The Final Countdown

The month-long countdown has begun. There are only 31 more days until Cloverfield opens in U.S. theaters on 1-18-08. Are you ready?

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."

Cloverfield Clues Podcast #3 Available

The Cloverfield Clues Podcast #3 is now available!
In this episode, CameronJr9 joined Dennis to discuss the latest Cloverfield news from the last week, including Jamie's latest video, the TidoWave updates, the new Exclusive Cloverfield footage, and the widget contest!

Download Now - 56kbps (right click, save as)
You also can stream the podcast online at TalkShoe.com

NEXT PODCAST - December 20th, 9:00 PM EST

The next podcast will start a little bit later to give more people a chance to join in, and hopefully our UnFiction panel will be available. If you are not able to join us live, you can post some questions here you would like asked, or you can pre-record a question as an MP3 and e-mail it to Dennis, and I'll try to include it in the next podcast!

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/

Cloverfield Exclusive Preview

Instead of competing with another local blogger, I've decided to join forces and try to win an advanced screening of Cloverfield in Lexington, KY.



The contest has OFFICIALLY launched!

The rules for the contest are complicated:
Entrants are then encouraged to “share” the Widget with their friends. A successful “share” occurs when: (i) someone views the Widget on an entrant’s facebook profile (or other Internet location on which the entrant places the Widget) and clicks on the “grab this” link; (ii) the person who has clicked the “grab this” link for the Widget then must successfully embed the Widget on a website (e.g. their facebook profile); and (iii) at least one (1) person must then view the Widget on that new location. All three of the above conditions must be met in order for the “share” to be successful, for the purposes of this Contest.

Please grab this widget and post it on your site. Thank you all for your support!

Visit the official contest page: http://www.cloverfieldmovie.com/contest
Also, check out the official Cloverfield Facebook page: facebook.com/cloverfieldmovie

Cloverfield Rated PG-13

The official Cloverfield site, cloverfieldmovie.com, has been updated with an MPAA Rating of PG-13 for "Violence, Terror and Disturbing Images."

So, what does this rating mean? The MPAA Web site explains:

A PG-13 motion picture may go beyond the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, adult activities or other elements, but does not reach the restricted R category. The theme of the motion picture by itself will not result in a rating greater than PG-13, although depictions of activities related to a mature theme may result in a restricted rating for the motion picture. Any drug use will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. More than brief nudity will require at least a PG-13 rating, but such nudity in a PG-13 rated motion picture generally will not be sexually oriented. There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence. A motion picture’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive requires an R rating, as must even one of those words used in a sexual context. The Rating Board nevertheless may rate such a motion picture PG-13 if, based on a special vote by a two-thirds majority, the Raters feel that most American parents would believe that a PG-13 rating is appropriate because of the context or manner in which the words are used or because the use of those words in the motion picture is inconspicuous.

Personally, I have a feeling this movie is going to be scary, and probably have a lot of violence. I mean, a giant monster attacks NYC. I’d say there probably will be no nudity, no drug use, and very little “strong language.”

The Cloverfield site also offers our first look at the official film credits.

TIDOWave Updated

TIDOWave.com has been updated with three blog entries today. In one entry, "Randy" is mentioned. This comes right after Jamie's latest video blog where Teddy mentions that Randy will soon be calling Jamie.

December 10, 2007

December “Tip for the Field”

Many of you have written in and complained that when you get into a demonstration situation and it goes array, you often find yourself alone in a jail cell for hours or trapped outdoors with inadequate food, clothing, or hygiene options.

To address this need, I’ve created a “Survival Kit” of essential items to take with you to any gathering, should you be captured or forced to flee society for several days.

1. “Warm towel”
2. Dried fruit
3. Small comb
4. Jerky
5. Flare gun
6. Swiss Army Knife
7. Compass

I’ve been making pre-packaged “Survival Kits” of my own for distribution at Tidowave rallies. $30 per set. Please contact me on my cell for purchase.

December 10, 2007

Flower Donations

Please send all flowers and sympathy cards to Margaret. She’ll pass them on to the appropriate parties.

December 10, 2007

Call To Action

The “event” discussed in our last meeting has, unfortunately, had some problems. Therefore, we’ll be staging a repeat “event” for the weekend of the 14th. Please contact Randy on his green mobile for updated information.

Slusho Unrelated to Cloverfield?!

Peter Sciretta from Slashfilm has reported he's talked to four people who have seen early cuts of Cloverfield. According to his sources, Slusho! has very little to do with the actual plot of the movie. In fact, JJ never realized just how popular Slusho! would be.

All this Cloverfield viral marketing has got me wondering. I have now talked to four people who have seen an early cut of Cloverfield. I haven't heard one negative so far, although everyone is very reluctant to share any details about the film. But I have been able to confirm something that I have believed all along -

Slusho! has almost nothing to do with Cloverfield!

Yes, Paramount and Bad Robot are using Slusho! to promote Cloverfield. I'm not suggesting otherwise. Slusho! branded T-shirts were even handed out at the Paramount panel during Comic Con 2007 (where Cloverfield made a brief appearance).

What I'm here to tell you today is that Slusho! has very little to do with the plot of the movie, and only makes a brief appearance on the t-shirt of one of the characters. I’m being told that is pretty much the extent of it. So the question now becomes: How did a JJ Abrams inside joke become the focal point of the entire viral marketing campaign for a movie that has nothing to do with everyone’s favorite Japanese frozen beverage?

I’ve been told by numerous sources that Paramount, Bad Robot, and even JJ Abrams didn’t expect this much interest in their small January monster movie. Possibly afraid of a repeat of Snakes on a Plane, it appears that the studio doesn’t plan to up the marketing budget for the movie. So maybe Slusho! was JJ Abrams’ and Bad Robot’s way of advertising the movie on a low budget? Or...

Here is were the speculation begins...

Or maybe Slusho! is actually part of another JJ Abrams project entirely. Bad Robot has at least seven projects set up at Paramount, spanning the comedy, romantic comedy, horror and supernatural genres. Could Slusho! be connected to one of these projects? Could a teaser trailer be shown in front of Cloverfield?

One of my credible non studio sources has heard that “Slusho! is a project that JJ Abrams has been working on for years now...” But everyone else I’ve talked to seems to know nothing at all. So for now it is all just speculation. JJ Abrams is very good at keeping secrets, because he keeps them within the arms of his small production company. He’s big enough not to have to go through studio channels where the noise usually gets out.

Devin at CHUD.com seems to think everyone scrambling for clues in the Cloverfield viral marketing campaign is a big nerd. Well, duh. Proudly. This is news? My wife even makes fun of me. So what? Everyone needs a hobby.

Cloverfield Mobile Phone Advertisement Contest

E-Commerce Times and TelevisionPoint.com have reported Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot will use the mobile platform to promote Cloverfield and reward one lucky winner.

"Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot are both innovation leaders in their own right, so when we partnered on the upcoming film 'Cloverfield,' we wanted to find cutting-edge ways to market the film. We released an exclusive film clip along with a contest whereby the person with the most clip views will be the first one to see the movie before its release on Jan. 18. We're very excited to partner with MSN Mobile on this promotion because it extends our reach and connects us with our audience on an additional digital touch point." said Amy Powell, senior Vice-president, Interactive Marketing, Paramount Pictures.

Microsoft began to placing advertisements on its MSN Mobile page today, moving into the mobile phone advertising business. Jaguar (the car company) and Paramount Pictures will be the first brand advertisers to use the ad service, which will place banner-style ads alongside existing text advertisements on MSN Mobile pages, Microsoft said.

So, be on the lookout for more information about this promotion/contest.

Thanks to Adrian and Jason for helping with the photo illustration.