Super 8
This movie was for sure the blueprint for Stranger Things. And honestly... it is so criminally underrated (I say when it has been watched by 575k over here on letterboxd), it seriously, should be talked about more often about how incredible it is.
Like, within the first 10 to 20 minutes, I was already amazed. Truly think this is one of the best movies ever made... Like first 20 minutes were so good that honestly, no matter what they chose to do after... it would get 5 stars anyway... and I have no idea why it took me this long to watch it.
PRODUCTION DESIGN!!! Like holy shit, this movie might just have some of the best cinematography I have ever seen. There is no way to fully describe how incredible this movie was shot... like everything from the set design, to the explosions, to the camera movement. The way it goes from steadicam to handheld during conversations and during chaotic scenes is incredible... and while I am not a fucking cinematographer and have no clue what the fuck I am talking about, it is so cool to see, especially when it just makes sense.
I just looked up who the cinematographer was after watching, and it is the same guy who did Now You See Me... holy fuck. I guess I just love what I love. Like, I truly had no idea before I started this one, but now it makes so much sense why I love the visuals so much.
And also, one of my absolute favorite visuals in any movie is a projector projecting... someone just sitting there watching a film play... like there truly isn't anything else that looks as fucking beautiful. This movie has that. And it delivers.
But also, like, how involved was Spielberg in the writing of this... because I can see so much of him in this. For anyone who has watched The Fabelmans, you know exactly why the train scene is as good as it is. Like, that is literally the first thing he ever filmed on a camera... so obviously after 60 years he has perfected the train crash. Like, truly perfected. Did he just take himself as a kid and split himself into multiple characters? Because that is exactly what this movie feels like.
I don't think I have ever gulped because of a movie. But this movie made me gulp. And I genuinely cannot explain it, but when Alice's dad crashed, my throat just said... "there's gotta be a first time for everything, right?"
The actors were fucking incredible. All of them. The entire cast. I hate saying these words, but I was not expecting to feel so many emotions in the first 20 minutes of a movie... but Elle Fanning was fucking incredible while acting like she was acting in the film they were shooting. Like, truly, some people are just unfairly more talented than the rest of us.
But also like... what the fuck is this ensemble? Random people with very recognizable faces just appear for a second and disappear. Like, why is Peter Sutherland from Night Agent just in this? And why is Richard T. Jones just here, like, did he even speak? And Patrick St. Esprit from SWAT just randomly shows up for a scene or two. Like, what the fuck is this movie? And also, Oh my god, Mr. Kaznyk is Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller)... from Brooklyn99… like what is that cast?
I know some people hate movies about people who make films... but I truly cannot get enough of them.
And my one complaint... I genuinely do not get how you call your movie SUPER 8 and then shoot it in 2.39:1. Like, at least shoot it in 1.85:1, which is the closest thing to the 1.33:1 Super 8 format. Just feels like a missed opportunity.