June 20, 2011

#131: Super 8 (6/10)

Maybe I pay too much attention to film news, but I feel like I heard about Super 8 coming out a full year ago, and it was one of the most anticipated movies for me this summer. I didn't know anything about it, and I had no reason to be excited about it. I suppose I bought into the hype. Now I have seen it, and the result has been to plunge me deeper into my abyss of film despair. I wanted so badly to be blown away by this film. I was too young to experience the magic of the Amblin films back in the 80's. Super 8 was my chance to have a little piece of that.

The beginning of Super 8 was pretty great. The first shot specifically was wonderful. As we meet the main characters I felt like the groundwork was being laid for a super enjoyable movie going experience. There was a simplicity; almost a familiarity in how it was set up. As we built up to train depot scene everything was still on track. Unfortunately it peaked right there, and much like the chaos that took place in that scene, the movie went off the rails and never managed to get back on. Of course I didn't know that at the time. I was always rooting for it to pull everything together in time for a magical ending. That didn't happen. I left the theater scratching my head.

June 14, 2011

#130: Trick r Treat (6/10)

I watched this movie on Netflix instant in broad daylight about as far away from Halloween as you can get.  I'm guessing that was not the intended setting, but it might have been the only way for me to partake.  I've never been a fan of scary/horror/blood/guts... though I do I love an intense thriller.  I guess there is a fine line, which makes it difficult to know which movies are suitable for watching with the lights out.  As a child the supernatural always scared me more.  If we found out the murderer was a mere mortal I was mostly okay with it because he/she/it could be killed. If it were a phantom/ghost/Freddy Krueger I was freaked-the-shit-out.

June 11, 2011

Neglected movie blog

Yep. I'm once again writing about how I haven't been keeping up with this blog like I wanted to. Interesting reading ehh? I honestly haven't been watching many movies at all. What I have been watching hasn't gotten me excited. It seems like more often than not I hit a slump and I need something to break me out of it. Bridesmaids was good, but I liked it in spite of a lot of things. The more I thought about it the more criticisms I came up with.

This weekend was supposed to be that weekend to break out of the slump. Super 8 was coming out. I'm not sure why I was so excited to see Super 8. The first teaser trailer looked kinda cool, but the extended trailer that came out a few months ago totally killed my anticipation for the film. It looked nothing like I had initially expected. But all the hype that has been building over the last few weeks reignited my desire to get out to the theater and see what JJ had to offer. There was only positive buzz and it looked to be setting up as an amazing film.