Movie Review: Super 8 (2011)

I've seen this movie twice now. It's not my first J.J. Abrams film - I think that might have been Star Trek (2009), but I think it's the best yet. Plus, Steven Spielberg is the main producer, so that ought to say something. The plot of this movie is not entirely clear until you actually see it: I don't want to give to much away. But I shall say this:

A group of middle-school students in 1979 are making a film by railroad tracks with a super 8 camera when a massive train crash occurs. In the panicked confusion, they leave the camera rolling and catch something on it. The train, shall we say, was not empty. And a bunch of scary sci-fi things happen.

Very touching movie, funny, sad, and above all, it had the feel to it of an older movie, like a classic. I really can't think of anything wrong with Super 8, but I wouldn't recommend it to young children due to some very loud and intense parts. But it was great.

Final grade: A

Doctor Who: Legends of a Time Lord, Christmas Special 2010 - "Blackbird"

I'm subscribed to this great DW podcast, which I've actually been listening to longer than I've been watching the show, and this is, to my knowledge, the most recent episode. It was really interesting, what with the witchcraft and the ravens (crows? I cannot remember) that killed people. The problem was that at the end, there was no "to be continued" despite a cliffhanger, and the episode was not called "Part One". What happened? What happens next? What I do recall is an ad for a Star Trek podcast. It sounded good: I never watched any ST show, but I saw the 2009 movie and it was awesome. Speaking of J.J. Abrams, I ought to post a review for Super 8 soon. I need to watch it again - my mom hasn't seen it yet - and then I should be posting my critique. I'll say this: I really liked it. Really beautiful movie.

On random side notes, I'm listening to Elvis Costello for the first "official" time now. I like the music. I've been going back to my childhood by watching Avatar: The Last Airbender here. I never watched all of them in order, but I've seen many bits and sort of know the story. It's a good show. Finished watching the six-hour epic adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand - also quite good, though not as much as the book, as is usually the case. A couple of exceptions I can think of are Twilight (not a huge fan of the movies, but I can at least bear them more than the books), Iron Man comics (good stories but really cheesy dialog), and two books by Neil Gaiman - Stardust and Coraline (I loved both the book and movie for both Gaimans, but the movies were slightly better in my opinion).

This is the longest post I've done in a while!