#15- Jurassic Park

Quick Recap: Is this really necessary? UGH. The movie is about a park full of dinosaurs that kill people and open doors dramatically. Also, Jeff Goldblum is in it and that makes everything ok in my eyes.

Hold on to your butts. This post will not be as funny as I imagined in my head.

Hold on to your butts. This post will not be as funny as I imagined in my head.

Fun(?) Fact: “T-Rex’s roar was a remix of sounds from a crocodile, a lion, a tiger and a baby elephant.” Sort of reminds me of a certain Smoke Monster from Lost.

 

I wish I could quit you

I wish I could quit you

My thoughts:  I saw this film when it first came out in 1993 and it scared me to death. I had vivid nightmares of dinosaurs coming back to life and controlling Earth once again. Dinosaurs were serious business in 1993. Watching it as an adult though, is a completely different experience.  There were several times throughout different scenes where I thought that maybe I hadn’t seen this movie after all as a kid and had imagined everything. One scene in particular that jumped out is when Dennis is spit on by the Dilophosaurus and then attacked. It’s a much funnier scene than what I remembered. The entire movie had a camp-y vibe to it. Jeff Goldblum’s character is a perfect example of that. Every line he spews is cringe-worthy as well as pure gold.

our national treasure

our national treasure

I wanted to laugh at 8 year old me for being so scared of a dinosaur movie, but there were still some scenes that made me jump. Walking out of the theater, I realized that this movie has had such a lasting effect because it is not meant to be taken seriously in any way. Spielberg himself readily admitted to changing factual details so that he could better tell the story. Yes, now we know that dinosaurs had feathers -but I think a colorful plumed T-Rex would have looked very silly in this movie. Spielberg wanted this to be enjoyable and if you take it at face value, it very much is.

Final Review: 4/5. In the words of my favorite small town newspaper, ‘A good time was had by all’.

Where I watched it: The Alamo Draft House. I especially loved all of the dinosaur shorts they showed before the movie started. I would like to think my score of this film might’ve been lower had I gone somewhere else. Excellent job, guys.

Up Next: The Red Shoes, probably.

 

 

#12-North by Northwest

Quick Recap: This may be my shortest recap yet! Roger Thornhill, an ad exec, is mistaken as a spy and must go on the run to save himself as well as a girl he falls in love with.

Fun (?) Fact: GQ Magazine named the suit Cary Grant wears throughout the movie as ‘the best suit in history’. They state it has had the biggest effect on men’s fashion than any other suit ever has.

Image

I find myself wanting a good suit….

My Thoughts: So, first of all, a confession- this is my first ever Hitchcock film. I KNOW. I always meant to watch Psycho, but it is one of those movies that has been referenced so many times that I feel like I have already watched it. I KNOW. Thus the reason I’m doing this project in the first place. Anyway. Back to the movie at hand.

I was immediately caught up in the film from the beginning. And from the beginning, I mean the credits, because look:

Image

Sexy.

If I’m going to watch a movie from 1959, it needs to scream 1959! And boy, did it ever. I also loved how quickly the action began. The film was fast paced and I loved all the twists and turns as Thornhill tried to figure out what the hell was going on. One of the most enjoyable parts of the movie was watching the transformation of Thornhill. He starts out so completely anti-spy and then as more events unfold,  he begins to fit into the role perfectly. By the last scene at Mount Rushmore, he has become George Kaplan. I don’t know much about Cary Grant’s work because, as you can see above, I haven’t even watched Psycho so why would I know about other classic films? I doubted Grant’s casting at the beginning because he seemed so much older than what I was expecting from a spy. However, he sold me rather quickly. One of the reasons I enjoy movies like this is because it helps me expand my pop culture knowledge. I can now say I have seen the crop dusting scene and I also know what a MacGuffin is.

Final review: 5/5. It’s an iconic film and still holds up as an excellent thriller. Plus, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Where I watched it: Netflix DVD

Next Up: Moulin Rouge. I KNOW.