Cloverfield

One thing I've definitely procrastinated (see yesterday's post) is writing about an upcoming movie I am ridiculously excited about: "Cloverfield".


For those who missed the previews when they saw "Transformers" last summer (and for the rest of you who forgot to go altogether), there is a new movie coming out this month by J.J. Abrams, the creator of "Lost". At that time all we saw was a trailer that gave new meaning to the word "teaser" as the only information we got was that Abrams was the creator, it had something to do with the date 1-18-08, and the head of the Statue of Liberty was going to fly down a New York City street.

Now that's a way to start some hype.

New commercials and trailers are out, and the intrigue has only been magnified. As if the vague imagery of buildings falling, bridges collapsing, soldiers launching missiles and people exploding behind curtains wasn't enough, there is also an entirely different kind of promotion machine out there, and it exists entirely on the web as a super-viral marketing campaign.


For starters, you have 1-18-08.com, a frustratingly vague site that features a bunch of pictures, complete with timestamps and all apparently taken on...wait for it...January 18, 2008. Since it's inception users have been able to move the pictures around, and over time newer (and just as vague) abilities have been packed in. For example, if you take certain pictures like the Japanese chef and give them a quick little drag down and up you can flip them over revealing handwritten notes or, in this case, what looks to be a recipe in Japanese. The most recent addition to the site is a monstrous roar that you'll hear exactly 6:00 minutes at the site (or by just clicking the play button below).



There are countless fan/speculation sites out there (like CloverfieldClues), and if you really want to waste some time you should read the boards at the IMDB page. People go to great lengths doing things like analyzing the trailers and commercials and putting mash-ups on YouTube, most of which revolve around glimpses of the monster.

Many of the characters in the upcoming movie have MySpace pages. A fictional beverage named "Slusho" (which may or may not be an integral part of the plot) has its very own site too, as well as a slew of (odd) commercials. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an actual Slusho beverage available for purchase if the movie takes off.



Slusho's also-fictional parent company, the Tagruato Corporation, also has a site full of over-the-top detailed bogus information. There's even a site for the anti-Tagruato T.I.D.O. Wave, part of "a nonprofit, grassroots, environmental activist organization dedicated to saving our planet from the world's most nefarious corporations". Cool. Why not...

I just am really hoping the movie lives up to at least half of its hype. Oh, and please don't be Godzilla, please.