Of the movies that routinely sustain a beating among critics, Superman Returns comes up again and again. There has been an increase of this lately as the latest "reboot" is in the works and pieces of casting news leak out every now and then. And yet, the movie holds a special place for me. For one, it was a very significant film for Mrs. Mosley. Shortly after seeing (and loving) it, she delved into her inner geek and discovered a whole world of fanfic and community that she has found endlessly rewarding. For that alone, I owe Bryan Singer a debt.
But the other reason is that every frame shows Singer's love of the original. There was genuine affection there and a desire to replicate that experience with a few modern tweaks. As an extension of the original two films, it worked wonderfully well. It's few faults (Spacey Lex's real estate scheme was nuttier and made less sense than Hackman Lex's) can be forgiven.
I bring all this up because another wunderkind director has decided to replicate another movie nostalgia. This time, J. J. Abrams has conjured up a story that seems like a lost Spielberg film done sometime between Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Little surprise, then, that Spielberg helped produce the thing. The film is called Super 8. Have a look:
I have no doubt that Abrams and Spielberg, men from two different generations that yet share the same passion for filmmaking, took particular glee in making their protagonists budding filmmakers as well. And it gets to me, too, especially in the middle of the LEGO project as I am. It's an escapist fantasy that I would like to escape into, just like I did thirty years ago at the now-demolished St. Johns Theater off of Roosevelt Boulevard. I am so there.
In the end, I guess this was a LEGO-related post after all. That's OK. You can keep the points.
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