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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The Betrayal

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Baldwin on Cox's film

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"As dull as Phil Angelides' campaign has been, I believe that he would better represent the interests of more Californians than Schwarzenegger could ever hope to," Alec Baldwin wrote on The Huffington Post two days ago. "Schwarzenegger is not a leader. Like Bush, he is a front man for a group of powerful interests and he is reading from a script."

And yet Baldwin has decided not to narrate a documentary by director-writer Dan Cox and co-writer Jerry Decker because he feels it pushes certain back issues -- Arnold's father's Nazi associations, for one -- too forcefully. "The makers of Running With Arnold hammer Schwarzenegger over his private behavior and his record as governor," Baldwin declares. "But Schwarzenegger deserves to be treated fairly and the film's images of Nazi rallies were over the line."

I asked Cox about seeing this film a while, and then again a couple of days ago. He said copies will be going out to the press fairly soon. I'll reserve comment until I see it, but journalists have been doing stories about Arnold's dad's Nazi affiliations back in Austria for a long time, and it seems fair to get into this -- although there's something about the stink of Naziism that always seem to warp or overbake an inquiry when it's mentioned. I don't know what the "private behavior" stuff is about, but I can guess -- and if I were doing an Arnold doc I would definitely leave that shit out.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 31, 2006 at 7:24 PM

comment #1

D.Z. says ...

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/entertainers/actors/arnold-schwarzenegger/
Not work safe.

Posted by D.Z. at October 31, 2006 8:56 PM

comment #2

MovieBob says ...

This raises Baldwin's credibility as far as I'm concerned, good call on his part.

I don't care HOW much these guys dislike Arnold's governorship, insinuating Nazi ties is over the line and LAME. Primarily because it's a cheapening of actual horror for an insult that carries no real point or meaning (BOTH parties call eachother Nazis when they run out of anything constructive to critique) and also because, let's be honest hear, it's trashy and bigoted: "Oh, he's German, so we'll say he's a Nazi."

Also.. what has Arnold done other than have an R next to his name to hack these guys off so much? On just about every social issue he's basically a Democrat, he hasn't gone and done any court-packing with Republicans, the only "conservative" positions he takes are on matters of finance and even there he's been pretty flexible.

Posted by MovieBob at October 31, 2006 8:59 PM

comment #3

D.Z. says ...

MovieBob: I'd agree, except that Arnie's the son of a nazi, "admired" Hitler, and invited a war criminal to his wedding. As for his policies, I'd say his crimes include shutting down hospitals and ripping off schools, while not actually doing anything about our shitty economy, besides encourage more overpriced housing.

Posted by D.Z. at October 31, 2006 9:16 PM

comment #4

christian says ...

arnold was elected based on a consortium of political business kings and crooks, including ken lay.

they wanted arnold in to stave off gray davis suing them for their energy manipulation sanctified by king george when he told gray davis he refused to put price caps on the 2001-2 energy rape.

arnold insulted nurses and all of us when he whipped out his "girlie man" line twice -- the second time at the 2004 rnc to help his friend bush win. arnold is a flip flopper extreme.

phil angelides is a good guy and actually wants to do something.

Posted by christian at October 31, 2006 9:29 PM

comment #5

D.Z. says ...

Anyway, the only reason Baldwin is backing down is the same reason that Spielberg's funding's Arnie's re-election campaign: tax breaks. It's the reason so many boomers who were once anti-establishment sold out to Reagan.

Posted by D.Z. at October 31, 2006 9:41 PM

comment #6

Griff says ...

Say what you will about Baldwin's politics, the man has principle. He volunteered to do his voice for "Team America," which showed a certain kind of balls and self-confidence. Now this decision. Could be since Baldwin has been worked over in the press, he's a bit more sensitive to how elements of a person's life could be twisted. Good for him.

Posted by Griff at November 1, 2006 8:12 AM

comment #7