Super 8

To be honest, I expected this to be a lot scarier. That is not to say that I didn't jump out of my seat every five minutes (making my friend laugh hysterically), but the previews I'd seen had made it seem much creepier.

At any rate, although the main cast consists of kid actors, they were very good. Good characterizations, and funny. I don't know why Elle Fanning is getting so much more attention than Joel Courtney, though. He was fabulous and adorable; she was okay--I mean, not bad, but I wasn't like, "Wow, that girl is going to kill it someday!" I can only assume she's getting so much attention because she happens to be Dakota Fanning's kid sister.

The monster was scarier when we couldn't really see him--I did love the small reflection in the gas puddle early on, though (my friend missed it, so look out for it!) Loved being able to see the actual Super 8 film at the end--too funny!

Overall, I enjoyed myself. The film has its scary moments, and even some gory ones, as well as plenty of comedy and explosions. It does have a Disney-like ending, however, so if you're expecting a bloodbath, you'll be disappointed.

HOLY SHIT ATTACK THE BLOCK!!

I don't know if I've mentioned this a thousand times, but I live in LOS ANGELES, the movie capital of the non-Indian world, and I get to see a lot of movies that other people don't. My life is pretty amazing, you guys. So a couple of months ago my brother got special sneak preview tickets for Attack the Block, a British alien invasion movie which hasn't even come out in the UK yet, and might NEVER come out in the US because distributors are nervous about all the thick Britsy accents in the thing. Which is ridiculous, but whatever, I got to see it in a theater with a bunch of hyper nerds and my DVD player is multiformat, so THERE, idiot American distributors.

I just realized I'm being overly detailed in "setting the scene", just like the shitty restaurant reviewers in the Reno News and Review. "My cousin and I were playing Boggle all afternoon and we realized we were hungry! So we got in the car and buckled our seatbelts and drove to Petey Po's Pizza Pie Palace. We parked in the parking lot that was associated with the restaurant, alongside some other cars that were parked in the same lot. When we walked in via the door, I noticed that this restaurant had tables AND chairs! Many of the tables had multiple chairs at them, which is good, because like I said, I was with my cousin, so there were two of us. The decorations on the walls were of many pretty colors, and were mostly attached to the walls (interior) with little nails and pushpins. I enjoyed the colors! We ate a pizza and went home."

OK, anyway, I don't care how many more movies I see this year, I can tell you right now that Attack the Block is the best film of 2011. The basic premise is that aliens attack a housing project in London, and a bunch of teenagers instantly fight back and it is fucking AMAZING. It's the perfect mix of scary funny action, with just the slightest bit of sentimentality that is done so well, with such a light touch, that it almost makes me cry just thinking about it. If you get a chance to see this movie, oh my god, do it.

ATTACK THE BLOCK!

Hesher

Hesher is a bit of a mixed bag because it's a boring lame indie movie wrapped around one of the greatest characters I've ever seen onscreen. Is it worth seeing? I'm not sure. Every once in a while, Hesher bursts in through the fourth wall of another dreary movie about Dysfunctional People Dealing With Life and does all kinds of awesome shit, and those parts of the movie are amazing. This Joseph Gordon Levitt kid, he's the real deal. The problem is, there aren't nearly enough Hesher parts, and there are way too many Sad Kid with Dead Mom parts. Oh, speaking of which, get ready for my Super 8 review.

X-Men: First Class

I had high hopes going into this one. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender? YES PLEASE. (You may recall my weird crush on Fassbender from previous posts).

SPOILERS AHOY!


I was a little disappointed, to be honest. Sure, there's decent special effects and action (I sort of loved the sequence where Erik/Magneto goes into the South American bar and causes havok--HAHAHA no pun intended!!), though to be honest, I hated the effect for Emma Frost's "diamond" form--boo! I also didn't like that they had Mystique and Prof. X meet as children and become like...best buddies/brother and sister. What? If my googling skills are up to par, I'm pretty sure that's not at all what happens in the comics. SIGH.

Also, while they did develop a friendship between Magneto and Prof. X (which was bromance at its best), it ended really quickly--I had gotten the impression from the other films (which may or may not have anything to do with this one?? I'm unsure) that they were friends for YEARS and YEARS before having their falling out--I mean, we see them go recruit Jean Grey together as older men, right?

I guess that's where I'm the most confused--does this movie have anything to do with the previous three? I want to say yes, because they harken back to Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, they use the opening bit with Magneto pulling the fence at the ghetto/camp as a teenager, Wolverine makes an appearance--but then other things just don't match up (as mentioned above).

I hate when movies confuse me, so this one gets a B. SO THERE.

The First Grader

I am such a slacker. I keep seeing movies and not reviewing them. Ah, summer.

Anyway, I am often coerced into seeing artsy movies with my mother; more often than not, I go in kicking and screaming only to leave having loved what I saw. Mothers are annoying like that. You'd think I'd just accept her judgement and move on, but no. Apparently I'm still stuck in my teenage ways many years later.

The First Grader is a sweet movie, based on a true story (but we know how that goes in Hollywood). The actor who played Maruge (the old man who is going back to school to learn to read) was excellent--just the right mix of quiet sadness and determination. I thought the flashback sequences could have been a little clearer--it wasn't obvious at first what was going on (like...if it was something happening simultaneously in other part of the country, or really WAS a flashback). Overall, it's not the BEST independent film I've seen, but it was sweet.