Also opening: Nature of 'Cloverfield' beast revealed

By Steve Persall, Times film critic
Published January 17, 2008

If you haven't tried figuring out what Cloverfield (PG-13) is going to be, then you must have a life. Lots of people apparently don't, making the super-secret monster movie this year's winner of the Snakes on a Plane award for Internet ballyhoo.

The buzz began last summer with an online teaser trailer showing a going-away party interrupted by something sending the Statue of Liberty's head rolling into Times Square. The clip, marked by Blair Witch-style shakycam effects, didn't offer the movie's title, just the date 1.18.08.

Curiosity thrilled the cats who broke down and zoomed in on the trailer seeking clues to prove how smart they are on blogs and bulletin boards. Then someone smarter always came along to shoot holes in the theories.

Since then, there have been mystery Web sites, postings of alleged plot spoilers, endless guesses how producer J.J. Abrams would link the movie to his TV successes Lost and Alias, and photographs of what the Manhattan-smashing monster may look like. Give Abrams credit for keeping things close to the vest in an electronic age when nothing stays private long.

Subsequent preview trailers don't add much information except that Cloverfield is a code name for the military mission to stop the beast. Paramount Pictures held off advance screenings everywhere until Tuesday, too late for Weekend review.

Is it a giant crab monster as many people think, or Godzilla redux? Will Cloverfield mark a new level in movie terror or get laughed away like Snakes on a Plane?

Check Friday for some answers. And drink your Slusho.

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'27 Dresses'

Grey's Anatomy annoyance Katherine Heigl proved her box office mettle in last summer's Knocked Up. Now she gets her first topline billing in 27 Dresses (PG-13), a romantic comedy from the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada.

Heigl plays not-so-plain Jane, whose closet is crammed with 27 bridesmaid gowns marking each time she watched someone else find marital bliss. The idea that someone as beautiful and engaging as Heigl could go through life without true love sounds like science fiction but that's what we're asked to believe.

Her younger sister (Malin Akerman, The Heartbreak Kid) arrives in town, striking sparks with Jane's boss (Edward Burns) whom she secretly crushes upon. Looks like bridesmaid dress No. 28 is in the offing. Or perhaps Jane can beat her to the altar with a handsome newspaper columnist (more sci fi, perhaps) played by James Marsden.

27 Dresses opens nationwide Friday.

[Last modified January 16, 2008, 14:49:40]