A Quiet Place

Last night I saw A Quiet Place, starring real-life spouses Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. John also directed the film.

Lee (Krasinski) and Eveyln (Blunt) are normal parents—they have strict rules for their children to follow, they work hard to protect and provide for them. But this family has it a bit harder. They live in a time of crises where the earth has been invaded by alien creatures who hunt sound. This means if they make noise, they die.

For adults, maintaining silence isn't too difficult, but for kids, it's a lot harder. Also, their eldest, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), is deaf. On one hand, at least the entire family can communicate by sign language; on the other hand, Regan can't hear danger coming.

You may think an entire film shot mostly in silence could be boring, but this is the absolute opposite of that. The story is at times sweet, terrifying, heartwarming and heart-wrenching. Above all else, it's tense.

Think of living your life in your most adrenaline-fueled, anxious, on-guard state and that's what these folks are forced to do every minute of every day.

They carry on, we assume only for love, because life is pretty difficult. Think about all the activities that make noise—laughing, crying, making love, cooking, making music ... the list goes on.

Of course they have little ways of enjoying sound ... nature, headphones, etc. but to overcome human instinct is a battle that should never have to be fought.

I held my breath throughout most of this film because they were such nice people I wanted them to make it. It should also be noted that the entire cast is phenomenal, acting 90% of their roles through facial expressions.

Also refreshing: what you think might happen doesn't. On more than one occasion.

I can't wait to see what Director Krasinski does next.

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Super 8

This morning I saw Super 8, starring Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning.

Joe (Courtney) is the son of the town deputy—an only child who lost his mother earlier in the year to a workplace accident. Alice (Fanning) is a girl from school who has a father who is always in trouble and a mother who has abandoned them. The two kids are, of course, destined to be together.

Their mutual friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) is making a film and they are both helping. As they become each other's certain first loves, they find themselves entangled in the aftermath of a local train crash, which has epic consequences.

You see, a creature of some sort (probably of the alien variety) has emerged from the crash and begun to wreak havoc on the entire town, apparently stealing dogs, people and copper. And let's just say each time "it" arrives, it "makes an entrance."

In the fashion of classic Spielberg hits like E.T. and The Goonies, the kids know more than the adults and are therefore tasked with saving the day.

Really, that was all fine with me.

Predictable as it was (and toward the end I was practically mouthing lines, though I'd never seen Super 8 before today), it was still incredibly enjoyable to watch a film set in the 70s that actually felt like the real 70s.

I loved seeing a dish on the table at one of the family's homes that was in my home as a kid, and I couldn't help but smile at the nod to the "new invention" of the Walkman.

I'm glad to see in our world of 3D, CGI, bigger-is-better film mentality that the studios are still willing to green light the occasional coming-of-age caper.

This one doesn't disappoint.

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