A Cloverfield viral campaign hit San Francisco last week with sidewalks marked up with "What is Cloverfield? 1-18-08" Kind of odd campaign but I guess the goal is to get people talking about it. I wonder if it actually works though.
... in the movie, the Cloverfield monster bites off some fucking heads. Only you get to see it from a way you don’t normally get to see heads getting bitten off, so basically the movie ... makes other head-biting-off-movies look like Georgia Rule with a peppermint cock in its ass.
The movie starts off really shitty though, with all this stuff about a young couple that’s in love, and she’s hot and he’s hot and I’m all like, “Who’s filming the Ambercrombie and Fitch catalogue?”
But then it’s like the movie heard you calling it a pussy so it puts on its dick-stomping boots and then surprises your dick with a punch from a fist wearing a cock-punch glove.
Things just don’t get scary – they get FUCKED UP. And I mean fucked up like the whole movie’s shot through a hand-held video camera, so you feel like this is happening to you (apparently, the video camera was recovered by the government, so at the beginning of the movie, when you’re told this, you think, “Man, something bad must’ve happened to whoever filmed this”, and you imagine a lot of shit, but then when you get to what ACTUALLY HAPPENS you’re like, “Fuck you, imagination, this was ten times worse than I thought” and then to get back at you your imagination makes you think about 2 Girls 1 Cup if Rhea Perlman and Edith Bunker were the girls)
So here’s the story: a monster attacks News York City.
But that’s not the fucked-up part.
The monster RIPS THE LIVING SHIT out of the city, and everyone in its path. It’s like the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina and Kathy Griffin’s vagina combined and turned into a giant murder-beast and it’s hungry for every hip person in Manhattan.
Which is another cool thing about the movie – everyone that’s getting eaten are like characters you see in those annoying movies that are always on IFC and Fagdance.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, the giant monster starts rubbing itself on buildings, and then stuff falls off it’s gross body and crawls the fuck away – only the crawling-away stuff doesn’t stay away for long, if you know what I mean.
And then – and THEN – and I mean, at this point, the movie’s like a speed freak yelling at you, as if the giant monster and the things crawling away weren’t bad enough, there’s a third, even more messed-up thing the monster can do to a person, which I won’t spoil ‘cuz it made me kind of sick.
So, here’s my final thoughts:
The good: Monster fucking everything sideways, creepy-crawly things fucking everything that’s still not fucked, indie movie characters getting eaten and mutilated before they can talk about coffee or e-mails or their feelings.
The bad: Smarty-pants story-telling shit where the video you’re watching has un-recorded bits where you see the hero’s relationship a few weeks back, before the monster shows up. Except then there’s this final shot (from the flashback section) that’s actually kind of awesome ‘cuz it’s this very sweet, sunshine-y shot of something, except at that point you’re thinking some really bad thoughts about what the shot represents.
The official Cloverfield website updated itself to include a brief summary of the plot of the movie. 
1-18-08 blog has up a series of pics that compare the teaser trailer and the current trailer showing CGI improvements and changes made. It also provides a shot by shot still images of the trailer, perfect for those that don't want to keep hitting the pause bottom to get details.
The official site for Cloverfield, CloverfieldMovie.com, is now officially up. The only thing it currently has though is a hi-res image of the main movie poster and links back to Apple for the trailers.
Blackbookmag.com has posted up an interview with Lizzy Caplan, one of the stars of Cloverfield. Included in the interview is a gallery of 12 still pics from the upcoming movie.It opens with text:
Multiple sightings of case designate 'Cloverfield'
Camera retrieved at incident site 'U.S. 447'
(Area formerly known as Central Park)
Then we see the footage from the teaser trailer, mostly fast forwarded up to the end, with the explosion and the Statue of Liberty's head landing in the middle of the street. Then there's a guy speaking into the camera.
Guy: My name is Robert Hawkins. Approximately seven hours ago, someTHING attacked the city.
There are flashes of chaos. Much of the trailer is made up of split second moments, and when combined with the fact that it's extreme shaky cam style and that I was watching a terrible copy, it can be hard to make things out. There's a helicopter shot of the headless Statue of Liberty.
Guy again: I have no idea what it is. If you found this,if you're watching this thing, you know more about it than i do.
Then there's a shot of jets flying overhead, in daylight.
A title card reads 'From producer JJ Abrams'
There's more flashes of chaos, there's a guy on a cellphone trying to find out where 'Beth' is, and then there's a girl yelling, 'We cannot go in the middle of the city! we've got to get out of here!'
More chaos. More quick shots. I imagine this stuff will be picked apart when the trailer debuts online.
Over this is what seems to be a conversation between an Army guy and a girl.
Army dude: There's nothing we can do right now
Girl: do you know what that thing is?
Army dude: Whatever it is, it's winning.
More flashes. An argument:
Guy 1: We have no idea what's out there!
Guy 2: I don't care what's out there. Listen to me - she's dying!
Then there's footage of army guys running and shadows on a wall. Shadows of a screaming woman being attacked by a small monster (possibly two - either she's being pulled away from the monster by someone behind her or there's another monster behind her). It's confirmed: the movie has a big beast and small ones. Like the American Godzilla.
People are hiding in a store, and there are huge thumps making everything shake. The windows of the store explode in.
The big sequence is next: Army guys running up a street, firing into the air. Tanks come up behind them, firing. Rockets launch up.
We see the big monster briefly passing between two buildings. I couldn't make it out at all, but it appeared to be HUGE.
Characters race down subway steps, there's a giant explosion, the cameraman is down, there's a figure in a tunnel, people are yelling 'Run!' and running through the tunnel.
Outside of Central Park, a horse drawn carriage goes by.
Guy: Are you still filming?
Cameraman: Yeah. People are going to want to know... how it all went down.
Shot of the Brooklyn Bridge. A helicopter taking off. Some chaos. Then inside the copter girls screaming as the copter spins out of control.
Cut to black, then the title comes up: Cloverfield.
The official site had a small update with a new picture of a chef with a recipe written in japanese on the back. What it means is beyond me.Thank you for checking us out! We are introducing this week's tasty one dish. Make sure you eat it cold!In addition to the official site update, a new site was discovered Tagruato Corp (details here). As Dave's Movie Corner discovered, doing a google search of Tagruato brings up an interesting resturant review hit for Garbanzo's in Norway. The writing is a bit full of it and boring but there is one part that reminds me of Slusho's origins as an ocean floor secret ingredient found by Slusho's founders' son Ganu (Tagruato Corp's CEO).
* Skinless chicken breast - 2, cut in halves
* Sŭen noodles - 10 oz.
* Watercress - 1/2 cup cut into small strips
* Turnip - 1/2 cup, thinly sliced
* Shiitake Mushrooms - 1/2 cup
* Chicken stock - 1/3 cup
* Sake - 2 tbsp.
* Sugar - 1/2 tsp.
* Deep Sea Nectar - 1 pinch
In a small saucepan, stir together 1/3 cup water, chicken stock, sake, and sugar. Chill it until it becomes cold. Grill the chicken breast on both sides for about 8 minutes, and then chill. Boil the noodles for about 3 minutes, and then run under cold water until chilled. Mix the watercress, radish, and mushrooms into the sŭen. Slice the chicken thinly and arrange on top of the sŭen mix. Just before you serve, put the deep sea nectar in the sauce and pour over the noodles generously.
Go Go Delicious Chef!
#3912
I called Chef Nakamura to my side, clapped him upon the back, and demanded an explanation. I quickly realized my mistake, as Nakamura is a somewhat long-winded fellow. The recipe, he blabbered, was sent to him by his brother, a fellow chef working in Tokyo, where it had been gaining favor in some of Japan’s most well-renowned restaurants. It contained the finest ingredients money can buy, from fresh bay leaves imported by a company called Fotopoulos Herb Gardens in Crete, to something the Japanese call “kaitei no mitsu”, or “Seabed’s Nectar”, shipped in dry ice by a company out of Honshu called Tagruato. I feigned interest in the chef’s incessant prattle, distracted by the unveiling of desert. A chilled strawberry white wine soup, the highlight of the meal. I felt like I could destroy the cosmos using only the patch of flesh where my pinkie toe used to live.
I was at ADAPT2007 in Montreal today (a fair where high-profile people come and speak about their work on movies, games and television) and Phil Tippett's (from Star Wars, Starship Troppers and Robocop fame to name a few) Tippet Studios are working on a very big hush-hush project with J.J. Abrams which he wouldn't name.Considering the film is wrapped and in its post-production phase, the creature design phase would already been completed and now it would just be implementing and touching it via CGI in the film?
Since he mostly does creatures, could it be something for that untitled JJ movie coming soon? Considering Tippett's track record for creature design and animation, I think we'll be in for a treat!
If you use this, call me Fronsac
I can pretty much guarantee that by us reporting this, it will either be denied or changed - again. We learned exclusively here at Bloody-Disgusting that JJ Abrams' monster movie was in fact going to be titled "Monstrous", but was changed the second it hit the web (man we all gossip way too much!) Now it's our turn to ruin a possible title for the Matt Reeves' helmed giant monster movie, which wrapped last month in Los Angeles and New York... the title just might be..........WRECK
A friend if mine who was [relation to the film deleted by editor] told me there's thousands upon thousands of "parasites" on the big monster that leap off and attack everything in sight after it's been hit by some tank shells.
Supposedly they are sort of "Alien" looking with five or six claw like legs.
PS - the movie is (sort of) a modern day version of "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms " . Which if you ever seen it was about a giant monster attacking NYC. Interesting. So, maybe the "parasites" our reader talks about here are essentially the "raptors" referenced in the article linked above?Another thought...
We've been hearing very spotty (and wholly unconfirmed) implications that the creature in the film may have something to do with a whale. Personally, I can't quite visualize this - the image that springs to mind is goofy as hell.
I have for you a description of a unseen new sequence from the film you all know as Cloverfield.
You know, the one with the monster?
I can now safely say the teaser is not separate from the film, its part of the beginning
which was shown in an abridged fashion for the purpose of the teaser, it's longer in the movie.
The new scene opens with several traumatized survivors, moving through a very dark corridor there's slight cold blue illumination from halogen emergency lighting, a girl in the group is badly
beaten up she's bleeding and looks very sickly. The main group is comprised of 3 characters, Rob from the main trailer, the cameraman and a girl, though there may be others.
This scene takes place after the initial attack of "The monster" the scene we all saw in theatres. Rob is taking charge and telling everyone to keep calm, the girl says she doesn't feel so good.
They limp along until US Army soldiers storm in shouting at them, demanding they drop
they're weapons, they shout back they're unarmed, there's a lot of commotion, then they're herded briskly up some E.T style scientific tubing into a makeshift aid center, its very dark, threes lots of doctors tending to wounded and military walking about making the scene very busy. "What is that thing?" they ask as they catch their breath, the cryptic answer comes from a soldier "We don't know, but it's winning"
The imagery in this scene is like something after a terrorist bombing. A carcass is wheeled past with his guts hanging out, the cameraman struggles to take in the surroundings.
Rob gets angry with the aggressiveness of the soldiers who now tell them they can't leave, "I'm going out there, if you want to stop me you'll have to shoot me" we gather he's looking for his girlfriend. "I feel really sick" the girl unexpectedly mutters, the camera pans to her, shes looks like shes about to throw up, and curiously is crying blood from her right eye. Someone shouts
"She's been bitten!
Chaos ensues... Scene end. That's all you get, this may be used for promotion and is a possibility for an upcoming trailer.
DJ
In short, the message I'm talking about said that the big monster that comes into New York is scaly. The message claimed that when a scale is dislodged from the monster (if it gets blown off by shelling, for example) the scales actually turn into smaller, raptor-like creatures that run around wrecking havoc. That could be very cool if true. It was also suck completely if real.
So the raptorthings might dovetail nicely with the line about the girl being bitten?
It's not Godzilla or Voltron (duh) or even Cthulu; anyone expecting there to be some sort of elaborately detailed backstory may be in for a disappointment. Expect an old-fashioned monster movie retold in a very modern Blair Witch sort of way - but with a twist. You see that giant monster that emerges from the ocean to begin laying waste to New York City ... it didn't come alone.This rumor actually sounds feasible. The current rumor indicates this is actually a rather low budget movie being filmed mostly from hand-helds in a man on the street format. Low budget means very careful and limited use of CGI and the like. Framing the film in the monster(s) initial attack and fall/retreat and focus the film on a group of friends trying to survive while telling their backstory allows for Abrams love of the flashback, and keeps the tension (never know when a mini-mon will strike) all on the cheap.
According to "Mr. Slusho", much of the movie will revolve around the characters fleeing for their lives, not from the big one stomping the city, but from the "raptor-like" smaller versions hunting them down.
“NAME OF FEATURE Cheese!There is also video from the source, see below, that shows Paramount set equipment and pre-prep work for the above scene.
EXT. CENTRAL PARK
Greyshot Arch - West 61st Street
1:00 PM - 9:00 PM
EXT. CENTRAL PARK
Two friends run into a tunnel and hide
SPFX bricks fall
various fallen debris in the park”
- Above friends are Rob and Beth hiding under a bridge as debris falls on them.
“EXT. STREET
Central Park South b/t 7th Avenue -
Columbus Circle
EXT. STREET
A group of friends find that Central Park South is empty and abandoned
A horse & carrage trots by
3 scissor lifts & (1) 86′ condor for lighting
20 BG cars”
- Probably an establishing shot for after the attack.
- Also the source indicated that a line he heard "there is one up there" might indicate more then one monster for the film, but admits its speculation.
- The person also noticed the use of professional film equipment belying the belief that the film would be done 100% Blair Witch style where someone is supposedly always using a cam to record events (thank god if true, that style just gives me a raging headache).
- The movie budget is $30 million
- The villain is an alien, not a monster.
- Creature is awoken by large quantities of Slusho at Rob's party and kills those that consumed it.
- The article suggests that the movie is about the friends the day before the attack on New York.
- The claw mark on the back of the Statue of Liberty in the released poster is similar to an ability of Cthulu but isn't that creature, that can help identify what it may be. I am thinking horn.
- In the trailer, there is a large explosion, apparently caused by blown gas lines as the creature bursts through the New York bedrock. Within that you can see a face.
- The budget. The movie is coming out in January, a period that is dead box office wise. Usually smaller budget movies are released then. Also JJ Abrams comes from TV where they are better at getting the most out of a limited budget. This seems very reasonable.As always, just remember that the only confirmed about this movie is that the movie is in production. Pretty much everything else is just guesses and rumors.
- The alien theory. Its possible, don't see why the creature can't be an alien but I remain unconvinced.
- Slusho awakes creature and acts as GPS. This smells of a red herring to me. Other then being an out there theory, way way out there, it also creates a hole in the storyline if true. Why "now"? Why didn't the creature awake when Slusho was manufactured? Why not when shipped, or stocked in stores? I assume greater quantities then would be at a party (never mind why Slusho instead of beer a party of 20 somethings). If the creature can burst through bedrock...why downtown New York rather then under the party? I say this theory is flat out wrong. Its two bizarre and would break suspicion of disbelief. More likely Slusho is either derived from the creature or creates the creature.
- Plot is a flashback of friends together. Abrams is in love with the flashback in a way that isn't quite normal. Its becomes a signature thing for him. That fits the plot theory. The budget, if at $30M, also does as a friendship movie bookended by things go boom is much cheaper then a movie all about a creature siege. Of course, there is nothing stopping the movie from simply being both, using the flashback for character development that is interspersed with the current attack. This one is plausible to me.
- Slash on SoL's back indicates the creatures makeup. Sure why not. I guess it would have to or they would designed it that way. Of course, why take the head off of the Statue, dive under New York City and burst through the bedrock in the city? Seems like one theory may disprove another. Unless two of them?
- Face in the explosion. I see what referring to but I think reaching in this case. I go with nope on this one.
Another interseting discovery from JayFive. The slogan for Slusho, an invented drink that seems tied into the Cloverfield mystery, is "You Can't Drink Just Six." A strange slogan that happens to also be a website. If you go to the website, it auto-redirects you to an article on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website for Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. This is a legit government website.
IESB.net has posted up what may or may not be set report from JJ Abram's untitled project codenamed Cloverfield. The report comes from a shoot that occurred in Santa Anita and Downey in Los Angeles. Also apparently the code name has changed from Cloverfield and Slusho to "Chocolate". The report involves blue screen shooting with military vehicles, ambulances and bio suits. No telling if true or not considering the overall lack of information about the movie.Apparently Group One Productions, LLC, and Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer registered a trademark (#77232885) “Overnight” on July 18, 2007, for the use in “motion picture, television and music production and distribution services.” The Attorney of Record for the trademark is Lori N. Boatright, who was also the Attorney of Record for “SLUSHO!,” “SLUSHO! YOU CAN’T DRINK JUST SIX,” and “BAD ROBOT” trademarks (#77229623, #77229614, and #76340985).I have to admit as far as proof goes this is pretty good. However, I doubt Abrams company is working on just one project so the title could be for that, nor has the plot of the movie been confirmed. Personally, given a choice between the available titles, I would go with Monstrous. Its more informative (better for marketing) and just seems to invoke a sense of danger. Overnight just makes me think "romance movie?".
Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum & Morris represents a few hundred Hollywood actors and a couple directors/producers. Jim Jackoway is an attorney, known to represent J.J. Abrams. He also happens to be the registrant for BadRobot.com. Jackoway was also the original registrant for Slusho.jp, but it was changed to Satoshi before the trailer was released. One thing is for sure, Bad Robot is using Jackoway Tyreman Wertheimer as a cover to basically “launder” all connections to the movie.
“I want a monster movie, I've wanted one for so long. I was in Japan with my son and all he wanted to do is go to toy stores. And we saw all these Godzilla toys, and I thought, we need our own monster, and not King Kong, King Kong's adorable. I wanted something that was just insane and intense. It's almost done shooting and I watch dailies and I'm more excited for them than the trailer, which has had an overwhelming response. We have 6 months before this comes out. We're going to have a whole bunch of things, a whole bunch more." He said a full trailer, more clips, full posters, and much more will be coming out over the next 6 monts, including the name, which he will NOT reveal today.(source)
“You think we'd call it Monstrous? No…"
One movie that Abrams is casting Grunberg in is the buzzerific disaster flick known only by its myriad working titles (i.e., Cloverfield, 1-18-08, Slusho). "It'll probably be something where no one will be able to tell it's me," he said. "As you know, J.J. calls me his good-luck charm, so he's got to put me in there somewhere. I actually went to the set the other night, and it was really exciting and cool. The budget is not astronomical. But they're doing incredible things."
According to WHOIS information, Paramount Pictures is the new owner of the website http://www.themonstrousmovie.com (currently not up yet) that pretty much confirms the rumored name for the Cloverfield project that JJ Abrams is producing.
Blurry cell phone pics released online indicate that the possible title of the JJ Abrams' project codenamed Cloverfield or Slusho could be called "Monstrous". This belief is fulled by the poster which depicts a headless statue of liberty in the foreground with a possibly devastated New York City in the background. The pic at end of the post is another blurry pic that shows Transformers poster on the left, Monstrous in the middle, and 30 Days of Night on the right.In Jewish belief, Behemoth is the primal unconquerable monster of the land, as Leviathan is the primal monster of the waters of the sea and Ziz the primordial monster of the sky.Could this be true? Sounds good and hopefully answers will come during the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con where Abrams is said to be appearing.
1) The first monster roar is accompanied by an earthquake (Behemoth)
2) The second monster roar is accompanied by a huge fireball (Leviathan, for it can breathe fire)
3) The third monster roar is accompanied by the flying Statue of Liberty head (Ziz).
Not convinced?
The guy who says "maybe we can get a better view from the roof" has the Slusho logo on his shirt. Slusho is a classic J.J. Abrams icon, and it has appeared in both Alias and Lost, which are his shows.
Slusho.jp has, by now, been confirmed as a part of the viral marketing campaign revolving around 1-18-08. Japan. Strangely enough, the character Rob, who is present in the trailer, was gonna fly to Japan a day after that party and the monster events.
Let's have a look around on that site. Not all pages are accessible. But there is an odd feature about the pages that are available. The main page background is on land, the Downloads page background is on air, and the History page background is on sea.
Furthermore, the six buttons on the main page cause popups of various animals, namely a Horse, a Whale and a Bird. Behemoth, Leviathan, Ziz
Dear Sir,Are they really fake though? It sure is hell an eleborate and bizarre concidence if they are. Really eleborate. I guess August 1st will be the proof as those other sites all point to that as the next significant date of the game. Has anyone figured out those pics? I thought the "We'll Miss" might spell out another website depending on how turned but game up with nada on that theory.
Thanks for your support of our little movie. I can't wait to talk to you more about it -- of course, knowing you, by the time we talk you'll know more than I will.
Regarding the online stuff you posted: yeah, we're doing some fun stuff on the web. But, obviously, if the movie doesn't kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat's about what's online? So as you can imagine, we're focusing mostly on THAT. For what it's worth, the only site of ours that people have even FOUND is the 1-18-08.com site. The others (like the Ethan Haas sites) have nothing to do with us.
Stay cool the rest of the summer -- and thanks per usual for AICN!
JJ