Russ and I saw the new movie Super 8 this afternoon, and it was pretty good. In many ways, it was reminiscent of the folksy sci-fi movies of the 80’s, like E.T. and Close Encounters. 
As a matter of fact, Steven Spielberg was responsible for those movies, and had his hand in this one as well, and it shows. And that’s not a bad thing. It was fun, and familiar.
The movie starts up quickly, drawing you right in with plenty of interesting characters. Lately Russ and I have been seeing a lot of “big” movies about superheroes, apocalyptic disasters, invasions from outer-space, etc., so when I realized I was enjoying this movie based simply on the everyday experiences of ordinary suburban kids, I found it quite refreshing. Of course, quickly after this, there is a disaster that leads to a mystery that finally reveals itself to be something “big,” (I won’t spoil it for you), and strangely that is where I think the movie kind of lost its grip on me. But only a little. Even if it did sort of fall into being predictably preachy and somewhat “over the top,” it was still a lot of fun.
A lot of the fun was in the details of the time period, noticing the cultural references from the 1970’s. Oh! And if you see the movie, don’t leave while the credits are rolling. Some of the best stuff happens during the credits. You’ll laugh.
You know, at first, I was going to call you out on your dating of the movie. I thought it was 1980’s. But you’re right! The official web site says “summer of 1979.”
The movie has a couple of anachronistic errors though.
Laying on the director’s bed is a copy of the Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, which was first published in 1983.
The convenience store clerk has just bought a Walkman. While the Walkman was introduced in Japan in 1979, it didn’t make it to the U.S. until the summer of 1980, and it wasn’t called the Walkman, it was called the “Sound-About.” –Time Magazine, 7/1/09.
I believe with the aid of DVD freeze-frame, we’ll find other misplaced pop culture references.
But I agree. The movie was an enjoyable part of the 1980’s Spielberg oeuvre, more Goonies than E.T.
Yes! Goonies! I wasn’t thinking of that, but good call! Vey much like Goonies! And yes, I agree, we could probably find more chronology flubs.