And TV shows ('Fringe')!

I hadn't thought to make this comparison, but you're right. Hunter McCracken is excellent in Malick's movie, but I thought the two kids in this film, especially Fanning, were amazing.



Word. I remember you loved Star Trek as much as I did. Abrams is a big time talent. He honed his craft on TV, and he's successfully transitioned into a really good director. I'm looking forward to following his career.

I do not understand how this movie is already being crowned the best movie of the year/summer by some. I went into the movie expecting it to rekindle some Spielberg magic and for the first 2/3 of the film, it did. There was great chemistry between all of the young kids, there were both funny and touching moments and there was an intriguing mystery behind the crash and the disappearances of the townspeople. I was hooked on the bizarre adventure the kids were going on! The film was building towards an epic climax but it unfortunately fell flat in the end.



I guess I am just frustrated because I felt this film contained a great story about a boy suffering a terrible loss, stumbling upon an incredible adventure with his crazy group of friends, and using the experience to come to terms with his mother's death. However, the final act seemed to suddenly turn into a monster film that abandoned the original premise of the story and delivered an undeveloped ending.

Am I crazy or did anyone feel the same way?

I found this movie to be disappointing. If I were taking a 10 year old with me, that would be different. It is basically a remake of ET with little drama and poor acting by everyone over 17. Don't go expecting a great film. Go expecting a 2-3 star children's film and you won't be disappointed.

It's funny how this is an exceptionally good summer popcorn movie, yet people immediately leap to the comparison that favors it least: early Steven Spielberg. As good as this movie is, and as much as it stomps the balls off the stuff you can usually expect from your local cineplex these days, it simply doesn't hold a candle to Jaws, Close Encounters, etc.

Of course, Super 8 does ape a lot of tropes from early Spielberg--fractured families, can-do youngsters, etc. But I was more excited to see that it also occasionally apes some of Spielberg's signature style. It's never for long, and Super 8 includes enough modern action bric-a-brac that you'd never mistake it for legitimate Spielberg, but there were a handful of leisurely detailed shots, framings with lots of characters interacting onscreen together, visual metaphors, and so forth. I became a little wistful for that bygone era. JJ Abrams appears to know this style, even if he seldom chooses to exercise it.

This is why I lamented the recent Star Trek movie. There were times when I wished I could go back in time and reassure the filmmakers during the production. I wanted to tell them that they had a good story that was worthy of everybody's expectations. I wanted to tell them that they didn't have to worry about amping the movie up for the kiddies. Unfortunately, there's plenty of nonsense-cutting, jumbled camerawork, flashing lights and shiny objects thrown in for just that purpose, which muddles an otherwise thoroughly decent Star Trek story.

I hope that as Abrams continues directing, he becomes confident enough that he no longer feels the need to dress his movies up with this sort of trickery. I want to see more of that Spielberg influence creep in. I want him to make movies that allow much more room for viewer investment and contemplation, that aren't afraid to slow things down and let the stuff in the shot speak for itself.

And I really, really want him to figure that out in time for the next Star Trek.

As much as I love Super 8 and Star Trek, Mission: Impossible 3 is still my favorite of his. Great action/spy flick. Another great summer movie too.

And as far TV shows there are also Lost and Alias. Two of my favorite television shows of all time. He did an AMAZING job the pilots for both shows.

So yeah. JJ Abrams rules!

Just saw the film and really loved it. However as a kid who made my own Super 8 films back in the seventies I don't believe any super 8 cameras recorded sound. We used cassette recorders to add music but could not get dialogue to match. We had to edit our films by actually using glue or tape to fasten the segments together. Since a sound track doesn't run along with the frames editing sound and pictures is very tricky. That is why the clap boards were used to begin takes. The clack makes a sharp visible mark to match up with the visual frame.

FYI to younger readers. Home movies were originally shot on 16 millimeter film that would expose only half of the film on the first pass. Half way through the role of film you would have to open the camera and flip the reel to expose the second side of the film. Processors would slice the film in half and join them together on little plastic reels. There would usually be a white flare of over exposed films where the two pieces of film fastened together. When Kodak came out with super 8 it was the same 8 millimeter width with tinier sprockets for a bigger image. There was no black line between each little frame either. Best of all the film came in an easier to load cassette that did not need to be flipped. The improvements were considered to be "Super" and that's how Kodak marketed it. Hence the title Super 8

But that, Frogster, would have been a different movie, ie Cloverfield...

Whoa, did anyone see JB's latest Twitter update? This person plagarized him BIG TIME in this review.

http://www.listal.com/viewentry/1158475

See if you can find a copy of Phoebe in Wonderland. She stars in that as an 9-year old who is apparently going insane, and is excellent. (The movie also has Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson and young Bailee Madison, the young girl in Bridge to Terabithia) I think Elle's a better actress than Dakota was at the same age, but Dakota's doing fine in her transition to adult roles (The Runaways, for instance), and I suspect she's getting nice paychecks for her supporting roles in the Twilight movies. I wouldn't be surprised to see them competing for Academy Awards in a few years, possibly against Abigail Breslin.

Pretty much sums my own feelings.

I'd like also to point out how unnecessary and tacky was the entire "Damsel In Distress" situation. It really served no dramatic purpose and IMHO it undermined Alice's character, which up to that point has been established as stronger and more interesting than most of the boys.

P.S. Elle Fanning is thirteen years old??? You got to be freaking kidding me. It was really hilarious seeing her towering her older costars.

The saying is true. Girls really do mature faster than boys.

Especially frustrating at that age, when boys start to notice how hot girls can be and the girls all have eyes for older boys who are closer to their own stage of physical development. Ah, youth.

I never saw Lost, as I just haven't developed the enthusiasm I would normally do for a good TV show... I guess it's been over hyped (same reason I dislike 'Eternal Sunshine...'). As for Alias... No excuse, must get on that!

My sister was a huge fan of Lost, me, not so much. I just didn't get what all the fuss was about. Personally i'm just not big on TV shows which give out hundreds of clues that you HAVE to pay attention to and remember in order to understand WTF is going on, it's just not worth the effort IMO, and at the end of day, I just didn't give a damn about the secrets of the island, so I just stopped watching altogether.

Liked the movie a lot up until a certain point, with the movie really starting to go down hill by the time



It also seemed like the whole Alien plot had nothing to do with the much better developed story involving the characters. I expected to see way more of a redemption come about for Alices father (like Randy Quaid saving everyone in Independence Day as the drunk dad), but it never really happened despite the movie getting so close to delivering an effective emotional payoff with the characters it created. The military villain guy was a complete waste of screen time that either should have been cut, or developed far better than the way they ultimately did.

I know time was an issue as the movie is nearly two hours... but honestly instead of cutting down on the number of characters I almost think this movie could have improved if it more fully developed the alien story to link it with the character stories. With a larger budget they could have truly explored the whole message around the alien, turning the movie into a longer more epic scale movie that someone like James Cameron would produce. Right now I honestly cant give you a single explanation of how the Alien story has anything to do with the characters... both story lines are completely disconnected from eachother.

An emerging criticism is that J. J. Abrams is very skilled at building up tension... but cant deliver on what he builds up (e.g. Lost, Cloverfield, Joy Ride). That is definitely the case for Super 8.

All in all though, its great to see a summer release that is *not* a sequel or superhero movie. I wasnt a fan when the superhero movie trend picked up again after X-Men and Spider Man, and I am really not happy that generic superhero franchises are diverting away hollywood blockbuster money away from other more original storylines such as Super 8. Seriously, I cant f*cking stand superhero movies anymore.... (Im even getting weary of Batman... yeah even Batman....)

Super 8 is not an original storyline by any stretch of the imagination. I would wager that a space cop with a ring powered by pure willpower is a hell of a lot more original than an alien escaping the clutches of the U.S. government and wreaking havoc.

I found the movie thoroughly enjoyable, if a little too familiar. Excellent acting by most of the child actors, and an engaging storyline for 2/3 of the movie. The biggest letdown, other than the feeling of overfamiliarity, was that the ending focused too much on the underdeveloped alien, rather than the kids. I would have rather had the alien stayed more in the background for the entire movie. Overall, ***/****