J.J. Abrams' Super 8 (2011)

[Ivan Drago]

I think the posters that won't like this movie haven't watched it yet.

I'm hopefully seeing this sometime today or tomorrow. I hope I'm not one of those people.

[NickGlass]

If I overlook all the ridiculous crap, is it still fun? In certain moments, sure, but its uneven toeing of the line between corny, amateurish filmmaking joy and flat narrative grinding and ghetto-ed emotional sequences simply don't blend well. I wanted a sloppy meta blockbuster, and it was trying so hard to be both, tonally, that it materialized to neither.

[NickGlass]

My main beefs with the film:
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Show Spoiler

- why have the most interesting character (Elle Fanning's) disappear for most of the last third?
- the random distruction of the town by the army was over-the-top and a cheap ploy to add a sense of danger. Not to mention poorly staged and edited.
- going overboard with the physical danger the kids are in and having them escape with almost nothing but a scratch (except when it is convenient to narrow down the number of kids as the climax approaches). The train crash is so over-the-top that their lack of injury becomes a nagging distraction in the subconcious
- Noah Emmerich's character. A complete and utter waste of time and energy. He adds nothing.
- Doing the quiet-quieter-silent-BOO shit over and over
- Why waste time having the kids go to the evacuation center just to come back again when they don't learn anything they couldn't have learnt anywhere else AND their escape is so damn boring? (a guy in a car drives them out!)
- botching the reveal of the creature on the video. Should have happened about 30 minutes sooner, and before the audience had seen it.

]

The more I think about it, the shoddier the whole story seems.

I agree with all of this. "Shoddy" is the perfect term for the film.

[Irish]

JJ Abrams was on the Daily Show last night. Interview here:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tu...11/j-j--abrams

[Kurosawa Fan]

JJ Abrams was on the Daily Show last night. Interview here:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tu...11/j-j--abrams

He's even starting to look like Spielberg.

[Dukefrukem]

HE was also on Howard Stern yesterday.

[origami_mustache]

This was so awful. I'm just disappointed I let the trailer fool me into seeing it.

[Dukefrukem]

Lower grade than the Hangover 2?

[Pop Trash]

Lower grade than the Hangover 2?

And The Green Hornet. You're fired.

[balmakboor]

Put me in the "liked it" camp. I thought Elle Fanning was terrific. I loved the scene where she blows everyone away with her acting. It reminded me of Mulholland Drive. Her zombie and home movie watching scenes were just as good.

When this movie was about the kids and little moments like those, I loved it. When it was all loud explosions and monster movie stuff, I kinda liked it. It basically felt to me like a Michael Bay movie directed by Cameron Crowe of Almost Famous. An odd and uneasy mix.

Perfect way to use the credits at the end. I wish audiences weren't so lame though. 2/3 of the audience were out of their seats and halfway to the exits as they stood and watched the credits.

[Rowland]

Hah, almost my entire audience had already raced out the doors by the time the credits sequence began, so that there were literally maybe ten of us watching it in what had been a pretty packed room.

[transmogrifier]

Yep, I was one of the ones who was gone the second the credits started. Don't feel bad about it either.

[Watashi]

Yep, I was one of the ones who was gone the second the credits started. Don't feel bad about it either.

You should pat yourself on the back for being special.

[Dukefrukem]

So what did I miss?

[origami_mustache]

And The Green Hornet. You're fired.

The Green Hornet wasn't half as bad as everyone is making it out to be just as Super 8 wasn't half as good as some people seem to think. :P

[transmogrifier]

You should pat yourself on the back for being special.

Ok.

[Ivan Drago]

The one moment I thought to be completely hokey was the scene where Joe and Alice sit in Joe's room with a film projector between them and the film that plays is, conveniently, footage of Joe as a baby with his mother. Other than that, the movie was a great fusion of Abrams and Spielberg's filmmaking styles and storytelling techniques.

[Mysterious Dude]

One thing that annoyed me about this movie: there's one kid who likes firecrackers, and that is literally the extent of his personality. When he dies, there will be nothing to say at his funeral except for how much he liked firecrackers.

[transmogrifier]

One thing that annoyed me about this movie: there's one kid who likes firecrackers, and that is literally the extent of his personality. When he dies, there will be nothing to say at his funeral except for how much he liked firecrackers.

But wasn't it convenient how his knowledge and access to firecrackers was an important factor in the climax? That came as a surprise.

[Dukefrukem]

But wasn't it convenient how his knowledge and access to firecrackers was an important factor in the climax? That came as a surprise.

There were a lot of things Abrams did wrong with Super 8, but I still this was a stepping stone for him. He'll be able to reflect back on the misuse of characters and planted subject matter for future films.

The biggest being the reveal of the monster way too late. If you're gonna name a movie after the most important subject in the film, why not focus more around that subject? Oh because it takes a week for the film to finally develop. :lol: Let's see, what can we do for a week while the kids are waiting for the film to develop?

[Pop Trash]

One thing that annoyed me about this movie: there's one kid who likes firecrackers, and that is literally the extent of his personality. When he dies, there will be nothing to say at his funeral except for how much he liked firecrackers.

I'm pretty sure that kid was based a little on Tanner from The Bad News Bears (at least in his looks) and the blonde wild child from Over the Edge.

[balmakboor]

I'm pretty sure that kid was based a little on Tanner from The Bad News Bears (at least in his looks) and the blonde wild child from Over the Edge.

Exactly the same two kids I had in mind, especially the one from Over the Edge.

[balmakboor]

I'm predicting this won't lose much audience during the second and third weeks. It may even gain. My 15-year-old daughter and her friends had not heard of it. She enjoyed it so much that she's dragging all of them to it on Saturday.

She is in a group of kids who spend weekends making movies for youtube.

[Pop Trash]

Exactly the same two kids I had in mind, especially the one from Over the Edge.

Right. And I think the blonde kid in OtR also carried around an arsenal of firecrackers.

I had friends in the 80s with that same type of personality.

[Pop Trash]

I'm predicting this won't lose much audience during the second and third weeks. It may even gain. My 15-year-old daughter and her friends had not heard of it. She enjoyed it so much that she's dragging all of them to it on Saturday.

It'll be interesting to see the B.O. results this weekend. The only other tentpole release is The Green Lantern, which is getting bad buzz. Of course there is the Jim Carrey penguin movie. And people love their penguins.