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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MCN's Len Klady has called Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky (Miramax, 10.10) "a miracle." I don't know about that. No, I do know about that. I know how this very well-made movie made me feel. It made me feel like I was in a jail cell with Bobby Sands, but eating really good food.

HGL is a very "together" and confidently made film. It knows itself and what it's up to. Leigh, after all, is one of the finest directors around; he has been for a couple of decades. And as I wrote last month, Sally Hawkins' performance as the cheerful and indefatigable Poppy is a full-on inhabiting, and she brings it all home in the last 15 to 20 minutes with quiet maturity and resigned grace.

But for some of you, the Poppy character will feel like an absolute horror. She certainly felt that way to me. I explained it all before. Here's the 8.26 piece.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 10, 2008 at 3:25 PM

comment #1

doobiedoo says ...

Yup. Despite Hawkins' very strong perf, I found the film one-note and quite draining.

Posted by doobiedoo at October 10, 2008 5:28 PM

comment #2

John Y says ...

I'm with you, Jeff. Poppy was absolutely insufferable.

Posted by John Y at October 10, 2008 6:21 PM

comment #3

squealy says ...

I felt that the film's strategy was to gradually turn around a cynical movie audience's instinctive reaction to someone like her -- namely, the instinct to look at her and go "God, what an annoying weirdo." As the movie progressed you began to realize that the film wasn't asking you to mock her, but to recognize that there was something beautiful about her crazily positive attitude.

Posted by squealy at October 10, 2008 6:25 PM

comment #4

BurmaShave says ...

indefatigable porn?

Posted by BurmaShave at October 10, 2008 6:48 PM

comment #5

crogrr says ...

Saw the Previews at Landmark last week with the awful RachelWedding film (but nice performance from AH). One Note doesn't even begin to describe this Preview - let alone the film...

Posted by crogrr at October 11, 2008 2:42 AM

comment #6