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Thursday, January 4, 2018

January Film Club

Happy New Year everybody!  I hope you all had fun, safe holidays.

With a new year comes a new lineup of films for Film Club.  Most selections will probably be just as random as they have always been, especially with the limitations placed on me by the licensing, but, we'll get by, and I'll try to find films that I think you'll all enjoy.

So, for the month of January, I have decided to show J.J. Abrams' fun, nostalgia filled film from 2011, Super 8.

Super 8 is a 2011 American science fiction horror film written, co-produced, and directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg.  The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler and tells the story of a group of young teenagers who are filming their own Super 8 movie when a train derails, releasing a dangerous presence into their town.  The film was well received, with critics praising the film for its nostalgic elements, visual effects, musical score, and for the performances of the cast, in particular, both Fanning and newcomer Courtney's acting was cited, while also being compared to such thematically similar films as E.T., Stand by Me, and The GooniesSuper 8 was also a commercial success, grossing over $260 million against a budget of $50 million.  The film received several awards and nominations, primarily in technical and special effects categories, Giacchino's musical score, as well as for Courtney and Fanning's performances.

Super 8 received positive reviews from critics.  It holds an 82% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of 269 critical reviews.  Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5/4 stars and said this in his review, "It is a requirement of these films that adults be largely absent.  The kids get involved up to their necks, but the grown-ups seem slow to realize strange things are happening.  Here, the mystery centers on the cargo of the cars in the train wreck, and on the sudden materialization of U.S. Air Force investigators and troops in town.  If we don't instinctively know it from this movie, we know it from a dozen earlier ones: The authorities are trying to cover up something frightening, and the kids are on the case.  Abrams treats early adolescence with tenderness and affection.  He uses his camera to accumulate emotion, and he has the rural town locations right.  Super 8, is a wonderful film, nostalgia not for a time but for a style of filmmaking, when shell-shocked young audiences were told a story and not pounded over the head with aggressive action.

With all the recent success of the 1980s-stuffed Netflix series Stranger Things, I thought this would be a great film to revisit for those who have seen it, or to experience for the first time for those who haven't.  Either way, hope to see you there!

We will be meeting Thursday, Jan. 18th at 6:15pm.

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-0XuYxh67w