Category Archives: motion pictures

Jurassic-sized Anxiety

Posted on by
Reply

I went and saw the movie “Jurassic World: Lost Kingdom” today and I’ll discuss it in a minute but first I need to talk about something else first. I’ve had driving anxiety my whole life. I just can’t seem to relax when I’m driving. I’m always waiting for something bad to happen. For some reason today it was worse than ever. Maybe it was exacerbated by my grief, it was the first movie I’ve gone to since my mom died. All I know is that my anxiety was my alarm clock this morning and woke me up way too early with its racing heart and thoughts. I found myself trying to rationalize not going today by telling myself that the movie will still be there on Monday. I was committed to the idea of going today. So I pushed through it and got in my car. The 15-minute drive there was horrible. I thought my heart was going to beat a hole through my chest it was racing so hard. My fight or flight sense was kicked into overdrive and kept telling me to turn around and go home. It was hard to fight against what felt like my most basic instincts and not go back home. I have been looking forward to seeing the movie on the big screen for months, and that is what helped me push through and make it to the theater. I wish I could be like everyone else around me who just jumps into their car and goes without any hesitation but that’s not me. Anyway, onto the main attraction.

“Jurassic World: Lost Kingdom” overall wasn’t what I expected at all. It felt like an effort to take the story in an entirely new direction and I’m not sure if I like that or not. It just felt like it was lacking the wonder and imagination the first films possessed. It had a sadder tone to it that made me somewhat uncomfortable. It raised some interesting questions though and the ending definitely leaves a door wide open for another film in the franchise, which will be unlike anything we’ve seen before.  My biggest complaint about the film though is the lack of John Williams’ brilliant theme song that has been in all the films. There was one moment where I heard it hinted at but that was it. Maybe that’s one reason why I didn’t feel the same way about this one. Sorry for the vagueness of this but I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.

Heading to the Kingdom Tomorrow

Posted on by
Reply

Dinosaurs. Growing up I had a passing interest in them during grade school but that was about it. I had a few fossils that I thought were really interesting, the idea that they were the remains of creatures that lived millions of years ago excited my nerdy brain. And then in my early 20s all that changed. And it changed because of Stephen Spielberg’s movie “Jurassic Park.” All of a sudden dinosaurs were living, breathing, and moving creatures. I knew they were a combination of computer-generated images and puppets but the skill of the artists took my breath away. They looked as though they could walk right off the screen and into the real world. Even today, that scene where the characters are in jeeps rolling through fields and come to the herd of brontosauruses gives me goosebumps. As does the scene at the end where the larger than life T-Rex roars as the park banner floats gently to the floor.  “Jurassic Park” captured my imagination more than “Star Wars” ever could. The idea of a park where tourists could go and see real dinosaurs just gives me such a thrill. The dinosaurs in every installment have been so incredibly done. Usually, the storyline is very important to me but with this series, I go for the dinosaurs. I remember going to see the last movie and relishing the feeling like I did during the first film. I’m not sure how I feel about the velociraptors behaving like trained dogs but I can overlook that. And now we have a brand new story, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and I can’t wait to see that. Computer graphics have advanced even more since the last film and I’m anxious to see what new technologies they have developed to make the dinosaurs look even more lifelike. I’m probably going to go see it tomorrow and I’m already preparing myself for the goosebumps I’m going to have the moment composer John Williams’ timeless score begins to play. I just hope the powers behind the film haven’t rushed the creation of it just to cash in on the success of the last film. I’ll let you know what I thought of it tomorrow.