Discland
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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Discland Archive

Sherrybaby

(Universal Home Entertainment, 1.23.2007)

In 1962, Frankie Valli implored his Sherry baby to "come out tonight" and tell her mama that "everything is all right." Writer-director Laurie Collyer's Sherrybaby plays as the nightmarish aftermath to one too many of those nights. Sherry Swanson (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a solipsistic junkie transitioning from jail to a hardscrabble Jersey halfway house after serving three years on a robbery conviction. Thereafter, she tries to stay on the straight-and-narrow, but can't stop sabotaging her relationships with her parole officer, as well as her brother and sister-in-law, who have been taking care of her five-year-old daughter. Sherry's quandary is that she only sees the world in terms of the things that she wants, yet she only knows two ways to get them: sex and violence (both of the sudden and explosive variety).

Before entering filmmaking, Collyer worked for six years in and around the foster care system and she has an ear for the dialogue and an eye for the mannerisms of both the disgruntled veterans and the misguided neophytes. On one hand, Collyer oversimplifies the equation by mainlining Sherry's self-destructiveness to a telegraphed childhood event. On the other, she leaves us with a suitably mussy conclusion in which Sherry achieves self-awareness, but not redemption.

Similar to Debra Granik's Down to the Bone, Sherrybaby has the handheld, verite feel of a feature film debut informed by a prior documentary (in this case, the Crown Heights based Nuyorican Dream). Underscoring the realism is Jack Livesey's guitar-laden soundtrack, which also drives home the film's bizarro-b-side-to-a-bubble-gum-pop-single quality.

Gyllenhaal is captivating as the uncouth Sherry, lending the role a naturalism that never once begs for our empathy. Giancarlo Esposito brings his usual intensity as Sherry's parole officer who's seen it all before and Robert Rodriguez's go-to bad guy, Danny Trejo, works nicely against type as Sherry's Narcotics Anonymous friend and lover.

The 96-minute film is presented in a sub-par anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen transfer with Dolby Digital 2.0. Besides the film's trailer, there are no special features. -- Colin Miller