Sci Fi Magazine Cloverfield Article

The February issue of Sci Fi Magazine has another interview with Bryan Burk, producer of Cloverfield. If you're not able to get your hands on a copy of the magazine just yet, Sci Fi Wire, the magazine's online counterpart, has created two smaller clips of the article. Check those out here and here.

"We've only had two internal screenings, and one was for a group of people who had not seen the script. All of their reactions, to quote them, was that it was one of the rare occasions where the movie lives up to the trailer. I think people are going to love it. It's like a nonstop ride. The experience of watching this movie is like nothing I've personally ever seen ... I hate using bad cliches, but it's an authentic, visceral thriller."

Thanks to Dennis for the scans of the article.

Michael Stahl-David Interviews

As January 18, 2008 draws ever closer, Paramount will surely make a push to get all the free publicity they can. Friday brought us four seperate interviews from Cloverfield director Matt Reeves. Earlier today, Sci Fi Wire interviewed producer Bryan Burk.

MTV and IESB interview Michael Stahl-David (he plays Rob) about Cloverfield. Be warned, there are some mild spoilers.


About Rob:

So, Rob is a 20-something guy who is not a very extraordinary guy. He kind of has amounted to about as much as people thought he would. But now he’s got this great offer for a job in Japan so he’s gonna leave his friends and this girl that he’s always kind of been in love with but has been too afraid to do anything about and go to Japan. And that’s what the movie is about, at the beginning. We’re seeing a going away party for him. When catastrophe strikes, things become clear kind of quickly what’s important to him. Then he spends the rest of this movie trying to get to this girl.

Who is in the film:

"[My character] is someone who's not a big risk-taker or somebody who's very spontaneous," Stahl-David revealed. "And then there's Hud, the man behind the camera [played by T.J. Miller], who's loud and funny but not the most tactful guy, definitely — he really cares about his friends. Then there's Lizzy Caplan [as Marlena], who randomly gets stuck with us — she's not in our close circle of friends ... she's the outsider in our midst. Then there's Jessica Lucas [as Lily], who is the caretaker of my brother Jason [Mike Vogel], who is wild and reckless. She's the only reason he keeps his sh-- together.
"Then there's Beth [Odette Yustman], [and] I've always felt like there's something there between us," he explained. "We've been friends for a long time, but whenever I'm single, she's been seeing somebody and vice versa. We've never really connected, until a few weeks before the tape begins to roll — but I'm leaving, so it was just going to end where it was."

Acting opposite the monster:

In certain scenes, if you could physicalize something, it would give the animators something to do. Give them something to play off of really strong. Normally in a scene, you’re thinking about what you give your scene partner to play off of, but in this there was this invisible scene partner that if you did some big motion that was really going to help them, you know, it might feel ridiculous for you, in the moment, to do it but it was really to help them.

The monster is scary looking:

We got to see renderings that they had on the computers and, in one case, a really amazing model. A wax model they had built that looked just terrifying. So we had somewhat of sense. We got to know the style. But they were good about that. Of letting us have some idea of what it was going to be.

(Possible Spoilers)

Slusho! may be more than a drink:

"The concept of Slusho! is something that I'm not at liberty to discuss," he recited robotically, only half-kidding. "I think [my character] might've been better off if he found some Slusho! [during the attack], but that would've been too much like Popeye eating his can of spinach."

The end of the movie:

We did, however, learn that the monster is not named in the movie ("We took to calling it Clover ... when the movie comes out, people are gonna name it"); that Cloverfield contains Speed-like nonstop scenes as high-adrenaline as the clip ("There's a couple points where we can't run anymore and we have to sit with ourselves, but other than that, the movie is about you being with us, and us trying to survive"); and that a climactic scene takes place in the NYC subway system.
"The whole scene in the subway," Stahl-David said when asked for his favorite moment. "Once we go in there and get stuck and have to walk through those tunnels ... it's not a nice place to be ... I can't wait for the world to see that, and to hear their reactions."

Interview with Producer Bryan Burk

Today, Sci Fi Wire talks with producer Bryan Burk about Cloverfield. The interview doesn't reveal much new information, but does give strong support to news and rumors we've all heard before.

Sci Fi Wire Interview with Bryan Burk

"There's no tie-in to any of our other projects quite yet. We're obviously fans of the great monster movies. I remember when we were starting Lost, and we had references in it to all our favorite things, be it Jaws or Alien, and this feels like this is the same thing. I don't think it feels like any other movie you have seen before, but we were definitely inspired by a lot of our favorite films."

Four Matt Reeves Interviews...and Counting

Cloverfield director Matt Reeves has been recently interviewed by IESB, ShockTilYouDrop, IGN, and MTV. Reeves talks about the film, how he became involved, the overwhelming Internet response, and he even hinted that Slusho may mean a little more than we think.

Each interview tells the same story, but each has their own exclusive information. They're all worth a read. Unfortunately, none of them bring any new pictures. But, I guess the new widget and four interviews are enough for one day. Check them out below.

IESB/Reeves Interview: http://www.iesb.net/

IGN/Reeves Interview: http://movies.ign.com/

ShockTilYouDrop/Reeves Interview: http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/

MTV/Reeves Interview: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/

Lizzy Caplan Interview - Cloverfield

Blackbookmag.com has an interview with Cloverfield cast member Lizzy Caplan (Marlena Diamond aka LenaDia). Since not all the questions revolve around Cloverfield, I'll highlight the ones that do. One thing to note, this article was posted yesterday, but seems like the interview took place several weeks ago.

BB: What can you tell me about Cloverfield? Is that even the name of the movie?

LC: I can’t even tell you that. It’s so weird, and I’m fully aware of how obnoxious it is.

BB: Have you seen it yet?

LC: No. I saw the newest trailer, though, which should be coming out in a few weeks. I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised, because this is a much bigger trailer [than the existing teaser], with more explosions and whatnot. It’s either going to be really good, or really disappointing. I don’t think that there’s much chance of gray area.

BB: What drew you to the character in the first place?

LC: Well, we weren’t exactly clear about the characters we were playing when we signed on. The producers sat us down and we auditioned with scenes that aren’t in the movie. Some were from “Alias” and some had been written specifically for the audition. And they were all very misleading.

BB: So, in casting, you read from Jennifer Garner’s lines?

LC: I’ve never really watched “Alias,” but I think they were Jennifer Garner’s lines. I had to plunge a syringe into some guy’s chest, and we were in France, and I didn’t have any idea what was going on.

BB: What convinced you to take the part?

LC: I’m a fan of “Lost.” That was it. During the first few weeks, it was like, “Oh god, this is what we’re doing? I had no idea. I’ll never sign on to another film again not knowing full well what it is.” But honestly, if Woody Allen or Wes Anderson called me today, and said, “Hey you want to do something? You don’t get to read the script,” I’d be like, “Yes, yes, yes!”

BB: How did J.J. Abrams ensure that the story wasn’t leaked? Did you get to take the script home with you?

LC: They’re actually coming by to pick it up today. We had to swap out every new set of pages with the old pages. They’re bright red, the scripts, and watermarked with our names. So, nobody wanted to be the one to accidentally leak it. They’re pretty hardcore about all of that. I don’t know how they’ve managed to keep it so secretive, though, because people obviously want to know more. And nobody knows anything. The speculation is very inaccurate.

BB: What are some of the more ridiculous speculations?

LC: There’s all this YouTube stuff about analyzing the trailer. People are seeing things that aren’t there and making up stuff that isn’t true. There’s this one still of me and Jessica Lucas, who’s another actress in the film, and people thought there was some crazy lion behind us. But people are wrong.

BB: Have the paparazzi been diligent about trying to get on set?

LC: There have been a few instances. The movie has gone though a bunch of different, strange names so that people don’t catch on. At one point, the title was Chocolate Outrage. But it’s interesting because nobody in the movie is famous. The movie is the celebrity. So it was almost like we were existing in the belly of Julia Roberts, where nobody cares about us. They were just taking pictures of this person that we were living inside.

BB: How has this project been different from, say, your experience with Mean Girls?

LC: The physically demanding elements were definitely different, and it’s shot in a very specific way. There’s no turning around, no close-ups, and no coverage. Also, because there were no recognizable names in it, the movie looks like it cost 150 million dollars even though it doesn’t. It was done really cheaply. People trying to make large-scale movies are going to be forced to do them for a lot less money after this comes out.

BB: Have you revealed any of the secrets to your friends or family?

LC: I’m a big fan of keeping secrets. I didn’t tell my agent. I didn’t tell my manager. I haven’t told anybody.

BB: Are you consciously trying to get away from the outsider roles that you often play?

LC: My character in this movie is kind of sarcastic, and she’s not great friends with people, so there are still outsider parts to it.

CNBC Coverage of Comic-Con and 1-18-08

J.J. Abrams mystery movie comes to Comic-Con

Our own CameronJr9 (Scott Gibson) was recently featured in a segment of CNBC's "On the Money."

UPDATE: The video is now posted on YouTube. Hopefully it stays there. Thanks to Kyser Lough for uploading the original video!

Greg Grunberg to Appear in 1-18-08

TV Guide has more news about the Heroes cast being involved with JJ Abrams. It appears JJ's long-time friend, Greg Grunberg will make an appearance in Abrams' as-yet-unnamed movie.

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."

Grunberg has appeared in Felicity and Alias, and had a small part as the pilot of Flight 815 in LOST.