Like most film fans I immensely dislike the overuse of computer generated trickery in modern day films. Right now it seems the bigger the production house the more it seems to think that if its blockbuster is lacking in story, substance or a certain je ne sais quoi, it can fill that hollow gaping void made by pointless plots, neglected narrative or trite thespians with a big hulking fifthly wad of CGI.
I may be sentimental but I harbor a certain admiration for good old fashioned hand made effects. The kind of effects where it is entirely possible for the cast, the camera and the crew to get coated in a mélange of props, prosthetics, dust and fake blood. Seeing them shattering sugar glass, breaking balsa wood, ploughing through plasterboard, cannoning cars into concrete and splattering the stars with squibs all add a fun playful aspect to a film. It...
I may be sentimental but I harbor a certain admiration for good old fashioned hand made effects. The kind of effects where it is entirely possible for the cast, the camera and the crew to get coated in a mélange of props, prosthetics, dust and fake blood. Seeing them shattering sugar glass, breaking balsa wood, ploughing through plasterboard, cannoning cars into concrete and splattering the stars with squibs all add a fun playful aspect to a film. It...
- 2/4/2012
- by Neill D. Burton
- Obsessed with Film
Filed under: Features, Movie News, Hot Topic, Sci-Fi
But how can that be?! 'Super 8' isn't based off a comic book. Article Fail!
You're right, 'Super 8' has nothing in common with a comic book. In 'Super 8,' lovable outcast Joe Lamb (Joel Courteney) is caught up in an amazing adventure where an other-worldly threat descends upon his neighborhood; armed with his wits and a few limited resources, he fights to save the life of the girl of his dreams (Elle Fanning), all while trying to live up to the lessons imparted from his deceased parent. The movie cleverly juggles the duel conflicts of young angst and sci-fi spectacle, using beautifully detailed art design and breath-taking action sequences. It couldn't have less in common with Spider-Man.
Continue Reading...
But how can that be?! 'Super 8' isn't based off a comic book. Article Fail!
You're right, 'Super 8' has nothing in common with a comic book. In 'Super 8,' lovable outcast Joe Lamb (Joel Courteney) is caught up in an amazing adventure where an other-worldly threat descends upon his neighborhood; armed with his wits and a few limited resources, he fights to save the life of the girl of his dreams (Elle Fanning), all while trying to live up to the lessons imparted from his deceased parent. The movie cleverly juggles the duel conflicts of young angst and sci-fi spectacle, using beautifully detailed art design and breath-taking action sequences. It couldn't have less in common with Spider-Man.
Continue Reading...
- 12/29/2011
- by Eric Larnick
- Moviefone
Chicago – The sincerity of “Super 8” is the wondrous highlight of this film. Director J.J. Abrams creates a valentine to the lives in his childhood, and the films within that dream state. Combining nostalgia, suspense and of course, hope, “Super 8” is one of the more emotional and impactful American films of the year.
Blu-ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Taking a page out of the producer Steven Spielberg’s playbook, Abrams imagines a town within that universe that is middle American and adventurous at the same time, with pesky military officials infiltrating the serenity and fabricating chaos. Part “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and even “Poltergeist,” “Super 8” is an homage to the master Spielberg, while upping the ante a bit, much like J.J. Abrams did in his “Star Trek” reboot.
As the film opens in the summer of 1979, a middle school boy named Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) has...
Blu-ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Taking a page out of the producer Steven Spielberg’s playbook, Abrams imagines a town within that universe that is middle American and adventurous at the same time, with pesky military officials infiltrating the serenity and fabricating chaos. Part “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and even “Poltergeist,” “Super 8” is an homage to the master Spielberg, while upping the ante a bit, much like J.J. Abrams did in his “Star Trek” reboot.
As the film opens in the summer of 1979, a middle school boy named Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) has...
- 12/8/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
There’s a tremendous bit of nostalgia wrapped up in Super 8, one of last summer’s most pleasant surprises. For adult moviegoers, it makes us long for the pre-Internet days when a movie can arrive and surprise us. The movie is clearly director J.J. Abrams’ homage to the movies of Steven Spielberg, the ones he grew up watching thirty years ago, movies filled with the fantastic including Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.
But, Abrams’ valentine is intended for today’s more jaded moviegoer and as a result, unlike the benevolent aliens who visited Earth in those two films, the ones seen in the new film are more terrifying, evoking an entirely different set of emotions. But, the innocence of childhood is retained as Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his pals set out to make a movie and wind up having the adventure of a lifetime.
Like...
But, Abrams’ valentine is intended for today’s more jaded moviegoer and as a result, unlike the benevolent aliens who visited Earth in those two films, the ones seen in the new film are more terrifying, evoking an entirely different set of emotions. But, the innocence of childhood is retained as Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his pals set out to make a movie and wind up having the adventure of a lifetime.
Like...
- 12/6/2011
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Could you close your eyes, please?"
Super 8's leading character Joe Lamb is a movie makeup and effects fan. He taught himself how to do all the major Hollywood techniques with the Dick Smith mail-away instructions course. He can do beauty makeup, zombies, and bloody injuries. He's just a big budget and two years away from Oscar glory in 1979 when the film takes place.
The first Academy Award for Best Makeup was presented at the 54th ceremony, honoring films released in 1981. Since then, it has been a category that has confounded and confused Oscar prognosticators. What seems like a guaranteed nominee to a non-voting member of the Academy is ignored, while less well-received films with one good character go down as nominees. It feels like the standards and interests of the voters change from year to year almost on a whim. Will they go for full-body human transformations or bizarre alien creations?...
Super 8's leading character Joe Lamb is a movie makeup and effects fan. He taught himself how to do all the major Hollywood techniques with the Dick Smith mail-away instructions course. He can do beauty makeup, zombies, and bloody injuries. He's just a big budget and two years away from Oscar glory in 1979 when the film takes place.
The first Academy Award for Best Makeup was presented at the 54th ceremony, honoring films released in 1981. Since then, it has been a category that has confounded and confused Oscar prognosticators. What seems like a guaranteed nominee to a non-voting member of the Academy is ignored, while less well-received films with one good character go down as nominees. It feels like the standards and interests of the voters change from year to year almost on a whim. Will they go for full-body human transformations or bizarre alien creations?...
- 11/24/2011
- by Robert G
- FilmExperience
Super 8 is J.J. Abrams. tribute to his childhood and we can certainly guess who his favorite filmmaker might.ve been. However, the movie certainly has a heart and relies on character rather than bombast. A refreshing change of pace, even if you.re reminded of other films. It.s 1979 and Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is in mourning. His mother has been killed in an industrial accident and his deputy father Jackson (Kyle Chandler) blames Louis Dainard (Ron Eldard) who didn.t show up for work that day causing Joe.s mom to fill in. Four months pass, and Joe.s pal Charles Kaznyk (Riley Griffiths) is shooting a super 8 movie for a film festival. Joe is doing the makeup,...
- 11/23/2011
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
Remember when movies like "E.T.," "The Goonies" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" sparked a sense of adventure and childlike wonder in people of all ages? All of those movies were directed or produced by Steven Spielberg, who also produced this year's "Super 8," a heartfelt homage to Spielberg's classic sci-fi stories that was written and directed by J.J. Abrams for a whole new generation.
The story follows a group of six children, including 14-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), who are filming their own Super 8 zombie drama in their small town of Lillian, Ohio, circa 1980. The five boys catch a ride with their friend Alice (Elle Fanning) to a train depot to film a scene for their movie. While they're there, a train roars by and the group witnesses a pickup truck purposely drive onto the tracks and wreck into the train, which causes a massive derailment that the children catch on film.
The story follows a group of six children, including 14-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), who are filming their own Super 8 zombie drama in their small town of Lillian, Ohio, circa 1980. The five boys catch a ride with their friend Alice (Elle Fanning) to a train depot to film a scene for their movie. While they're there, a train roars by and the group witnesses a pickup truck purposely drive onto the tracks and wreck into the train, which causes a massive derailment that the children catch on film.
- 11/22/2011
- by Robert DeSalvo
- NextMovie
Fifteen-year-old Joel Courtney had only ever acted in a few school plays before when he scored the lead role in director J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated movie "Super 8" (on DVD & Blu-ray Tuesday).
Looks like Courtney won't be hoofing it to commercial auditions in his home state of Idaho anymore. In his film debut he plays Joe Lamb, a Midwestern boy who, grieving the loss of his mother, devotes his time to helping his friends make a Super 8 zombie movie. "His dad, being the town deputy, is never really around," explains Courtney. "So, Joe finds his only comfort with his friends. His dad wants him to be a regular kid and play baseball, but Joe just wants to make movies."
After the kids witness a mysterious train crash, strange things start occurring in their small town. Courtney calls the film "a total adrenaline rush," and even though he’s now...
Looks like Courtney won't be hoofing it to commercial auditions in his home state of Idaho anymore. In his film debut he plays Joe Lamb, a Midwestern boy who, grieving the loss of his mother, devotes his time to helping his friends make a Super 8 zombie movie. "His dad, being the town deputy, is never really around," explains Courtney. "So, Joe finds his only comfort with his friends. His dad wants him to be a regular kid and play baseball, but Joe just wants to make movies."
After the kids witness a mysterious train crash, strange things start occurring in their small town. Courtney calls the film "a total adrenaline rush," and even though he’s now...
- 11/20/2011
- by Cassie Carpenter
- NextMovie
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
2011 has been a bit of a retro year at the cinema. In May Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block tipped its hat to 80s gang flick The Warriors; last month’s Captain America felt so much like an Indiana Jones film that it even made a number of not-so subtle reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark; not forgetting Red Riding Hood, which we all expected to be a partial remake of 1984’s Company of Wolves, but turned out to rip off Twilight. And then there’s Super 8, a film so steeped in nostalgia for a bygone age of cinema, that it even has Steven Speilberg on the credits, albeit in the capacity of producer rather than as the director.
With Super 8, director Jj Abrams is clearly trying to create something that sits alongside the films that he grew up watching, and in most ways,...
2011 has been a bit of a retro year at the cinema. In May Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block tipped its hat to 80s gang flick The Warriors; last month’s Captain America felt so much like an Indiana Jones film that it even made a number of not-so subtle reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark; not forgetting Red Riding Hood, which we all expected to be a partial remake of 1984’s Company of Wolves, but turned out to rip off Twilight. And then there’s Super 8, a film so steeped in nostalgia for a bygone age of cinema, that it even has Steven Speilberg on the credits, albeit in the capacity of producer rather than as the director.
With Super 8, director Jj Abrams is clearly trying to create something that sits alongside the films that he grew up watching, and in most ways,...
- 8/4/2011
- by Ben Mortimer
- Obsessed with Film
If you were lucky enough to have experienced the release of Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, E.T. and Jaws, then you'll no doubt remember that feeling of awe. For those two hours you were in the palm of a storytelling master. They are just...classics. So when people start to compare J.J. Abrams to Spielberg (calling him a young Spielberg, in fact), one can't be blamed for having near-impossible expectations for his next project. Abrams' latest, Super 8, isn't exactly in the same league as those early pictures. Sure, it looks very much like a film by Steven Spielberg. Hell, it even carries the Amblin logo (the producing house on The Goonies, E.T, etc). But there's just something missing amongst it. Super 8 tells the story of a young boy, Joe Lamb, whom after the death of his mother struggles with living with his alienating father (the...
- 7/3/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Ferg)
- www.themoviebit.com
By now you've heard the remarkable tale of Joel Courtney, the 15-year-old star of J.J. Abrams' coming-of-age sci-fi thriller "Super 8." He went to L.A. hoping to land a commercial and earn $100 and walked away with the lead role of Joe Lamb in Abrams and Steven Spielberg's much-buzzed-about collaboration.
One would imagine Courtney was feeling the pressure of working with two of Hollywood's most celebrated directors and knowing the film's long-term success would rest not on its alien mystery, but his performance.
"There was a bit of pressure, but I talked to the other guys on set a lot -- the other actors -- and I put a lot of it on them," Courtney says. "I talked to them a lot and they were really good friends. Also working with J.J., that was pretty nerve-wrecking for the first week, but then I got to know him and...
One would imagine Courtney was feeling the pressure of working with two of Hollywood's most celebrated directors and knowing the film's long-term success would rest not on its alien mystery, but his performance.
"There was a bit of pressure, but I talked to the other guys on set a lot -- the other actors -- and I put a lot of it on them," Courtney says. "I talked to them a lot and they were really good friends. Also working with J.J., that was pretty nerve-wrecking for the first week, but then I got to know him and...
- 6/24/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Joel Courtney was an unknown a few months ago; now he is on thousands of movie screens as Joe Lamb, the young man at the center of J.J. Abrams' movie Super 8. We haven't had much word on what he might do to follow up that film, but now there is a report that he is in talks for two roles. One of the two is among the most well-known roles a young actor could play: Mark Twain's adventure archetype Tom Sawyer. According to Variety [1], the actor is in talks for roles in the indies Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn and The Healer. The latter is written and directed by Giorgio Seafini, and is about "an ailing father who takes his two teenage kids into the woods to renew the bond they shared before a divorce. The trio are soon swept into a supernatural adventure in a haunted forest.
- 6/23/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Super 8 has been gaining momentum since its release on Friday. It came in at number 1 at the box office and through great reviews and word of mouth should do well this weekend too.
The film is about a group of kids who witness a terrifying train crash only to find out not everything is as it seems -- the government is trying to cover something up and strange things are happening in their small Ohio town.
The sci-fi adventure directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg is being compared to E.T. and definitely has some similarities. The kids are excellent in the film and many of the funny lines are because of their great acting.
Check out some of the quotes below and be sure to visit out Super 8 quotes page for more awesome quotes from the film.
Charles: That's Mint! | permalink Cary: Can we get another order of fries?...
The film is about a group of kids who witness a terrifying train crash only to find out not everything is as it seems -- the government is trying to cover something up and strange things are happening in their small Ohio town.
The sci-fi adventure directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg is being compared to E.T. and definitely has some similarities. The kids are excellent in the film and many of the funny lines are because of their great acting.
Check out some of the quotes below and be sure to visit out Super 8 quotes page for more awesome quotes from the film.
Charles: That's Mint! | permalink Cary: Can we get another order of fries?...
- 6/15/2011
- by alyssa@mediavine.com (Alyssa Caverley)
- Reel Movie News
Where is Lillian, Ohio?
Lillian does not exist. Abrams named the steel town setting of his movie after his grandmother.
So where did they actually shoot the movie?
Weirton, W.V., small town way up north in the state’s panhandle. The town was previously used as one of the locations in The Deer Hunter and the primary location in the 1984 movie Reckless, which starred Darryl Hannah and Aidan Quinn.
What year was Super 8 set in?
Not that Ron Eldard’s mutton chops and David Cassidy ‘do wouldn’t look perfectly fine right here in 2011, but Super 8 was...
Lillian does not exist. Abrams named the steel town setting of his movie after his grandmother.
So where did they actually shoot the movie?
Weirton, W.V., small town way up north in the state’s panhandle. The town was previously used as one of the locations in The Deer Hunter and the primary location in the 1984 movie Reckless, which starred Darryl Hannah and Aidan Quinn.
What year was Super 8 set in?
Not that Ron Eldard’s mutton chops and David Cassidy ‘do wouldn’t look perfectly fine right here in 2011, but Super 8 was...
- 6/15/2011
- by Mike Bruno
- EW.com - PopWatch
After months of anticipation, J.J. Abrams' love letter to the works of Steven Spielberg has found its way to the big screen. But is the film the next Close Encounters, or another Kingdom of the Crystal Skull disaster? Time to shine an Abrams-approved lens flare on one of the years biggest films!
The Basics:
Things haven't been the same for young Joe Lamb ever since his mother passed away in a tragic accident. Left to be raised by his overworked and virtually uncaring father, town deputy Jackson Lamb, Joe has turned to his friend Charles' zombie movie as a way to spend his time. One night during filming, Joe and a group of his friends witness a horrific train crash, which leaves almost the entire station destroyed. But as Joe soon finds out, that's the least of the town's problems. Soon, an unknown entity is attacking and abducting locals,...
The Basics:
Things haven't been the same for young Joe Lamb ever since his mother passed away in a tragic accident. Left to be raised by his overworked and virtually uncaring father, town deputy Jackson Lamb, Joe has turned to his friend Charles' zombie movie as a way to spend his time. One night during filming, Joe and a group of his friends witness a horrific train crash, which leaves almost the entire station destroyed. But as Joe soon finds out, that's the least of the town's problems. Soon, an unknown entity is attacking and abducting locals,...
- 6/14/2011
- Cinelinx
What Super 8 does better than other movie you’ll see this summer is remind you what it’s like to be a kid. Even if you didn’t grow up in the 70s like the kids in the movie, you’ll immediately relate to the sense of wonder and adventure they experience. Writer and director J.J. Abrams dips into the science fiction well dug by producer Steven Spielberg and crafts a story that is at once an homage to such movies as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., and The Goonies as well as being its own kind of story.
The film centers on 12-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) as he helps his loud but passionate friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) film a zombie movie to submit to a film festival. Because these are kids and it’s the summer, there’s a lot of sneaking about in order...
The film centers on 12-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) as he helps his loud but passionate friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) film a zombie movie to submit to a film festival. Because these are kids and it’s the summer, there’s a lot of sneaking about in order...
- 6/13/2011
- by Brody Gibson
- Boomtron
Jj Abrams' Super 8 brings Et-era Spielberg into a summer film with a strong nostalgic feel for the 80s adventure flick. Here's Ron's review...
Take a dash of The Goonies, mash up a 1950s monster movie, and splash liberally with Et-era Steven Spielberg and flavor to taste with Jj Abrams' love of cutting edge special effects, and what do you get? Well, once you blend it all together into a delicious soup, you get Super 8, the latest sci-fi brilliance from Abrams, and his first collaboration with Steven Spielberg, who gave Abrams his start in the movie game before he became a renowned director in his own right.
Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is a budding teenage special effects wizard, who works with his best friend, Charles (Riley Griffiths), while Charles and the other outcast boys in the middle school work on monster movies. While it's not exactly the most girl catching of pastimes,...
Take a dash of The Goonies, mash up a 1950s monster movie, and splash liberally with Et-era Steven Spielberg and flavor to taste with Jj Abrams' love of cutting edge special effects, and what do you get? Well, once you blend it all together into a delicious soup, you get Super 8, the latest sci-fi brilliance from Abrams, and his first collaboration with Steven Spielberg, who gave Abrams his start in the movie game before he became a renowned director in his own right.
Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is a budding teenage special effects wizard, who works with his best friend, Charles (Riley Griffiths), while Charles and the other outcast boys in the middle school work on monster movies. While it's not exactly the most girl catching of pastimes,...
- 6/13/2011
- Den of Geek
Getty Actor Joel Courtney
Before starring as Joe Lamb in J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8,” Joel Courtney was just a regular 15-year-old in Moscow, Idaho. With no previous acting experience, Courtney was catapulted onto the big screen opposite Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning.
The movie is about a group of kids in 1979 who are shooting a Super 8 movie and stumble upon a real-life government conspiracy involving what could be a monstrous alien from outer space. The young actors helped make...
Before starring as Joe Lamb in J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8,” Joel Courtney was just a regular 15-year-old in Moscow, Idaho. With no previous acting experience, Courtney was catapulted onto the big screen opposite Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning.
The movie is about a group of kids in 1979 who are shooting a Super 8 movie and stumble upon a real-life government conspiracy involving what could be a monstrous alien from outer space. The young actors helped make...
- 6/11/2011
- by Alexandra Cheney
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
The wait is finally over – after all the casting news, teaser trailers and mysterious hints, "Super 8" arrives in theaters today. The action vehicle delivers all the heart, tension and explosive-laden sequences you’d expect from a J.J. Abrams-helmed, Steven Spielberg-produced flick, but the most potent takeaway is the group of misfit kids at the center of the narrative.
In the vein of "The Goonies," "E.T." and "Stand By Me," "Super 8" catapults us into the lives of small-town youngsters in 1979. All the archetypes are accounted for: the overachieving (overweight) aspiring director, the braces-clad pyromaniac, the vomit-prone worrywart, the awkward-yet-sweet-natured protagonist, the unattainable and alluring popular girl.
Picking up the pieces from familial upheaval and one epic train wreck, the kids will charm their way into your nostalgia-swelled heart – heck, even the movie’s much-mused-about monster can’t overshadow their chemistry. Which is why we’re willing to...
In the vein of "The Goonies," "E.T." and "Stand By Me," "Super 8" catapults us into the lives of small-town youngsters in 1979. All the archetypes are accounted for: the overachieving (overweight) aspiring director, the braces-clad pyromaniac, the vomit-prone worrywart, the awkward-yet-sweet-natured protagonist, the unattainable and alluring popular girl.
Picking up the pieces from familial upheaval and one epic train wreck, the kids will charm their way into your nostalgia-swelled heart – heck, even the movie’s much-mused-about monster can’t overshadow their chemistry. Which is why we’re willing to...
- 6/10/2011
- by Katie Calautti
- MTV Movies Blog
Directed by: J. J. Abrams
Produced by: Steven Spielberg, J. J. Abrams, Bryan Burk
Written by: J. J. Abrams
Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Aj Michalka, Ron Eldard
It's 1979, and a small group of mid-teens are busy making an amateur Super-8 film about zombies rising from the grave to attack and devour the living.
There they are, out by the railroad tracks, filming their little hearts out, when they are suddenly struck with two extremely surprising events. First, they realize the young girl they've talked into starring in their new feature can actually act. It's a shocker. Second, a large train crashes into their set in a raucous explosion, bursting apart and flying through the air with flames and fire and horrible squealing as many tons of metal and explosive cargo devastate the surrounding area and nearly (and yet miraculously not) killing them all before releasing some sort of giant,...
Produced by: Steven Spielberg, J. J. Abrams, Bryan Burk
Written by: J. J. Abrams
Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Aj Michalka, Ron Eldard
It's 1979, and a small group of mid-teens are busy making an amateur Super-8 film about zombies rising from the grave to attack and devour the living.
There they are, out by the railroad tracks, filming their little hearts out, when they are suddenly struck with two extremely surprising events. First, they realize the young girl they've talked into starring in their new feature can actually act. It's a shocker. Second, a large train crashes into their set in a raucous explosion, bursting apart and flying through the air with flames and fire and horrible squealing as many tons of metal and explosive cargo devastate the surrounding area and nearly (and yet miraculously not) killing them all before releasing some sort of giant,...
- 6/10/2011
- by Tristan Sinns
- Planet Fury
If you have any sort of affinity towards sci-fi, or just good movies, you need to see Super 8.
Joe and his friends love movies. In fact, they spend all of their free time making their very own zombie film. Then it happened. After sneaking out after curfew to get some night footage at the local train station, they witnessed a horrible train crash. The kids barely had time to think before the United States Air Force was scouring the area on an emergency clean up. What was on that train that would require the military to come in so fast, and why were they being so secretive. Despite the increasing presence of the military in their town, these kids continue on their mission… to finish their movie.
This movie knocked my socks off! I know this will be said a lot, but this film reminds me of a The Goonies / Cloverfield mash up,...
Joe and his friends love movies. In fact, they spend all of their free time making their very own zombie film. Then it happened. After sneaking out after curfew to get some night footage at the local train station, they witnessed a horrible train crash. The kids barely had time to think before the United States Air Force was scouring the area on an emergency clean up. What was on that train that would require the military to come in so fast, and why were they being so secretive. Despite the increasing presence of the military in their town, these kids continue on their mission… to finish their movie.
This movie knocked my socks off! I know this will be said a lot, but this film reminds me of a The Goonies / Cloverfield mash up,...
- 6/10/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"Super 8" isn't a perfect movie -- really, no movie is -- but for my money, it's pretty darn close. J.J. Abrams has lovingly crafted the exact kind of summer blockbuster you wish you could see more often these days : plenty of action, one hell of a train crash (trust me, the trailers and commercials don't do the real disaster justice), and a whole lot of heart.
There's a lot of mystery surrounding the new Amblin Entertainment movie, yes, so I'll do my best not to spoil any of the big surprises for you. But for now, I don't think it's spoiling anything to say this: cheesy as it sounds, "Super 8" really is (wait for it) super great. Check out five reasons you need to see this movie past the jump.
The Nostalgia Factor
The comparisons to "E.T.," "The Goonies" and other Spielberg-approved movies of yesteryear are more than fair.
There's a lot of mystery surrounding the new Amblin Entertainment movie, yes, so I'll do my best not to spoil any of the big surprises for you. But for now, I don't think it's spoiling anything to say this: cheesy as it sounds, "Super 8" really is (wait for it) super great. Check out five reasons you need to see this movie past the jump.
The Nostalgia Factor
The comparisons to "E.T.," "The Goonies" and other Spielberg-approved movies of yesteryear are more than fair.
- 6/10/2011
- by Josh Wigler
- MTV Movies Blog
Super 8
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard
Running Time: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: June 10, 2011
Plot: In 1979, kids spend their summer making a movie with a Super 8 camera. When they witness a mysterious train crash, they begin noticing strange happenings and investigate.
Who’S It For? You like blockbusters with some heart? Want to go on an adventure? That should be enough to pack the theater. It’s also going to be full of nostalgia for those who loved the late ’70s, early ’80s. If your kid is under 12, I’d seriously consider if they would suffer from nightmares.
Expectations: I knew nothing. I thought “Super 8″ was a reference to the type of camera and eight people getting super powers. Actually, I did know this … If J.J. Abrams is making a film, I want to watch it.
Scorecard (0-...
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard
Running Time: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: June 10, 2011
Plot: In 1979, kids spend their summer making a movie with a Super 8 camera. When they witness a mysterious train crash, they begin noticing strange happenings and investigate.
Who’S It For? You like blockbusters with some heart? Want to go on an adventure? That should be enough to pack the theater. It’s also going to be full of nostalgia for those who loved the late ’70s, early ’80s. If your kid is under 12, I’d seriously consider if they would suffer from nightmares.
Expectations: I knew nothing. I thought “Super 8″ was a reference to the type of camera and eight people getting super powers. Actually, I did know this … If J.J. Abrams is making a film, I want to watch it.
Scorecard (0-...
- 6/10/2011
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Imagine an era when make-believe, outdoor play and mechanical devices like film cameras and bicycles (gasp!) were the twinkle in every kid’s eye. I’m describing a time before the electric glow of iPhones and Playstations lit up homes from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This is exactly the nostalgia that J.J. Abrams manages to whip up in his latest directorial project, Super 8, out in theaters today.
Abrams’ team-up with Steven Spielberg (producing here) comes at a peculiar time. We’re in the midst of the biggest comic book movie summer ever with Super 8 opening one week after Marvel’s X-Men prequel and a week prior to DC’s tentpole, Green Lantern. Before it also came Thor and after it looms Transformers: Dark of the Movie, Captain America and even Cowboys & Aliens thrown in for good measure. That said, there’s hardly room in the minds...
Abrams’ team-up with Steven Spielberg (producing here) comes at a peculiar time. We’re in the midst of the biggest comic book movie summer ever with Super 8 opening one week after Marvel’s X-Men prequel and a week prior to DC’s tentpole, Green Lantern. Before it also came Thor and after it looms Transformers: Dark of the Movie, Captain America and even Cowboys & Aliens thrown in for good measure. That said, there’s hardly room in the minds...
- 6/10/2011
- by Sean B.
- BuzzFocus.com
Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and Ron Eldard in Super 8
Photo: Paramount Pictures J.J. Abrams' Super 8 is a love letter to Steven Spielberg. It's a not-so-subtle reminder of films such as E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind as well as the Spielberg-produced and storied The Goonies. Another way of describing it would be to say it's an homage, but if you were to tell me it was found in a 25-year-old time capsule and restored using today's CGI and Abrams' now signature lens flares that wouldn't surprise me in the least.
Marketed with all the same hocus-pocus as Paramount's Cloverfield, Abrams and Co. have done their best to keep a lid on the film's plot, or at least they have pretended to keep a lid on it. By watching the trailer you already know this is a late-'70s set creature feature in which...
Photo: Paramount Pictures J.J. Abrams' Super 8 is a love letter to Steven Spielberg. It's a not-so-subtle reminder of films such as E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind as well as the Spielberg-produced and storied The Goonies. Another way of describing it would be to say it's an homage, but if you were to tell me it was found in a 25-year-old time capsule and restored using today's CGI and Abrams' now signature lens flares that wouldn't surprise me in the least.
Marketed with all the same hocus-pocus as Paramount's Cloverfield, Abrams and Co. have done their best to keep a lid on the film's plot, or at least they have pretended to keep a lid on it. By watching the trailer you already know this is a late-'70s set creature feature in which...
- 6/10/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Director: J. J. Abrams Writer: J. J. Abrams Starring: Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Gabriel Basso, Glynn Turman, Noah Emmerich Like any decent summer blockbuster, Super 8 is a cornucopia of film clichés – death, summer romance, having almost everything in sight blown to bits, compassion toward alien beings out to rebuild spaceships, and a heavy dose of cheesy dialogue. While I’m perfectly happy to have seen this film, it’s not going to make any 10 ten lists for me. Super 8, written and directed by J.J. Abrams, is set during the summer of 1979. Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is the son of the Deputy Sheriff of Lillian, Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler). Both are suffering from the recent loss of Joe’s mother whose wake opens the film. Joe is a creative kid and spends much of his time building models, painting figures and...
- 6/10/2011
- by Caitlyn Collins
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Reviewed by Rick Klaw
(June 2011)
Directed/Written by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills
The acclaimed creator of popular television shows such as “Lost,” “Fringe” and “Alias” and director of blockbuster films “Mission: Impossible III” and “Star Trek,” J.J. Abrams famously litters his stories with red herrings, double entendres and circular logic, wrapped within excellent scripting, quality acting and superior production values. “Super 8,” the first wholly original movie written and directed by Abrams, delivers the finest creation of his career.
In the summer of 1979, while filming a Super 8 movie, a group of middle-school friends — Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Cary (Ryan Lee), Preston (Zach Mills), Charles (Riley Griffiths), Martin (Gabriel Basso) and Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) — witness and accidentally record a catastrophic train crash. The Air Force arrives quickly and cordons off the scene.
(June 2011)
Directed/Written by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills
The acclaimed creator of popular television shows such as “Lost,” “Fringe” and “Alias” and director of blockbuster films “Mission: Impossible III” and “Star Trek,” J.J. Abrams famously litters his stories with red herrings, double entendres and circular logic, wrapped within excellent scripting, quality acting and superior production values. “Super 8,” the first wholly original movie written and directed by Abrams, delivers the finest creation of his career.
In the summer of 1979, while filming a Super 8 movie, a group of middle-school friends — Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Cary (Ryan Lee), Preston (Zach Mills), Charles (Riley Griffiths), Martin (Gabriel Basso) and Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) — witness and accidentally record a catastrophic train crash. The Air Force arrives quickly and cordons off the scene.
- 6/9/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Rick Klaw
(June 2011)
Directed/Written by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills
The acclaimed creator of popular television shows such as “Lost,” “Fringe” and “Alias” and director of blockbuster films “Mission: Impossible III” and “Star Trek,” J.J. Abrams famously litters his stories with red herrings, double entendres and circular logic, wrapped within excellent scripting, quality acting and superior production values. “Super 8,” the first wholly original movie written and directed by Abrams, delivers the finest creation of his career.
In the summer of 1979, while filming a Super 8 movie, a group of middle-school friends — Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Cary (Ryan Lee), Preston (Zach Mills), Charles (Riley Griffiths), Martin (Gabriel Basso) and Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) — witness and accidentally record a catastrophic train crash. The Air Force arrives quickly and cordons off the scene.
(June 2011)
Directed/Written by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills
The acclaimed creator of popular television shows such as “Lost,” “Fringe” and “Alias” and director of blockbuster films “Mission: Impossible III” and “Star Trek,” J.J. Abrams famously litters his stories with red herrings, double entendres and circular logic, wrapped within excellent scripting, quality acting and superior production values. “Super 8,” the first wholly original movie written and directed by Abrams, delivers the finest creation of his career.
In the summer of 1979, while filming a Super 8 movie, a group of middle-school friends — Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), Cary (Ryan Lee), Preston (Zach Mills), Charles (Riley Griffiths), Martin (Gabriel Basso) and Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) — witness and accidentally record a catastrophic train crash. The Air Force arrives quickly and cordons off the scene.
- 6/9/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
"Super 8" has a lot going for it, what with all the mystery, creative advertising, A-list blockbuster-making pedigree of director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg and such. The film's major selling point, and the six things you're going to remember long after you waltz out of the theater however, are the talented young actors who absolutely steal the show.
After the jump, check out our brief primer on the kids of "Super 8"!
Joe Lamb, played by Joel Courtney
This doe-eyed, sweet and sensitive youngster is our protagonist. He's reeling over the recent death of his mother, and spends all his free time making model trains and helping his best friend Charles make a movie in order to keep his mind off his grief.
Charles, played by Riley Griffiths
An ambitious, if slightly bossy aspiring filmmaker, Charles starts the film as the ringleader of the group. He knows what...
After the jump, check out our brief primer on the kids of "Super 8"!
Joe Lamb, played by Joel Courtney
This doe-eyed, sweet and sensitive youngster is our protagonist. He's reeling over the recent death of his mother, and spends all his free time making model trains and helping his best friend Charles make a movie in order to keep his mind off his grief.
Charles, played by Riley Griffiths
An ambitious, if slightly bossy aspiring filmmaker, Charles starts the film as the ringleader of the group. He knows what...
- 6/9/2011
- by Kara Warner
- MTV Movies Blog
Ever heard of a turducken? It's a food item consisting of chicken and duck stuffed into a turkey; three elements that don't exactly go together, but are delicious enough individually that the end product is a delight. I ask because J.J. Abrams' latest film, Super 8, is the movie equivalent of a turducken. It's a decidedly pleasant blend of innumerable influences, compressed down and stuffed together into a package that might feel a little disjointed and bloated, but ultimately works because each element itself is so good. Continue reading this non-spoiler review after the jump. Writer/director J.J. Abrams has never been an easy artist to define. Whether it be with his television or film work, he's tackled almost every genre in its own way: action, sci-fi, romance, mystery, horror and more. Super 8 is his first film that's wholly original but, because it draws from so many other places,...
- 6/9/2011
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
No doubt, J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 is one of the most anticipated films of the summer. Some may say that it is the kickoff of the summer blockbusters. The general public seems to be interested in it and sci-fi/genre fans are interested as well considering J.J.’s contributions to the Star Trek franchise as well as co-creating Lost. Beyond the break, you can find out if this flick is worth your sweaty, summer cash.
Super 8 is J.J. Abrams’ first non franchise film and will obviously be used as example towards his filmmaking career. The film focuses on a group of young boys trying to complete their zombie/ghoul magnum opus filmed on Super 8mm. While shooting a scene with the group newcomer Alice Dainard at a train station, an accident happens and the train derails. One kid, our main character, Joe Lamb, noticed prior to the derailment...
Super 8 is J.J. Abrams’ first non franchise film and will obviously be used as example towards his filmmaking career. The film focuses on a group of young boys trying to complete their zombie/ghoul magnum opus filmed on Super 8mm. While shooting a scene with the group newcomer Alice Dainard at a train station, an accident happens and the train derails. One kid, our main character, Joe Lamb, noticed prior to the derailment...
- 6/9/2011
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
Review of Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams, starring Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning It should come as no surprise that Steven Spielberg served as a producer on Super 8, the new film written and directed by Jj Abrams. After all, Abrams would seem to be heir to Spielberg's mantle, and Super 8 is a throwback to the films that Spielberg mastered three decades ago, sticking a group of kids into an insane situation, up against unknown enemy. But it still manages to feel original even as it makes you feel nostalgic. It's the perfect summer fare without being a sequel or a cartoon or a superhero movie, and it feels just like the summer movies that made you love going to summer movies. It all goes down in the small town of Lillian, Ohio, in the summer of 1979. Twelve-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) has just lost his mother in an industrial accident,...
- 6/9/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Review of Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams, starring Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning It should come as no surprise that Steven Spielberg served as a producer on Super 8, the new film written and directed by Jj Abrams. After all, Abrams would seem to be heir to Spielberg's mantle, and Super 8 is a throwback to the films that Spielberg mastered three decades ago, sticking a group of kids into an insane situation, up against unknown enemy. But it still manages to feel original even as it makes you feel nostalgic. It's the perfect summer fare without being a sequel or a cartoon or a superhero movie, and it feels just like the summer movies that made you love going to summer movies. It all goes down in the small town of Lillian, Ohio, in the summer of 1979. Twelve-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) has just lost his mother in an industrial accident,...
- 6/9/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Review of Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams, starring Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning It should come as no surprise that Steven Spielberg served as a producer on Super 8, the new film written and directed by Jj Abrams. After all, Abrams would seem to be heir to Spielberg's mantle, and Super 8 is a throwback to the films that Spielberg mastered three decades ago, sticking a group of kids into an insane situation, up against unknown enemy. But it still manages to feel original even as it makes you feel nostalgic. It's the perfect summer fare without being a sequel or a cartoon or a superhero movie, and it feels just like the summer movies that made you love going to summer movies. It all goes down in the small town of Lillian, Ohio, in the summer of 1979. Twelve-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) has just lost his mother in an industrial accident,...
- 6/9/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Whether he revels in the fact or not, J.J. Abrams has become synonymous with adrenaline-fueled entertainment. In the feature film arena, he broke out writing Michael Bay‘s career-defining blockbuster Armageddon, then made his directorial debut on the high-octane third Mission: Impossible film, before single-handily revitalizing the Star Trek franchise. Super 8, his latest crowd-pleasing creation, marks the first time he has directed his own script. Fusing his personal ambitions as a young filmmaker, with a Steven Spielberg (also executive producer here) sense of adventure and escapism, Abrams captures the rare sweet spot of ingenuous childlike wonder, delivering high entertainment value in both spectacle and character.
From the first shot, Abrams is not coy when it comes to his on-the-nose approach. Mixing broad plot devices with genuinely strong character moments is bread and butter for the blockbuster maker. We learn Joe Lamb (played by newcomer Joel Courtney) and his father...
From the first shot, Abrams is not coy when it comes to his on-the-nose approach. Mixing broad plot devices with genuinely strong character moments is bread and butter for the blockbuster maker. We learn Joe Lamb (played by newcomer Joel Courtney) and his father...
- 6/9/2011
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Goonies may never reunite for another adventure in adolescence, but their intrepid spirit is alive and well in (and around) the young cast at the heart of J.J. Abrams’ Super 8.
In an homage to the late 1970s and early ’80s classics created by Steven Spielberg (who produced here), Abrams recaptures the whimsy of E.T. and the mystic aura of Close Encounters of the Third Kind with flickers (or lens flares) of his own design and a fully capable youth ensemble to match.
Set in ‘79 in the small town of Lillian, Ohio, his sci-fi thriller centers on a pack of imaginative teens eager to spend their summer vacation completing a Diy zombie film, including the mop-topped Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), a bashful wannabe horror make-up artist with a schoolboy crush on the lead actress, Alice (Elle Fanning).
After sneaking out at night to shoot a tearful goodbye, the delightfully...
In an homage to the late 1970s and early ’80s classics created by Steven Spielberg (who produced here), Abrams recaptures the whimsy of E.T. and the mystic aura of Close Encounters of the Third Kind with flickers (or lens flares) of his own design and a fully capable youth ensemble to match.
Set in ‘79 in the small town of Lillian, Ohio, his sci-fi thriller centers on a pack of imaginative teens eager to spend their summer vacation completing a Diy zombie film, including the mop-topped Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), a bashful wannabe horror make-up artist with a schoolboy crush on the lead actress, Alice (Elle Fanning).
After sneaking out at night to shoot a tearful goodbye, the delightfully...
- 6/8/2011
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
Despite the fact that it centers on a train wreck, "Super 8" is anything but. The new Amblin Entertainment and Bad Robot endeavor from director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg is a stunning success on multiple levels — that's my humble opinion, at least. But you'll have a chance to make your own judgments soon enough as "Super 8" barrels into theaters this weekend.
But even though Friday's just a short two days away, why wait when you can see the movie sooner — this Thursday (June 9), to be precise?
Paramount and Twitter have teamed up for what's being described as the social networking outlet's first-ever "Tweet Movie Sneak Preview," a series of advanced viewings of "Super 8" debuting in 300 theaters all across the United States tomorrow.
How do you get involved, you ask? Easy: visit the official "Super 8" website to check out tickets and show times. Participating theaters across...
But even though Friday's just a short two days away, why wait when you can see the movie sooner — this Thursday (June 9), to be precise?
Paramount and Twitter have teamed up for what's being described as the social networking outlet's first-ever "Tweet Movie Sneak Preview," a series of advanced viewings of "Super 8" debuting in 300 theaters all across the United States tomorrow.
How do you get involved, you ask? Easy: visit the official "Super 8" website to check out tickets and show times. Participating theaters across...
- 6/8/2011
- by Josh Wigler
- MTV Movies Blog
"I believe you." We don't often do a lot of interviews with actors, but with J.J. Abrams' Super 8 coming up, I had the opportunity to speak with 15-year-old Idaho-born actor Joel Courtney who stars in the film as Joe Lamb. I immediately said yes to speak with him, even before seeing the film, because from the trailers alone I just had a feeling he would not only be great in the movie, but a cool guy off screen. That's definitely the case, as I got to meet and interview Joel for 10 minutes on video, and he was awesome to chat with. We cover all the bases, in terms of how he got cast in Super 8, to what it was like working on set, so check it out! Watch my interview with Joel Courtney, the young star of J.J. Abrams' Super 8 (it's spoiler free!): As...
- 6/8/2011
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Chicago – J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8” comes to theaters this week shrouded in mystery, nostalgia, and expectation. What do the aliens look like? How will it pay homage to the works of Steven Spielberg that so clearly inspired it? And will the merging of two filmmakers amplify their flaws or underline their strengths? I’ve rarely been happier to report that “Super 8” is a success on every level, whether you’ve seen the films that it echoes or not. Halfway through “Super 8” I stopped thinking about the films that inspired Abrams to make it and started envisioning the works that would be inspired by This movie. Yes, it’s that good.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
Because so much of the joy of “Super 8” is in the way it unfolds, this review will be completely devoid of significant spoilers, but even those wouldn’t ruin the movie. Just as the red matter...
Rating: 5.0/5.0
Because so much of the joy of “Super 8” is in the way it unfolds, this review will be completely devoid of significant spoilers, but even those wouldn’t ruin the movie. Just as the red matter...
- 6/8/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The biggest triumph that director J.J. Abrams’ ("Star Trek," "Cloverfield") achieves with "Super 8" isn’t the special effects or the secretive plot; it's the fine group of child actors he's assembled. Not since "The Goonies" has an ensemble of misfits been so entertaining.
In "Super 8," six Midwestern kids witness a mysterious train crash in 1979 while making a zombie film, and strange things start happening. Cue the screams of voice-cracking adolescents. They laugh, they cry, they blow stuff up, they sing "My Sharona." Fun fact: The actors actually wrote and directed the film-within-a-film themselves, so don’t forget to stay for the credits.
Meet these child stars of "Super 8" and learn more about the characters they play -- in the J.J. Abrams movie and their homemade zombie film.
Joel Courtney
Age: 15
Hometown: Moscow, Idaho
Where You’ve Seen Him: "Super 8" is Courtney’s first role.
Courtney as...
In "Super 8," six Midwestern kids witness a mysterious train crash in 1979 while making a zombie film, and strange things start happening. Cue the screams of voice-cracking adolescents. They laugh, they cry, they blow stuff up, they sing "My Sharona." Fun fact: The actors actually wrote and directed the film-within-a-film themselves, so don’t forget to stay for the credits.
Meet these child stars of "Super 8" and learn more about the characters they play -- in the J.J. Abrams movie and their homemade zombie film.
Joel Courtney
Age: 15
Hometown: Moscow, Idaho
Where You’ve Seen Him: "Super 8" is Courtney’s first role.
Courtney as...
- 6/8/2011
- by Cassie Carpenter
- NextMovie
Our film takes place in a small town in 1979, where a group of kids are attempting to make a film using their super 8mm camera in order to enter it into a film contest. During a night of shooting a pivotal scene, a huge train accident occurs and the kids are right in the middle of it. Strange things begin to happen around the town, and the air force have shown up. There is much more going on, mystery and wonder ensue.
Super 8 is J.J. Abrams throw back to early Spielberg, and films of the late 70′s and early 80′s. Straight off the bat, it had elements of Close Encounters/E.T./Jaws/The Goonies to name a few. While it had those elements, it did not feel like a rip off or a recreation, instead it really is its own vehicle. Certain things aside this film felt like it...
Super 8 is J.J. Abrams throw back to early Spielberg, and films of the late 70′s and early 80′s. Straight off the bat, it had elements of Close Encounters/E.T./Jaws/The Goonies to name a few. While it had those elements, it did not feel like a rip off or a recreation, instead it really is its own vehicle. Certain things aside this film felt like it...
- 6/8/2011
- by Marcella Papandrea
- Killer Films
Super 8 is a summer spectacular that proves you can have explosions, aliens and a good story alongside characters you care about.
By Carlos Pedraza
Set aside the comparisons to E.T. and The Iron Giant. J.J. Abrams’ and Steven Spielberg’s Big Summer Movie stands on its own — an explosive and compelling showcase of both filmmakers’ strengths that should shame lesser storytellers’ so-called summer blockbusters.
Yes, Brett Ratner (X-Men 3), Todd Phillips (Hangover 2) and Michael Bay (every Transformers film ever made and likely to be made), I’m talking to you. I’m talking about how you sacrifice real storytelling for cynical cash-generating clones of once-original concepts; about how you fool spectacle-loving audiences into parting with their hard-earned cash with mere gimmicks (CGI and 3D).
Thankfully, Super 8’s writer-director Abrams and producer Spielberg understand that their past successes give them a special responsibility to continue try to give us good stories.
By Carlos Pedraza
Set aside the comparisons to E.T. and The Iron Giant. J.J. Abrams’ and Steven Spielberg’s Big Summer Movie stands on its own — an explosive and compelling showcase of both filmmakers’ strengths that should shame lesser storytellers’ so-called summer blockbusters.
Yes, Brett Ratner (X-Men 3), Todd Phillips (Hangover 2) and Michael Bay (every Transformers film ever made and likely to be made), I’m talking to you. I’m talking about how you sacrifice real storytelling for cynical cash-generating clones of once-original concepts; about how you fool spectacle-loving audiences into parting with their hard-earned cash with mere gimmicks (CGI and 3D).
Thankfully, Super 8’s writer-director Abrams and producer Spielberg understand that their past successes give them a special responsibility to continue try to give us good stories.
- 6/8/2011
- by Ctharlos, Dark Lord of Levity, Limericks and Licorice
- doorQ.com
To any child of the 80s, the name Amblin brings back fond memories of watching our VHS copies of The Goonies or E.T. until the tapes were as worn out as our Gremlins or Back to the Future lunchboxes. But it seems that as we grew older, the good wholesome adventure story went the way of the Trapper Keeper. The promise of a return to the Amblin adventures of our childhood has had just about everyone excited since the Super 8 teasers rolled out earlier this year. I couldn't be happier to report that the finished product completely delivers on this promise. Set in 1979, Super 8 tells the story of young Joe Lamb (newcomer Joel Courtney) and his rag tag band of amateur...
- 6/7/2011
- Screen Anarchy
J.J. Abrams enters Steven Spielberg.s territory in the new sci-fi thriller .Super 8.. The film, with its perfect mixture of science fiction, thriller, and drama, is a Spielberg movie not directed by the iconic director.
Spielberg produced the film and gave the reins to Abrams who also wrote the screenplay. Part .E.T.,. part .Close Encounters of the Third Kind. with a heavy dose of .Stand by Me,. .Super 8. is old school filmmaking at its finest.
The soul behind .Super 8. are the two filmmakers who started making movies using Super 8 cameras when they were younger. Abrams and Spielberg both discovered their passion for filmmaking during their childhood making Super 8 movies.
If Abrams and Spielberg are the soul of .Super 8,. the heart of the story revolves around six kids in a small mining town of Lillian, Ohio who dream of making their first Super 8 zombie movie. It is...
Spielberg produced the film and gave the reins to Abrams who also wrote the screenplay. Part .E.T.,. part .Close Encounters of the Third Kind. with a heavy dose of .Stand by Me,. .Super 8. is old school filmmaking at its finest.
The soul behind .Super 8. are the two filmmakers who started making movies using Super 8 cameras when they were younger. Abrams and Spielberg both discovered their passion for filmmaking during their childhood making Super 8 movies.
If Abrams and Spielberg are the soul of .Super 8,. the heart of the story revolves around six kids in a small mining town of Lillian, Ohio who dream of making their first Super 8 zombie movie. It is...
- 6/7/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Are you sick of hearing about Super 8 yet? We've got an entire week left until release, but at least there's some fun stuff leading up to June 10. Paramount has already released about forty variations of the opening train crash sequence, but we just now got our hands on two "fresh" clips from the J.J. Abrams-directed sci-fi horror films that's great for the entire family. One clip features a heartwarming moment between Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his love interest Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) as they prepare for their movie shoot. Alice is caked up in zombie makeup. The other clip features Joe's dad Jackson (Kyle Chandler) as he attempts to find out where his kid vanished off too. Their super 8 dailies may hold the clue.
- 6/6/2011
- bloody-disgusting.com
"Super 8" has arrived — well, almost. With just days to go before the film's June 10 release date, we proudly premiered a brand new "Super 8" teaser at the MTV Movie Awards last night, casting light on the darkest corners of J.J. Abrams' sci-fi suspense thriller.
There's a lot to keep track of in the new "Super 8" trailer, but there are a few Easter Eggs and hidden twists you won't want to miss. After the jump, we've got the lowdown on five secrets that the new footage has to offer — but beware, some minor spoilers may lie ahead.
"No One Believes Me!"
The small town community at the center of "Super 8" has seen better days, to say the least. Whatever emerged from that train wreck is terrorizing ordinary folks, as you can see in the gas station attack scene. But one victim to keep an eye out on...
There's a lot to keep track of in the new "Super 8" trailer, but there are a few Easter Eggs and hidden twists you won't want to miss. After the jump, we've got the lowdown on five secrets that the new footage has to offer — but beware, some minor spoilers may lie ahead.
"No One Believes Me!"
The small town community at the center of "Super 8" has seen better days, to say the least. Whatever emerged from that train wreck is terrorizing ordinary folks, as you can see in the gas station attack scene. But one victim to keep an eye out on...
- 6/6/2011
- by Josh Wigler
- MTV Movies Blog
Left to right: Gabriel Basso plays Martin, Ryan Lee plays Cary, Joel Courtney plays Joe Lamb, and Riley Griffiths plays Charles in Super 8, from Paramount Pictures. Photo credit: Francois Duhamel © 2011 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Check out this new clip and a bunch of new stills from Paramount Pictures sci-fi film Super 8. When something wreaks havoc in the small town of Lillian, a group of friends band together to save their families, their town and themselves.
It Has Escaped, It Has A Plan.And this Friday, discover the secret and why it’s So Mint!
Click Here to watch more of the train sequence.
Left to right: Elle Fanning plays Alice Dainard and Joel Courtney plays Joe Lamb in Super 8, from Paramount Pictures. Photo credit: Francois Duhamel © 2011 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Left to right: Kyle Chandler plays Jackson Lamb, Joel Courtney plays Joe Lamb, Elle Fanning plays Alice Dainard,...
Check out this new clip and a bunch of new stills from Paramount Pictures sci-fi film Super 8. When something wreaks havoc in the small town of Lillian, a group of friends band together to save their families, their town and themselves.
It Has Escaped, It Has A Plan.And this Friday, discover the secret and why it’s So Mint!
Click Here to watch more of the train sequence.
Left to right: Elle Fanning plays Alice Dainard and Joel Courtney plays Joe Lamb in Super 8, from Paramount Pictures. Photo credit: Francois Duhamel © 2011 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Left to right: Kyle Chandler plays Jackson Lamb, Joel Courtney plays Joe Lamb, Elle Fanning plays Alice Dainard,...
- 6/5/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The heart of "Super 8" belongs to the fantastic child actors namely Joel Courtney (Joe Lamb), Riley Griffiths (Charles), Gabriel Basso (Martin -- absent from this interview), Zach Mills (Preston), and Ryan Lee (Cary).
They play a group of Lillian, Ohio kids who decide to make a super 8 zombie movie during the summer of 1979. But then, a mysterious train crash happens.
In this interview, we talked about:
*** How they got involved into making "Super 8"
*** When J.J. Abrams show them the top-secret script of the movie
*** Did they know the theme of the movie when they interviewed?
*** The connection of "Little Darlings" to "Super 8"
*** When did they find out about the story of "Super 8"
*** Their characters
*** Their chemistry and how they bonded with each other and with Elle Fanning
*** The comparison with "Stand By Me"
*** Super 8 the camera!
*** Do they believe in UFO?
Here's more "Super 8...
They play a group of Lillian, Ohio kids who decide to make a super 8 zombie movie during the summer of 1979. But then, a mysterious train crash happens.
In this interview, we talked about:
*** How they got involved into making "Super 8"
*** When J.J. Abrams show them the top-secret script of the movie
*** Did they know the theme of the movie when they interviewed?
*** The connection of "Little Darlings" to "Super 8"
*** When did they find out about the story of "Super 8"
*** Their characters
*** Their chemistry and how they bonded with each other and with Elle Fanning
*** The comparison with "Stand By Me"
*** Super 8 the camera!
*** Do they believe in UFO?
Here's more "Super 8...
- 6/5/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
We managed to see a 20-minute preview of Jj Abrams' eagerly-awaited Super 8. And here's what we thought of it...
Of all the upcoming summer movies, the real unknown quantity in among the various comic-book adaptations, sequels and remakes would have to be Jj Abrams’ Super 8. From its enigmatic title, through to its evocative yet evasive teaser trailer, quite what Super 8 is has been something of a secret.
However, with the release of its full trailer a few weeks back (and the new clip that arrived earlier today), that air of mystery began to lift, and so it was with some considerable anticipation that Den of Geek went along to a preview screening of 20 minutes of footage from the movie itself.
Prefaced by a short video introduction from the director, Abrams explained that Super 8 grew from two separate pitches he made to both Steven Spielberg and Paramount Pictures respectively.
Of all the upcoming summer movies, the real unknown quantity in among the various comic-book adaptations, sequels and remakes would have to be Jj Abrams’ Super 8. From its enigmatic title, through to its evocative yet evasive teaser trailer, quite what Super 8 is has been something of a secret.
However, with the release of its full trailer a few weeks back (and the new clip that arrived earlier today), that air of mystery began to lift, and so it was with some considerable anticipation that Den of Geek went along to a preview screening of 20 minutes of footage from the movie itself.
Prefaced by a short video introduction from the director, Abrams explained that Super 8 grew from two separate pitches he made to both Steven Spielberg and Paramount Pictures respectively.
- 5/17/2011
- Den of Geek
A new clip for J.J. Abrams highly-secretive, Spielbergian blockbuster, Super 8, has landed over at Moviefone. The clip gives us a very brief look at Joel Courtney as Joe Lamb, the young teen whom the film focuses on. From the looks of it, Lamb and his friends are about to shoot a meaty emotional scene for their little indie flick when they're interrupted by a catastrophe of Michael Bay proportions. ...I honestly cannot wait for this to blow my movie-going mind. Super 8 hits Irish cinemas August 5th. ...
- 5/16/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Ferg)
- www.themoviebit.com
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