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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November 12

Slumdog Millionaire

November 14

A Christmas Tale

B.O.H.I.C.A.

Dostana

The Dukes

Eden

House of the Sleeping Beauties

How About You

Quantum of Solace

We are Wizards

November 21

The Betrayal

November 30

Weekend tracking

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Neil LaBute's The Wicker Man, which Warner Bros. won't show to the press, is apparently going to be the biggest peformer this weekend. 72% general awareness with a 34 definite interest and a first choice of 11. We're looking at a four-day weekend (Labor Day holiday is on Monday, 9.4) so figure somewhere between $15 and $20 million.

Crank will probablycome in second among the newbies -- 45 general awareness, 32 definite intrest, first choice 8.

The Illusionst, which I finally saw two or three nights ago and is better than I figured it would be, is going wide. And there's also Crossover, the decent-looking black basketball movie from Screen Gems.

Samuel Goldwyn'sLassie, a first-rate family-geared film that I saw on DVD last night, could do some real business if it had a more aggressive distributor. The problem is that Goldwyn doesn't have any money. Their rep is "good taste, no pockets." If you go with Goldwyn, it's touch and go because they don't spend anything.

Early tracking on All The King's Men (Columbia, 9.22) is in -- 36 general awareness, 24 definite interest, 2 first choice. It's early (three weeks out) but right now it needs to chug a can of Monster.

The two hottest looking titles for 9.15 are The Gridiron Gang and Universal's The Black Dahlia -- both are tracking decently. Paramount's The Last Kiss isn't at this stage.

Among the 9.8 releases, Focus Features' Hollywoodland has a semblance of a soft pulse; The Protector is nothing; ditto The Covenant.

Spewings from Mr. Down-head<< previous | next >>Jackson's WWII flick

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 31, 2006 at 11:27 AM

comment #1

The Winchester says ...

For what it is, The Protector is a pretty badass martial arts flick. Tony Jaa is ridiclous, like old Jackie Chan or Jet Li. The movie's about a young man's quest to find his pet elephant. But really it's about a man's quest to break as many arms as humanly possible in 100 minutes.

I don't understand why this movie's not in the Oscar bubble, to be honest.

Posted by The Winchester at August 31, 2006 12:13 PM

comment #2