Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park

I love this film, it’s got incredible special effects, and I remember liking the fact that Lex, the elder of John Hammond’s grandchildren is instrumental in saving the survivors in the final few scenes when I was a kid. I was eleven or twelve when the film first came out and was blown away by the special effects, the first time that the dinosaurs are revealed, was just as awe inspiring for me, as it was for the characters. Extraordinary!

My brother had a fascination with dinosaurs, like so many boys developed after the film came out. I can’t quite remember if he liked them first, and then developed a greater fascination after watching the film, but he did have loads of models. Anyway, he had a Triceratops before the film, and I was fascinated by the fact that the filmmakers had somehow managed to make a living and breathing version of the animal onscreen.

I’ve come to realise that Dr Grant’s not exactly the best person to deal with kids, though, the scene with the little boy at the dig shows that he’s incredibly short tempered at the start. How did the kid get to the dig?

There are plenty of impressive stunts, and the special effects still hold up today, a truly remarkable thing seeing as it’s 22 years old. I remember several scenes vividly, despite not having seen it for quite a few years. The scene just before the T-Rex is revealed to have escaped has been parodied quite often throughout the years, with good reason, How did they do this?

The scene with the kids and the raptors in the kitchen have stuck in my mind too. How would you stay calm with raptors so close? I remember being in awe of the kids thinking so clearly in such a dangerous situation, the first time that I watched it.

It was realistic, the reactions of certain characters, I mean you would hope that you would react like Dr Grant or Ian Malcolm if children were in danger, but it’s understandable that the flight mode would click in first.

The warmth that Richard Attenborough brought to the role of John Hammond is one of the reasons that I’m really glad that they didn’t stick rigidly to the book, and let him make it all the way to the end.

All of the performances that I recall were good, but Goldblum’s sarcastic and yet heroic mathematician, Attenborough, and Ariana Richards’ playing Lex were my personal favourites.

Pretty Woman

Pretty Woman

I doubt that many people have no knowledge at all of this movie, seeing as it was in some ways the start of the nineties fascination with romantic comedies. But just in case you haven’t seen it, the basic plot is that Richard Gere is an uptight executive called Edward, and he happens to Julia Roberts’ character Vivienne, a laid back prostitute while having some car trouble.

She drives him back to his hotel, and through a brief conversation with his lawyer, he invites Vivienne to spend the week with him, posing as his girlfriend for a series of business meetings. The man whose business Edward wants to take over is quite old fashioned, big on family values. Anyway, Vivienne accepts, and the two fall in love over the week.

It’s chock full of funny moments, such as the first shopping scene, when Edward has asked Vivienne to get herself a dress for dinner. The sales assistant on Rodeo Drive isn’t exactly pleasant, in the clip uploaded by digitizellc. Vivienne and her roommate are quite funny together, and I liked the strength that Roberts gave the character. She might be down on her luck, but she won’t let anyone take her for granted, or demean her. It’s a great scene when she stands up to the snobby sales assistant, Uploaded by Dominik Ferenczy

Even though it’s not exactly realistic, I mean that the couple would fall in love over the course of a week, and make it work given their very different backgrounds, it’s a sweet movie, with a lot of sexual chemistry between Roberts and Gere, regardless of how attracted the two actors reportedly were to each other uploaded by MARCOS EC.

The ending has become quite iconic, and I bet some women are still, in their heart of hearts waiting for their Richard Gere to sweep them off their feet. Uploaded by Romantic Scene

In some ways it’s the film that set the blueprint for all the romantic comedies that followed, seeing as there’s a couple who are from different financial situations, or coming at the world in different ways, they aren’t really friends at first, but then grow close over the movie, and learn to respect each other’s point of view. There’s a separation which often in the subsequent romantic comedies is through an argument or some kind of truth being revealed, and then a public gesture of affection at the end which solves everything.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Starring Robert Downey Jnr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Colbie Smulders, Samuel L Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. 

Teaser Trailer

Synopsis: The Avengers reassemble to take on an artificial intelligence called Ultron who has a world destroying agenda.

Most of the things that were so great about the first Avengers movie are still present in this one. Whedon’s swift wit, and character driven moments popping up alongside the remarkable special effects, and well-crafted fight scenes.

It was nice to see another woman joining the Avengers’ roster, Olsen’s Scarlet Witch/ Wanda is someone that I’ve no knowledge of, but she was one of the more memorable characters. I liked the interplay between her and her brother, (Taylor-Johnson) they actually seemed like siblings. It was also a nice scene between her and Renner, when he’s trying to convince her to join the final fight, in the made up country of Sovokia in Eastern Europe, he does all the talking, and she’s silent, it made me laugh.

I really like the character Natasha, she was one of the things I liked the most about the first Avengers movie, and Whedon had given Johansson the opportunity to show elements from Natasha’s past and her softer side in the scenes opposite Ruffalo. Although I liked the idea of seeing other aspects of Natasha’s character, I did feel that the romance element kind of came out of nowhere, I don’t remember there being anything romantic between Natasha and Bruce in the first movie. Admittedly there have been three years between the two films, so there might well have been something in the comic books referencing the advancement of their relationship, that I’m unaware of. I actually thought that the creators of the movies were going to put Captain America and Black Widow together, after seeing them interact in the second Captain America movie, they were very flirtatious for quite a few scenes.

The conflict between Captain American and Iron Man in this one seems to be laying the groundwork for the Civil War that is supposed to be part of the third Captain America movie. Although some of it’s played for laughs, but the scene when Bruce and Tony are preparing to insert Jarvis’s consciousness into the body that Ultron intended for himself, and Steve accompanied by Wanda and her twin try to stop him shows how far their friendship could fracture, given their differing world views.

I was also surprised, just like the rest of the Avengers were, when it was revealed that Barton had a wife and two children, with one more on the way. The character hasn’t had much dialogue admittedly, in his appearances, but it was still a surprise. The interplay between Renner and Cardellini was nice, and they actually had a good chemistry in the few scenes that Cardellini appeared in.

Another surprise was the fact that neither Jane Foster or Pepper Potts made an appearance, even during the scenes featuring Iron Man and Thor’s worst nightmares. They were mentioned during an early party scene but that was it. So if you’re a particular fan of those relationships or characters you will be disappointed.

It’s a fun movie, with a lot of positives, if you like superhero movies like I do, although it wasn’t as good as the first one. Loki, the first movie’s villain was a lot more memorable than Ultron, due to Tom Hiddleston’s performance and chemistry with Hemsworth and Downey Jnr in particular.

Video created by CinemaSins: Everything wrong with Avengers: Age of Ultron

Club Foot: Kasabian

Club Foot

Kasabian

Official music video

I like the speed of the beat of this song. The first time that I heard it was when watching Smallville, and it was used to soundtrack Lucy Lane escaping from criminals on skis, the beat matching somehow with her moves as she sped down the slope. I also saw it used to soundtrack a fan video for Lois Lane. Video created by jesluvclois. I have kept it as part of my writing inspiration song list for at least the last couple of years and don't think that I'll get tired of listening to it.