Super 8

With this nifty, nostalgic sci-fi fantasy-adventure, writer-director J.J. Abrams creates a charming homage to the innocence and wonder epitomized by his mentor/producer, Steven Spielberg, cleverly incorporating nods to E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goonies, and even the “Walking Distance” episode of Twilight Zone. Set in suburban Ohio in 1979, Super 8 centers on a group of geeky middle school students, including chubby Charles (Riley Griffiths), who's making a Super 8 zombie movie to enter into a competition. Charles has enlisted the help of friends Joe (Joel Courtney), who does makeup/special effects, and slightly older “leading lady” Alice (Elle Fanning), who lives with her lout of a father (Ron Eldard). Joe's dad, on the other hand, is a disciplinarian deputy sheriff dad (Kyle Chandler); and, in memory of his loving mother—recently killed in a steel mill accident—still-grieving Joe wears her locket around his neck. Late one night, while the kids are filming near the railroad station, Joe sees his biology teacher (Glynn Turman) deliberately drive his pickup truck onto the tracks into the path of an oncoming train. But this is just the start of inexplicable occurrences, as the military suddenly arrives and people begin to disappear. A winning throwback to the small-town creature features—with a dash of military paranoia—of the ‘50s, this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (by director J.J. Abrams, producer Bryan Burk, and cinematographer Larry Fong), a behind-the-scenes featurette (17 min.), “The Visitor Lives: Creating the Creature” character featurette (13 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are six more featurettes on story, characters, and behind-the-scenes—including “The Search for New Faces” and “Meet Joel Courtney” (69 min. total), deleted scenes (13 min.), a “Deconstructing the Train Crash” interactive segment, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (S. Granger)