The theatrical trailer for J.J. Abram‘s monster movie Cloverfield is now online exclusively at Apple Trailers and is available in standard and high definition formats.

Cloverfield was originally just the film’s working title and was also known as 1-18-08 and Slusho. It was announced earlier this month that Cloverfield would be the movie’s official title and the final title is shown at the end of the new trailer.

Cloverfield is scheduled for release on January 18, 2008. The trailer is currently running in previews before theatrical showings of Beowulf.

Filming for Cloverfield began in New York in mid-June and the cast includes relative unknowns Michael Stahl-David, Odet Jasmin, Mike Vogel, and Lizzy Kaplan.

Mystery Science Theater 3000
Volume 12 Box Set Collection
Created by Joel Hodgson
Rhino Home Video
Available now

The irreverent and innovative comedy program Mystery Science Theater 3000 has been off the air since 1999, and still it garners fanatical devotion from the younger set and fan-sites-o’-plenty. I was twelve when I first saw and fell in love with this show. The episode was ROCKETSHIP X-M, y’know, the Lloyd Bridges movie? I also saw the actual movie they put into theaters four times and it was the only instance I ever almost literally died laughing. Seriously. I nearly choked to death on a SweeTart at the line “So this is what the world must sound like to Pete Townshend”¦”

For those of you who don’t know what Mystery Science Theater 3000 is (and if you’re any kind of Internet geek and you’re admitting that, you really should be ashamed of yourself), it’s that show where the guy and the two puppets in silhouette down at the bottom of the screen talk and joke through old B-movies. I had a good time with this show when it was on the air, I had a good time with the ensuing video releases, and I had a good time with the recently released Volume Twelve boxed set, which I got for free from Rhino, and is the only time being a critic rocked purely and wholly. I KNEW this Geeks of Doom gig would pay off! It isn’t ALL Dane Cook, Eli Roth, and leather-daddies from Hell!

Of course on the first of the four discs, Dr. Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) made a Clive Barker joke”¦ I THOUGHT I WAS SAFE!

But while Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a joy to watch, it is kind of a pain in the ass to review. I actually have to justify why this whole MST3K thing “works,” and I’ve found that what makes or breaks an episode of the show has little to do with whether Joel or Mike or any of the myriad actor/writers pulling robot duty are on the ball, but rather the quality of the actual movie they’re looking at. What they’ve done is basically make film criticism saleable and funny, and I know about as well as anyone else that some bad movies are not only bad on their own, but suck any degree of fun one might have with how bad they are. And try, try, try as you might, the movie just isn’t working with you.

I’ve long held a fascination with Mars. It all started when I was 10 years old and given an old issue of National Geographic which had a map of the red planet inside, complete with the names of all the major geographical features. From there on out, I was devouring science fiction as fast as I could read it, and Mars was a cornerstone of my obsession… fueled by the Martian tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury.

Fast-forward to present day and The History Channel has given us The Universe, a series exploring the frontiers beyond our world. In the second episode of the series, Mars: The Red Planet focuses on Earth’s celestial neighbor, and the one planet in the solar system most like our own. It’s a scientific exploration of Mars’ past, present, and future, all made nicely accessible thanks to interviews with the scientists and astronomers studying the planet today.

Southland Tales
Directed by Richard Kelly
Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott
Rated R

Listen to me, as if I were Cerberus barking with all his heads at the gates of hell. I will tell you where to take it, but don’t… don’t open the box. — Dr. G.E. Soberin from Kiss Me Deadly

“A lot o’ people don’t realize what’s really going on. They view life as a bunch o’ unconnected incidents ‘n things. They don’t realize that there’s this, like, lattice o’ coincidence that lays on top o’ everything. — Miller from Repo Man

I’m here to save you. The world is coming to an end, Donnie. — Frank from Donnie Darko

Richard Kelly‘s Southland Tales wants to be the ultimate Ragnarok And Roll film. Southland Tales wants to be the It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World of Apocalyptic cinema.

The film’s huge ensemble cast and the maddening climax scream out Charles K. Feldman’s 1967 Casino Royale at times. Richard Kelly’s ambition and enthusiasm cannot be denied. Southland Tales was initially going to be a nine-part interactive experience — it was narrowed down to six parts. There is so much going on that there is the Southland Tales: The Prequel Saga graphic novel that has the first three chapters. The decision to use a graphic novel as a primer for his film was very Lucasian of Kelly. The last three parts make up the feature film, Temptation Waits, Memory Gospel, and Wave of Mutilation.

The film received a very cold and harsh reception from the critics — more devastating than Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny. The film was booed at Cannes. He is in very good company — Sofia Coppola, Michelangelo Antonini, and Robert Bresson have been booed there in the past. Kelly cut the film’s original running time from 160 minutes to 144 minutes. I wonder in cutting the running time if some ideas got lost in the process, or maybe the film never did have steady flow.

ChiSai: Karma – The Complete Collected Edition
Written by Bart A Thompson
Various Artists
Approbation Comics
Cover Price: $3.50; Available Now

A lone mystery man has been making the life of crime lord Jeno a living hell with a constant barrage on his henchmen and bank accounts. Jeno has searched through his entire payroll looking for the perpetrator, only to discover that this “man” is actually a woman by the name of Shy, a young trained assassin that used to be in his employ and had thought to be left for dead. Armed with a katana and retractable matching sais, and protected head to toe with bulletproof armor, Shy is out to destroy Jeno’s empire before finally facing him one last time.

But Shy’s life is not as simple as just striking with vengeance. She also has a caring boyfriend that tries every night to talk Shy out of going through with her plans, and a young daughter unaware of what her mommy does. It is Shy’s family that becomes Jeno’s targets when her identity is discovered. When they are kidnapped by Jeno’s lethal right-hand woman, Shy makes a desperate frontal assault on Jeno’s high rise to save them and finally plunge a blade through Jeno’s cold dead heart.