Super 8

I am a J.J. Abrams fanboy. And that’s okay! My love for LOST is ridiculous and I really love Fringe, Mission Impossible III and Star Trek. (The first season of Alias rocks too.) Much in the way of my other favorite directors, Abrams is a guy who is always thinking about the next way to entertain the audience with thrills and mysteries.

All of those other projects, Abrams was working with a team of other writers. With Super 8, he’s flying solo. It’s just him and the ghost of the not dead Steven Spielberg. This shows all of the purest elements of Abrams storytelling which includes his delight in destroying transportation devices, the mystery box(es), and realizing it’s always about the emotional stakes.

Set in 1979, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his junior high friends are working on their zombie movie. Joe is the makeup expert thanks to reading all the right monster magazines. Charles (Riley Griffiths) is the bossy director who wants everything to be “mint.” The rest of the gang are actors including Alice (Elle Fanning) who was brought into their story so there is more weight to their story.

They have the focus of so many kids of this age. They gotta sneak out at night, tell secrets on their walkie talkies, and worry about your crushes. Even though there are bigger issues at hand like grief and fear, they know what they want to and that’s to make the coolest zombie movie and beat those 16 year olds at the film festival.

This is before they witness one of the greatest crashes in cinema history. (Abrams topped himself from the LOST pilot.) There was something being transported on that train that is now out. There is also a cryptic message from the man driving the truck on the tracks (The Wire’s Glynn Turman) and hundreds of weird white cubes.

Abrams keeps the whole film exciting by always moving forward. The second there is dialog that may just be a tad boring—BOOM—another thrilling scene starts. Most of the time with these sort of tales, all of the focus is wanting to know more about the mythology of the situation. Super 8 answers all of the questions it brings up, which is surprising from the producer of Cloverfield. The real questions I was asking were wondering if the family and the characters were going to be okay. Kyle Chandler plays Joe’s father, Jack Lamb. (Jack Shepherd was already taken.) Chandler is one of those brilliant actors who is so emotional and caring while never showing it.

The story is tied up too nicely, but it’s still a really nice story. It’s the sort of story that you want to show to people because it has twists and turns that aren’t spoiled by the trailer. It’s Abrams’ best film and the sort of movie that should be released every week during the summer. When people see Thor or Transformers they can already figure out what the whole movie will be like before it begins. The real blockbusters, the ones that will last throughout the decades and be beloved by a variety of filmgoers.

Film Yap: The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life suffers from being called a masterpiece too many times before anyone has the chance to see it. Terence Malick is a beloved filmmaker who is reclusive and only makes a few films in 40 years. The Tree of Life had plenty of rumors about its scope and use of dinosaurs. The trailer comes out and it’s beautiful so the anticipation grows. It appears at the Cannes Film Festival to glowing reviews, even picking up the Palm D’or. It feels like the backlash is going to begin before the film will be shown to the public. The problem is that the film is a masterpiece.

Here I am adding to the hype and misconstrued pretension. The reason why Malick’s film succeeds in being incredible is because it is pure. This is a deeply personal film that examines the search of God through moments in the life of a family. The film begins with them in panic. One of the three boys has died young. The parents (Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain) are devastated, as they feel burdened by the silence of God.

Tales of God usually have the characters experience joy or anger. Malick understands the relationship is a mixture and both are seen in an intimate and cosmic level. The questions shift as the film jumps around through time. Most of the time is spent when the sons are young, but Jack is also seen as a lost businessman (Sean Penn). The film also depicts some of the most gorgeous moments of the universe as creation is shown.

Beauty is everything in the moment. It is used as an extension of God as moments become art. There is a portion where it is questioned whether there is a God and the film’s argument is to show the wonders of the world. “How can this be without a God?” This is a spiritual film, but not one associated with specific religious symbols. Instead the film is like a prayer, a whispered prayer.

By itself the film moves like poetry, but through its messages there is a strong story at its core. The oldest son, Jack (Hunter McCracken) is conflicted about his upbringing. His mother is kind and gentle while his father is more abrasive. There isn’t a plot with them, aside from an ongoing story of the father trying to make his way in business. Instead the film captures moments with subtly and grace. There are real bottled examinations of the human condition rarely seen in the cinema.

As praising as I am, this film is not for everyone. The lack of plot and its use of metaphorical imagery won’t be accepted by a wide audience. It is sometimes slow and difficult, but the film is satisfying if you trust the journey you are on. If you like the structure of Enter the Void, you’ll like this film. If you like how characters evolve on shows like Treme, you’ll like this film. And if you love Terrence Malick, you will love this film because this is what he has spent his entire life working towards.

5 Yaps

Film Yap: Incendies

The story begins with the opening of their mother’s will. Or does it? The Academy Award nominated Incendies is a mystery where it isn’t clear if it should be solved. Twins Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) are brought into Jean Lebel’s office (Rémy Girard). He is a Notary who hired their mother as his secretary. He cared for her quite a deal and is willing to obey her final wishes.

The will asks for Jeanne to search for their father and give him a letter. Simon must deliver a letter to their brother. Neither of them knew their father was still alive or they even had a brother. Once these tasks are completed there is a final letter for them and then the mother will finally be able to have a gravestone.

Simon wants no part of this, but Jeanne decides to start the quest. She travels from her home in Canada to her mother’s roots in the Middle East finding any clue she can about where her father could be.

There are plenty of films of older children who discover the past of their parents. Typically the discoveries help them respect the people who raised them. This is not the case with Incendies. At the beginning of the search there is plenty of people looking shady and unwilling to answer questions.

Aside from the eerie beginning, this part of the film feels standard. Yet once the answers start arriving, the film changes. Suddenly everyone started sitting up in their seats in my theatre because the results are shocking.

Writer/director Denis Villeneuve tells the story by jumping around in time to show Jeanne’s journey but also the story of their mother, Nawal (Lubna Azabal). Nawal’s portions are often very difficult to watch as her land is plagued by war, hatred and revenge. There can be understanding on why some of this happened, but there isn’t acceptance right away.

There are distinct ebbs and flows with the film. Sometimes Villeneuve’s use of silence doesn’t always pay off, but when it does it’s powerful. So much weight is on the leading actresses Désormeaux-Poulin and Azabal to add the emotional elements to the story. They achieve with incredible performances that stray away from the simplistic reactions, but are able to say so much about their characters with just a single look.

By focusing on the story of this family, it is able to do much more about the greater themes. Unlike the film that beat this for the Oscar, Incendies is strong enough on the surface that it’s able to work on many levels.

4 Yaps