MissingTeddyHanssen - Contact John Garrettie

The MissingTeddyHanssen blog has been updated with a new post:

All right, John, you asked for it and I’m giving it to you. Here’s the government “representative” who was assigned to my case and has yet to answer a single straight question. Are any of you still missing family members? Maybe we can all get answers. I got his personal email because the bozo couldn’t figure out how to work his Blackberry and emailed me with it. Let’s make him listen to us!

Please feel free to bombard john.garrettie@yahoo.com with your questions. I am.

I'm starting to get the feeling that John might not be with the CIA... could he be working for Tagruato? BTW, what even happened to The Whistle Blower?

* Thanks to kenclops at Unfiction for finding this!

Clue Hunt Photo #5

The Clue Hunt for Photo #4 is over. The correct answer was RACHEL BLAKE - which is also the name of the heroine from The Lost Experience ARG. I would have also accepted RACHEL.

Popular incorrect answers were Dr. Albert and Lamp, which I'm guessing is because my profile says: "... I have three pygmy goats. I love lamp." BTW, "I Love Lamp" is a quote from one of my favorite movies, Anchorman.

The correct answer could be found in my August 9th, 2007 post titled Slusho! Make Me Look Cool!!!, where I say "(BTW, that's me on the left, Dr. Albert in the middle, and Rachel Blake on the right.)" Instead of reading through all of my 350+ posts, you could have used the search box on the right to search for "goat", and looked at only 3 results.

Today's Top 5:

#1 - Billy B.
#2 - Fransisco M.
#3 - Myk Z.
#4 - Joker
#5 - Kristen S.

BTW, I just want to mention that every time you get a correct answer, you get another entry into the Clue Hunt Drawing. You don't need to get all the clues correct in order to win!

Photo #5 is now up. There will be no hints.

Don't forget the Kishin Caption contest and the DVD giveaway!

Ugo.com Interactive Cloverfield Map

Ugo.com has a great interactive Cloverfield map, with detailed information and photos about the various locations in the movie, and interesting trivia about those real-life locations.

Cloverfield's New York
Knocking the heads off statues, blowing up buildings, drooling on the lawn in Central Park ... the monster in Cloverfield is the ultimate tourist from hell. Next thing you know he'll be going up the wrong side of the subway stairs and slowly window shopping on Madison Avenue during pedestrian rush hour. Cloverfield is so jam-packed with real NYC locations, we thought it would be fun to take a tour of the local hot spots visited by the monster and learn a little about their history, architecture, and the way in which the monster smashed them all to hell.

Clue Hunt Photo #4

The Clue Hunt for Photo #3 is over. The correct answer was SUPERTANKER - which is what you see blowing up in the photo. You can see the burning Tagruato ship up close later in the movie as Rob and his friends cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

The secret word was hidden in morse code on the building on the far left.


Today's Top 8:

#1 - Billy (2/3)
#2 - Ramon Santano (3/3)
#3 - James Mehaffey (1/3)
#4 - Myk Zagorac (3/3)
#5 - Christian E (2/3)
#6 - David Hodgkiss (2/3)
#7 - Dave Thompson (3/3)
#8 - Gabriel Talavera (2/3)

We've reached a new low in correct answers, in fact the top eight are the only people with the correct answer! Congratulations to Ramon Santano, Dave Thompson and Myk Zagoric for their perfect scores so far!

Photo #4 should be MUCH easier. All you need to do is tell me the name of my goat. The answer is somewhere on this blog.

The Kishin Caption contest is still going strong. There are now 60 entries! Check them all out here, and leave a positive comment on the ones you like as an informal vote. (Please don't leave any negative comments. Thanks!)

Don't forget you can also enter the DVD giveaway, just by sending me an email!

IGN Cloverfield Monster Exclusive Video

IGN has an exclusive clip titled "Creating The Monster" which was taken from the Cloverfield DVD extra "Cloverfield Visual Effects".

For more information on the DVD extras, check out my full review here.

* Thanks to Leslie W. for finding this!

Cloverfield RiffTrax

Cloverfield will be getting it's own RiffTrax commentary on April 22! RiffTrax are third-party commentaries that you play while watching the movie. Brilliant idea!

From their site:

RiffTrax.com is an innovative site featuring the hilarious DVD commentaries of Michael J. Nelson - Star of the legendary Mystery Science Theater 3000! At RiffTrax.com, you can download feature-length commentaries by Mike (plus other stars of MST3K and guest celebrities) and listen to these "RiffTrax" in sync with your favorite, and not so favorite DVDs. It's like watching a movie with your funniest friend. And it's super easy to do!

I'm sure these MST3K alum will have an interesting take on the movie - even their synopsis is funny:

"What if a monster attacked a city?" This is the shockingly novel concept behind the viral marketing triumph of the year! Filled with "fresh"* performances and "authentic"** cinematography, Cloverfield masterfully takes a page from The Blair Witch Project, reworking the "snotty 20-somethings endure trauma while repeatedly saying 'dude'" genre into something unique while still being very much the same. Look for star turns by That Girl Who Was in Mean Girls and That One Dude Who Played Eric in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Mike, Kevin and Bill's RiffTrax was found by the Department of Defense (and then thrown away, but we dug it out of a garbage can.)

*Not very good.
**Not good at all.

* Thanks to Roger C. for finding this!

Amazon Exclusive Cloverfield Clip

Amazon has an exclusive clip from the Cloverfield DVD titled "Get a peek at the Cloverfield monster". The clip is from the DVD extra Document 01.18.08: The Making Of Cloverfield.

For more information on the DVD extras, check out my full review here.

* Thanks to The Enchanted One at Unfiction for finding this!

Clue Hunt Photo #3

The Clue Hunt Contest for Photo #2 is over. The correct answer was CORNBREAD - which is what Jamie Lascano told her boyfriend Teddy Hanssen was the answer he got wrong in JamieAndTeddy video #2.

The secret word was not hidden in the picture itself, but in the properties of the photo. Viewing the photo's properties in Photoshop, Picasa, or even Windows would have revealed the message: The secret word is "cornbread".

Today's Top 5:
#1 - Sajid Anwar - 0:05 (1/2)
#2 - Theos - 0:47 (2/2)
#3 - Dan Glitch - 1:45 (1/2)
#4 - Francisco J. Marquez (2/2)
#5 - Sly Text - (2/2)

Needless to say, there were a lot less correct answers today. The leader board has reflected that, and we have a new overall leader:
#1 - Theos
#2 - Jeremy Pinkham
#3 - Sly Text
#4 - Francisco J. Marquez
#5 - Marcus Reynolds

The next photo, #3, is already up.

The Kishin Caption contest is still going strong. There are almost 50 entries! Check them all out here, and leave a positive comment on the ones you like as an informal vote. (Please don't leave any negative comments. Thanks!)

Don't forget you can also enter the DVD giveaway, if you haven't already done so.

Alyse Is Missing Teddy Hanssen

A new comment by MissingTeddyHanssen was posted on the TidoWave website:

MissingTeddyHanssen
04/15/08 4:05 pm
That’s what I thought. You’re pathetic. And if you think I’m giving up on my brother you’re stupider than I gave you credit for. Anyone who’s tired of being lied to should come to my blog. We have to stick together. There are more people out there affected by this. I can’t be the only one.

If you head over to MissingTeddyHanssen.blogspot.com, you'll find the blog of Teddy's sister - Alyse Hanssen. If the dates on the site are to be believed, this has been around for a few weeks.

There are quite a few interesting posts documenting her search for Teddy. She has the 'Missing' photo from 1-18-08.com on her site, but it's a little bigger, and the file name is different - oudnaniehg.jpg. I checked for an obvious anagram, but didn't see anything. If you view Alyse's profile, there is an email address to contact her.

Well, what do you think?

* Thanks to Renato for pointing out the new comment!

Cloverfield at Walmart

I saw this poster for Cloverfield at Walmart today. There's something missing, but I just can't place my finger on it....

Best Buy's Exclusive Cloverfield Bonus Preview

Best buy has a special page for their Cloverfield exclusive bonus DVD featuring TJ Miller. They have a very funny preview clip of TJ Miller trying to sell Beth's apartment.

* Thanks to Rico for finding this!

Contest Leaderboard

The Clue Hunt for Photo #1 is over. The correct answer was TRANSFORMERS - which Odette Yustman had a minor role in, and was also the launchpad for the first Cloverfield trailer.

The secret word was hidden in the top right corner, in a shade just slightly darker than the wall color. It would have helped to save the file and fiddle with the contrast in Photoshop, Picasa, etc.

There are way too many people with the correct answer to mention, but here are the top 5:

#1 - Jeremy Pinkham - 2:34 (1/1)
#2 - Francisco J. Marquez - 2:39 (1/1)
#3 - Tragik The Kid - 2:41 (1/1)
#4 - Ralph Lincoln - 2:43 (1/1)
#5 - Zak Semerad - 2:54 (1/1)

Whaahh!?!? You didn't know it was timed, did you? :) Well, it's not really, that's just for fun and bragging rights.

The next photo, #2, is already up, and won't be so easy... or will it? BTW, I'll try to post the new photos at different times of the day, so everyone has a fair chance.

The Kishin Caption contest is also going great. There are already over 20 entries! Check them all out here, and leave a positive comment on the ones you like as an informal vote. (Please don't leave any negative comments. Thanks!)

Please note: I have already flipped the blank manga pages so they read left to right. If you need your story to read the "wrong way", please flip the photo back!

BTW, the correct response to the giveaway bonus question "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" is "I need, I need, I need!"

CloverfieldClues DVD Contest

Paramount has provided me with three Cloverfield DVDs (and some other cool stuff!) to give away to readers of CloverfieldClues, so I have created a fun contest! There are three ways for you to enter:

1. KISHIN CAPTION CONTEST
I have taken a bunch of the Cloverfield Kishin manga pages, and blanked out the text. Pick one you like and add your own text. Be creative! It doesn't even have to be about Cloverfield... but, it should be funny, and it MUST be family friendly. (%#$@! is your friend). You can submit more than one if you like, or even stitch more than one page together. I'll post all the entries in my contest Picasa album. Check out my sample on the left to get an idea of what I'm looking for. Email your entries to caption@cloverfieldclues.com.

2. CLOVERFIELD CLUE HUNT
Everyday (or more often!) I will post a new Cloverfield screen shot on the right. Somewhere hidden in the photo will be the secret "word of the day". How and where the secret word is hidden will change. This will give you a chance to brush up on your mad ARG skillz! Each correct answer will get you another entry. Email the correct answer to cluehunt@cloverfieldclues.com.

3. JUST GIMME A DANG DVD ALREADY!
This is the easiest and least fun way to enter. Just send a email to giveaway@cloverfieldclues.com. One entry per person please.

RULES: One winner will be chosen from each method of entry. You can enter all three ways to increase your odds, but you can win only once. You must have all your entries in by April 19 at 11:59 PM EDT (GMT -4:00). I will announce the winners on Monday, April 21, but I won't be able to send out the DVDs until the release date. If you have any other contest related questions, please leave them in the comments section. Thank you and good luck!

Cloverfield DVD Review

I received my review copy of the Cloverfield DVD, and have finally had the chance to go through and watch everything.

First off, the packing is pretty basic. We've seen this artwork for a while, so it's not too surprising. There was also a "declassified" sticker on the outer shrink-wrap, and a "Project Cloverfield" sticker (seen above) sealing the edge of the DVD case, which also has the mysterious Sword logo on it.

One other thing, the stickers and the cover all contain a different 11-digit number - in this case 11112014349, 11112014265, and 11111012009. It's probably nothing, but worth noting.

Inside the case, there are no inserts, just the DVD. The DVD artwork is pretty plain - the Cloverfield logo on sort of a "weathered" steel look.

The DVD contains the following:

• The movie - obviously ;) You can watch the movie with a running commentary by Matt Reeves, which I highly recommend if you have already seen the movie a few times.
  
• Document 01.18.08: The Making Of Cloverfield - This documentary details the making of the movie, scene-by-scene, and the various locations used.
  
• Cloverfield Visual Effects - My favorite bonus feature, this shows all the special effects used throughout the movie.
  
• I Saw It! It's Alive! It's Huge! - This feature focuses on the design of Clover and the parasites.
  
• Clover Fun - Blooper reel.
  
• Deleted Scenes - Four deleted scenes that can be view with or without commentary.
  
• Alternate Endings - Two alternate endings that can be view with or without commentary.
  
• Previews - Trailers for Star Trek and Indiana Jones.
• www.CloverfieldFiles.com - This website mentioned on the Special Features menu will likely contain more info on the viral maketing part of Cloverfield, with links to the various websites.

Easter Eggs (location hidden in black)

• X Marks The Spot - This Easter Egg shows the subway tunnel parasite scene with Xs instead of parasites, showing how the scene looked before the SFX were added. (You can find this in the Scene Selection menu, just above scene #10)
  
• Rack'em & Pack'em - This humorous montage spoofs a scene in the movie with Lt. Col. Graff (played by Chris Mulkey, aka Hank Jennings). "Rack'em and Pack'em, we're phantoms in 15!" (This easter egg can be found on the Setup menu by navigating to the right from the Español menu option. A helicopter will appear where the head of the Statue of Liberty's head should go.)
• Supplemental Files - As mentioned previously, there are some pieces from the ARG on the DVD, hidden in a mysterious "Chapter 17". This Supplemental Files section has: four of the Tagruato Chuai station news videos (English, Spanish, French and Japanese), a semi-interactive Slusho page, where you can watch the Slusho! commercial, and four of the Jamie and Teddy videos (#2, 5, 9, & 11). (This Easter egg can be found by waiting 1:17 on the 13-16 Scene Seletion menu, which will cause Chapter 17 to appear.)

There is a lot of great stuff there. The only glaring omission is the Cloverfield trailers are nowhere to be found. There also could be a little more coverage of the ARG, but we'll have to wait and see what turns up on CloverfieldFiles.

Grade: Two Thumbs, Way up!

* Special thanks to Tamar and Scott!

TidoWave - No Help Coming

There is a ominous new message posted on Tidowave.com:

To MissingTeddyHanssen.

There’s no help coming. Stop your campaign.

There’s nothing here.

Is this the work of Tagruato? Have they finally defeated their enemy?

Also, is there a MissingTeddyHanssen campaign we don't know about? There was a comment in the previous blog post from someone named MissingTeddyHanssen:

Where are these “fearless, brave warriors” I heard about? No one answers my calls. No one answers their doors. My brother is still out there somewhere and you guys couldn’t care less about him. Some friends you are. If it wasn’t for your freakish, cult mind-games he’d still be here with me. This is all your fault!!! You cowards! I hope you’re all rotting away somewhere!

The comments have generally been considered OOG, because they appear to be user-submitted. Could this be an exception?

* Thanks to Lew for emailing me about this!

Cloverfield Contests Coming Soon

CloverfieldClues will be giving away some FREE Cloverfield DVDs and other Cloverfield stuff very soon. I haven't worked out all the details yet, but I didn't want to do a boring giveaway, so I am working on something fun. I will be starting the contest sometime this weekend, so keep checking back here!

Double Negative and The Pixel Farm

According this promo piece on The Pixel Farm's website, Double Negative used TPF's visual FX tools on Cloverfield. The article is a little on the technical side, but there are some nice behind-the-scenes pictures of the FX work.

* Thanks to cedrico for commenting about this!

Japanese Box Office

The weekend numbers are in for Japan, and Cloverfield pulled in $2,580,377, making it number one.

According to Variety:

"Cloverfield" hit No. 1 at the Japanese weekend B.O., following its April 5 bow on 235 screens.... This was 30.2% more than "Dreamgirls," which opened on 287 screens and finished with $19.3 million and only 1.2% less than "Babel," which bowed on 351 screens and ended with $20 million.

Helmer Matt Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and members of the pic's cast and staff came to Japan to tubthump for the pic. Also distrib Paramount mounted an intensive campaign centered on the Web, which succeeded in drawing the target teens and twenties demo, as well as dating couples.

Paramount accordingly expects "Cloverfield," which was inspired by "Godzilla" and other Japanese monster epics, to hit the $20 million mark.

For comparison, I pulled some other opening weekends in Japan from BoxOfficeMojo:

The Golden Compass . $8,001,868
Jumper ............. $4,618,372
Enchanted .......... $4,423,304
Sweeney Todd ....... $3,729,116
Cloverfield ........ $2,580,377
American Gangster .. $1,702,284
Vantage Point ...... $1,482,229
The Water Horse .... $510,516
28 Weeks Later ..... $344,374

DVD Easter Eggs - Supplemental Files

Hidden somewhere in the Cloverfield DVD menu, is a mysterious Chapter 17, titled #USGX-8810-B467 SUPPLEMENTAL FILES. It doesn't normally appear in the menu, so I don't know how you would navigate to it using your DVD player. It looks like this may have even been accidentally left in the final version, because the quality is not as good as the rest of the menu areas. Will this all be part of the eventual CloverfieldFiles.com website?

The next screen shows a list of supplemental files with various suffix codes.

I was only able to find three of the actual files:

13VD - TAG VD #18 - #21 - This looks like a sampling of some of the Chuai station videos. The numbering indicates that there are many more than the seven that were originally found. These don't appear to be on the DVD however.

144VD - Person Of Interest - JL VD #2 - #12 - This is a screenshot of the list of JamieAndTeddy videos.In this case, the indication of "online source" fits with the fact that the videos are not on the DVD.

34VD - Org. of interest - Tag VD #12 - This is a screen shot of the Slusho! site, but it is strangely missing the "Slusho Making Fresh Improvements Just For You" tagline and the Mobile phone message. This is also marked "online source".

UPDATE: The files have been found.

DVD Easter Eggs - Rack'em & Pack'em

Cloverfield Rack'em and Pack'em
Uploaded by CloverfieldClues

Rack'em & Pack'em, we're phantoms in 15! :) This funny video is hidden on the setup menu, just to the left of Español.

The Last Scene of Cloverfield - Some Thing Falling Into The Ocean

On the DVD version of Cloverfield, you can clearly see the "ChimpanzIII" satellite (?) falling into the ocean.

EDIT: Here is an updated version from the Blu-ray. Be sure to set it to HD quality and view it full screen.

I have plotted the trajectory of the splashdown so you know where to look:

More Cloverfield DVD Exclusives

There are FOUR more Cloverfield DVD exclusives that have announced, which in addition to the Standard, HMV/FYE/Suncoast SteelBook, and Play.com editions, bring the current total to seven (you can't buy just six?).

ShockTillYouDrop is reporting that Best Buy will be offering a bonus disc entitled "TJ Miller's Video Diary". It will include nearly 30-minutes of behind-the-scenes footage with T.J. Miller - the talkative, and resilient, camera operator of the film. Best Buy FTW.



Austrailia's EzyDVD will have an Limited-Edition Collector's Tin, which will be available Thursday, 22 May 2008. They are also listing a 2-disc collector's set which will also be available the same date. It's interesting that Cloverfield premiered in Australia one day before the US, but they will get their DVD a month later.

MovieWeb is reporting that Target will be offering an exclusive Rob's Goin' to Japan Party Mix CD with their Cloverfield DVDs, which is a stripped down version of the CD given out at Rob's Going Away Party. It will include the following tracks:

1. OK GO * Here It Goes Again
2. Goldfrapp * Ooh La La
3. Coconut Records * West Coast
4. Scissors for Lefty * Got Your Moments
5. The Vapors * Turning Japanese
6. Parliament * Give Up The Funk
7. Of Montreal * Wraith Pinned To The Mist
8. The Blood Arm * Do I Have Your Attention?
9. Bright Eyes * Four Winds

FYI, you can buy the full version of Rob's Party mix on iTunes.

Lastly, Sears/Kmart will be offering a free Cloverfield ring tone. Yawn.

* Thanks to Anthony, and Tagruato Blogspot for the info!

DVD Easter Eggs - Monsters

Hidden through out the DVD are single-frame stills from classic monster movies, including King Kong, Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, and Them! See if you can find them yourself, but if you need help the answers are hidden below.

King Kong (1:06.55)
Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (00:45.29)
Them! (00:24.08)

* Thanks to Davide V, Fructose HairSlik, Chris F, and Michael F for emailing these in!

HAKAISHA - Cloverfield In Japan

Cloverfield opened in Japan this weekend, and I expect it will do well in the land of Godzilla. We should get the box office numbers in the next few days. Unfortunately for Japan, they are the last place in the world to get Cloverfield, so there experience may be quite different given all the coverage - not only will they know all about the ARG, but there are the three manga/comics as well.

Another milestone this weekend, Cloverfield will hit the $80,000,000 mark in the US. After making $40 million in its first three days, it has taken another 11 weeks to double that!

When Cloverfield Hit DVD Contest

There is a new Cloverfield Video contest, titled When Cloverfield Hit, with the following theme "Where were you when the monster hit?". The grand prize winner will be selected by Matt Reeves from the top 3 user-voted videos, and the winner gets $4500 and a Paramount DVD prize pack.

There are some music and monster roar clips on the site that can be used in you video, but no other music can be used. See the official rules for full details. Good luck!

UPDATE: Eagle eye viewers have noticed a hidden Dharma logo in the video above. Nice work people!

* Thanks to Luis, Terry, and Chris F. for emailing me about this!

TidoWave.com Sword update

The TidoWave.com site has received it's sword, meaning every Cloverfield related site has been 'hacked', including this one (how did they do that? ;). But why, and by who (whom?)

* Thanks to Bubba8193 and Nick P for emailing me first!

Cloverfield Kishin 3 Screen Shots

I have uploaded all the screen shots into a Picasa photo album, and I'll have translated screen shots soon! Please to enjoy!

Cloverfield Kishin 3

The third story of the Cloverfield Kishin manga / comic has been released. I'll have full screen shots and translations soon...

If you can translate Japanese, please send me an email! Thanks!!

BTW, is that supposed to be Jamie? Oh, and there's a sword too...

* Thanks to Ken L. for emailing me about this!

Cloverfield DVD Sneek Peek

TheLuis.com has got their hands on a copy of the Cloverfield DVD, and has posted some menu screenshots and alternate ending videos from the DVD. Get'em while they're hot...

Another Cloverfield Special Edition?

Play.com has a new 2-disc Special Edition Cloverfield DVD, with an exclusive Play.com cover, listed on their site. The page says "*Artwork Subject To Change", so I'm not sure what to make of this, but they are taking pre-orders... for a June 9th release date.

UPDATE: Just checked HMV.co.uk, and they have it listed too, but with the SteelBook cover. Also, I didn't realize this earlier, but June 9th is the release date in the UK for the standard DVD too.

* Thanks to Amie B for finding this, and to Dave for the date correction!