Super 8

Super 8 is my new #4 for the year. I generally don't like movies full of child actors, or movies where things jump out and startle me, or "period" pieces (even if the period is the one I grew up in), likely because I'm an unwashed heathen. I don't like black-and-white movies, either.

But Super 8 was wonderful (and in color, lest I've confused you.) How wonderful? The inciting incident, the moment where the movie goes from being The Sandlot to being more of a Goonies/Alien mash-up, doesn't occur for quite a while (20 minutes? I don't know), and I'm not ashamed to admit that I didn't care. The train wreck scenes in the trailers are what got me into the theater, but the simple story about kids making a movie is what won me over.

(The train wreck is cool, though.)

The only way I could have enjoyed this movie more is if I'd brought friends with me. The movies that currently have it beat on my list for 2011 are all films I saw with Sandra or with my kids.