As an Altman buff, I must say I'd love to have a print of that.

Posted by York "Budd" Durden at July 7, 2008 5:37 PM

comment #10

chappiesan says ...

Got'tam, that poster is a beaut.

Posted by chappiesan at July 7, 2008 5:43 PM

comment #11

Edward says ...

Beautiful, thanks for sharing.

Posted by Edward at July 7, 2008 6:13 PM

comment #12

tonyg says ...

My very first movie poster purchase was for the half-sheet of 'McCabe". Will you make copies of this available?

Posted by tonyg at July 7, 2008 6:48 PM

comment #13

K. Bowen says ...

Awesome.

Posted by K. Bowen at July 7, 2008 8:07 PM

comment #14

cobhome says ...

c'mon Jeff - Mouse pics please!

Posted by cobhome at July 7, 2008 8:48 PM

comment #15

Mr. Blood Vessel says ...

"Mouse, by the way, was with me the whole time and being fairly cool about it -- no crying, sitting on my shoulder, checking things out, etc."

if only a video diary could be seen.

Posted by Mr. Blood Vessel at July 7, 2008 11:10 PM

comment #16

Aladdin Sane says ...

That's a beautiful looking poster.
I've only been collecting posters since I worked in a theater after HS graduation ten years ago...they're all nicely tucked away. I should start looking into getting some old faves.

Posted by Aladdin Sane at July 8, 2008 1:23 AM

comment #17