Monday, December 31, 2007

Four More TV Spots

Four more TV spots below for Cloverfield bringing the total to 7 that I know about (see left hand column about halfway down for all of em).
Update: The orginial videos where pulled from YouTube for some reason but was able to find replacements via Cloverfield Clues.

TV Spot #4 - We Are Not Alone


TV Spot #5 - Some Thing Has Arrived


TV Spot #6 - Who Would You Go Back For?


TV Spot #7 - Teaser

Cloverfield TV Spot 3

Another TV spot for Cloverfield has hit the web. It is comprised mostly of previousily seen footage with just a touch of new.
TV Spot #3 - Their Only Hope Is Each Other

Sunday, December 30, 2007

IESB Cloverfield Interviews

IESB has posted an interview with Michael Stahl-David, "Rob Hawkins", and Cloverfield director Matt Reeves. No much new information is revealed compared with previous interviews.

Full Michael Stahl-David interview is here.
Full Matt Reeves interview is here.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!

Just a post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or simply have a good and safe day. Below is video of Charlie Brown Christmas as performed by the cast of Scrubs. Because I like both.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Cloverfield Viral Campaign in San Francisco

A Cloverfield viral campaign hit San Francisco last week with sidewalks marked up with "What is Cloverfield? 1-18-08" Kind of odd campaign but I guess the goal is to get people talking about it. I wonder if it actually works though.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Cloverfield TV Spot #2

A second TV spot for Cloverfield has hit YouTube joining its predecessor. It mostly comprised of the trailer footage with a touch more new scenes. Thanks to a site reader for the info.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Cloverfield Monster and Story Preview

AICN strikes again in the Cloverfield department with a preview of the film from a test screening. The preview is full of cuss words and other sex based and bad analogies. Just a warning that this isn't really a work or kid safe post. Also SPOILERS lie within. So warnings aside, below is a truncated cut of the orginial post with some unrelated nonsense cut out.

... in the movie, the Cloverfield monster bites off some fucking heads. Only you get to see it from a way you don’t normally get to see heads getting bitten off, so basically the movie ... makes other head-biting-off-movies look like Georgia Rule with a peppermint cock in its ass.

The movie starts off really shitty though, with all this stuff about a young couple that’s in love, and she’s hot and he’s hot and I’m all like, “Who’s filming the Ambercrombie and Fitch catalogue?”

But then it’s like the movie heard you calling it a pussy so it puts on its dick-stomping boots and then surprises your dick with a punch from a fist wearing a cock-punch glove.

Things just don’t get scary – they get FUCKED UP. And I mean fucked up like the whole movie’s shot through a hand-held video camera, so you feel like this is happening to you (apparently, the video camera was recovered by the government, so at the beginning of the movie, when you’re told this, you think, “Man, something bad must’ve happened to whoever filmed this”, and you imagine a lot of shit, but then when you get to what ACTUALLY HAPPENS you’re like, “Fuck you, imagination, this was ten times worse than I thought” and then to get back at you your imagination makes you think about 2 Girls 1 Cup if Rhea Perlman and Edith Bunker were the girls)

So here’s the story: a monster attacks News York City.

But that’s not the fucked-up part.

The monster RIPS THE LIVING SHIT out of the city, and everyone in its path. It’s like the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina and Kathy Griffin’s vagina combined and turned into a giant murder-beast and it’s hungry for every hip person in Manhattan.

Which is another cool thing about the movie – everyone that’s getting eaten are like characters you see in those annoying movies that are always on IFC and Fagdance.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the giant monster starts rubbing itself on buildings, and then stuff falls off it’s gross body and crawls the fuck away – only the crawling-away stuff doesn’t stay away for long, if you know what I mean.

And then – and THEN – and I mean, at this point, the movie’s like a speed freak yelling at you, as if the giant monster and the things crawling away weren’t bad enough, there’s a third, even more messed-up thing the monster can do to a person, which I won’t spoil ‘cuz it made me kind of sick.

So, here’s my final thoughts:

The good: Monster fucking everything sideways, creepy-crawly things fucking everything that’s still not fucked, indie movie characters getting eaten and mutilated before they can talk about coffee or e-mails or their feelings.

The bad: Smarty-pants story-telling shit where the video you’re watching has un-recorded bits where you see the hero’s relationship a few weeks back, before the monster shows up. Except then there’s this final shot (from the flashback section) that’s actually kind of awesome ‘cuz it’s this very sweet, sunshine-y shot of something, except at that point you’re thinking some really bad thoughts about what the shot represents.

AICN Interviews Michael Stahl-David

AICN has posted another Cloverfield interview, this time with one of the leads Michael Stahl-David who plays Rob (the guy the party is for). The interviews covers how he got the role, some aspects of shooting the film, and what doing next.

The full interview is here.

Highlights:
- Got role after several auditions, first with a tape then two flights from New York to Los Angeles to audition.
- 1 auditions were based on scenes from the TV series Alias, to show how "would do in an intense circumstance". Second audition was a monologue written by Abrams just before. Doubt he did that for all of them so probably a good sign of interest in the actor.
- Does know the entire story, wasn't kept in the dark by the director (sometimes to retain secrets for movies actors will on get the script pages specific to their lines and no other). Since CGI was going to be inserted later, shown sketches and the like of what was planned.
- As far as the overall handicam look, he learned of it mostly from the released trailers ADR (automated dialogue replacement) that he did later to certain scenes.
- Describes the movie as "it's like a survivor movie.... It's a movie about a group of people in a crazy situation and trying to make it through it. And yeah, that involves a monster..."
- The party from the trailers before the attack is a going away party for Rob who got an job offer away from New York.
- About the other characters: Hud, friend and fun guy from college who does most of the camera holding work that Case Cloverfield is derived from. Also another character is Rob's brother, reckless partier. Beth, female friend that kind of want more with but never works out.
- Some actor bladder about how the camera as witness can't capture the "... subtle stuff that I'm doing with my face that would do to make it feel very natural..." which made shooting the film tough. Yeah the acting class blather annoys me anytime see or read it.

Monday, December 17, 2007

AICN Interview With Matt Reeves

AICN's Capone conducted an interview with Cloverfield director Matt Reeves. The discussion is goes from the 5 minute sneak peak that was released on Friday, to shooting to the fan response to the trailers. Mostly its a soft sell of the movie to generate excitement.

Full interview is here.

Highlights:
- Sequence with a collapsing building reminding some of 9/11 (didn't me), realizes might be some concern but its a giant-monster movie that is supposed to reflect fears of its time much like Godzilla and fear of the atom bomb when it was created.
- The single cam point of view was part of the film design from inception. Because of that, allowed for multiple takes with lots of improvisations on the cast (no indication though how much is used in the final product).
- Because of the style, like a home movie that is recorded off and on, the movie will not have the usual back story explanations, events will happen off camera, some events might be cut off unexpectedly and the like.
- The name Cloverfield is simple the "case designate" for the New York monster attack. Not the name of whatever created the monster. So analogous to case #468413.
- Credited Rob Moore at Paramount for the idea of not putting the name into the initial teaser trailer. Also tried to avoid the "The following preview has been approved..." card but wasn't able. Also apparently had to get approval from the flumoxed MPAA to do a trailer that didn't give a title to the movie.
- Apparently the multiple rumored names of the film where the result of trying remain under the radar while filming the movie.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Cloverfield Director Interview

The director of Cloverfield, Matt Reeves discussed the upcoming movie with shocktillyoudrop.com. The full interview can be read here.

Highlights:
- Was excited by the approach of the movie to do a "realistic monster movie".
- Mostly Handicam, but 16mm black and white footage is intercut into the movie.
- The movie will show the "huge" monster and "you see everything" about it.
- Doesn't know the number of FX shots in the film due to having frequent continuous takes (rather then cuts for closeups, distance, establishing, etc see in many movies). FX work is still ongoing with the movie.
- In casting they looked "for people who could improvise" so "could provide an intimate relationship with these characters".
- The teaser trailer was something thrown together so people can "have a sense of discovery again" and Paramount came up with idea to leave the title out.

Friday, December 14, 2007

5 Minutes of Cloverfield

JJ Abrams has released and introduces a 5 minute clip of Cloverfield that seems to take place very early in the movie that shows the massive explosion in the middle of New York City, the Statue of Liberty head landing in the street and other things as seen in the trailers. It also useful for giving an idea of how the hand held camera view is being employed in the movie. I have to admit the shaky cam didn't seem as bad as feared. Also some kind of contest attached to the widget below but not sure of the details on it. (source)

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Cloverfield Running Time and Slusho Commercial

The running time of Cloverfield is reported to be 90 minutes long which is about the length of the average animated movie.

Also, the Slusho website has updated with a new and strange commercial for Slusho which you can find here in various resolutions. I think its mimicking Japanese commercials which tend to be really strange compared to American commercials.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Cloverfield Mini-"Review"

According to AICN, Viacom had a screening of Cloverfield with unfinished visual effects. Sadly the "review" is extremely light on details or any information simply saying "Just saw CLOVERFIELD in a small screening in NYC. IT WAS AWESOME!"

So there you go, some person thought Cloverfield was awesome. Hopefully more information from the screening will leak out.

Update: AICN has updated its post with three more "reviews" of the film from three people that saw it. The reviews don't really reveal much beyond the film point of view is done exclusively through a handheld camera and warns "with easy motion sickness be forewarned." They also confirm there is one main huge ugly monster and smaller monsters in the film. Overall they where positive about the film but the enthusiasm one expects from a film they might have thoroughly enjoyed isn't there.

Cloverfield Plot Summary

The official Cloverfield website updated itself to include a brief summary of the plot of the movie.

"Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives."

That handheld cam really worries me.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Official Cloverfield Poster

The official poster for Cloverfield has appeared online. The poster is the same as previous designs but now shows the official name of the movie has been added and moved to the bottom.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Cloverfield Monster Clip

From Slashfilm via Mania is a slow motion clip taken from the recent Cloverfield trailer that briefly shows off the Godzilla like monster in Cloverfield.

Cloverifeld Trailer Shot By Shot

1-18-08 blog has up a series of pics that compare the teaser trailer and the current trailer showing CGI improvements and changes made. It also provides a shot by shot still images of the trailer, perfect for those that don't want to keep hitting the pause bottom to get details.

Click here to check it out.

Official Cloverfield Site Up

The official site for Cloverfield, CloverfieldMovie.com, is now officially up. The only thing it currently has though is a hi-res image of the main movie poster and links back to Apple for the trailers.

Cloverfield's Slusho In Heroes

Heroes Producer Greg Breeman has posted pics of the various casts members holding Slusho cups with the note ""Now, the next group of photos falls into the “don’t ask/don’t tell” category. I credit Greg Yaitanes for staging all these pix, under the supervision of Joe Pokaski. Their cultural significance will become clear in the coming months, so… pay attention!"

Slusho is an J.J. Abrams creation that is currently being used to help promote Cloverfield (not sure how, but it is). I am thinking the "product" ties into the how and why the creature attacks New York in the movie but since no details really exist, its all speculation on my part. Does this mean that Heroes folks will pop up in Cloverfield? Pics below.

Monday, November 19, 2007

HD Cloverfield Trailer Now Online

Apple.com is bringing the official version of the Cloverfield trailer so no longer have to rely on the small and blurry YouTube version. Having seen the trailer before Beowulf (good movie) I personally having serious concerns about the jerky camera. Blair Witch Project gave me a major headache and the camera jerks appear to be much more frequent and actually worse based on the trailer. Pain or motion sickness pill free with each movie ticket perhaps?

Click here to see the trailer in various sizes.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Lizzy Caplan Interview and Cloverfield Gallery

Blackbookmag.com has posted up an interview with Lizzy Caplan, one of the stars of Cloverfield. Included in the interview is a gallery of 12 still pics from the upcoming movie.

The full interview is here.
The gallery is here.

Highlights:
- Auditioned for movie using scenes from Alias and in some cases content written only for the auditions. As a result didn't know much about the character when signing on.
- Signed on basically without seeing the script because a fan of "Lost" but has decided that from now on (unless if Woody Allen or Wes Anderson caliber) will not sign on without knowing what it is.
- To avoid leaks, scripts are red and watermarked with actor's name (to screw up copying and identify the leaker). Did say speculation has been inaccurate citing YouTube videos that have been analyzing the teaser trailer from this summer.
- To avoid leaks from the set from the paparazzi, messed around with the titles including once using "Chocolate Outrage."
- Said that with the lack of big names stars the movie looks like it cost $150 million but didn't. The movie also didn't do turn arounds, close-ups and coverage so that means a lot less takes and reset which also probably saved a bundle.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

The Title of Project Cloverfield is.....

... Cloverfield! Yep, instead of 1-18-08, Monstrous and all the other rumored titles, it appears that J.J. Abrams and company has decided to go with the name that has come synonymous with the movie.

This information comes via a cellphone grab of the trailer that played with Beowulf. Hopefully a better version will be online soon. Just be aware that theatres usually have flexibility on what trailers they play so no guarantee on a consistent Beowulf and Cloverfield trailer matchup.

From a marketing perspective it makes the most sense as a new title would basically require them to start over in selling the movie. Instead its a continuation of the ongoing web rumors and talk about this movie. Below is the cellphone grab of the trailer for Cloverfield, directed by J.J. Abrams.


Updated trailer with a better quality version.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Cloverfield Trailer Description

Chud.com has written a description of the trailer for Cloverfield / 01-18-08 / Monstrous / whateverelse that is rumored to be attached to Beowulf. Probably the most interesting part is the title card, which was Cloverfield. Yet the code name could be the title of the film or it could simply be a placeholder until the official release. Also the mother monster and smaller monster rumors seem to be true. Based on the description, the film might need to come with a "could cause motion sickness" warning label.

The full article is here.

It opens with text:
Multiple sightings of case designate 'Cloverfield'
Camera retrieved at incident site 'U.S. 447'
(Area formerly known as Central Park)

Then we see the footage from the teaser trailer, mostly fast forwarded up to the end, with the explosion and the Statue of Liberty's head landing in the middle of the street. Then there's a guy speaking into the camera.

Guy: My name is Robert Hawkins. Approximately seven hours ago, someTHING attacked the city.

There are flashes of chaos. Much of the trailer is made up of split second moments, and when combined with the fact that it's extreme shaky cam style and that I was watching a terrible copy, it can be hard to make things out. There's a helicopter shot of the headless Statue of Liberty.

Guy again: I have no idea what it is. If you found this,if you're watching this thing, you know more about it than i do.

Then there's a shot of jets flying overhead, in daylight.

A title card reads 'From producer JJ Abrams'

There's more flashes of chaos, there's a guy on a cellphone trying to find out where 'Beth' is, and then there's a girl yelling, 'We cannot go in the middle of the city! we've got to get out of here!'

More chaos. More quick shots. I imagine this stuff will be picked apart when the trailer debuts online.

Over this is what seems to be a conversation between an Army guy and a girl.

Army dude: There's nothing we can do right now

Girl: do you know what that thing is?

Army dude: Whatever it is, it's winning.

More flashes. An argument:

Guy 1: We have no idea what's out there!

Guy 2: I don't care what's out there. Listen to me - she's dying!

Then there's footage of army guys running and shadows on a wall. Shadows of a screaming woman being attacked by a small monster (possibly two - either she's being pulled away from the monster by someone behind her or there's another monster behind her). It's confirmed: the movie has a big beast and small ones. Like the American Godzilla.

People are hiding in a store, and there are huge thumps making everything shake. The windows of the store explode in.

The big sequence is next: Army guys running up a street, firing into the air. Tanks come up behind them, firing. Rockets launch up.

We see the big monster briefly passing between two buildings. I couldn't make it out at all, but it appeared to be HUGE.

Characters race down subway steps, there's a giant explosion, the cameraman is down, there's a figure in a tunnel, people are yelling 'Run!' and running through the tunnel.

Outside of Central Park, a horse drawn carriage goes by.

Guy: Are you still filming?

Cameraman: Yeah. People are going to want to know... how it all went down.

Shot of the Brooklyn Bridge. A helicopter taking off. Some chaos. Then inside the copter girls screaming as the copter spins out of control.

Cut to black, then the title comes up: Cloverfield.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Cloverfield Trailer, Title with Beowulf?

According to Coming Soon, the November 16th release of Beowulf could have the official trailer for Cloverfield attached to it. Since the point of the trailer would be to promote the movie coming out two months later, its not a reach to assume the official title of the movie would be revealed. This has not been confirmed officially but it wouldn't suprise me if something gets leaked before the 16th.

Friday, October 19, 2007

JamieandTeddy.com

Another new website has popped up to enter the online marketing campaign for Cloverfield / 01-18-08. The site is JamieandTeddy.com which involves a character from the film, Jamie Rascano (she was one of the identified myspace profiles). The password to enter the site is jllovesth (all lower case, password is case sensitive) and so far the only content on the site is three videos, which have been mirrored on YouTube (see below).

Video 1 is a short little hi and I love you to her boyfriend Teddy Hanssen with the ironic ending of "don't show this to anyone on the Internet." Followed about how she is getting a bladder infection.
Video 2 covers a gift that Jamie received from Teddy and told not to open until 12/9 and she loves her man.
Video 3 discusses Jamie meeting the dreaded ex-girlfriend, who threatens to create lies to break Jamie and Teddy up. Apparently a bad day for her all around and the long distance relationship is stressing her.

Jamie and Teddy Video 1


Jamie and Teddy Video 2


Jamie and Teddy Video 3


Overall, the videos do nothing in regards to the Cloverfield mystery. So far its seems designed mostly to get you to know the character and her long distance boyfriend back story. Information and password provided by Cloverfield Clues.

Friday, October 5, 2007

New Abram's Project: Fringe

Variety is reporting that the Mission Impossible III team of JJ Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are getting together to create a new series for Fox called Fringe. Orci and Kurtzman are currently working on Star Trek XI with Abrams, wrote Transformers and currently in negotiations for Transformers 2.

The 3 will executive produce the show and wrote the spec script and are working on getting together a showrunner (and one assumes writers) for the program.

From Variety, ""Fringe" mixes elements of "The X-Files" and Paddy Chayefsky's "Altered States" with what Abrams calls "a slight 'Twilight Zone' vibe." It will focus on brilliant but possibly crazy research scientist Walter Bishop [think House but more so], his estranged son and a female FBI agent who brings them together. Episodes will explore self-contained mysteries of the paranormal, as well as the relationships between the three leads."

The full article can be found here.

Why am I writing about this here? Well, the blog is jjabramsprojects.blogspot.com. Once Cloverfield has come and gone, I intend to cover Abram's other projects in some form or fashion. Since the script is done, the hard part is finished since the show runners will handle most of the day to day details while they just handle the approval of larger issues such as leads and the like so doubt this will interfere with their various current and future projects.
(source)

Monday, October 1, 2007

New Cloverfield Related Site

A new site that may be part of the official online "canon" of Cloverfield / 1-18-08 has been discovered. The site is for the Tagruato Corp joining Slusho and 1-18-08 in this odd trinity of sites for the movies viral marketing campaign.

Tagruto Corp is a deep sea drilling company (for oil) which ties in nicely to the oceanic origins of Slusho (of which Tagruto is the parent company) and the probably deep sea birthplace of the Cloverfield monster.

Clicking around the site brings up the usual company info, statements and press releases but nothing that reveals details on the movie. Other subsidiaries include Bold Futura, Yoshida Medical Research, and ParafFun! Wax Distributors, none of which have seperate sites, so far anyway.

One thing to note is the CEO of the company - Ganu Yoshida. The son of the creator of Slusho was named Ganu and is also the one that "discovered a deep sea ingredient" on the ocean floor. An ingredient that seems to fuel the various company subsidiaries. In the Slusho description no last names where given but safe to say the two are one and the same.

The company also has a deep sea drilling station called "Chuai Station" in the Pacific probably a few hundred miles from New York that opened in September. Perhaps the monster comes from there?

As for as using WHOIS information for the site, it copies the Slusho's to a tee with same e-mail address, street address and phone number (all fake). The site was registered on 7/25/07 by Daiske Kagashima (same last name as Slusho's registrant Satoshi Kagashima).

Official Site Update

The official site had a small update with a new picture of a chef with a recipe written in japanese on the back. What it means is beyond me.

Translation from mania.com:
Thank you for checking us out! We are introducing this week's tasty one dish. Make sure you eat it cold!

* Skinless chicken breast - 2, cut in halves
* SÅ­en noodles - 10 oz.
* Watercress - 1/2 cup cut into small strips
* Turnip - 1/2 cup, thinly sliced
* Shiitake Mushrooms - 1/2 cup
* Chicken stock - 1/3 cup
* Sake - 2 tbsp.
* Sugar - 1/2 tsp.
* Deep Sea Nectar - 1 pinch

In a small saucepan, stir together 1/3 cup water, chicken stock, sake, and sugar. Chill it until it becomes cold. Grill the chicken breast on both sides for about 8 minutes, and then chill. Boil the noodles for about 3 minutes, and then run under cold water until chilled. Mix the watercress, radish, and mushrooms into the sÅ­en. Slice the chicken thinly and arrange on top of the sÅ­en mix. Just before you serve, put the deep sea nectar in the sauce and pour over the noodles generously.

Go Go Delicious Chef!

#3912
In addition to the official site update, a new site was discovered Tagruato Corp (details here). As Dave's Movie Corner discovered, doing a google search of Tagruato brings up an interesting resturant review hit for Garbanzo's in Norway. The writing is a bit full of it and boring but there is one part that reminds me of Slusho's origins as an ocean floor secret ingredient found by Slusho's founders' son Ganu (Tagruato Corp's CEO).

I called Chef Nakamura to my side, clapped him upon the back, and demanded an explanation. I quickly realized my mistake, as Nakamura is a somewhat long-winded fellow. The recipe, he blabbered, was sent to him by his brother, a fellow chef working in Tokyo, where it had been gaining favor in some of Japan’s most well-renowned restaurants. It contained the finest ingredients money can buy, from fresh bay leaves imported by a company called Fotopoulos Herb Gardens in Crete, to something the Japanese call “kaitei no mitsu”, or “Seabed’s Nectar”, shipped in dry ice by a company out of Honshu called Tagruato. I feigned interest in the chef’s incessant prattle, distracted by the unveiling of desert. A chilled strawberry white wine soup, the highlight of the meal. I felt like I could destroy the cosmos using only the patch of flesh where my pinkie toe used to live.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

AICN Creature FX Rumor

As a sign of the lack of information regarding Cloverfield, AICN has run this unconfirmed rumor on who may or may not be working on the creature effects for Cloverfield.

I was at ADAPT2007 in Montreal today (a fair where high-profile people come and speak about their work on movies, games and television) and Phil Tippett's (from Star Wars, Starship Troppers and Robocop fame to name a few) Tippet Studios are working on a very big hush-hush project with J.J. Abrams which he wouldn't name.

Since he mostly does creatures, could it be something for that untitled JJ movie coming soon? Considering Tippett's track record for creature design and animation, I think we'll be in for a treat!

If you use this, call me Fronsac
Considering the film is wrapped and in its post-production phase, the creature design phase would already been completed and now it would just be implementing and touching it via CGI in the film?

Thursday, September 6, 2007

New Title "Wreck"?

According to Bloody Disgusting, the new title of Cloverfield is Wreck. Monstrous was supposed to be the title but was changed when the news hit the web. Personally, I think Abrams should consider sticking with the original title. If this rumor is true, its a pretty crappy title, especially compared with Monstrous.

From the site:
I can pretty much guarantee that by us reporting this, it will either be denied or changed - again. We learned exclusively here at Bloody-Disgusting that JJ Abrams' monster movie was in fact going to be titled "Monstrous", but was changed the second it hit the web (man we all gossip way too much!) Now it's our turn to ruin a possible title for the Matt Reeves' helmed giant monster movie, which wrapped last month in Los Angeles and New York... the title just might be..........WRECK

Friday, August 31, 2007

More Monster Rumors from AICN

AICN has posted another post about the monster that may be in Cloverfield. This time the suggestion is the giant monster unleashes "parasites" that will attack the populace. Smaller creatures that may or may not look like raptors, as is the current rumor going around.

A friend if mine who was [relation to the film deleted by editor] told me there's thousands upon thousands of "parasites" on the big monster that leap off and attack everything in sight after it's been hit by some tank shells.

Supposedly they are sort of "Alien" looking with five or six claw like legs.

PS - the movie is (sort of) a modern day version of "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms " . Which if you ever seen it was about a giant monster attacking NYC. Interesting. So, maybe the "parasites" our reader talks about here are essentially the "raptors" referenced in the article linked above?

Another thought...

We've been hearing very spotty (and wholly unconfirmed) implications that the creature in the film may have something to do with a whale. Personally, I can't quite visualize this - the image that springs to mind is goofy as hell.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

AICN Scene and Monster Description

AICN has posted what might be possible spoiler information about a scene in Cloverfield and some details about the monster.

I have for you a description of a unseen new sequence from the film you all know as Cloverfield.

You know, the one with the monster?

I can now safely say the teaser is not separate from the film, its part of the beginning
which was shown in an abridged fashion for the purpose of the teaser, it's longer in the movie.

The new scene opens with several traumatized survivors, moving through a very dark corridor there's slight cold blue illumination from halogen emergency lighting, a girl in the group is badly
beaten up she's bleeding and looks very sickly. The main group is comprised of 3 characters, Rob from the main trailer, the cameraman and a girl, though there may be others.

This scene takes place after the initial attack of "The monster" the scene we all saw in theatres. Rob is taking charge and telling everyone to keep calm, the girl says she doesn't feel so good.

They limp along until US Army soldiers storm in shouting at them, demanding they drop
they're weapons, they shout back they're unarmed, there's a lot of commotion, then they're herded briskly up some E.T style scientific tubing into a makeshift aid center, its very dark, threes lots of doctors tending to wounded and military walking about making the scene very busy. "What is that thing?" they ask as they catch their breath, the cryptic answer comes from a soldier "We don't know, but it's winning"

The imagery in this scene is like something after a terrorist bombing. A carcass is wheeled past with his guts hanging out, the cameraman struggles to take in the surroundings.

Rob gets angry with the aggressiveness of the soldiers who now tell them they can't leave, "I'm going out there, if you want to stop me you'll have to shoot me" we gather he's looking for his girlfriend. "I feel really sick" the girl unexpectedly mutters, the camera pans to her, shes looks like shes about to throw up, and curiously is crying blood from her right eye. Someone shouts
"She's been bitten!

Chaos ensues... Scene end. That's all you get, this may be used for promotion and is a possibility for an upcoming trailer.
DJ

In short, the message I'm talking about said that the big monster that comes into New York is scaly. The message claimed that when a scale is dislodged from the monster (if it gets blown off by shelling, for example) the scales actually turn into smaller, raptor-like creatures that run around wrecking havoc. That could be very cool if true. It was also suck completely if real.

So the raptorthings might dovetail nicely with the line about the girl being bitten?

As always, all this information is speculation and remains unconfirmed.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Monster Roar on 1-18-08 Website

According to another Cloverfield blog, if go to the official Cloverfield website and wait long enough with the page loaded you can hear what sounds like a monster roar about 6 minutes after opening the site. The roar seems familiar, like its from another movie (Godzilla perhaps) remixed. Could be my imagination.


The embed file above, assuming it works right, was shamelessly taken from 1-18-08.blogspot.com.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Raptor-Like Monsters for Cloverfield

According to DarkHorizons.com, some information has been released about the big bad of Cloverfield / 01-18-08. According to the site the main bad is a giant creature that emerges, Godzilla like, from the ocean without explanation and by the end of it returns back to the sea.

Also the main monster includes "small raptor-like monsters" that grow from scales on the big bad. The smaller monsters are carnivores that eats people including members of the main cast throughout the movie.

That seems to jive with all the leaked information of possible multiple monsters, yet one uber monster and the limited budget for the film. Cheaper to show small monsters killing people (been done for decades). The tension and drama then will come from no knowing who will die and when.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Monster(s?) Rumors

DreadCentral.com is reporting some rumor about what the monsters will be in Cloverfield.

It's not Godzilla or Voltron (duh) or even Cthulu; anyone expecting there to be some sort of elaborately detailed backstory may be in for a disappointment. Expect an old-fashioned monster movie retold in a very modern Blair Witch sort of way - but with a twist. You see that giant monster that emerges from the ocean to begin laying waste to New York City ... it didn't come alone.

According to "Mr. Slusho", much of the movie will revolve around the characters fleeing for their lives, not from the big one stomping the city, but from the "raptor-like" smaller versions hunting them down.
This rumor actually sounds feasible. The current rumor indicates this is actually a rather low budget movie being filmed mostly from hand-helds in a man on the street format. Low budget means very careful and limited use of CGI and the like. Framing the film in the monster(s) initial attack and fall/retreat and focus the film on a group of friends trying to survive while telling their backstory allows for Abrams love of the flashback, and keeps the tension (never know when a mini-mon will strike) all on the cheap.

Think about monster films, its always about the rise and fall of the monster. If the rise and fall is incidental to the story and instead focus on the quest to survive, things get a lot simpler budget wise and creates a character driven story rather then story or CGI driven one.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Possible Film Ending, Wrap Call Sheet

SPOILER WARNING Proceed at your own risk.

SlashFilm.com is reporting that a call sheet and video (here or below) from "nooneimportant77" provides insight on a possible ending of the movie and how it may not be 100% Blair Witch Style with handheld cams. Its also possible its just an event that occurs during the course of the movie.

From the article:
“NAME OF FEATURE Cheese!
EXT. CENTRAL PARK
Greyshot Arch - West 61st Street
1:00 PM - 9:00 PM

EXT. CENTRAL PARK
Two friends run into a tunnel and hide
SPFX bricks fall
various fallen debris in the park”

- Above friends are Rob and Beth hiding under a bridge as debris falls on them.

“EXT. STREET
Central Park South b/t 7th Avenue -
Columbus Circle

EXT. STREET
A group of friends find that Central Park South is empty and abandoned
A horse & carrage trots by
3 scissor lifts & (1) 86′ condor for lighting
20 BG cars”

- Probably an establishing shot for after the attack.
- Also the source indicated that a line he heard "there is one up there" might indicate more then one monster for the film, but admits its speculation.
- The person also noticed the use of professional film equipment belying the belief that the film would be done 100% Blair Witch style where someone is supposedly always using a cam to record events (thank god if true, that style just gives me a raging headache).
There is also video from the source, see below, that shows Paramount set equipment and pre-prep work for the above scene.

Further supporting this source is a call sheet form NYMag.com (image below, PDF here) that seems to cover events just after the above as Rob and Beth remove themselves from the bridge and go to her wrecked home. A possible alternate ending just has it focus on them under the bridge and ending there. Based on the call sheet, this seems to indicate that principle photography of Cloverfield/Cheese/whateverelse ended on August 6th, 2007.




Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Alien and Slusho Rumor Video

A new video from 1-18-08News.com presents a few new clues about Cloverfield, supposedly from an inside source. Some of the info is back up by an article in the New York Post and some it seems a little out there to me. There are also several new posters in the video that seem to pump up the monster angle of the movie but apparently those where fan mock-ups.

From the video (see below) and article:
- The movie budget is $30 million
- The villain is an alien, not a monster.
- Creature is awoken by large quantities of Slusho at Rob's party and kills those that consumed it.
- The article suggests that the movie is about the friends the day before the attack on New York.
- The claw mark on the back of the Statue of Liberty in the released poster is similar to an ability of Cthulu but isn't that creature, that can help identify what it may be. I am thinking horn.
- In the trailer, there is a large explosion, apparently caused by blown gas lines as the creature bursts through the New York bedrock. Within that you can see a face.

My view point by point:
- The budget. The movie is coming out in January, a period that is dead box office wise. Usually smaller budget movies are released then. Also JJ Abrams comes from TV where they are better at getting the most out of a limited budget. This seems very reasonable.
- The alien theory. Its possible, don't see why the creature can't be an alien but I remain unconvinced.
- Slusho awakes creature and acts as GPS. This smells of a red herring to me. Other then being an out there theory, way way out there, it also creates a hole in the storyline if true. Why "now"? Why didn't the creature awake when Slusho was manufactured? Why not when shipped, or stocked in stores? I assume greater quantities then would be at a party (never mind why Slusho instead of beer a party of 20 somethings). If the creature can burst through bedrock...why downtown New York rather then under the party? I say this theory is flat out wrong. Its two bizarre and would break suspicion of disbelief. More likely Slusho is either derived from the creature or creates the creature.
- Plot is a flashback of friends together. Abrams is in love with the flashback in a way that isn't quite normal. Its becomes a signature thing for him. That fits the plot theory. The budget, if at $30M, also does as a friendship movie bookended by things go boom is much cheaper then a movie all about a creature siege. Of course, there is nothing stopping the movie from simply being both, using the flashback for character development that is interspersed with the current attack. This one is plausible to me.
- Slash on SoL's back indicates the creatures makeup. Sure why not. I guess it would have to or they would designed it that way. Of course, why take the head off of the Statue, dive under New York City and burst through the bedrock in the city? Seems like one theory may disprove another. Unless two of them?
- Face in the explosion. I see what referring to but I think reaching in this case. I go with nope on this one.
As always, just remember that the only confirmed about this movie is that the movie is in production. Pretty much everything else is just guesses and rumors.

There is also a clarifing video here, for the interested.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Bloop!

Another interseting discovery from JayFive. The slogan for Slusho, an invented drink that seems tied into the Cloverfield mystery, is "You Can't Drink Just Six." A strange slogan that happens to also be a website. If you go to the website, it auto-redirects you to an article on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website for Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. This is a legit government website.

The article is about a "bloop" sound that was record in the summer of 1997 of an unknown origin in the Pacific Ocean. The picture is the spectrogram of the sound and to hear it sped up 16x, click here.

The WHOIS information for the Slusho slogan site doesn't prove conclusivily if its related to other Cloverfield sites but considering the overall oceanic theme that seems to be forming, more then likely it is. I guess the clue is the bloop sound is coming from the monster that eventually invades New York.

The Buru Theory

Over at this blog, comes a new theory that the movie monster is about the Buru. What is a Buru? apparently a giant see lizard. This theory is based off of the Slusho site where the seahorse's blinks and bubbles can be translated to Tide Monster Buru in morse code. Thanks to jayfive for the link.

Read the full theory here.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Cloverfield Set Videos?

Seems like every post title ends in a question mark cause so little is known. Now on YouTube comes 7 videos from veltliner1978 that may or may not be from the set of Cloverfield. Most seem to show set prep work being done to the set as people watch. The only indication that this might be Cloverfield related is one crewman wearing a Slusho T-shirt in video 7.

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5
Video 6
Video 7

Cloverfield Set Report

IESB.net has posted up what may or may not be set report from JJ Abram's untitled project codenamed Cloverfield. The report comes from a shoot that occurred in Santa Anita and Downey in Los Angeles. Also apparently the code name has changed from Cloverfield and Slusho to "Chocolate". The report involves blue screen shooting with military vehicles, ambulances and bio suits. No telling if true or not considering the overall lack of information about the movie.

To read the report and sees some pics, click here.

New Title May Be "Overnight"?

Another rumor coming out is the actual title of project Cloverfield is Overnight. The theory is based on multiple pieces of information. One is the plot of the movie seems to take place in one night (ie overnight) on 1/18/08. Another is that the filing of a trademark for "Overnight" by lawyers affiliated with JJ Abrams and Bad Robot (Abram's production company).

From slashfilm.com:
Apparently Group One Productions, LLC, and Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer registered a trademark (#77232885) “Overnight” on July 18, 2007, for the use in “motion picture, television and music production and distribution services.” The Attorney of Record for the trademark is Lori N. Boatright, who was also the Attorney of Record for “SLUSHO!,” “SLUSHO! YOU CAN’T DRINK JUST SIX,” and “BAD ROBOT” trademarks (#77229623, #77229614, and #76340985).

Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum & Morris represents a few hundred Hollywood actors and a couple directors/producers. Jim Jackoway is an attorney, known to represent J.J. Abrams. He also happens to be the registrant for BadRobot.com. Jackoway was also the original registrant for Slusho.jp, but it was changed to Satoshi before the trailer was released. One thing is for sure, Bad Robot is using Jackoway Tyreman Wertheimer as a cover to basically “launder” all connections to the movie.
I have to admit as far as proof goes this is pretty good. However, I doubt Abrams company is working on just one project so the title could be for that, nor has the plot of the movie been confirmed. Personally, given a choice between the available titles, I would go with Monstrous. Its more informative (better for marketing) and just seems to invoke a sense of danger. Overnight just makes me think "romance movie?".

Zombies?

As the mystery of Cloverfield continues, rumors are coming out of the woodwork on what the movie is about and its content. The current rumor says the movie may have zombies. I say nay. No zombies. Not even proof this is related to Cloverfield.

Pictures taken at a movie shoot in New York at Orchard and Stanton Streets, which could be the Cloverfield shoot, shows what could be zombies (or just tired extras) walking across a dressed up and devastated landcape.

(source)

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Cloverfield MySpace Profiles?

Using the flipped pictures from 01-18-08, site reader JayFive made an interesting discovery.

He performed a Google search for "Jamie Lascano". The first result brings you to a MySpace page, which has as friends the ever present MySpace Tom and 6 other people. Those six other people only have as friends Tom (don't they know he can be removed), and the other six. So basically its this tight network of seven friends, where 4 of the names on the backside of the pictures just happens to match. Adding to that, all are of the same age, look like some of the people in the pics, and all from New York.

Each MySpace profile is altered to fit the person's interests and personality, completely filled out as one usually expects for the site. The blogs in some cases go back as far as February of last year, but that's easy enough to cheat if myspace admins are helping out. Its just a database change on the dates.

I think these pages are part of the Cloverfield website network. The pages hint at what character type each will be for the movie (think kindhearted geek, hot cheerleader but not stuck up, kind jock that defends the underdogs, and so forth) but I don't know for sure.

The pages and assuming 7 main characters of Cloverfield are:

Beth McIntrye - 26, seems to be looking for Mr. Right
Rob Hawkins - "Robbie", 26
Hudson Platt - "Platt", 26, comic book geek and probably the group clown. Sadly I can identify every character in the background pics used for his page.
Lily Ford - 26, very liberal, maybe the loud opinionated character.
Marlena Diamond - 26, not sure what type she is.
Jamie Rascano - 25, the party girl of the group.
JJ Hawkins - 28, guessing the "J" from the flipped pics because the writing is so different from Jamie.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

A 1-18-08 Secret Revealed

The "secret" of the pictures on the 1-18-08.com site has been discovered. Turns out with a little mouse razzmatazz, by dragging a corner one way and then another, you can flip the pictures over for some text. The text then in turn reveals...well nothing that I can tell. Two of them have words, the rest are just blank.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Few More San Diego Cloverfield Details

Mania.com has reported a little bit more information regarding Cloverfield. More of the trivia kind then anything.

- JJ Abrams inspiration came from a trip to Japan where said "We need our own Godzilla!", which supports rumors that this is a monster movie. At this point I think all the various bits of info confirm its a monster movie.
- Cloverfield comes from LA Street where Abrams has an office.
- Movie written by Lost writer Dew Goddard (not Abrams, but probably had input in it)
- Directed by Matt Reeves (co-creator of Felicity) and being shot "cinema-verite-style) on digital video. Think Blair Witch Project with better picture quality.
- Cast includes Michael Stahl-David
- Monster is not a parasite or giant robot, killing the Voltron rumors. I am inclined to believe the Slusho rumor, that's its either mutated humans or mutated ocean life.

Another Monstrous Poster

DarkHorizons.com has posted up another poster for Monstrous. Its the same as the previous posts, only in the largest size yet and oddly it has the Monstrous title across the top, something that JJ Abrams denied was the title of the movie. Where the image came from (ie photoshopped etc) was not indicated.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

JJ Abrams Denies Monstrous Title

A note from FirstShowing.net is indicating that the title of codename Cloverfield is not Monstrous. I think the leaked image proves that the title was at least under considering but movie titles do change names, at least until the big marketing push that usually begins about a month or so before the release date.

From JJ Abrams:
“I want a monster movie, I've wanted one for so long. I was in Japan with my son and all he wanted to do is go to toy stores. And we saw all these Godzilla toys, and I thought, we need our own monster, and not King Kong, King Kong's adorable. I wanted something that was just insane and intense. It's almost done shooting and I watch dailies and I'm more excited for them than the trailer, which has had an overwhelming response. We have 6 months before this comes out. We're going to have a whole bunch of things, a whole bunch more." He said a full trailer, more clips, full posters, and much more will be coming out over the next 6 monts, including the name, which he will NOT reveal today.

“You think we'd call it Monstrous? No…"
(source)

Final Image of Monstrous Poster

EW.com has posted what is apparently the final teaser poster for Cloverfield aka Monstrous aka whatever the current rumor title is. Its the same image as the leaked images from yesterday but notice the title "Monstrous" is missing from the top. Also notice that with the additional clarity comes a noticeable "trail" in the water leading to a smoking New York. Hopefully a larger image will come out soon.

Greg Grunberg in Monstrous?

According to TV Guide, Greg Grunberg (Heroes, Alias) may be casted in JJ Abrams Cloverfield. Its actually currently just idle speculation based on previous history as Grunberg and Abrams are friends from childhood (I think) and usually Grunberg gets a role of some sort in all of Abrams work. He was in Felicity, Alias, Lost (the pilot in the first ep), and I believe a small role in Mission Impossible III. The roles have all varied in size and depth so it could be a major role or just something as small as innocent bystander that gets killed by falling debris.

From TV Guide:
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."

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Paramount Purchases a Monstrous Website

According to WHOIS information, Paramount Pictures is the new owner of the website http://www.themonstrousmovie.com (currently not up yet) that pretty much confirms the rumored name for the Cloverfield project that JJ Abrams is producing.

"Monstrous" Title of Cloverfield?

Blurry cell phone pics released online indicate that the possible title of the JJ Abrams' project codenamed Cloverfield or Slusho could be called "Monstrous". This belief is fulled by the poster which depicts a headless statue of liberty in the foreground with a possibly devastated New York City in the background. The pic at end of the post is another blurry pic that shows Transformers poster on the left, Monstrous in the middle, and 30 Days of Night on the right.

The speculation that this is definitely the title of the film is further fueled by speculation on what the story could be about from the Gametrailers.com forums:
In Jewish belief, Behemoth is the primal unconquerable monster of the land, as Leviathan is the primal monster of the waters of the sea and Ziz the primordial monster of the sky.

1) The first monster roar is accompanied by an earthquake (Behemoth)
2) The second monster roar is accompanied by a huge fireball (Leviathan, for it can breathe fire)
3) The third monster roar is accompanied by the flying Statue of Liberty head (Ziz).

Not convinced?

The guy who says "maybe we can get a better view from the roof" has the Slusho logo on his shirt. Slusho is a classic J.J. Abrams icon, and it has appeared in both Alias and Lost, which are his shows.

Slusho.jp has, by now, been confirmed as a part of the viral marketing campaign revolving around 1-18-08. Japan. Strangely enough, the character Rob, who is present in the trailer, was gonna fly to Japan a day after that party and the monster events.

Let's have a look around on that site. Not all pages are accessible. But there is an odd feature about the pages that are available. The main page background is on land, the Downloads page background is on air, and the History page background is on sea.

Furthermore, the six buttons on the main page cause popups of various animals, namely a Horse, a Whale and a Bird. Behemoth, Leviathan, Ziz
Could this be true? Sounds good and hopefully answers will come during the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con where Abrams is said to be appearing.

(source)

Friday, July 20, 2007

Ethan Haas, Mindstorm Labs Connection

JJ Abrams has verified that the Ethan Haas Was Right and Was Wrong sites are not a part of Cloverfield. AICN then reported that these sites where actually a part of a new game called Alpha Omega from Mindstorm Labs. None of this has been confirmed, but a blog called OMG WTF EHWR?! might have been the source of AICN unsubstantiated revelation. I say that because they through out the Mindstorm's connection without any explanation of where that connection came from. CEO email? Friend of a friend? Who knows, the site doesn't say.

Really its best to read the site because the connections, all unproven at this time, is fairly complicated. Note to that site's author, use screenshots so if info gets changed can at least do a before and after comparison. The evidence they present:

- WHOIS address for Ethan Haas Was Right is the address for Tom McLaughlin, public relations for Mindstorm Labs since changed from someone named Van Mantra (now in Canada) to John Schneckel and Triton Enterprises, which is part of Mindstorm Labs PR push.
- A press release from the company indicates that more details about the game will be out in early August. As a result it does make since to launch the site in preparation for the PR push for the game.
- A user, bjkman22, posted on many video game forums about the Ethan Haas Was Right website. His real name is Brian Kessman, Interactive Producer of Red Interactive Agency, who built the Was Right website.
- An image from the website has a section that looks nearly identical to art posted on the Mindstorm Lab's site. Click here to compare images.
- There could be the theory that Labs is a front for Cloverfield, but the company has apparently been looking for talent back in January. No reason to do that if just using them to promote a movie. Oddly though, current WHOIS records seem to be fake...but then there are privacy reasons to do that so not conclusive.
- The Ethan Haas Was Wrong blog's profile indicates they are in Latvia, which is the same country that Triton Enterprises was founded in, which is the current owners of the Ethan Haas Was Right website which was previously indicated was owned by Tom McLaughlin at Mindstorm Labs.

Oh yeah, thanks to the site, learned their is a myspace page for the Ethan Haas game. Nothing of substance yet on the site, at least not until August 1st. Also, again from that site, are three pages from Ethan Haas journal (Caph, Gamma Cass, Schedar) or full text here.

So, all kinds of evidence that Ethan Haas is related to a game and not Cloverfield as first assumed. How the two became joined together but it seems to have been a lucky (or unlucky depending on point of view) coincidence where the Ethan Haas ARG got launched at the same time as the Cloverfield trailer. Since JJ Abrams is known for secretive games, people just leaped to conclusions since the trailer showed New Your about to go boom and the sites show what could be interpreted as New York post boom. Since its basically proven that Ethan Haas has nothing to do with the movie, I can't decide if should continue to post about it or not.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Cloverfield Set Pics

Apparently some Cloverfield set pics showed up on Fright Forums. The pics where pulled but We Were Cool Kids blog posted up 4 of them which I have below.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Ethan Hass Explanation?

According to AICN, it appears that the Ethan Hass related websites are actually site being used to promote Mindstorm Labs products. Where this conclusion is coming from I have no idea as nothing about the main website suggests anything to do with the Ethan Haas game.

From AICN:
"When you get overexcited, you get an Ethan Haas situation, and people spend a lot of energy that they shouldn’t spend in the wrong direction. To be clear, all the Ethan Haas sites are interesting and well-coordinated, but none of them have anything to do with CLOVERFIELD. Instead, they are marketing for an upcoming game called ALPHA OMEGA by Mindstorm Labs. Cool stuff, but it’s not connected to the film at all."

At the end of the day, the only confirmed official site related to J.J. Abrams Untitled Project a.k.a. Cloverfield is 1-18-08

Friday, July 13, 2007

Slusho Another Cloverfield Website?

According to the Ugo.com, it appears that Slusho is another Cloverfield website.

The evidence is pretty good to.
1) J.J. Abrams already indicted there where more then one related Cloverfield website.

2) IGN reports the Paramount code name for Cloverfield is Slusho. This is based on a scene description they had for Slusho "Exterior dialogue. Driving scenes. Occasional traffic & pedestrian control. Camera & equipment on sidewalk, street and property. 200 extras. Military vehicles. Destruction aftermath. Weapons brandished. Emergency vehicles with flashing lights. Exterior dialogue on fire escape on 8th floor."

3) Pic below from the trailer shows a shirt with Slusho on the front. Its hard to make out but if it the website, it seems identical.

4) The history of Slusho indicates that its creator Noriko was killed at sea looking for new flavors and her son Ganu became an ocean scientist. One day "he and his teammates discovered a deep sea ingredient." He later dreamed that if drank the ingredient would go from a small fish to a giant whale. Based on the dream, Ganu decided that this new ingredient was the one his Noriko died looking fo. Because it was found in high pressure and extreme cold environment of the ocean floor, it is kept in a frozen state. Considering that Cloverfield is a monster movie, its begs the question of what happens when its not frozen or when its drank?

Overall its pretty good evidence that maybe Slusho website is part of the Cloverfield alternate reality game.

1-18-08 Updated With New Photo

1-18-08 has updated with a new photo that shows a later time frame. The timeline on the site so far is:

1-18-08 12:01am: Lots of fun at a party
1-18-08 12:36am: Fear from something up high (from sky? roof of a building? who knows)
1-18-08 12:48am: Something bad has happened. Is it indoors or outdoors. If outdoors then somehow night has become day from unknown source.

Current info and about all that is known about the movie:
According to IMDB, the film stars Blake Lively, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Lizzy Kaplan. It's directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard. JJ Abrams is producing this monster movie. Matt Reeves last direct Felicity and Drew Goddard wrote for Lost, Angel, and Buffy.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Ethan Haas Sites A Fake?

According to a note from J.J. Abrams, the various Ethan Haas sites are fake. Or are they?

From AICN:
Dear Sir,

Thanks for your support of our little movie. I can't wait to talk to you more about it -- of course, knowing you, by the time we talk you'll know more than I will.

Regarding the online stuff you posted: yeah, we're doing some fun stuff on the web. But, obviously, if the movie doesn't kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat's about what's online? So as you can imagine, we're focusing mostly on THAT. For what it's worth, the only site of ours that people have even FOUND is the
1-18-08.com site. The others (like the Ethan Haas sites) have nothing to do with us.

Stay cool the rest of the summer -- and thanks per usual for AICN!

JJ
Are they really fake though? It sure is hell an eleborate and bizarre concidence if they are. Really eleborate. I guess August 1st will be the proof as those other sites all point to that as the next significant date of the game. Has anyone figured out those pics? I thought the "We'll Miss" might spell out another website depending on how turned but game up with nada on that theory.

Ethan Haas Was Right Videos

Below are the five videos that come up if you solve each of the puzzles on the Cloverfield related Ethan Haas Was Right website. Also click the links because the descriptions seem to be telling.

Message 1


Message 2


Message 3


Message 4


Message 5

Cloverfield Related Websites

As part of the viral marketing campaign for Cloverfield, several websites have popped up on the web. Apparently they are all apart of the same ARG (Alternate Reality Game that frankly confuses the snot out of me and haven't figured out the point of them yet. Here are the ones I am aware of so far.

1-18-08
Release date of the movie and I based on the pictures of this website, the #$%@ hits the fan around 12:36am. If go to the website there are currently two pictures that you can move around and rotate. What they are for beyond that I am not sure.


Ethan Haas Was Right
Another part of the ARG, this time with 5 memory puzzels. Above is the symbol to english translation, click the image for larger version. After each puzzle is cryptic video. The main gist after getting through the five puzzels is something will happen on August 1.

Here are the hints for the five puzzles (or site help me):
Level 1: Push the buttons in order.
Level 2: Spell HAAS. One of the stars (far right one) will show 26 symbols which correspond to the letters of the English alphabet.
Level 3: Its a beg game, there can only be one left. Pain in the rear so good luck.
Level 4: Use arrow keys to move the blue pebble UP, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, UP, RIGHT, UP, LEFT, LEFT (have to hit each twice so arrow for the blue dot points in direction want to move).
Level 5: Spell out THEBEGINNINGISTHEEND. Write down your code (DIVINUS) which will be used starting August 1st with option to get a reminder.

If click the blue star and email Van you will get the following response:
From: Van Mantra van@ethanhaaswasright.com
Mailed-By:
ethanhaaswasright.com
To: -
Date: -
Subject: ------------- they
found me (was: what is all this?)

It's worse than I thought, the Mezin
have found my location and hacked into my phone.
I need to go off the grid
until I can find a safe location to transmit.
If you need help finding the
answers you seek, trust HAAS for the second key, it will unlock the mysteries.

Beyond that, look for other believers.
We are growing stronger
everyday, there are many out there that have found the path.
Search and you
will find the keys to unlock the puzzles.

-- Van

Ethan Haas Was Wrong
Uh not sure. Its mostly written in the language of the ARG, but with the handy dandy translater pic above you could translate it. However its a total pain in the real to do. Thankfully some people on that website already did so.

A translation of the posts are:
July 5th
Are they attempting(?) to scare us into belief?

Ethan Haas would try to strike far into the hearts of men. Do not be shaken by the ramblings of a mad man my brothers and sisters. We are all safe.

July 8th
How easily humanity is mislead...

We the Mezin never expected your kind might be so easily distracted, that all may be lead by one down the muglgarden(?) path, that your eyes and minds would be so easily clouded.

You point (paint?) to a date in the future that means nothing to our cause or your future...

Only 8-1-07 matters to our cause...

We have been here since manking fought with sticks and bones, your technology may have improved but can the same be said for the human mind? Most sterly(?) a wily manipulator like one mentor(?) will exploit the weakness in the masses and lead you all to ruin.

Clearly there are some among you who know the truth and may even be worthy of the Mezin, who have strength of mind and will to see what trial awaits and are not distracted...

The time has come for us to reveal the methods of Haas, we have found his writing and will now expose them for the nonsense that they are...

Monday, July 9, 2007

Cloverfield Teaser Trailer

Here is the teaser trailer to Cloverfield, at least until Paramount pulls it. If want the hi-res versions, click here.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog covering the new on various J.J. Abrams projects in the tradition of my other blog, the Transformers Live Action Movie blog that covers all the happening involving the Transformers movie and its probable sequels. Currently this blog will focus on Cloverfield with its release date is 1/18/08. He is also involved with Star Trek XI but I will have a seperate blog for that.