Jurassic World

Jurassic Park was a blockbuster among blockbusters. Steven Spielberg made a film that was like no other in 1993 and still like no other now in 2015. Being that it was, you would have expected a sequel or a series prior to this. Being that it was Steven Spielberg, I would had high hopes for a series back then because we trusted him in a series before. He put together three excellent adventure films in Indiana Jones series. Still though, Lost World: Jurassic Park, the first sequel was ok but some issues were found. Even more, the third sequel was even worse and didn't have a very good story. Luckily, these sequels were forgotten and the original Jurassic Park from 1993 will always have the biggest impact. Now with a fourth sequel out, this is exactly the sequel we always wanted and this one will not be forgotten.

Let's forgot that we've been hoping for this sequel for awhile. A fourth film was originally scheduled for a 2005 summer release and it eventuality took ten years to get through the cracks. The plot now has a dinosaur park opening and operating with living dinosaurs called Jurassic World. After her nephews Gary (Ty Simpkins) and Zach (Nick Robinson) come visit the island and her on Christmas break, Clare Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), the park manger must save it from dinosaur attacks along with Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) a raptor trainer.

In all honesty, the film premise is illogical. A dinosaur park is created where twenty years before one couldn't be opened because deaths happened and you couldn't control the dinosaurs. A multi-million dollar lawsuit should have happened and ended this forever. That said, the homage to the other park through this film is still clever even though again unlikely. Jurassic World though is one cool park even if admission is probably above anybody's price range but it is the coolest amusement park in the film world. From the effects that support the rides at Jurassic World to product placement, this film makes you want go to the park and that's what  an amusement park in a film should do to you.

Even more, so many theories are now out regarding these new characters and the Jurassic World universe. However you look at it, these are pretty neat characters. Claire has never been around to really care about her nephews and it's her time to impresses her sister. Owen is a blue-collar guy that has some really nice chemistry with Howard and really proves that Pratt can really play these roles after a handful of comedies from him. To think child actors would be leading this film is unsettling but Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson have no acting issues with a relationship between them that is exactly like my younger brother and I. Even Vincent D'Onofrio shows up as security operations guy and he's given more to do surprisingly.


As much as I like Jurassic Park from 1993, I had issues with the action scenes. They look great and they were very simple which I like but they were unrealistic. Jurassic World action scenes are more in depth and you can sense the big budget that is somewhere in the $150-180 million market as reported. Still though, it uses nice ideas involving raptors that is original and uses the amusement park setting nicely. For the little ones, there is violent action but it's not like the other Jurassic Park movies weren't violent either.

As I sat in the theater with a bunch of my brother's junior high friends who all finished the 7th grade literally an hour before the matinee, this is exactly a very good way to start the summer. A summer blockbuster that everyone could enjoy and it gets us set for the next blockbusters coming up in the upcoming months. More importantly, we now have a film that is at least acceptable compared to the original 1993 film and it is a long time coming. A good time indeed I had with this film.

Note: The 3D version to the film which I saw should be avoided at all cost.

4/5

The Poltergeist Curse

My love for horror, and even before the Blair Witch Project, began with Poltergeist. With a pot-smoking scene, sexual undertones and at times strong horror scenes, this movie was probably not made for an elementary kid but I could say that about most films that I watched during my youth. It was a film that used at the time, a difficult concept of involving a family inside a horror plot and in this case a Poltergeist was attacking the family. With the well known Tobe Hooper directing it, Poltergeist made it's mark on the world but had two crappy sequels that later followed.

What makes this series an even more interesting series is what is known as "The Poltergeist Curse". This was a series that produced some crazy real-life incidents and also sadly involved some interesting deaths of actors in the movie, some whom were very young.

Dominique Dunne who played Dana Freeling was strangled to death by her boyfriend in 1982 at the age twenty two. Unfortunately, the boyfriend only served three years in prison before being released.

Julian Beck played the VERY strange Rev. Henry Kane and died from stomach cancer during the production of Poltergeist 2. The remaining scenes involving him were handled by H.R. Giger.

Will Sampson played the Medicine Man and died after the release of Poltergeist 2 from kidney failure at the age of fifty two.

The saddest death of the series was no doubt that of Heather O'Rourke who died from cardiac arrest and septic shock after a misdiagnosis at the age of the twelve. Her ghost is said to haunt Stage 19 at Universal Studios where she shot twelve episodes of the Happy Days television series.

Zelda Rubinstein died at the age of seven six in 2010. She is the only cast member to die at a normal age and from natural causes.

Here are some additional interesting facts.

- Drew Barrymore was originally casted for the lead role of Carol Ann.

                   

                        

-The Poltergeist and E.T. houses both looked the same due to the fact they both were shot in the same area and the films were released just one week apart. The Poltergeist house was also damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

-The famous skeleton scene in the first film did involve real skeletons. JoBeth Williams was so afraid to shoot the scene that Steven Spielberg jumped into the pool with her for support.

 

- O'Rourke died during the production of Poltergeist 3. The director of the film, Gary Sherman wanted to scrap the film altogether but was pressured by the studio to finish it and eventually used a body double for the rest of O'Rourke's scenes. He called the film a disaster because of it.

- The creepy clown scenes involving the character Robbie being choked actually did involve the actor Oliver Robins being choked due to a prop malfunction. As the story is told, Spielberg jumped in and saved the child actor.

For many movie nerds, these are well known facts. Often and sometimes around Halloween, there are articles regarding The Poltergeist Curse. I find The Poltergeist Curse to be fascinating and unlike anything I have seen before.

Looper

When I look back at films I watched during my high school years, you could say it was "Joseph Gordon- Levitt time". Gordon-Levitt first became really well known as the young kid on Third Rock on the Sun. Then he appeared in films and didn't become a big name until 2009. He was an actor that always seem to be cast by good directors like Steven Spielberg in "Lincoln", and also supported by good actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Micheal Shannon. Looper is more of the same but is one of the first films with him that you can really question.

Looper is set in the future where time travel is illegal and used by criminal organizations on the black market. Once the person is caught by the mob, they are sent back thirty years to a looper. A looper's job is to kill those sent back in time and is how Joe (Gordon-Levitt) makes his money. One day though, his future self comes back to be killed causing an interesting situation for him. Though this is an original plot, there is just too much to grasp here and it is a confusing piece. This film could have went many different ways but it ends up going many places we didn't want it to go. You can like some aspects of this movie but not all of them.

As with most films he is in, Gordon-Levitt delivers a very well done performance and has a cast to support him. Emily Blunt plays a different role and she is much more gritty than she has ever been before. Bruce Willis is the future Joe who does not put out a bad performance but he doesn't at all look like Gordon-Levitt which is a problem. Willis does get some makeup but it doesn't go hand in hand enough to be the future Joe. All these characters are well developed and do have a lot to them.

Director Rian Johnson sets this film in 2044 and in the future realistic world. All we really see though is rundown buildings, poor looking towns and no color in this world. In the third act, the film's setting is a farm where we feel like Shoeless Joe Jackson and kids from Nebraska are going to be coming out of the fields but this setting ultimately makes us feel like we are back in the present time and it's takes us away from the film. Basically, Rian Johnson wanted to portray a future world but he didn't have any ideas for it.

A second viewing might be interesting but for now I think Looper is potentially a good film but with a few bad ideas. This film seemed to forgotten once 2013 came along and you wonder if anybody will have heard of it twenty years from now. For now, Looper is an overrated film from 2012.

3/5