Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park Pic 015
Originally uploaded by Pineapples101

I run the risk of sounding like a giant dork when I say this, but Jurassic Park is one of my favorite Steven Spielberg films ever. I honestly think it’s the first movie that the theatre going experience stuck in my memory, and to this day I remember being scared of the dinosaurs even though I was fascinated; I remember the T-Rex being so loud as he ran after our protagonists that the floor was vibrating and that I tucked my feet under me in my seat because of this.

For anyone that hasn’t seen Jurassic Park you are missing out. It is Spielberg at his blockbuster best. The film is iconic proof that you can make a good adaptation of a great novel, maintain action and suspense without sacrificing character and story and even appeal to kids and adults alike. It has style, great direction and even moved the art of special effects forward.

Jurassic Park is the amusement park of the twentieth century and after an unfortunate accident creator John Hammond needs to get experts in the field to sign off on his park so he can convince his investors to move forward with funding. When archeologists Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler & chaotician Ian Malcolm arrive they are treated to the parks true wonder – Hammond and his scientists have found a way to clone dinosaurs and have them on display in his private island theme park. However, when the Grant, Sattler and Malcolm are sent on a tour of the park with Hammond’s lawyer and grandchildren something goes terribly wrong and the dinosaurs begin to overrun the park and turn the tables on the humans that recreated them.

This plot line is a perfect example of how to stay faithful to the source material yet make it work for film. If you have ever read the novel Jurassic Park is based on I think you will agree that the film is different in a lot of ways, yet somehow a faithful film. What Spielberg and crew managed to do was take all of the wonder, science and human interest from the book to the screen and keep the central dilemma – man vs. nature.

Part of what works so well about the film is that Spielberg made the film to be exactly what it should be – a monster movie. This is a story about science, nature and chaos, but more than anything this is a modern Frankenstein; man became too ambitious and tried to create life and now must deal with what happens when these creatures turn on them. The monsters are scary, but every character knows the events that are occurring are simply the nature of the beast.

I wish that the follow-ups to Jurassic Park were as good as the original, but sadly Spielberg’s first is the crown-jewel of the three film franchise. Even though he directed the second and some pretty cool elements are in there, nothing can hold a candle to the first foray into the world of Jurassic Park.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writing: Michael Crichton & David Koepp
Dr. Alan Grant: Sam Neill
Dr. Ellie Sattler: Laura Dern
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Jeff Goldblum
John Hammond: Richard Attenborough
Robert Muldoon: Richard Peck
Gennaro: Martin Ferrero
Tim Murphy: Joseph Mazzello
Lex Murphy: Ariana Richards
Ray Arnold: Samuel L. Jackson
Dennis Nedry: Wayne Knight

John Hammond: Dr. Grant... if there's one person here who can appreciate what I'm trying to do.
Dr. Alan Grant: The world is changing so fast, and we're all running to catch up. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but look. Dinosaurs and man... two species separated by 65 million years of evolution, have suddenly been thrown into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea of what to expect?
John Hammond: I don't believe it! Hah! I don't believe it! You're supposed to come here and defend me against these characters and the only one I've got on my side is the bloodsucking lawyer!
Gennaro: Thank you.

Daybreakers

Daybreakers (2009)
Originally uploaded by Lord_Henry

Twenty years from now the vampire pandemic is a way of life, vampires are the main species on the planet and the remaining humans are hunted down to be used as cattle – food for the masses. The problem is that the food supply is dwindling as the human race is not able to repopulate. Vampire Edward Dalton is charged with finding a blood substitute, work he does only because he wants to save the human race. Everything changes when Edward is confronted with a band of human resistance fighters, including a man that claims he was a vampire but found a cure.

It’s taken me awhile to write about Daybreakers because I can’t figure out my thoughts on the film. I enjoyed the film, it’s a fun tale, a unique world and filled with characters and actors I liked but for some reason that just wasn’t enough. This is a film that to me the concept held much more than the film.

I can’t help comparing Daybreakers to Blade; not really because they are both vampire films, but because they are both vampire films that I went into no knowing what to expect. Blade blew me away, it delivered every bit on the concept of its world and the monsters and heroes in it – something that Daybreakers just doesn’t quite do, it’s like the film never takes that final step to commit. I don’t know what that final step is, but it’s one of those crucial elements in filmmaking that you don’t notice if it’s there, but you always notice if it’s gone.

Daybreakers is a fun film, with some great action and fun concepts, but it is a movie that seeing once is enough.

Diretors & Writers: Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig
Edward Dalton: Ethan Hawke
Charles Bromley: Sam Neill
Audrey Bennett: Claudia Karvan
Lionel Cormac: Willem Dafoe
Frankie Dalton: Michael Dorman

Snow White: A Tale of Terror

I had another round of remote roulette – it’s been a strange day. This time I spotted a strange little movie I’d seen only once before, Snow White: A Tale of Terror.

I am a person that love mythology and fairytales in all shapes and sizes, but let me tell you this one is a little too dark and strange for me – and I am a person that loves the Grimm brothers gothic tomes. But when they made A Tale of Terror they not only made Snow White dark, but they changed elements of the story and I both applaud the filmmakers for this and question it.

In Snow White: A Tale of Terror Snow White is a noble woman (not a princess) named Lilly, the dwarves are gone and replaced by dirty miners, and the prince is not a prince but an arranged marriage, and the real “prince” is actually one of the miners. But by far the strangest thing in this version of the tale is the “queen” played by Sigourney Weaver. Weaver plays her well, but this version of the character is twisted, into the dark arts, and mentally deranged. There is also a strange sexual theme running through this whole movie that just doesn’t seem to fit. I understand that the original subtext of the Grimm story does have some sexual subtext, but this is downright overt.

I suppose I recommend that you catch this one if you are into fairy tales, but other than that this film can be forgotten.

Director: Michael Cohn
Writers: Thomas Szollosi & Deborah Serra
Lady Hoffman: Sigourney Weaver
Lord Hoffman: Sam Neill
Lilly Hoffman: Monica Keena
Will: Gil Bellows

Lady Hoffman: You seem quite alive, for a little wench who's been rotting in the ground. I felt you stir. The moment you took your first breath, it was like a knife in my heart.
Lilly: You have no heart.
Lady Hoffman: That's too simple.