July is going to be a berry berry good month for me and my Movie going. I haven’t been to the theatre a lot since moving here to NY mostly because it be EXPENSIVE! That aside… All the super hero movies! X-Men, Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America! I’m halfway through these and I’m pretty happy so far…
But none as excited as I was for Super 8. How excited was I for the non-super-hero Super 8? Let me count the ways.
1. JJ Abrams
Dude is tops. I can do a list of the things I love about JJ Abrams! I think I will!
7. Mission Impossible 3 – I don’t care if TCruise is craycray, this movie rules.
6. Alias – I haven’t watched a ton of it, but I did enjoy it and plan on watching it straight through.
5. Armageddon/Joy Ride – A weird period in his career where he wrote us these 2 gems. Admittedly they’ve played a big role in my life. You guys ready for an Adventure?
4. Fringe – For this to be this far down, I
3. Cloverfield – Didn’t direct or write, but he basically made it happen, for which I’m eternally grateful.
2. Lost – I can’t believe I didn’t put this #1. Anyone who bags on him for this is a philistine! I’m not even sure what that means!
1. Star Trek – GODDAMNIT I love this movie! I really have a hard time finding any fault with it whatsoever. I adore every directorial decision he made. I adore the directors commentary, which I’ve listened to multiple times.
Ok, so now that I’ve waisted half my post on JJ love… let me tell you… I think he did a great job with this movie as well. The direction is one of the greatest parts of this movie. The camera work, the set design, the surprises, the cuts, the acting, the casting… So many people came together to make Super 8 a really really strong action/monster movie. And when it is a ton of little things that make a movie great, thats when you know you have a great directorial performance.
You see, its not JJ that created the monster… its the way he doesn’t quite show him til the right moment. It’s not JJ that wrote the scene (actually he did, but thats not the point), but it is him that cuts an explosion in at the precise right moment. It’s not JJ that sews the costumes together or puts the makeup on the kids, but he is the one that makes sure nothing is over the top, but is just right. The director is what makes the comedy funny by making it timely. The director is how the monster creates a scare by having a cut/jump edit at the precise right moment.
This movie is chalk full of great performances, but what I loved most were the little decisions. The real way the kids talked, the believable performances from people like Elle Fanning and Coach Taylor, the perfect choice of the kid that played Joe Lamb (Joel Courney, btw). I’m super happy that this movie didn’t disappoint me.
This movie wont go down in history as my favorite movie. Heck, I already know it wont be my favorite movie of 2011, nor my favorite JJ movie, but it was solid. It was a great summer blockbuster and I’m sure I’m going to be a fan for a long time.
The Movie Fight 