Cloverfield: Breaking the January Curse?
If you’ve caught Transformers recently, you’re familiar with Mission: Impossible III director J.J. Abrams’ upcoming film Cloverfield. And you’re possibly a bit puzzled by it all, or maybe you’re excited. It definitely came as a shock to me the first time I caught the trailer, and even back when it was just “Clover”, “Cheese”, “Slusho”, “1-18-08” or even just “Untitled J.J. Abrams Project”, it definitely had my interest.
There are some, probably inevitable, comparisons to The Blair Witch Project. And these aren’t unfounded comparisons—both are filmed in a largely first-person perspective via hand-held camera and purported as documentary of some sort.
Though the biggest difference is going to be Cloverfield’s massive budget—thirty million dollars against the strength of Blair Witch’s estimated sixty grand—it’s proof enough that the first-person film isn’t dead, just on life support. There’s even some word that says the upcoming George Romero title, Diary of the Dead, will have some first-person perspective elements to it, and between that and Cloverfield, that says something for the concept.
But here’s the really interesting part…January has been regarded for more than a good long time now as a dumping ground for movies studios are unsure of. If Cloverfield becomes, as the London Times posits, the first monster hit of 2008 then maybe the whole concept of January as dumping ground will have to be reconsidered right alongside it.
And until Cloverfield lands, you can go get reacquainted with Transformers trivia and Mission: Impossible series trivia on Kwanzoo.
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That was my first thought - “oh, it’s like the Blair Witch Project.” I’m not sure I’m gonna see this one. I really like this site by the way
Jeanne–Glad to hear you like the site! A lot goes into it, so it’s definitely great to hear we’re useful and enjoyed. But I’d suggest you hold judgment on Cloverfield. It may be shot in a style similar to BWP, but bear in mind that Cloverfield has something like five hundred times the budget of Blair Witch. I think they’ll be able to fix a lot of BWPs problems, like that nausea-inducing camera work and that cheesy dialogue.