For now however, you will need to click to the following address for further updates, commentary, and anything else. Comments on ANY entry on this blog have been deactivated.

http://projectcloverfield.com/forum/

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We just received an anonymous email claiming to know secrets that only the creators and email author, excuse me, “monster,” know of. If you want to read the email in its entirety, then check out the latest forum post: Anonymous email from the “monster”. In order to reply to the post, you will need to register an account on the forum :o)

Anyway, I’ve seen the number of you guys that like to comment back and forth, and I was actually thinking… With the movie being released already, there really isn’t a valid reason to keep running the blog as it is right now. Would you guys be more inclined to visit more often if this was converted to a forum? That way you would all be able to reply to each other but with more functionality (aka specific threads, quoting text, etc.)

Of course I would still have a section of the forum dedicated to posting news (which everyone would be able to do, instead of just myself and a select few.)

But please, let me know if this is something you’d all be interested in. I love that you guys come back to comment more, so whatever floats your boat, is what goes.

Matt Reeves Interviews

• http://laist.com/2008/01/09/laist_interview_88.php
• filmschoolrejects.com interview
• IO9 Talks to Cloverfield Director, Matt Reeves
• Video Interview with Terrorfeed.com
• Shocktillyoudrop.com interview
• Capone of AICN interview

Lizzy Caplan

• Current.com with Lizzy on Slusho
• Current.com with Lizzy on secrets of Cloverfield
• Current.com with Lizzy on seeing Cloverfield 2x
• Current.com with Lizzy on the Myspace accounts
• Current.com with Lizzy on the SoL

I’ve got a few more to add, but you know, apparently work takes precedence.

There is audio at the end of the credits for Cloverfield giving you a hint of what MAY be in store for a sequel, you know, to keep you in suspense.

Video under the cut, so it doesn’t spoil it for those of you that like to experience things firsthand.

Cloverfield Credits Audio from Jordan on Vimeo.

It sounds like “Help us,” but apparently the audio was reversed, and when it’s played normally, you can actually hear someone saying “It’s still alive.” Listen to the audio clip at boomp3.com.

You can bookmark Cloverfield’s separate box office stats to keep updated with how the movie is doing.

All reviews will be explicitly labeled as spoilers, regardless if it has spoilers in it or not. Feel free to be as creative as you want or whatever. I don’t care at all.

All I have to say about the movie is: LOL.

I was fortunate enough to work at a place that lets off early thanks to the good Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King. That is why I saw the movie during the day, and am able to get this review out to you super early. As the title suggests, I will clearly label when the spoilers are a-comin’!!!

I was also thoughtful enough to go with friends, and to have a bit of good ole’ Irish whiskey in me during the film. So that even if the odds and ends I picked up accidently from the commercials and the internet proved true, at least the evening wouldn’t be totally ruined for me. For all you young, budding alcoholics out there, I cannot emphasize enough how much I recommend flasks for a truly wonderful theater experience. However, since the buzz is still with me, I also much apologize for any extraneous rambling, or careless spelling or grammatical errors. Also, the spellchecker is giving me an XML error. Stupid spellchecker.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Jordan for keeping up with the site during my exodus. From what little I’ve read, you’ve experienced first hand why I left. I hope no one spoiled it too bad for you. I also want to compliment you on being “teh lil’ hotness”.

K. On to the movie. No, no spoilers just yet. I’ll tell you when.

The first half hour or so was exactly what the beginning of the first trailer let on. It was a well-done camcorder collage of a love affair. The great thing about this stile of filmmaking is that it doesn’t demand very much of the actors, and I think that shows through. The party, and all the Rob & Beth “lubbie dubbie” stuff feels real enough because, basically, they are just being themselves. It gets the job done, much like the opening minutes of Blair Witch. I recommend those who haven’t yet seen it to allow themselves to put themselves in their shoes from the get go. Get personally involved, mentally immerse yourself in the high school-ish drama, and imagine that you are in their place. Pretend you are that male or female (whicever floats your boat more). You’ll get more out of the movie, and little curveballs that the director will throw at you will be more effective down the road.

Oh, I feel ashamed that I haven’t said it yet… but you simply must see this in theaters. It’s a good movie, but out of theaters, it loses most of the effect, (again) much like Blair Witch.

Alright, from this point forward…. Here Be Spoilars!!! Aaaargh!!

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Maybe it’s because I practically memorized the first trailer, but I was stilll surprised by the first signs of the monster. Much of what is in that trailer never made it to the final cut. I believe that to be a smart decision from the filmmaker. I found myself looking at the lady liberty’s head before I knew what was happening. And to the credit of the director, you stray far from the initial trailer with over an hour left in the film.

You find that the characters have more than enough opportunity to leave New York City, but because Rob gets a call from Beth, they work there way back into (the new) “Ground Zero”. Think about that from a writer’s perspective for a second. You have a catastrophe. And realistically, Godzilla can only take out so many people. Humans - even in NYC - have a tendency to evacuate. The Cloverfield Monster does not kill all New Yorkers. Far from it.

The filmmakers also do a great job of acknowledging that New York City has a subterrainian landscape unlike all but a handful of cities in the world. It’s quite possible that there are thousands of tunnels that stretch miles in all directions under Manhattan Island, as we’ve been tunneling here since the 1800’s, and basically never stopped. The monster, somehow, has a plan of attack here too, as the “parasite” rumors come to fruition in the subway tunnels under Manhattan. Long story short: Everyone gets away from the big monster, and his spider-like offspring. But it turns out the spiders have a vampire/zombie/Sigourney-Weaver’s-Alien’s-like trait to their bites… and a cast member dies horribly because of it. Honestly, I didn’t see this coming. This also gives a good reason as to why the monster targets NYC - plenty of fresh hosts for it’s babies.

At this point, we are suprisingly low on cast members. We are rewarded for turning back (and away from safety) as miraculously, we do find Beth. In trying to find safety afterwards, we lose everyone but Rob and Beth, though the do compensate us by great shots of the monster. Great. Shots. Thankfully, I was not spoofed, the monster did not look like The Iron Giant. It looked good. If you want more detail, you’ll have to see the film, because I’m not sayin’ any more. :)

The ending is good, in that it follows logically from what has already happened. It is also somewhat ambigious. In this wat, it reminds me of the Matrix sequels, and I won’t be suprised if it disappoints people. The final outcome of the monster is not immediately known after all is said and done. A round of carpet bombing succeeds in aggravating the monster, but hours later (after daybreak), it is still shown that the nation is taking extremely aggressive measures. Also, the survival of Rob and Beth is also unknown, as they take adequete shelter for the camera to survive, but they leave room to believe that they may or may not have made it.

In closing, let me say two last things. First, about the ending. Some will probably say that they flash of light was a large bomb to annhiliate the beast. That is true, but I highly doubt it was The Bomb. And if it was, they didn’t do their homework. The flash is large, but it is orange, not white. All accounts of atomic bombs involve white light. I don’t know if Rob and Beth lived through everything, but I know for sure that they weren’t obliterated in a Hiroshima like shock-wave.

Secondly, and less to do with plot interpretation, I want to say that this was a movie that was totally up my alley, and I hope many others can say that too. I am a child of the camcorder generation. If you were to rob my parent’s house, you (hopefully) wouldn’t find any lewd sex tapes, but you would find mortifying recordings in the form of a six-year-old Yooka in his E.T. footsie zip-up pajamas, whacking himself in the head with his trusty cardboard base from a used roll of paper towels, eagerly counting the seconds till Christmas by the “thonk-thonk-thonk” sound he made with it. I was a weird kid, and every foible is caught on tape. So yeah, I can never run for president. :)

I relate, and inject myself in personal, unpolished, home-video recordings. It was half of the reason Blair Witch hit me so hard. Psychologists also say it’s the reason why “reality” TV shows do so well in the US, despite the fact that most of them are God-awful. However, Cloverfield is far from God awful. The acting is good. The effects are great. The plot is good, but no extraordinary. However, if you are like me, and you award extra points for having all the ducks line up in a row, and still be initeresting, then maybe you’ll say that the plot is great. The bottom line is that 20 years from now, I know I can show the movie to kids (hopefully mine), and tell them that this is why the should watch out at wild parties, and I know I will totally freak the fuck out of them, because they won’t see any of the monster stuff coming, and they will have already related to the characters, and it will be too late for them to be cynical, and not care. Cloverfield is a good enough movie to pull you in if you don’t already know what it’s about. And it’s good enough to welcome you into it, and not burst the thinnest bubble of belief-suspension if you are willing conjure it for your own enjoyment. It’s as realistic as a Godzilla movie could possibly be, while avoiding obvious lulls.

But like I said before, see it in theaters, while the sound and spectacle surrounds you, because clearly, this is a movie where the star isn’t a human, or a CGI monster. The star is self-immersion itself.

Anyway, check out a comic from HijiNKS ENSUE about the Cloverfield monster. Don’t worry, there’s no crazy spoilers. :o)

Well, Paulisnofun said it best:

We made it. Today is 1-14-08. Only 5 days left until 1-18-08. Since July many of us have been following, and guessing, what this movie would be all about. In the past 7 months we had Trailers, and teasers. We had a giant lion. We had Ethan Haas being right. We had Ethan Haas being wrong. We had Godzilla, Rampage, even Voltron, and the Ghostbusters. We had War of the Gods. We had parasites, slushozoom, and ABZ3293. Hell, we even had Ryan Key from Yellowcard. Most of all, we had fun. So, what was your favorite part of this ride we call Cloverfield, and where will you be 1-18-2008?

Paul sent this to me, so credit goes to him. A truly inspiring piece Paul!

Other news in Cloverfield:
Cloverfield Trivia was updated with round 4.

www.tidowave.com had a new post. They are “laying low” and talk about the new Slusho AFA approval for America.

New Jamie and Teddy 10. Jamie goes crazy and cuts of the limbs of her Teddy bear. http://www.jamieandteddy.com/number10.mov. (No Youtube as yet).

www.cloverfieldmovie.com has been updated with “official links to tickets and showtimes”. GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!!

There is a New Photo on www.1-18-08.com. It shows a second monster attack? This time, a complicated picture of what seems to be a destroyed ship. Near the center / bottom of the picture there is a pixilated shadow? The monster blurred out perhaps?

Questions?Theories?Pictures? brit_intel_harmon@hotmail.com

Special thanks to Adam Fendlmen from HollywoodChicago for e-mailing me this first!

Paramount has released 25 new production stills and a new movie summary.

The new movie summary:

On the eve of his departure for Japan, Rob (Michael Stahl-David) sees his going-away party as an opportunity to confess unresolved feelings and tie up loose ends. His agenda takes an unexpected turn when a jolt shakes the revelers. The crowd quiets down to watch news reports of an earthquake, then rushes to the roof to assess the damage. A fireball explodes on the distant horizon. A power failure follows. Confusion gives way to panic as the partygoers stumble through the blackout and into the streets. Amid the human screams and one inhuman roar, Rob and his friends must traverse a landscape that has changed, overtaken by something otherworldly, terrifying, monstrous…

To view all of the 25 new production stills: http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/image/tid/1543

Tagruato also had an update in the headline section. “Kaitei No Mitsu” or Seabed’s Nectar, was approved by the “AFA” for sale in the US.

This is just a snippet of the update:

Tagruato can now proceed with their extensive American campaign for bringing Slusho! to the western world. In addition to the creation of three Western-only flavors, Slusho! representatives claim that many other surprises are in store for their new audience.

For the rest of the update please click here.

Questions?Theories?Pictures? brit_intel_harmon@hotmail.com