Friday, May 13, 2016

More Movie Musings

Last weekend we watched Jurassic World. We had seen the other three films. At the end of the first, Jurassic Park, the powers that be seemed to agree that a cloned dinosaur theme park was a bad idea. The next two films, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Jurassic Park III, ultimately seem to support the conclusion of the first.

Then, all of a sudden, Jurassic World presents a resort, complete with retail outlets, baby dinosaur petting zoo and Sea World-like shows. I was interested enough to keep watching, jumped once or twice, but overall--the film was stupid.

The resort was a disaster in waiting, especially the new mystery dinosaur. I knew Claire and Owen would become a couple. I knew they and the kids were in no danger. The only suspense was when the "military guy" would be killed--at the beginning of mystery dino's rampage or near the end.

I wonder if most moviegoers focused on the themes of excess consumerism and the ethical aspects of raising wild animals in captivity. I do like Rhiannon's take on the theme of consumerism.

We recently watched Dracula Untold. I had never heard of this film, but found it on HBO On Demand. I'm a vampire fan, never particularly got into zombies or werewolves. I liked this origin story that focused on Vlad the prince, not Bram Stoker's character. Charles Dance, who may make any movie better, is the original vampire. Other Game of Thrones alumni include Art Parkinson and Paul Kaye.
 
We saw The Spiral Staircase last night. I don't know how many times I've seen it before, and don't remember the last. Jeff thought we had watched it together once, so sometime in the last 30 years. Oddly enough, I sometimes cite its last line to my students as a way to remember correct pronoun case.

I was pleased that the film held up. Even knowing the identity of the killer and the ending, it was suspenseful. This time around, I appreciated the atmospherics, set design and shot angles.

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