Jurassic Park III (2001)
When you are younger, you take things for granted.
Like the concept of there being a new Jurassic Park every four years. Of
course, this one had disappointing returns and put the series on hiatus
until 2015. There was hints of this dispiriting 21st Century in the
cinema, as I saw my dad’s face fall further with every scientific
inaccuracy.
In Jurassic Park, the Dilophosaurs are entirely reinvented for the sake
of a jump scare, but it works within the context of the film. Also the
series Raptors are actually Deinonychus, but no kid ever complained
about that because Deinonychus are ¤¤¤¤ing awesome. The Lost World
decided to eject the paleontology lessons for more action. Here all the
rules of dinosaurs are thrown out the window to tell a super-monster
story. Does it make for a thrilling film? Sort of. But its also a more
hollow experience.
Thursday, 24 September 2020
Jurassic Park III (2001)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II (1997)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II (1997)
So studio execs and Steven Spielberg really liked Jurassic Park.
Specifically, they liked the money it gave them. So they got Michael
Crichton to write a swift sequel, and then signed the rights to make the
film version, in which they jettisoned every single thing in that
Crichton book. And to be fair, good decision, that book is Exhibit A in
Writer Doesn’t Give A ¤¤¤¤ About Book He Was Contracted To Write.
Instead, they nab a few good scenes from the first book they didn’t use
in the first film, nick from stuff like The Wizard of Oz and Alien, nab
the finish of King Kong, and add in far more dinosaurs. This may sound
cynical, but it worked, and it sort of works, and is the lesson Jurassic
Park III didn’t learn in the slightest.
A School Story - M.R. James
A School Story
M.R. James
I really like James poking fun at all the common stereotype ghost tales
around in the opening, but I feel like at some point, there's James,
sitting at his desk, writers block hitting, Christmas round the corner,
comes up with an idea but DAMN IT, he already used it at the start of
School Story!
"‘I dare say it was. Then there was the man who heard a noise in the
passage at night, opened his door, and saw someone crawling towards him
on all fours with his eye hanging out on his cheek. There was besides,
let me think—Yes! the room where a man was found dead in bed with a
horseshoe mark on his forehead, and the floor under the bed was covered
with marks of horseshoes also; I don’t know why. Also there was the lady
who, on locking her bedroom door in a strange house, heard a thin voice
among the bed-curtains say, ‘Now we’re shut in for the night.’ None of
those had any explanation or sequel. I wonder if they go on still, those
stories.’ "
Way of the Wicked (2014)
In the 1970s, Gregory Peck, David Warner and Patrick Troughton tried to
stop the anti-Christ being unleashed on the world, but failed. Mostly
thanks to the terrifying Billie Whitelaw.
In 2014, Vinnie Jones tries to stop his daughter's boyfriend being unleashed on the world.
Hell of a recession, that.
Ghost Stories (2018)
Ghost Stories (2018)
The portmanteau horror film produced some classics of the genre. Dead of
Night. Asylum with good old Geoffrey Bayldon. The one with Tom Baker
and the voodoo. Classics. One way or another.
So it was nice to see that tradition brought back to life here.
Attack the Block (2011)
Attack the Block (2011)
I never liked high rises. I'm sure some of them are grand places to live
in, but the vast majority around here were damp ridden slums to chuck
poor people in and forget about them. Judging by the complete lack of
amenities around Wyndham Tower, it's much the same for our characters
here. (Wyndham Tower, incidentally, is a great in-joke just thrown in
there for those who get it...)
Les Diaboliques (1955)
Les Diaboliques (1955)
“A painting is always moral enough when it is tragic and it gives the horror of the things it traces.”
Barbey D’Aurevilly
From the opening music by Van Parys, you know you are in for something
different here. Especially when the film is largely empty of music,
allowing the sound effects to dig in. And yet, the film starts so
familiarly. A school overrun with children, a school master who could
easily be a Robert Donat type. The staff are on break, but with the
juxtaposition of children happily playing and snatches of dialogues
between staff, we quickly get the picture of dysfunctional relationships
and marriages among the teachers. Headmaster Delassalle is a complete
arse, not only as a tyrannical teacher, but with the fact that he
carries out an affair with the local blonde schoolteacher in front of
his ailing wife and expects everyone to be happy. Even the children
gossip about it! And so two women, thrown together, talk about divorce
and love and other means to find happiness.
They Live (1988)
They Live (1988)
All together now:
Three
Two
One
“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubblegum.”
Saturday, 5 September 2020
Bond Theme Tunes Countdown reaction
Paul Gill saw this list of James Bond theme tunes on Classic FM and asked for my opinion:
(Spoilers follow)
Sunday, 23 August 2020
The Aztecs
Aztecs (episode 1)
The Temple of Evil
There's the TARDIS toy taking off again.
And suddenly, a death mask! And the words "Written by John Lucarotti"
which suggest high promise. The TARDIS has landed in a tomb which
Barbara immediately recognises as an Aztec priest. They've landed in the
time period of Barbara's favourite school subject! Although if the chap
was buried in 1430 it's a bit late in the day to be "early Aztec".