With Production Value and Story, My Review of Super 8

I admit to being a big fan of J.J. Abrams.

I loved the new Star Trek.

You know how I feel about LOST.

I watched Felicity up until she cut her hair, was obsessed with Alias, and am currently loving every second of Fringe.

Spielberg, especially the Spielberg that this movie evokes, also holds a special place in my heart.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that I was a big fan of this movie.

I wish that J.J. would lay off of the lens flares a little, but other than that there isn't really anything negative that I can say about this movie.

Even in this summer of sequels (Hangover 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, Fast Five, Harry Potter 8, Transformers 3, etc.) and prequels (X-Men:First Class, Pirates of the Caribbean, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Puss in Boots, etc.) I can't really claim that this movie is all that original.

Because it definitely does evoke Spielberg from the 80's, ET, Close Encounters Spielberg.

But it also evokes Stand By Me.

And Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks came to mind a lot as well as I watched the middle school protagonists.

No, there is a lot that we've seen before in this movie, but it is the fantastic melding of Spielbergian concepts and themes with the coming of age/adolescence adventure of Stand By Me and the realistic 80's aura and reality of the teenagers that Apatow had captured so brilliantly that helps make Super 8 as fantastic as it is.

And it is a very good story as well.

It is a tad predictable, but it works, on an emotional level and with the pulse pounding excitement of a good monster movie as well.

It isn't original, per se, but it is original in the fact that we don't get this type of film, as full of heart as it is thrills, as often as we used to when Spielberg made them regularly.

Until Next Time, Take some time out of your busy summer to catch this movie and remember the way that summer blockbusters used to be made, before Michael Bay blew them up.

If you can get past the lens flares (J.J. Abrams weakness, much as a shaky camera and lack of story haunt Bay) you won't regret it.

Thoughts on the Summer Movie Schedule 2011 - Part Two

Continuing with the Summer Movie Preview after already looking at the releases of May, we move into June...

JUNE

3rd

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

The first two X-Men movies were very good, especially considering that we hadn't been introduced to the amazing Comic Book films that would follow in their wake (such as Iron Man and the Chris Nolan Batman films).  The last two X-Men movies (Last Stand and Origins:Wolverine) were among the worst movies of their respective years.  Bryan Singer (who directed the first two in the series) is back as producer, but my hopes aren't too high.  My love for the stories and characters will probably get me into the theater, but how many more times can I be burned by FOX in regards to the X-Men brand?

THE LAST MOUNTAIN

 A documentary that chronicles a fight that pits a mining corporation against a community.  It looks like an interesting tale about the need for a declining resource and a town that hopes to survive and find a different way.


10th

SUPER 8



J.J. Abrams, who brought us Alias, was instrumental in the formation of LOST, and sucessfully rebooted the original Star Trek brings us his loving homage to Steven Spielberg's alien movie.  Or, at least, that's how the trailer looks to me.  Either way, I am stoked for this film, ET for a new generation.

JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER


17th

GREEN LANTERN



Growing up, my favorite super heroes were Spider-Man and Superman.  When expanding my horizons past these two heroes in the 90s, I discovered Green Lantern, a fantastic super-hero/sci-fi story.  Recently when the Marvel storyline Civil War ended and everything went right back to the way it was before the story-line began, I got angry and put Marvel away for awhile.  At that same time, Geoff Johns was starting the most incredible storyline in the DC verse, and it centered on the Green Lantern Corps.  There is so much storytelling potential in these characters, and I really hope that this movie gets it right.

HOMEWORK

BUCK

MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS

Jim Carrey stars in Hollywood's 9,344,764,323rd movie about Penguins in the last five years.  (Numbers are most likely exact).  I can guarentee that I will not be seeing this.  Although, a fun fact I learned at the local Zoo, only 4 of the 17 types of Penguins actually live in cold climates.  Movies don't tell you things like that.  They make them seem as if Penguins only live in frigid conditions.  False, my friends.


24th

CARS 2

The trailer actually makes this film look beyond terrible, however it is PIXAR, so you know it will be at the worst enjoyable.  If PIXAR was going to make a sequel to something in its arsenal beyond Toy Story, why, oh why, did they not go with INCREDIBLES 2?  That's the sequel we all want to see, not Lightning McQueen and To Mater pretending to be (or mistaken for) spies in a car filled Europe.  Sigh, someday we will get an INCREDIBLES 2; someday.  I will, however, be seeing this in theater, if only for the Toy Story short that will run before the film.

BAD TEACHER



Sometimes you're just in the mood for a crude romantic comedy.  This looks like it might fit that bill.  And Jason Segal is always a comedic genius.

A BETTER LIFE

Until Next Time,  get your popcorn ready...