In a simpler time...

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2011)

I went to school in 1979 - as the kids were running from the school, I felt like I was right back there. There were only a couple of phrases that I felt were from a later year, but the time period felt very authentic. With a small exception... most of the cars were American gas hog cars... there were very few Toyotas, VW bugs etc... I remember seeing a lot of those back then too.
I have 3 sons, all love sci-fi, math, nerdy stuff... so watching 5 young nerdy boys made me feel right at home. The relationship between Joel Courtney (Watch out Bieber!) and Riley Griffiths was very authentic. I wish I could see them 15 years from now, still best friends and talking about 'that train wreck'...
I am quite amazed that this film was made as cheaply as it was. It plays like a much more expensive film. I guess the lack of big name stars really helped with the budget. It was very smart on their part... I saw the characters as who they were playing rather than who I knew them to be.
Kyle Chandler baby! Where have you been all of my life! Wish they had given you a love interest in the movie too... (although I guess that would have messed with the whole missing the just departed wife plot line)... OK, I forgive them... but when they release the directors edition, perhaps we can see some past scenes between you and your wife, a la Casper? "The Day the Earth Stood Still" didn't make you a star... Grey's Anatomy cut your part short... hopefully Super 8 will launch you finally...
Elle Fanning reminded me more of a young Lindsay Lohan with blonde hair than her sister Dakota Fanning whom was highly annoying 6 years ago in War of the Worlds. Elle was not annoying in the slightest. It was nice to see an actual 13 year old playing one on screen.
I knew when I laughed during the first scene (the funeral) that I was going to enjoy the movie. The theater was crowded and it was great to hear everyone laughing from beginning to end. I wish half of the audience hadn't left before the kid's super 8 movie was shown... It was adorable.
Anything that has the name J.J. Abrams on it makes me want to see it. As a very devoted fan of Lost (which I only got hooked on because I enjoyed Alias) any scene in the movie that reminded me of Lost (mostly the monster in the tree scenes and the black and white films) made me miss it again. Of course the tree scenes were also reminiscent of Jurassic Park so I knew exactly when to look away from the screen (usually when it got real quiet...)
The "love" story between the two teenagers didn't quite play right. It was obvious he had a crush on her, not so much the other way around. I'm glad they didn't try to stick a kiss in there, it would have been awkward. I could see them as very close friends throughout school.
The scene where he is trying to hold on to the locket lasted way too long and the music was too sappy... We got it... don't pound us over the head with it.
So this alien has been on earth for over 20 years and has yet to build his ship to return home... but all of a sudden at the end of the movie, voilà, the ship is built and off he goes... Ummm, what took him so long? Why hadn't he left before? That needed some explaining... I wasn't so sure why after such an amazing movie they had to rush the ending... it wasn't like a commercial was coming up or anything...
I think this is the best movie of 2011 so far, the second being Source Code, (if I had to pick one.) There was never a moment during the movie that I didn't want to be sitting there. The last time I felt that way was watching The Social Network last fall.
I will be seeing it again in a week, I want to share the experience with my family who haven't seen in yet. I have read it compared to umpteen other movies all of which are seen in snippets throughout, but this movie will definitely stand on its own.