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

November 12

Slumdog Millionaire

November 14

A Christmas Tale

B.O.H.I.C.A.

Dostana

The Dukes

Eden

House of the Sleeping Beauties

How About You

Quantum of Solace

We are Wizards

November 21

The Betrayal

November 30

Another Chance

email this story
read comments (6)
post a comment

It's part of the fate of film critics to face a special, sometimes brutal judgment at the gates of St. Peter when they die. Did they diss, ignore or under-value a film they knew was honorable in an exceptional, raising-the-bar sort of way -- a movie that unquestionably enhanced the lore of movies as providers of bracing reality baths and deliverers of spiritual revelation -- because it didn't provide familiar comfort in the form of reassuring "movie moments"?

Those critics who are found guilty will be denied entrance to heaven and sent back to earth to try again. Call me an Old Testament sort of guy if you want, but I believe that every critic or blogger-columnist who dismissed Steven Soderbergh's Che at Cannes last May because it was too long and wasn't reassuring enough in terms of conventional drama and emotional whatevs will, I humbly submit, face such a judgment. They will, however, be given a chance to redeem themselves in Toronto. Knowing of the human capacity for frailty and missing the boat, God has decided to cut them some slack.

Breathing Bus Fumes<< previous | next >>Bunny Loses By Whisker

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 24, 2008 at 10:36 AM

comment #1

C-PhreekII says ...

For someone who likes to likes to ban posters for joking about his age, you might want to refrain from such exclamations such as considering answering for your existence in the afterlife...

Posted by C-PhreekII at August 24, 2008 11:05 AM

comment #2

btwnproductions says ...

And those critics and audience members who loved THE DARK KNIGHT uncriticallly and lorded it over the skeptics who didn't will be cast into the darkest pit of Hell forever.

Posted by btwnproductions at August 24, 2008 11:10 AM

comment #3

Mgmax says ...

There's something really strange about bringing divine intervention into play in regards to a movie about Che Guevara.

Posted by Mgmax at August 24, 2008 11:41 AM

comment #4

Richardson says ...

Call me an Old Testament guy, but I like to think that all the critics who gave positive buzz to 'Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull' in advance, before it had come out... I like to think they'll answer for it some day.

Posted by Richardson at August 24, 2008 12:57 PM

comment #5