Flick of The Day: Super 8

Today's flick of the day, Super 8 is an ode not just to the 1970s childhood of creator, JJ Abrams but to the kind of child friendly films created by Steven Spielberg in his heyday. As has been noted elsewhere, this film owes a debt to the likes of E.T and The Goonies but quite specifically to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

Super 8

In the winter of 1979, Joe Lamb loses his mother in a work accident and he and his father, the town Sheriff are left to find their feet. The film fasts forward to the following Summer with Joe and his father sharing an increasingly fraught relationship. Joe spends his days making a zombie movie on a Super 8 camera with his friends including best friend and bossy director Charles and the object of his affections Alice. Late one night, they sneak out to film at the local railway line. As they play with make-up and lighting, a heavy freight train thunders into view. A  car suddenly appears driving down the tracks, causing the train to derail in a fiery wreck. Before long, the military arrive and the motley crew flee the scene. Of course, strange things begin to occur around the small town. The military deny there is anything wrong but Joe and his father are not so sure. As things began to go awry and the military lose control, Joe and his friends try to find out what has been causing it and come to a shocking discovery.

This really is a fine effort at the kind of feel good sci-fi film created by Spielberg. The kids are terribly precocious and entertaining with particularly fine turns from Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney as Alice and Joe. The film exudes the kind of heart that was so evident in E.T and The Goonies and is filled to the brim with period elements and pop culture giving it an authentic feel. The teenager with a new invention called a Walkman, listening to Blondie. The kids sing along to My Sharona and a news broadcast talks of the 3 Mile Island disaster. It drags you into this little world and before long you are rooting for the small townsfolk against those pesky Air Force men.

As the film moves toward a finale, it becomes obvious that it is as much a story of Joe and his father coming together and grieving over the death of his mother. I suppose the difference between this and some of Spielberg's efforts is Abrams is not gifted when dealing with emotion. Remember how sombre and quiet E.T was at times. Super 8 always feels loud and bombastic even in tender scenes. That said, overall there is much to enjoy. This is a story driven Hollywood blockbuster and there is no 3D in sight. Be thankful for small mercies. It is a damning indictment when making a film that is effectively a homage to another director is a cause for celebration.

Perhaps I am too harsh though for in a Summer of tripe like yet another Transformers film, this is the best film I have seen bar John Michael McDonagh's The Guard.  I predict a bright future for some of the child actors and look forward to the next effort from Mr Abrams. Well worth a trip to the cineplex.

Flick of The Day: Somewhere

Parenthood. Its one of those core themes that is at the centre of films as diverse as To Kill a Mockingbird and As Good as It Gets. It is also the subject of today's film, the latest film from Sofia Coppola, Somewhere. 

Somewhere

In an unexpectedly strong performance given his career thus far, Stephen Dorff stars as a washed up action star called Johnny Marco hiding out in the legendary Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood. The film opens with Johnny driving round and round a circular race track in his Ferrari. He is going in circles much as he is in life, spending his days lounging around the Hotel, drinking, smoking and moving from one meaningless tryst to the next. That is until his daughter, the delightful Elle Fanning turns up on his doorstep and he is forced to be a father.

Lost in Translation

This is Coppola's fourth film as a director and it returns to the familiar territory of Lost In Translation after 2006's bubblegum history flick Marie Antoinette. All of the themes are there: A washed up Hollywood star, Loneliness in a large hotel, and a depressed character who finds redemption in a new relationship. That's not to say that this film is a derivative of her earlier work. It stands in its own right and Coppola is a master at such themes.

In truth, Elle Fanning is not overly tested as Johnny's daughter Cleo, though there are a number of scenes where Cleo almost intrudes upon Johnny's drinking and debauchery, she never actually does so. I would suppose the point being made is that Cleo is fine, She has her Dad and doesn't need anything more then him to be there so the real emotional breakthroughs of the film are Dorff's. He is the centre of the film.

Marie Antoinette

Of course, Johnny realizes eventually that the hollow nature of his lifestyle is the source of his despair and that he gets more enjoyment from simply hanging by the pool with his daughter then living the vapid Hollywood lifestyle. The film ends with Johnny driving his Ferrari. Somewhere.