CHRONICLE (no spoilers)

[moviePig]

In the category of one-of-a-kind movies, how about a sciFi horror
fantasy for and about teens that profits from substantial adult
restraint? CHRONICLE is yet another "found footage" (well,
*assembled* footage) flick that proves the efficiency of this
narrative style. It's reminiscent of lots of other movies, but a
spoiler-free one I can mention is TROLLHUNTER, for its nonchalance
about some fairly creative f/x work. For all those reasons, CHRONICLE
strays enough from the beaten path to wind up as a winter
release ...but, in comparison, e.g., the "big" spring and summer
trailers with it left me cold. Especially for being smarter than it
had to, CHRONICLE is solidly recommended.

--

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http://www.moviepig.com

[nick]

Did you know Chronicle was written by Max Landis, John's son? I knew
that going in and kept eyes open for any Landis touches and counted
three, including the stucture of Chronicle (small to big to really
big). A couple things to add to what you said: this is the most open-
ended franchise beginner ever. There's going to be Chronicle movies,
TV shows, cartoons, comic books for decades to come. Wait and see.
Even if it suffers the usual found footage rapid decline in box office
(not likely). Speaking of the found footage style . . . I couldn't
tell if the framing was too tight, making a lot of the visuals too
closed in, or if it was being screened wrong in my theater because it
looked like information was being cut off the top. I tried to Google
any possible discussions of the technical aspects of Chronicle to see
if anyone was talking about it but all I got was hundreds of sites
offering me the chance to watch Chronicle for free.

So when you're referring to the "big" spring and summer trailers,
you're surely not including The Three Stooges in the bigness
category? I've seen that twice now and if I see it again I might
start having nightmares.

[moviePig]

(Wasn't Sean Penn once attached to tTS? ...as the only thing that gave
the project credibility?) Not just tTS, but also THE AVENGERS ...as a
measure of how miniature is my interest in superheroes, and how
miraculous is CHRONICLE's intelligent approach to the matter. I
almost look forward to maybe one(!) sequel. Fwiw, here's a reviewer
who goes elbows-up; and even if he's a bit overboard, I'll still
empathize with his enthusiasm at finding a movie in this genre this
good this early:

http://www.themovieboy.com/reviews/c/12_chronicle.htm (and NOT to
be read before viewing!)

Apart from the videocam look, I experienced no visual disconnect.
(Fwiw, I think the sequel would err in sticking with 'found-
footage' ...though I thought it -- again -- very effective here.)

And, though I only read later about Landis's kid, during the flick I
did think often of Brian De Palma...

[nick]

Along with Russell Crowe. The Three Stooges project was in project
dreamland longer than Once Upon a Time in America or Gangs of New
York.

>
> And, though I only read later about Landis's kid, during the flick I
> did think often of Brian De Palma...
>

But thankfully not Spielberg. To throw anothe director into the mix,
Chronicle shared Joe Dante's ability to embrace Spielbergian motifs
and then subvert them (though the subversion might be one thing
leading to a relatively low Cinemascore, a B. But it's three grades
better than the last found footage flick.)

[moviePig]

> But thankfully not Spielberg.  To throw another director into the mix,

> Chronicle shared Joe Dante's ability to embrace Spielbergian motifs
> and then subvert them (though the subversion might be one thing
> leading to a relatively low Cinemascore, a B.  But it's three grades
> better than the last found footage flick.)

Yeah, I don't understand CHRONICLE's Cinemascore grade ...especially
when WHALES 'R' US got an 'A'. (Respectively, 7.7 and 5.5 at IMDb).
If by "subversion" you're including, e.g., a relatively quiet final
scene sans full violins, then maybe. Puzzled, I'd merely chalked it
up to CS's sampling somehow bypassing this movie's substantial
demographic. (I just watched a conventional superhero flick, GREEN
LANTERN. It was okay, but can post-teens truly prefer it to an honest-
to-god story with ballast?...)

[nick]

It could turn out that Chronicle is one of these *teen* movies adults
like more than the target audience. Green Lantern was crap whatever
your age group. As far as "subversion" goes, I'm talking about
Chronicle's narrative integrity. It doesn't need to go in the
direction it does--they're must have been some studio opposition--but
it goes there anyway. It could have stayed a teenage buddy comedy and
ended with a big set piece at the high school prom and a dance contest
(imagine the same movie in the eighties and put Michael J. Fox in the
lead.)

[moviePig]

I'm not sure that CHRONICLE's 'target audience' is all that
young ...as only uncompromised dialogue denied it a PG-13, as far as I
can recall. (I.e., it seemed network-amicably bleepable.) Meanwhile,
even if GREEN LANTERN was crap (and lord knows I defer), I'm still
suspecting that CHRONICLE's departure from that ilk nonplussed some
audiences.

[Ken from Chicago]

"moviePig" <pwal...@moviepig.com> wrote in message
news:d8a9a57e-2216-44d5...@l14g2000vbe.googlegroups.com...

Well, Ebert loved it as well.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120201/REVIEWS/120209997

And yes, CHRONICLE is more than worthy of all the high praise.

-- Ken from

[BroTHeR zAcHaRy]

On Feb 17, 2:26 am, "Ken from Chicago" <kwicker1b_nos...@comcast.net>
wrote:

> Well, Ebert loved it as well.
>

> http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120201/RE...

>
> And yes, CHRONICLE is more than worthy of all the high praise.

Yes it is. Probably the best "superhero" movie to come out in, well...
I can't remember. Like
X-men without the school for mutants or Prof. X and minus the
silliness.
I'm not sure that a sequel is necessary. Creating another "villian"
would turn it into another run-of-the-mill
superhero movie. It was also a lot bigger than I expected a "found
footage" movie to be. Well done.

[Ken from Chicago]

"BroTHeR zAcHaRy" <victorth...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:71524417-3f04-4dc2...@tc8g2000pbc.googlegroups.com...

A sequel would be able to find out where the artifact came from--and that
there are others.

-- Ken from Chicago

[moviePig]

On Feb 17, 1:46 pm, "Ken from Chicago" <kwicker1b_nos...@comcast.net>
wrote:
> "BroTHeR zAcHaRy" <victortheclea...@gmail.com> wrote in message

But, speaking only for myself and everyone who's exactly like me, one
of CHRONICLE's major charms was its devotedly subjective account of
what it's *really* like to be bitten by a radioactive spider. So, I
don't *want* an origins story or a further-adventures-of ...and I'll
bet that, if they do appear, it'll have been against the (higher)
sensibilities of the creators.

[BroTHeR zAcHaRy]

On Feb 17, 10:46 am, "Ken from Chicago" <kwicker1b_nos...@comcast.net>
wrote:
> "BroTHeR zAcHaRy" <victortheclea...@gmail.com> wrote in message

Perhaps, but part of what made it great was Andrew's journey. Not sure
how they could duplicate that angle. As they were chased off the
property by the ranger or sheriff, it seemed to imply that the
government knew something. Perhaps they even took the artifact.

So the kid, who is undoubtedly a world-wide fugitive since he was
placed at the scene of the Battle in Seattle, could be a David Banner
type of character, hounded relentlessly across the globe by the
obsessed head of a government Chronicle Unit, whose soldiers would
have similar powers. In-between, he does good deeds for people. Keep
the kid angle by having three Chronicle Unit soldiers be 18 year old
teens barely out of boot camp, because the Chronicle Rock only works
on kids, you know, and only in threes. The final movie in the triology
would go really big as he leads a resistance to free Tibet.

[nick]

As mentioned earlier, one of those creators is John Landis's son. I
don't know that it's genetically possible for a Landis to have "higher
sensibilities".

I'm sticking with my prediction. Chronicle will be going on in one
form or another after we're gone. Although the box office isn't what
it should be for a franchise but it might find a bigger audience on
DVD.

[Bill Anderson]

On Friday, February 17, 2012 2:37:35 PM UTC-5, moviePig wrote:

>
> But, speaking only for myself and everyone who's exactly like me, one
> of CHRONICLE's major charms was its devotedly subjective account of
> what it's *really* like to be bitten by a radioactive spider. So, I
> don't *want* an origins story or a further-adventures-of ...and I'll
> bet that, if they do appear, it'll have been against the (higher)
> sensibilities of the creators.

Hello? Am I late to the discussion? Sorry; I forgot to set the alarm. Problem is, I saw this one only last week -- on a long flight -- and I promised myself that when I got home I'd see what ramc-f had to say about it.

I'm with the pig on this one: I see no need for a sequel. Remember the scene in STAND BY ME when the Wil Wheaton character spins a well-crafted, perfectly disgusting tale about a pie-eating contest, and the dim-witted Jerry O'Connell character spoils the mood by asking, "What happened next?" Well, I think that's what we have here: an adequately self-contained story that wouldn't be improved by revealing what happened next. I know it's customary for teen superpower movies to have sequels, but that's not a requirement, is it?

I liked the movie in spite of a few things. The actors weren't really very good. The whole cliched mom's dying, dad's a thug, and teenage boys are idiots story line seemed trite. The special effects -- especially when the boys were learning to fly -- left much to be desired. The big showdown at the end was so over-the-top that it became funny. (When I saw the statue I immediately thought, "please don't let them do that," but they did it anyway.)

Still, it was refreshing to find a story unafraid to depart from standard superpower movie conventions. There was no mad scientist, no government conspiracy cover-up, no secret experiments, no visitors from outer space -- in fact, for once, there was NO attempt whatsoever to explain the story's central mystery. If you want to know about that, you can just make it all up yourself.

I also enjoyed the movie's total disregard of the real-world consequences of the characters' actions. How many people were killed, how much property damage, what were the reactions of the central characters' families, how about those bullies? If you want to know about those things, again -- you gotta use your imagination.

What the movie did do right, and what made it charming to a degree, was its treatment of how ordinary teenage boys might handle genuine, real-McCoy superpowers, and how those superpowers might affect their lives for better or worse. This is no great movie, but it was a nice diversion on a long flight. I recommend it to anybody who'd like to see a different take on the superpower genre.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog