Summer blockbuster edition! (the real)

 
It's been a short dreary summer, perfect weather for sitting inside the cinema! There have been a score of great film which I have seen since the last issue. I wont list them all, only the best ones, which have been: The Tree of Life, Super 8, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Cowboys and Aliens, The Guard and the film I saw most recently The Skin I Live In – which is one of the most disturbing films I have seen in a long time. To some people that should be a recommendation! I would take it as one, sometimes feeling uncomfortable at the cinema is great experience (as long as it is caused by the film and not the cramped seating.)
 
When I was ten years old (1989) it was best friend’s birthday, and his Dad took three of us in the car on a trip to the park. On the way there my friend didn’t say much because going to the park for your 10th birthday is pretty lame. We pulled up across the road from the park and got out the car, and his Dad said “Before we go to the park we are just going to pop in here first” We stepped into a dark building which I soon realised was a cinema! His Dad walked right up to the ticket desk and said “Four tickets to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade please” and the three of us went crazy! We couldn’t believe it! When it comes to summer blockbusters, Steven Spielberg is the master. And although he does more producing nowadays than directing, you can still clearly see the magic Spielberg touch in the films that he has a hand in, like two of this summer’s biggest films: Super 8, and Cowboys & Aliens.
 
Like the Indiana Jones film I saw on my friend’s birthday party, Cowboys and Aliens pairs Harrison Ford with James Bond. Unlike previous Bond actors who get typecast and don’t really get many other good roles outside of their Bond films, Daniel Craig has appeared a variety of different characters besides Bond (I’m looking forward to seeing him soon as Red Rackham in Spielberg’s upcoming Tintin series). In Cowboys and Aliens he plays an excellent cowboy, mainly due to the fact that unlike other Bonds (Sean Connery being the main culprit) he can do an American accent! Harrison Ford is equally good as the bad guy, who turns out to be not all that bad in the end. Aliens have landed in the old west and begun abducting the locals, like all good westerns a posse is formed led by Daniel Craig, who has full on Jason Bourne syndrome (amnesia) and a strange alien device attached to his arm. Great Fun.
 
Continuing the aliens theme, Super 8 is directed by JJ Abrams, (creator of Lost, and director of Cloverfield, Star Trek…) and produced by Spielberg. The film follows a group of young friends who are spending the summer of 1979 making a zombie film. During the process the accidentally film a train wreck (best on screen train wreck since The Fugitive – starring our old friend Harrison Ford!) and the escape of an alien creature which then wreaks havoc on the local town.
 
You can almost split this film into two parts, the first half is pure Spielberg, and almost feels like a follow on to E.T.  With young kids riding around on BMX's, the absent father, coming of age and loss of innocence. All very Speilbergy. At about the halfway mark JJ Abrams takes over, and the film gets a Cloverfield injection. Most alien/ monster films are good until you actually see the alien/ monster up close, then poor special effects let you down. In Super 8 there is a long wait until you see the alien, but the special effects were impressive, the alien looked great and I was scared!
 
I want to finish by telling you about a film which is definitely not a summer blockbuster, but for me will probably the best film of the year: Terrence Malick's The Tree Of Life. You may ghave read some mixed reviews about this film, and I will admit that it is not for everyone, but for those of you with open minds who want to experience something moving and meaningful at the cinema, then The Tree Of Life is for you.
 
The film revolves around a three boys growing up in 1950's Texas, with a strict father (Brad Pitt) and angelic mother (Jessica Chastain). We dip in and out of various times in their lives, as like previous Terence Malick pictures, The Tree of Life is non linear, and in parts surrealist but always powerful and magnificent. It is laced with beautiful montages and powerful classical music. It is similar in parts to 2001 A Space Odyssey (Malick uses the same special effects supervisor, Douglas Trumbull). There are scenes depicting the creation of the universe, the evolution of life on earth, and even a short dinosaur sequence (which might put some people off!). Watching this film is an experience, and I came out of the cinema deeply moved. It’s the type of film that stays with you for a long time, and I could write pages and pages about it but would not do it any justice. You will have to see it for yourself, and that now means waiting for the DVD.