The Cloverfield Paradox
Director: Julius Onah
Screenwriter: Oren Uziel and Doug Jung
Cast: Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, and Zhang Ziyi
Distributor: Netflix
Rated TV-MA | 102 Mintues
Release Date: January 4, 2018

One thing you have to appreciate about the Cloverfield franchise is that it is building its own mythology without the films’ actually knowing its a part of J.J. Abrams’ grand mystery box scheme. Cloverfield was a sci-fi romp that drew its found-footage inspiration from films like Blair Witch. 10 Cloverfield Lane was a more focused offering that was like a theatrical play set almost entirely in an underground bunker. And both are somehow loosely connected to each other without the characters of those films knowing it. However, Netflix surprised us all on Sunday night by releasing The Cloverfield Paradox, the latest installment of the Cloverfield franchise, this time set in space.

Unfortunately, the entire film is a disjointed mess that haphazardly throws in dated and familiar plot devices and twists for the sake of being “Cloverfield In Space.”

“©My full review below.”©

The first look at Cloverfield Paradox aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday night, and in a huge surprise announcement, Netflix will premiere the film on their streaming service tonight after the Big Game!

After being delayed multiple times, the film continues the vague and strange marketing campaign that the Cloverfield films are largely known for. Even finding out who will distribute the film was a mystery. But Netflix is no stranger to releasing big teasers on Super Bowl Sunday. They started to practice that last year with Stranger Things 2, and look how successful that turned out to be.

Now the teaser offers a tiny sneak peek into J.J. Abram’s latest mystery box, and it is just as cryptic and strange as the last two. Check out the first look at Cloverfield Paradox here below.

The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar
DVD
Written by Ford Riley
Directed by Howy Parkins
Created by Ford Riley
Starring Max Charles, Gabrielle Union, David Oyelowo, Rob Lowe, Khary Payton, Dusan Brown, Diamond White, Atticus Shaffer, Joshua Rush
Release Date: January 9th, 2018

The Lion King is regarded as one of Disney’s greatest films, the fourth mega hit in a 5-year span that combined cutting edge animation technology with an absolute classic soundtrack. The film is about a young lion Simba who is forced away from Pride Rock through the plans of his devious uncle Scar. After meeting some news friends, Simba returns to battle for his family’s honor and his own redemption. After a few direct to video sequels, Disney Junior began The Lion Guard in 2016, a spinoff involving Simba’s son Kion (Max Charles). The show is a hit among the Disney Junior target audience with enough throwback references for parents who grew up with the original. Kion and his Lion Guard are in for their fiercest challenge when evil forces in the pridelands conspire to bring about a return of Scar. The elongated near hour long episode is part of a DVD set, The Lion Guard – The Rise of Scar, available now.

The Cloverfield films have been known to have an unorthodox marketing campaign. From out of nowhere a trailer can appear for a film that was produced under a different title. And for the most part, this strategy has worked. It may not produce wild box office numbers like blockbuster tentpoles do, but under the production and marketing budget of the two films so far, it is enough of a hit to warrant more.

However, it appears that Paramount Pictures is having second thoughts about releasing the next Cloverfield film, which is tentatively titled God Particle. There are reports now that the film might be heading to Netflix. More on the story below.

Getting a definite release date for the tentatively titled God Particle has been touch and go. The film was scheduled for a late 2017 release but then was pushed back to February 2018.

And now, the next chapter of the Cloverfield franchise has been pushed back once more. This time to April 2018. Find out more about this in the story below.