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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I'll never forget standing on West 45th Street in January 1983 and eyeballing the almost side-by-side marquees for the Booth and the Plymouth (now the Gerald Schoenfeld theatre), and laughing quietly to myself about C.P. Taylor's Good being at the Booth and David Hare's Plenty playing at the Plymouth. And you know what? There are no online photos of this, probably the dopiest Broadway marquee juxtaposition in history.

In any event, Plenty re-appeared three years later as a Meryl Streep movie directed by Fred Schepisi. (My favorite line: "He proposed to me in a moment of weakness. Mine, I mean.") And yet it's taken Good 25 years to be made into a film.

The Good movie, directed by the Brazilian-born Vicente Amorim (who's rumored to be loosely related to Duchess director Saul Dibb), will show at the Toronto Film Festival. Viggo Mortensen plays Halder alongside Jason Isaacs, Mark Strong, Steven Mackintosh and Gemma Jones in the flick.

Written in '81, Good is regarded as Taylor's most successful play. It's about Halder, a thoughtful German professor whose wimpishness and gradual corruption leads to his involvement with National Socialsm in the 1930s. The point of the play is that Halder sees himself as a reasonable good guy even as he succumbs more and more to the swatztika. Are there are parallels in the current American political arena? Naaah.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 24, 2008 at 5:02 PM

comment #1

MilkMan says ...

An American playing a German with a British Accent. Does he have to speak with a British accent because The United Kingdom is halfway between America and Germany?

Posted by MilkMan at August 24, 2008 6:10 PM

comment #2

MilkMan says ...

And as my mom, who lives in Normal, Illinois, just said to me on the phone: the people in charge right now ruined this country, and a part of me thinks they did it on purpose.

Posted by MilkMan at August 24, 2008 6:12 PM

comment #3

Mgmax says ...

Everybody thinks that, they just can't agree on who "they" are and what "ruin" is.

Posted by Mgmax at August 24, 2008 6:21 PM

comment #4

MilkMan says ...

Hey, Max, have I told you that I've watched Hairspray over 15 times this week? I told my wife today that I thought Zac Efron was pretty talented. He can sing and dance and he's not that bad of an actor. This is what I said to her. Then I said that Nikki Blonsky was kind of cute. And now I'm noticing things about the movie that I didn't notice the first twenty times I saw it, like how Tracy Turnblad doesn't eat any food, at all, during the course of the movie, yet she's technically obese. Does that mean the movie is taking place during a period when Tracy is on a diet? These are the things I am thinking about. Did you know that I've seen Hairspray more times from beginning to end than any other movie I've ever seen?

Posted by MilkMan at August 24, 2008 7:39 PM

comment #5

BurmaShave says ...

As glad as I am that they're using the Batman score in other trailers, it overwhelms some of the dialogue, just like it did in the movie.

Posted by BurmaShave at August 24, 2008 7:39 PM

comment #6

Mgmax says ...

I watched Decoy, a Monogram noir that's the bottom half of a double bill DVD from MGM, and which so far as I can tell must have come from the camera neg, it's so beautifully detailed.

Bizarre what oddball little things survive in the best condition sometimes. Around the World in 80 Days may be a mess, but Monogram's Decoy is gorgeous on DVD.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038462/

Posted by Mgmax at August 24, 2008 7:58 PM

comment #7

Circumvrent says ...

Milk, doesn't she eat in the middle of "I Can Hear the Bells?" I thought it was pretty funny that she sang while eating. She may also have donuts at Jerry Stiller's store, but I'm less sure about that one.

Hairspray is crazily good.

Posted by Circumvrent at August 24, 2008 8:37 PM

comment #8

raygo says ...

I always wonder what rules govern HBO programming? Why films like Hairspray end up in constant rotation. I've watched it about 10 times now (off and on) ... and now I need to watch it again to see if Tracy eats!! Damn.

The last time I recall this happening was when Starz ran Erin Brockovich one summer, and I watched it about 35 times. I'm doing slightly better with Encore's Alien/Aliens rotation this summer, which is equally addictive.

Posted by raygo at August 25, 2008 7:36 AM

comment #9