Super 8 (2011)

In light of the now officially confirmed news, I decided to go back and check out a couple of our newly crowned director's films. I was really excited for this film before it came out and I wasn't disappointed when I eventually got to see it. Though I don't think it worked very well as a homage to Spielberg. The chemistry between the kids was kind of lacking. You can tell what they were aiming for based on the dialog but the interactions between them don't quite click. That plus there was a lot of light swearing. But if you take that aspect of the film out of the equation and judge the film on its own merits, I think it was a pretty nice film.

Cloverfield (2009)

While Abrams didn't direct this one, he did produce and I think his hand can be felt all over it. Found footage films get a pretty bad rap but they can be pretty engaging if done well. I'd say this is one of the better ones. This was another film that I was excited about when it was first teased because I love seeing modern takes on classic genres like giant monsters. I thought the film had a good pace to it and never got bogged down. Though sadly, I have to say I was disappointed in the main attraction; the monster design was a little boring.

Battle Los Angeles (2011)

This one has nothing to do with Abrams, I just wanted to revisit it after thinking about modern takes on classic genres. A lot of people didn't like this one, I don't know why. I thought it was pretty entertaining.