Super 8

Super 8 – 112min – PG-13

When I go to a movie I take a notebook. I usually jot down a few items about the movies as I watch. I can look back at my notes and see the movies that really engaged by the amount of notes I take during a movie. For this film, I have only one note in my book: “loved it! “ I was completely engaged throughout the picture. Every aspect of this movie was masterfully done. The acting, the storytelling, set design -- everything was done really well. The pace of the story was fine and the balancing act between all of the human emotions is awesome. Some people have said that it’s a cross between The Goonies and Cloverfield. I would say “yes and no”. I will explain more later. Right now let me go into other aspects of the movie. I am going to give this movie a full-on green light. I count this as a win for J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg.

The story surrounds a group of kids who are shooting a movie for a super 8 film festival. Super 8 refers to the type of film they are using, not a motel. While they are filming a scene at a train station, a train derails. The crash lets lose something that begins terrorizing the town. The rest of the movie focuses on things that happen while the kids try to figure out what is going on in the town, while finishing the movie, dodging their parents, finding young love and dealing with town familial politics. There are enough elements to keep you involved on several layers in the movie. The complex story is fun to watch as it rolls out. I liked how the kids and the grownups were trying to solve the same things, but were going from two different aspects.

The kids: Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Riley Griffiths, Gabriel Basso and Elle Fanning all did wonderfully in their roles. I enjoyed the characterizations that each brought to this young film crew. The kids’ production reminded me of some of my films shoots where you had several people doing roles and also working on the crew. The dynamic between them was well-played. I bought into the friendship they portrayed and enjoyed watching them argue and bicker like friends do from time to time. It felt real to me as I watched them go through this event. For the adult cast they had some challenging elements to bring to the screen, the relationship between Jackson(Kyle Chandler) and Louis (Ron Eldard) was well-performed. There were some really well played-out scenes where the characters grow and evolve and truly enjoy watching the development of the people as well as the story. A movie that has a depth of character is almost more entertaining for me to watch as the story is.

J.J. Abrams did a spectacular job. He made a well-balanced and entertaining film. This movie built to a good pace with the suspense and plenty of emotional story elements to satisfy several different viewers’ tastes. I have been a fan of his work in the past I was truly won over with his version of Star Trek. As a side note I have to admit I was extremely nervous when I heard they were remaking the series in a movie. I was willing to give him the Benefit of the doubt and went to see it with as much as an open mind as I could, I was not disappointed with his take on the earlier years that I surprised and pleased with the outcome. He had me as a fan from that point on. He is spectacular storyteller and does a wonderful job putting them up on the screen. The cinematographer (Larry Fong) did a great job of visualizing this film. His style of filmmaking can be seen in his past projects and they carry over to this one as well. His scene set up for the more suspenseful parts of this film defiantly have his touch to them. The sweeping long shots of the action and the composition of the perspective shots were “Mint”

I still want to address the comparisons to The Goonies and Cloverfield. There are some elements that are really Goonies-esk, you have a bunch of kids going out on an adventure and facing dangerous elements while they pursue their goal. If you take out all of the campy elements of Goonies, it’s not that far off. I have not seen Cloverfield but to the comparison seems to lie in how you do not get a good look at the monster until the very end of the movie. Many films in the past have used this technique so I don’t know if Cloverfield can take credit for it. Aside from that I can’t comment on how much alike those two films are.

Ok this week I am going to ask you what was one kids movie that you liked when you were young and when you watched it as adult it lost some of that wonder, It’s a sad questions but I had to ask, because I was watching Goonies again and I just can’t get that same feeling I had when I was a kid. My tastes have matured I guess.

COOOOL

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Central Station

Central Station - 113min – R

I have always been a fan of redemption stories. In this movie, Isadora's redemption is done in such a dynamic way that I can say my feelings about her transform with her through her journey. Her quest to bring a young boy to his father makes her face some things from her past she has not dealt with. This movie does a wonderful job of taking us through several settings in Brazil -- from the very rough streets of the city to the laid-back countryside. This movie is a combination of buddy road picture and redemption film. From a filmmaker’s standpoint there are several technical aspects of this movie I respect. This is one of the films that I was assigned to watch for a film class. It has a green light from me, please rent this film and enjoy. The movie is not one I would normally seek out. I enjoy foreign films and subtitles do not scare me away, but I didn’t think the cover made it sound very interesting. I was pleasantly surprised to find such a hidden gem. It’s worth a look.

The story is about Isadora (Fernanda Montenegro) an ex-schoolteacher who makes her living writing letters for people who are illiterate. She meets a mother (Soia Lira) and her son (Vinícius de Oliveira) who wants to send a letter to the boy’s father. A tragic accident leaves the boy alone on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. At first, Isadora is a completely despicable character. She bilks the uneducated out of the money she makes for writing the letters -- taking their money but never sending any of the letters. She looks for an angle to make money off the boy’s misfortunes. She then realizes her mistake and decides to take him to see his father as he is his only living relative. On the journey to find the boy’s father, she has to deal with issues from her past and grow as a person. By the film’s end, both characters have learned much from their experiences and emerge as completely different characters.

I want to take a quick moment to talk about the brilliant work that Montenegro does in this film, she does portray two completely different people in this move, I truly despised her at the beginning of this film, by the end I see he as a hopeful and caring person. Her work on this picture is a testament to her art, as the film passes; she does a superb job of making the transition in a believable and compelling way. The other person who deserves a nod is de Oliveira. He is a talented young actor who was a shoe shine boy before he performed in this movie and did an amazing job. His character is the catalyst that gets Isadora to move out of her normal life to grow and. He captures the vulnerability of a boy going through a horrific experience. He plays at putting on airs of strength, but he is still a boy. This is a remarkable picture and the chemistry between these two was magic.

Walter Salles directed this picture; he chose to make this film in sequence that means the first scene of the film was shot first. The rest of the shots were filmed as they came up in the movie. Typically films are shot out of order and the edited together. I have made a few films and most of them were done out of order to better accommodate the cast or locations we had access to. I have done a few films shot in sequence primarily for The Shootout Boulder. It’s a 24 hour film making festival that highlights the fact the films were created within 24 hours and can have no editing. You have to shoot it in sequence. It is a challenging task and I respect Salles for creating this film in this way. The second really cool thing is he has had very little set dressing on this movie; they used all actual locations in their natural settings. This does show the bright and vibrant colors that surround the people of Brazil. Salles does a great job of making sure the film comes across as a natural and clean environment.

I am going to ask you this time is there things in your life you have wanted to change? The reason I ask is because the theme of this movie was change. Now, I am not asking you to find a boy and travel across the country to get them back to their relatives. Are there things in your life that you would like to change for the better? Make those changes. You know what they are, just do it. I am...well I am trying at least.

Rashomon

Rashomon – 88min - NR/Not Rated

As you might have guessed by my screen name, I am a fan of the Japanese culture and have always liked Akira Kurosawa films. I was eager to watch Rashomon and was not disappointed. This is a marvelous movie. I had to watch this movie a second time to really observe some of the wonderful elements in the film. The first viewing I let the story take me away and paid no attention to any of the finer elements. I truly love so many aspects of this film, from the cinematography to the acting. The story captures many facets, I really don’t have enough time to truly dedicate to fully explore all of them. If you have never experienced a Kurosawa film this is a good one to start on. I would suggest Seven Samurai next, but that will have to wait till a different review.

The story takes place at a ruined gatehouse called Rashomon. It’s raining and three people talk about a crime while they wait for the rain to stop. A wood cutter (Takashi Shimura) was involved in an investigation that took place after he finds a body in the woods. A priest (Minoru Chiaki) was also a witness to events that took place. They are joined by a commoner (Kichijiro Ueda) and they proceed to tell him what they witnessed at the investigation. The movie takes place in flashback as each of the people involved in the crime tells their stories of what happened. A bandit by the name of Tajomaru (Toshiro Mifune) attacks a couple on the road, husband and wife (Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyo). They are giving testimony to the magistrate so we get to see the crime from the different points of view. There is one person giving testimony from the dead husband point of view, she is a medium (Noriko Honma) they did a voice over with the husband talking through her, she does a wonderful job of a haunting portrayal of channeling the dead husband’s sprit.

The theme of the film is that each event is changed by the memory of those who remember it. We get to see each of these versions play out as the person is telling them. I believe there are three sides to a story, your side, my side and the truth. This movie personifies that thought. With each telling of the same events we see more of what motivates each person by how they tell what went on. I also like how it tells the story of human nature without being overly preachy.

The technical aspects of the film are wonderful. We have some really good use of camera angles and lighting. There is one scene that uses a hand held camera and they use it as a great element in following the characters through the woods. This was one of the earliest uses of this type of shot. There is also a shot that is up at the sun through the canopy of the forest and it makes for a wonderful setting of the environment. Kurosawa could not bring lights into the forest so they had to use full length mirrors to light the shots. During the investigation scenes, the audience takes the role of the investigator and the actors tell us directly what they saw giving us a feeling of involvement in the story. I also found that the title of the film has now been used to describe what happens when people tell the same information from different points of view. It’s called the Rashomon Effect.

I have fallen in love with the way Kurosawa tells a story. I truly can’t explain how I completely fall into the story and time fades away. I am going to have to spend some time on his other films. I feel a connection with his stories that I have not felt with any other director.

What movie have you known about but have not watched yet? You know the one, it has your favorite actor in it or it’s made by your favorite director but you have not had the time to see it. When it came out in theaters and you said I will go see it next week but never did. Take some time this week and follow back up on it and watch it. Hopefully you will have a wonderful experience like I had while watching this film. Tell me about what movie you watched.