J.J. Abrams does it again with Super 8

     Super 8 was AWESOME!  The combination of Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams was brilliant as their unique styles blend in a beautiful harmony of adventure, childhood wonder, and suspense.  It feels like a combination of ET, Jurassic Park, Lost,  and The Goonies all rolled into one.  The kids were the best part of the film as their child like wonder was intoxicating.  Spoilers ahead... Yes, it is a monster/alien movie and like the movie Signs, this movie excels at showing very little of the alien and allowing the audience to imagine it themselves.  This technique makes the movie more of a thriller than a horror film which I greatly appreciated since I refuse to watch horror films.  The only disappointing part of the film was the ending.  It was too similar to the ending of ET.  After the alien has created havoc in the town he is finally allowed to go home, which was all he ever really wanted ("ET phone home" anyone??).  He completes his spaceship and flies off into the night sky with our main character, Joe and his dad looking on. Because of this, the end felt cheesy and was a huge let down from the excitement and wonder of the rest of the film.  Luckily, the short film that the kids make as a part of the end credits helps you leave the film in a good and upbeat mood but Spielberg and Abrams really needed to rethink their ending, it's been done already!

The Summer Movie Season has officially started with X-Men: First Class

      I absolutely loved X-Men: First Class.  What a great prequel to the X-Men saga.  James McAvoy is perfect as Professor X.  I truly believed he would grow up to be Patrick Stewart as I watched him transform the young Xavier into the adult headmaster of the school for mutants.  His style, his humor, his compassion and patience completely mirror his older self and predecessor, Stewart.  Kevin Bacon really seems to have fun with his role as the evil Sebastien Shaw, while Michael Fassbender as Magneto is good but not as dead on as Xavier.   There were some continuity issues that I noticed that don't quite fit with the X-Men movies that have come before, unfortunately, but the movie is so good that you tend to overlook those and just enjoy the experience.   SPOILER ALERT...... The movie explains the origins of Magneto and Professor X from the time they were children in the 1940's through the early 60's.  Their friendship and how it disintegrated is explored through the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the first mission of the X-Men. 
     Continuity errors....X-Men: First Class shows that Xavier lost the use of his legs during the Cuban Missile Crisis and at the same time the two friends became enemies.  However, in X-Men: The Last Stand, Xavier is shown walking with Magneto in the 1980's and they are still friends.  Also, this new film states that Beast helped create Cerebro even though the first X-Men movie claims that Xavier and Magneto built it together.  Even with these inconsistencies, the movie makes some nice nods to the previous films by introducing the creation of Beast, an early encounter with Wolverine as well as the beginnings of Mystique and a nod to Xavier's eventual baldness. 

Fringe Season 3 Finale!!!

     For those of you who have not tried Fringe, you need to give it a chance.  I watched the very first episode because it was a free iTunes download and because it was a new J.J. Abrams show.  Unfortunately, it didn't grab me like his previous shows, Alias and Lost so I stopped watching.  But after some encouragement from some fellow sci-fi fans at work, I bought the first season on DVD and tried it again.  After about 6 episodes I was hooked.  The show is a cross between The X-Files and Alias.  There is a mythology that flows through it as well as the creepy sci-fi aspects that Mulder and Scully made famous in the 90's.  If I haven't intrigued you enough already then maybe sci-fi isn't for you, if I have peaked your interest then stop reading now and start watching Fringe from the beginning.  I'm about to reveal spoilers that you don't want to know if you plan on watching the show.  You have been warned....
     In usual Fringe fashion, the season finale ended on a cliffhanger and everything we had come to believe as true was turned on its end.  As Peter tried to stop the doomsday machine from ripping our world apart he is transported to 15 years in the future where he is married to Olivia (squee!!!) but their world is doomed and so they don't want to start a family.  As Peter attempts to find a solution, he and Walter realize that he must go back in time and stop the machine from destroying the alternate reality as well as his own.    In the process he brings the two worlds together and then disappears!!!  The Observer then comments to other observers in attendance outside the facility that Peter served his purpose and since he never really existed they will not miss him!  HUH???  Peter is my favorite character on Fringe, he can't be gone!  He's the cute one, besides being Charlie in the Mighty Ducks films, and he is the love of Olivia and now has a baby in the alternate universe so how can he not exist.  AHHHH! Now I have to wait all summer to find out what the deal is.  I don't think the producers would get rid of their only leading man but other shows in recent years have started to kill off main characters in an attempt to be new and fresh, unpredictable.  Oh, I love liking a show so much that I can't wait until the new season in the fall.  September, you can't get here soon enough!

Jake G and Source Code

This last week I happened to see Source Code and was pleasantly surprised at its enjoyment and depth, not to mention the beauty of Jake Gyllenhall with a 5 o'clock shadow.  The story centers around a war veteran who is being used in a special project - after someone is murdered, the last 8 minutes of their memory can be salvaged and used to see into their life and those around them right before death.  The idea is to use this time to find out who perpetrated the crime and stop them from doing it again.  Jake is the first soldier to try this new method of crime fighting and as he goes back in time we begin to see bits and pieces of his past as well as the lives of the victims around him. Without spoiling too much of the story, not all is as it seems, a romance develops, and there is a sci-fi twist at the end.  What I liked most about the story was the themes behind it - make every moment count as you never know when the end will come, help and enhance the lives of those around you instead of wallowing in selfishness and self preservation, and in the end good things happen to those who do the right thing.  Words to live your life by and a good reminder to us all.

Funny Comedies and Ryan Reynolds is Buried Alive...

After a Christmas hiatus from my blog, I am now back and ready to write again.  I saw quite a few comedies over the break.  Little Fockers was a predictable sequel, funny but forgettable, while The Green Hornet was surprisingly fresh.  Seth Rogan's script was hilarious but not as vulgar as his previous films.  He makes a dynamic duo out of The Green Hornet and his sidekick, Kato, bringing a very old story back to life.  The violence was similar to Kick-Ass in its intensity while the gadgets would have made MacGyver proud.  Overall a fantastic popcorn movie!
On DVD, I recently saw Buried starring Ryan Reynolds, a fascinating film from a technical standpoint.  The entire movie is set inside a coffin.  Through camera movement, lighting, sound and acting the viewer sees only what the director intends and imagines the rest in their own mind.  It is intense, uncomfortable, and suspenseful even though you never see what is outside the coffin.  A technical achievement to say the least, I imagined myself in the same circumstance while watching this film.  I was emotionally attached to the ups and downs of our hero and (Spoiler Alert!) became distraught when his  rescue attempt failed at the very end.  A depressing ending to an amazing film by Rodrigo Cortés of Spain.