Written, directed and produced by JJ Abrams (Lost, Fringe, Cloverfield, Alias, Mission Impossible III) and produced by Steven Spielberg (E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Twilight Zone – The Movie, Minority Report), I would go so far as to say that Super 8 is the E.T. for a new generation. A less warm and fuzzy, more technologically sophisticated generation.

Set in 1979, Super 8 is really a love story. In fact it is a conglomeration of love stories – the love a parent has for their child, love between friends, love for lost era of innocence, freedom and imagination, romantic love and yes even love for a seemingly unlovable alien, who just wants to go home. But aren’t all movies “love stories” at their core? I think so. And Super 8 is an action-packed love story – with an actual story line – you and your kids will enjoy.

If you’re a fan of Spielberg, you’ll recognize his influence almost immediately. While J.J. Abrams refrains from calling this an homage to Spielberg’s classics, that’s just what it is. And that’s a huge part of what makes it so enjoyable.

The casting is spot on with good-looking Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) as the Deputy/Dad struggling to restore order to the town and also to his own life, Elle Fanning (Dakota’s little sister) as the teen femme-fatale, as well as Joel Courtney, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills, as the typically awkward yet fun to watch interact teen boys who make up the Super 8 film crew trying desperately to finish their alien film. Ah yes, the film within the film – which is just as much fun to watch as the movie itself. Be sure to stick around during the credits for the full-length version.

The kid-cast is simply brilliant and reminiscent of other great kid ensembles such as the ones in E.T., The Goonies, and Stand by Me. If you grew up in the late 70s/early 80s, these kids will remind you of your own friends, not to mention a time when kids enjoyed the ultimate freedom of fun and creativity. Super 8 may make you a bit nostalgic for that time when kids could be kids, when imagination reigned supreme. After seeing Super 8 I couldn’t help feeling a little sad for today’s young generation who’ll never know that sort of freedom.

But that was the only thing I felt bad about – the rest of the time I was just having a ball watching Super 8. It was just a ton of fun.

More films and tv shows from Steven Speilberg and J.J. Abrams:

If you’ve ever asked yourself the questions: “Why am I here?” or “What is the meaning of my life?”, you may want to check out the movie Soul Surfer.

Bethany and her family’s status as church-going Christians is established early on and bears on the outcome of the film – and the outcome of Bethany’s life. The story is known; it made headlines all over the world when it happened so the audience sits through the “kum-ba-ya” moments with edgy anticipation. Bethany is surfing with friends one day, a shark attacks her and bites off her arm. Skillfully, the filmmakers build suspense by putting the main character in the water so often that any moment could be “the” moment, and that’s all the audience is waiting for.

But the real movie and message gets underway after the shark attack. The shark is not the story. The story is how Bethany moves from a basically perfect life with a bright future possibly as a professional surfer to a girl with one arm who can’t even make a sandwich. We’ve all seen tons of movies about overcoming hardships, about athletes who lose limbs or suffer traumatic injuries and still come back to win the big game or something just as fulfilling. So why is Soul Surfer different that those other films?

Bethany doesn’t start out as an obviously flawed character in need of growth. In fact, the film portrays her as – and from all accounts I’ve read she actually was – a really nice kid, church-going, involved in Christian youth group, missionary volunteer, happy, friendly, all around good kid from a good family. We can often more easily accept when bad things happen to not-so-good people – clearly they have something to learn about life. But what about when bad things happen to really good people?

In a way it is our own judgments and prejudices that this film brings to life. And it is an eye opener to the fact that we don’t need a shark to bite off our arms to know that no matter how “good” we are, we can be better. We all have our handicap and we all have the excuse it gives us to do nothing and wallow in self pity. Or we can change our perspective on our own lives, choose to learn from even the most impossible of dilemmas and know that nothing can or should hold us back from our dreams.

I mean, Bethany wanted to be a surfer and then she lost an arm…what on earth is holding me back? The truth is that whatever is holding us back is just an excuse. Bethany can surf with one arm – in fact, she can do a lot more with one arm than she may have ever done with two.

“What now?” was a recurring question in Soul Surfer and I think it is a question each one of us has asked ourselves many times in our own lives. What now? The answer to that question is the meaning of your life.

Soul Surfer
Directed by:Sean McNamara
Featuring Carrie Underwood, Helen Hunt, AnnaSophia Robb, Lorraine Nicholson, Kevin Sorbo, Dennis Quaid
Release Date: April 2011

[John's comments - I had a chance to watch this movie through Netflix.  It does a great job of highlighting many of the aspects of natural health that I send to you via these Health Updates.  If natural health topics are of interest to you, I'd highly recommend you take the time to watch this show.]

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