And they both have this quality that they're just making these things, and they don't really care if 12 or 12 billion people watch. It might be just an image, but that's what it seems like. Also, all that TV experience. (beep) Hey, Jim, I just got done with ten years of therapy...want to know what I *really* think of you? (I don't know why, but a. I have a favorite Rockford phone message. and b. That's it.) But you have to know any day with that in it's gonna be a long one, don't you?

Cloverfield, which Abrams is producing

I saw a commercial for Cloverfield, and all I could think was, "Hmm. Unexplained bad shit is happening to a group of people, being caused by a Big Bad we can't see. Already seen it on ABC, thanks."

What was the big controversy about Cloverfield? Someone was asking me over the weekend and I couldn't remember, but I knew I'd seen it discussed here.

What was the big controversy about Cloverfield?

I remember we talked about it as a sign that the moratorium on disaster movies set in NYC is over?

The only thing I can think of that might have been likened to a controversy surrounding Cloverfield was self-created. The first teaser trailers were released without a title and limited information was sent to various fan sites in an attempt to create buzz around the picture.

Love the Clooney/Garner comparison! I think it's that they both have super-magnetic-charm power along with an everyman quality. Whereas Grant, while chock full o' charm, was never an everyman.

Every time I see an ad for Cloverfield (which is every ten minutes, and enough already) I think, "So it's the Blair 'Zilla Project?" It looks like it means being stuck watching whiny idiots while the monster is stomping on other people OFFSCREEN. Where's the fun in that?

There wasn't controversy per se, just viral marketing and a whole bunch of "Is it a Cthulhu movie? Is it Godzilla Redux? Is it a Lost tie-in?"

The first teaser trailers were released without a title and limited information was sent to various fan sites in an attempt to create buzz around the picture.

Yeah, okay, that sounds like what I remember.

A bunch of fellow Lovecraft fans and I got all excited over early speculation that it might be Cthulhu.

It looks like it means being stuck watching whiny idiots while the monster is stomping on other people OFFSCREEN. Where's the fun in that?

Since one of the whiny idiots is played by Lizzie Caplan, and another by an extremely pretty guy unfamiliar to me, I'm in.

Abrams has stated that it's not Cthulu, Gojira or anyone else we might be familiar with.

I'm cautiously hopeful. The trailers remind me of the teeny bit of Signs that I actually liked.