Movie Review: Super 8

Photo from Rotten Tomatoes

Rating: *** out of 4

The title of this movie is Super 8, but the subtitle for the film could easily be "An homage to early Spielberg".  Many directors have been influenced by Steven Spielberg films such as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T. (for good reason), and have tried to make films just like his.  Without Spielberg (and George Lucas), the big-budget, action-adventure summer flick probably wouldn't exist.  But J.J. Abram's latest film goes to new levels of adulation.

Super 8 is about a group of boys, plus 1 girl, working on an amateur zombie, horror film in a late 1970s small town.  They plan on submitting their masterpiece to a amateur film contest in Cleveland.  One of the boys, Joel (played by Joe Lamb) is the main character of the story, and is trying overcome the recent death of his mother, who died in an accident while working at the local mill factory.  He is now under the lone care of his father and a local deputy, Jackson (played by Friday Night Light's Kyle Chandler).  It is apparent early on in the film that Jackson does not know have the strongest relationship with his son, nor can relate to his son's hobbies and interests like horror films.

The girl from the group is Alice (played by Elle Fanning), is the daughter of the town "troublemaker", for lack of a better term.  Louis (played by Ron Elard) also works at the mill plant.  Jackson hates Louis, Louis hates Jackson, and neither one wants their child hanging out with other one's child.  Jackson, for reasons that were never explained, even arrests Louis when he shows up at their house for the funeral reception of Joel's mother.  Later in the movie, we find out the feud between the two men is not because one man is law enforcement, and the other a repeat criminal.

Joel, Louis, and the other group of young people sneak out of their homes one night, and go to the local train station to film part of their zombie film.  While shooting, the boys witnesses a pickup truck drive onto the track and collide with an incoming train.  A massive train wreck with lots of special effects ensues, and the gang find the man in the pickup truck to still be alive.  It turns out he is an old science teacher from their school, who points a gun at the kids and tells them to run away and never speak of what they saw (unless they want to be killed, along with their family).  Once the kids make their escape, the train wreck (and soon the whole town) is taken over by the military, and strange things start to happen.  People start to either disappear or get killed, car batteries disappear and there are constant power outages.  Clearly, the somethings bad was released into the town as a result of the train wreck.

In many big-budget, action films, (too many, in fact) the characters of the film are so uninteresting that the real stars are the special effects themselves.  Fortunately for Super 8, the group of young boys are definitely the most stars.  They are like many entourage of young boys that exist on the silver screen that are on an adventure or quest (like Stand By Me, The Sandlot, and of course, ET).  Except, these boys are a lot funnier.  Each boy is their own unique character, and provides their own moments of laugh-out-loud, comic relief.

Joel, as already discussed, is the main protagonist of the story, and provides more serious moments.  Then there is Charles (played by Riley Griffiths) who is the ringleader of the group, the lead director of the zombie film and definitely the biggest potty-mouth.  Cary (played by Ryan Lee) is the apparent pyro of the gang, who always has plenty of fire-crackers on hand to ignite.  And Martin (played Gabriel Basso) is the group's more serious-minded, nerdy character (as established by the pair of glasses he wears) who will throw up anytime there is trouble.  And yes, he throws up a lot in this movie.

As for the special effects Super 8, and there are plenty of them, they not anything to boast given how prevalence of CGI already is.  The moments of action and suspense are neither that action-packed, nor suspenseful.  And the storyline of the movie takes too many predictable turns, including the ending of the film.  Indeed, Abrams was trying too much to make an homage to Close Encounters and ET that there wasn't much of his own, personal touch in the film (with the exception of the boys and their efforts to make the zombie film).

Still, this film is enjoyable to watch, and much better than most big-budget films that Hollywood craps out every summer.  Enjoy this film if you want a fun time, and if you do see this movie, wait a minute at the end when the credits start rolling it.  Trust me!

Movie Review: Hugo

Poster from Rotten Tomatoes

Rating:**** out of 4

When I first saw that Hugo would be the new Martin Scorsese movie, I had two reactions.  Naturally, the first was to be excited because the great Scorsese was coming out with another movie.  But also, I was a bit skeptical about how good the film would actually be.  It is Scorsese, so I knew the film wouldn't be bad, but he has never done a children's film before (not even close).  But could he pull off the caliber of film that he has made with so many of his other classics with Hugo?  The answer to that is a resounding yes.

The film is about a boy named Hugo (of course) who lives alone, inside the clock tower of the train station in Paris, France.  He is able to survive day-to-day by stealing food, along with other materials which I will discuss in a moment.  Hugo (played by Asa Butterfield) also maintains and runs the clocks of the train station, which he has been doing since his alcoholic uncle (played by Ray Winstone) who had been taking care of him, ran away.  He hopes to keep up the facade that his Uncle is actually running the clocks so he is not taken to an orphanage.  Why is Hugo being raised by his Uncle to begin with?  More on that in a minute as well.

One of the places Hugo steals from inside the station is a toy and gadget store run by an older man named George Melies (played by Ben Kingsley).  He has apparently been doing this for a while, and one day, is caught red handed stealing gadget parts by Melies.  In addition to confiscating the parts he stole, Melies also confiscates a sketch book that Hugo has mechanical with drawings to some kind of robot.  This, of course, is why Hugo is stealing the gadget parts.  But why is he building a robot?  And just as important, why is Melies so shocked and insistent on keeping the notebook after Hugo has repeatedly begged him to give the notebook back?

 The movie soon reveals that Hugo actually is building a robot, specifically a small robot called an automaton (which are real, by the way).  It was the something that his father, a clock builder and gadget repairman (played by Jude Law) was working on fixing.  Hugo's father, who appears only briefly in the film, found the automaton in a burnt-up museum.  He doesn't get to work on it very long, as he is killed in a building fire, and thus, forces Hugo to move into the train station with his drunk Uncle (without the dignity to even process this news properly).  Without moving in with his Uncle, he risks being sent off to an orphanage.  Hugo then dedicates his life to fixing the automaton that his father did not fix.  In addition to the need to finish what his father started, he feels there is some bigger meaning that will reveal itself by fixing it.

As to why the drawings of this robot are so important to Melies, I will let movie fell in that detail, along with telling the rest of his story.  Melies was a real person, and you may look him up if you like.  Students of classic cinema already know who he is, and revealing his story will not necessarily spoil the twists and turns in the film, although I would prefer to not do so during this review.  However, I will offer this picture as a hint.  It is also a picture that is very relevant to the storyline of the film:

Photo from Wikipedia

  

This is one of those family films that adults and children can  watch together, and both will actually enjoy.  Although it may not be appropriate for small children (7 and under probably), Hugo is a film that is fun, adventurous, and quite friendly to younger viewers.   An example of this includes a chase scene through the station in the first few minutes of the film where Hugo is being hunted down by the Station Inspector (played by Sacha Baron Cohen), and his faithful sidekick, Maximilianus the Rottweiler.  By the end of the scene, your child will be probably be laughing out loud (you may be too) as Hugo makes his escape.

It should be noted that the Station Inspector, who is obsessed with tracking down thieving children and sending them off to the orphanage, comes off as the stereotypical children's story villain at first.  By this, I mean he is mean, unnecessarily authoritative, and seems to take at least some pleasure in making the lives of the young miserable (think of a villain from a Dickens novel).  The Station Inspector also has a leg brace, which come off as part of the joke in the opening chase scene and several proceeding scenes.  He even struggles to chase after Hugo due to his leg and the inconvenience of the brace.  

But as the film progresses, we learn that he is disabled because of any injury from "the war" (World War I), and he will never be healed again.  Here, we learn a lot about who the Station Inspector really is, and we begin to feel sympathy towards.  While it doesn't excuse the cruelty he gives towards young children, it at least explains it to a point.  Scorsese, through the Station Inspector, also seems to provide some important lessons to younger viewers on the disabled, as well as the true nature of people who act "bad" or "mean".  This may or may not be intentional, but kudos nonetheless, sir!

There are several different themes to this film which are quite relevant to the human condition that adults, and children to some extent, will be able to relate to.  One theme is human isolation, and the need for human connection.  Different individuals in the film, including Hugo, struggle with the desire to connect with someone else.  Hugo is able to fill the need for connection when he befriends Isabelle, who is also George Meile's Goddaughter.  Chloe (played by Chloe Moritz), is a perky young girl who relishes the fun and excitement she reads in the adventure novels she borrows from the train station library.  She offers to help Hugo out with his quest to retrieve the notebook, repair the automaton, and discover the secret behind her Godfather.  Through Hugo, she also finds friendship, as well as a fulfillment of her own desire to be adventurous.

Another important theme to the movie is the need to fulfill one's purpose, and the sorrow one feels when they are "broken", and cannot do this anymore.  It is similar to an athlete who is severely injured and can no longer play their sport, or musician who had broken his or her instrument and cannot afford a new one.  Like the automaton that Hugo is trying to fix, Melies is certainly broken and cannot fulfill his own purpose (I will not reveal what that purpose is in this review).  At one point, Hugo states something very important to this theme of when referring to the majesty and harmony of clocks and other gadgets:

I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason.

Those who are more spiritually minded will no doubt see religion and the purpose a person has bestowed upon them by a higher power.  Indeed, Scorsese is a devout Catholic, and such beliefs may or may not have gone into this part of the film.  Fair enough.  For those who are more skeptical of spiritual beliefs, such as myself, they should not fear this concept being brought up.  Even if you don't believe any God gave you a purpose, does it not stand to reason that it is human nature for one to feel they have something in life they feel skilled at and can use to help the greater good (for me, it is teaching and writing).  I will now digress from this topic before I delve further into a philosophical wormhole that I cannot escape.

Going back to the film, Hugo is exciting, emotionally-driven and slightly thought-provoking all at once.  This film is already receiving massive amounts of Oscar buzz, as it should.  The movie is well-acted (Kingsley and Butterfield both deserve consideration by the Academy for nominations), well-written (excellent story by John Logan and Brian Selznick) and well-directed, of course.  Martin Scorsese is capable of making a fabulous children's movie, which convinces me there probably isn't any type of film he couldn't make.  Perhaps next time Hollywood has a script for the next "out of this world" Sci-Fi flick, or that next big Romantic Comedy, someone should give Marty a call.

Movie Review: Midnight in Paris

Poster from Rotten Tomatoes

Rating: **** out of 4 stars

Woody Allen's most recent film is a romantic comedy that looks at the idea of nostalgia, and the fun possibilities of reliving a supposed golden age that one's choice.  For some, it might be going back to the 1950's post-war Eisenhower's America, where Rock N' Roll was in it's infancy, and Elvis roamed supreme.  For others, it might be all the way back to the Renaissance, being able to talk art with Leonardo da Vinci, or Michelangelo.  I myself don't see a definitive "golden age" to look upon, but I do have a few nominees that I would gladly consider (France during the Enlightenment, early 1800's New England, 1960's San Francisco just to name a few).  For Owen Wilson's character, Gil, it is the 1920s in Paris.

Like so many of Allen's other films, this film is absolutely charming and witty.  And like so many of his other films, the dialogue and subject matter, one could argue, borders on elitism and pretension.  But then again, intelligent dialogue and subject matters are some of the things that makes his films so memorable to begin with.  This film may not be for everyone, but as Roger Ebert put it when reviewing this film, 

There is nothing to dislike about it. Either you connect with it or not. I'm wearying of movies that are for "everybody" – which means, nobody in particular. Midnight in Paris is for me, in particular, and that's just fine with moi.

In other words, if you want high octane action and simple-to-understand dialoge, go rent Transformers.

And just as so many of Allen's films appear to be part love letters to New York City, this film appears to be his love letter to Paris.  For instance, the first few minutes of the film features different locations (some famous, some not) of the city of Paris, and which appear to be sequentially displayed from sunrise to sunset.  It is as if he is trying to show the audience the grace and beauty of Paris all in a brief day before we really delve into the heart of the story.  It is very similar to the opening of Allen's Manhattan, although it doesn't come close to the beauty of that opening sequence, with black and white shots of New York City as Gershwin plays "Rhapsody in Blue".  Very few opening sequences in the history of movies do.

One thing that does help to make the film easier to watch is having some knowledge of famous artists, musicians, and writers during the 1920s, specifically those that perused the streets of Paris.  Notable figures to make appearances during the movie include Gertrude Stein, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Ernest Hemingway.

Some of the most memorable moments in the movie are when Hemingway, acted perfectly by Corey Stoll, is behaving exactly the way one would expect Hemingway to behave (and then some).   One minute, he is talking about the honor and horrors of war, and proclaiming the immortality a man feels when "you are making love to a woman of true greatness".  The next minute, he is taking a swig of booze and yelling "who wants to fight?"  In arguably the funniest scene of the film, Adrian Brody does a masterful job of portraying the odd but passionate Salvador Dali, as he obsesses over the majestic nature (and mating habits) of rhinoceroses. 

There is also the love story that Owen Wilson's character, Gil, has in the movie.  He has a fiance (played by Rachel McAdams) who, while she loves Gil, does not really seem to feel that his romantic aspirations to be a serious novelist (rather than the marginal screen writer actually he is) will really pan out.  Then, once Gil starts magically going back to the past of the 1920s late night Paris, he meets Adriana (played by the stunning and incomparable Marion Cotillard).  Adriana is the mistress of Pablo Picasso when Gil first meets her, and a girl who probably never existed to begin with (unlike so many of the other characters in the film).  They soon fall for each other, and Gil is left with a dilemma. Should he be with his fiance, who he has clear disagreements with over what the future holds for the two of them? Or, should he be with Adriana, who he has quickly fallen in love with, but only exists when the clock strikes midnight in Paris, and then only for a few hours afterwards?

Some might feel less sympathetic towards Gil based upon the behavior he displays during his flirtations.  Besides falling in love with another woman, there is a scene in the movie where Gil attempts to obtain a present for Adrianna by stealing a pair of his fiance's earrings.  Despicable as that is, Gil's character is no less an example that exists in many romantic comedies where the protagonist's heart is torn between two loves (although that won't stop some from seeing Gil as a lying pig and a bastard). 

Without giving anything away, the film's ending is very anti-climactic, which might displease the casual movie-goer.  But as I mentioned earlier, this film is not necessarily for the casual, movie-goer.  The journey that Gil has during the film is so pleasant and unique, that one is not so concerned that there isn't more of an ending to the film than there is.

And also without really giving anything away, Allen seems to suggest that nostalgia and reliving a "golden time" in history may seem fun for a while.  However, there is never really a "golden time" that has existed, or will exist, especially when you ask those who actually lived through it.  The year 2011 in America might seem like a tough time now to many who live in it.  But who isn't to say that 20, 50, 100 years from now, others won't look upon our time as "golden" for one reason or another.  As the pretentious and snobby Paul (played by Michael Sheen) says at one point in the film:

Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present... the name for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in - its a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.

Oh, and how does Gil travel back to 1920s Paris? Who cares?  Just enjoy the movie.