Genre: Drama; Action/Adventure; Science Fiction/Fantasy
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy; Michael Fassbender; January Jones; Kevin Bacon; Nicholas Hoult; Jennifer Lawrence;
Release date: 3rd June, 2011
"Lenser John Mathieson reinforces the film's retro orientation with canted camera angles and tracking shots that show off the richness of Chris Seagers' production design, whether it's a louche Las Vegas nightclub or a submarine commandeered by Bacon's renascent villain, now calling himself Sebastian Shaw (...) Despite a somewhat hefty 130-minute running time, "First Class" feels swift, sleek and remarkably coherent; an even longer, more fully fleshed-out version would not have been unwelcome. Visual effects designed by John Dykstra are smoothly and imaginatively integrated, and Henry Jackman's score provides fantastic forward momentum."
by Justin Chang in Variety
"We interrupt this summer of blah sequels and pointless remakes for some astonishing news. It turns out even cash cows can moo intelligently (...) And what momentum it is, despite the overloaded subplots and characters: First Class fairly rockets for its first hour, set to a propulsive score by Henry Jackman, as it leapfrogs from the Nazi-occupied Poland of 1944 (reprising the Auschwitz opener of the original X-Men) to the America, Russia and Cuba of 1962."
Peter Howell in Toronto Star
"For the most part, that’s true of the rest of “First Class,” which skitters between locales and languages with sometimes confounding, scattershot speed. Still, “First Class” happily delivers on the escapism and rich narrative texture the best of its predecessors have promised. With action, atmosphere and mixed feelings to burn (not to mention a few jokes about shaving Xavier’s head), it seems well on its way to giving the well-traveled “X-Men” franchise a resuscitating breath of genetically superior, nuclear-powered life."
by Ann Hornaday in The Washington Post
Oscar potential categories:
Best Art Direction
Best Visual Effects
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Director: J. J. Abrams
Starring: Joel Courtney; Elle Fanning; Kyle Chandler; Noah Emmerich; Ron Eldard;
Release date: 10th June, 2011
"Still, Super 8 kicks in where it counts. Pulses will pound and palms will sweat. But nothing works without a human connection. The monster that ate Manhattan in Cloverfield, which Abrams produced in 2008, lacked a soul. In Super 8, Abrams makes us care. This movie, a true beauty, will put a spell on you."
by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone
"Despite these fractious relationships and an entirely unnecessary f-bomb lobbed in at one point, Super 8 remains a somewhat softer, more benign experience than the mostly harsher and harder sci-fi and fantasy fare produced today; it's more attuned to the sensibilities of, say 12-14-year-olds than to those of kids, say, 16 and up, and only time will tell if this limits the audience somewhat. It's entirely a throwback, to be sure, but also a sincere evocation of emotions and aspirations many kids experience at that transitional stage and admirable in its devotion to the dawning of creative impulses and bubbling imaginations."
by Todd McCarthy in The Hollywood Reporter
"Super 8 is a wonderful film, nostalgia not for a time but for a style of filmmaking, when shell-shocked young audiences were told a story and not pounded over the head with aggressive action. Abrams treats early adolescence with tenderness and affection. He uses his camera to accumulate emotion. He has the rural town locations right."
by Roger Ebert in Chicago Sun-Times
Oscar potential categories:
Best Picture
Best Cinematography
Best Visual Effects
Best Visual Effects
Best Editing
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
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