In theaters this weekend, Super 8 and Trollhunter are full of the unknown and the not-so-known. With the creative superminds of J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg, this Hollywood team invites us into their childhood with a story that will surely have us wanting more from this pair. Is it a match made in heaven?
Super 8 Starring Kyle Chandler (TV’s Friday Night Lights), Elle Fanning (Somewhere) and Joel Courtney. Produced by Steven Spielberg. Written, produced & directed by J.J. Abrams (Star Trek [2009], TV’s Alias).
Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams, two visionary filmmakers of two generations, collaborated to create the retro sci-fi thriller Super 8, a coming-of-age movie with a touch of aliens. Although rumored to be a prequel or sequel to Abrams-produced Cloverfield (it is not), the movie is more than just a movie but a story of two people with a love of filmmaking that started at childhood. Spielberg’s first movie experience was with his dad’s 8mm; he filmed a toy train wreck so he could watch the crash over and over again, and avoid breaking his toys (ironically, the events in Super 8 begin with a train wreck). After a tour of Universal Studios, Abrams was inspired to pick up his dad’s Super 8 camera and create an animated movie. The similarities between this mentor/mentee-like duo of Spielberg and Abrams are vast including their dedication to storytelling beyond the genre but there is more to it than that. Both have crossed paths over the years – Abrams pitched a Who Framed Roger Rabbit sequel to Spielberg, an executive producer on the live/animated movie, and Spielberg asked Abrams to write the script to his War of the Worlds-directed movie but Abrams was too busy with Lost. The most memorable encounter, mostly for then 15-year-old Abrams, was when he and partner Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) repaired Spielberg’s 8mm movies at a Super 8 camera film festival. Even after the Super 8 experience, Abrams is still “paralyzed with disbelief” (EW June 17, 2011) by his friendship with Spielberg. Hopefully, for us fans, this will be one of many times the two will work together.
Synopsis: In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth – something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined. courtesy of Paramount Pictures
PG-13 / 112 minutes
Comic: http://www.super8comiccontest.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Super8Movie
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Super8Movie
Trollhunter Starring Otto Jespersen, Hans Morten Hansen and Tomas Alf Larsen. Written & directed by André Øvredal.
A 2010 Norwegian film shot in the mockumentary style, Trollhunter was filmed in Western Norway’s forests and mountains under maximum secrecy. The movie has sparked interest in the American film industry with a possible remake in the works.
Synopsis: A group of Norwegian film students set out to capture real-life trolls on camera after learning their existence has been covered up for years by a government conspiracy.
PG-13 / 90 minutes
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thetrollhuntermovie
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