Movie review - "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" (2018) **1/2

 Look, not a great movie - as pointed out by Honest Trailers it copies the structure of The Lost World, continually references back to film #1 (and the Alien franchise), and the characters are just types. Also it's not as fun to see dinosaurs running amok in a mansion as opposed to an island or a city.

But the action is well staged and consistent; it doesn't pause. I found the subplot about the girl realising she was cloned quite effective. 

I wish they'd kill some of these raptors with poisoned eggs, like in the book. 

Movie review - "Jurassic World" (2015) **1/2 (rewatching)

 I respect the money this film made. It passes the time. Decent effects. But it's silly. So light. Dinosaurs on a rampage and no one seems to care. Chris Pratt camps it up as does Bryce Dallas Howard. Lauren Lupkus and Jake Johnson play it too light. That kid Nick Robinson is a sulky teen.

I just didn't like it. 

Good to have the park up and running though. 

Movie review - "Jurassic Park 3" (2001) **

 Written a few weeks before filming and you can tell. No characters are intresting. No relationships. Sam Neill is professional but his relationship with Alessandra Nivola is dull, as is Nivola (with a backpack, come on). Tea Leoni and William H Macy never seem like they were married or parents, the kid is dull, no support characters. Why no decent villains?

They could've just had Laura Dern looking for Sam Neill or vice versa.

Decent effects. You can see the money on screen. 

Movie review - "Lost World: Jurassic Park" (1997) ***

 Gets a bad wrap but I quite liked it - it's a stripped back B picture version with everyone doing it for a pay cheque. There's fast pace and excellent action movies with a last act in San Diego for Spielberg to do his Godzilla homage.

It's fun in a way to see two excellent actors, Vince Vaughan and Julianne Moore, so awkward in Spielberg world, Goldblum gets to be heroic, Richard Schiff dies gorily. we miss out on a death for Vaughan and Pete Postlethwaite.

Spielberg's Blondes Top Ten

 He has a type

1) Sugarland Express - Goldie Hawn

2) Jaws - Lorraine Gray

3) Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Teri Garr and Melinda Dillon

4) ET - Dee Wallace

5) Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom - Kate Capshaw

6) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Alison Doody

7) Hook - Catherine Goodall

8) Jurassic Park - Laura Dern

 9) Schindler's List - Catherine Goodall

10) The Fabelmans - Michelle Williams 

Movie review - "Jurassic Park" (1993) ***1/2

 I've never been a huge fan of this. I recognise it's loved. Just seems to be Spielberg going through the motions - stock angles, John Williams. Laura Dern shows her legs, Sam Neill wears a hat, Jeff Goldblum adds some life.

It picks up once the TRex goes on the rampage - a genuinely strong sequence. The ending with the raptors is a little underwhelming. Pulls punches for Richard Attenborough who is too cuddly.

Fine effects. Bob Peck a little campy. Jeff Goldblum doesn't do that much he gets knocked out quite quick. The kids offer stakes. 

Movie review - "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) ***1/2

 Where does this sit with audiences today? Gorgeously directed. A lot of standing around open jawed in wonder. Very sweet. Teri Garr excellent and Richard Dreyfuss amiable.

Book review - "We did okay, kid" by Anthony Hopkins

 Is Hopkins a great actor? He's been great - Silence of the Lambs, Howard's End - but  a lot of dreck. Hollywood thinks he's great - Hollywood is like that. It was Hollywood who kept his career going when he walked out of the National in the 1970s.

Hopkins always seemed like he had his head in the clouds. This confirms it. Internal. Quiet. A loud alcoholic.

The book livens up in some spots - being sledged by Paul Sorvino making Nixon, discussing his process in Silence of the Lambs. I wish there had been more of that. But I think he lives in Hopkins land. This is low on anecdotes and actors insights. 

Movie review - "Gremlins" (1984) *****

 So much fun. It simply works. The concept, the rules, the anarchy, the cast. Zach Galligan is warm and likeable, Phoebe Cates is wonderful, the creatures full of personality, Dick Miller steals every scene he's in. Joe Dante really brought it all together. Jerry Goldsmith's jaunty score.

Book review - "The Uncool" by Cameron Crowe (2025)

 Superb memoir. Focuses on Crowe's childhood and career as a rock journo - winds up after he writes Fast Times at Ridgemount High apart from a book end of Almost Famous musical because that incorporates his mother's death. Not a lot of film stuff but plenty of rock stars - Bowie (didn't realise they were such friends), Allman Brothers, Kris Kristofferson etc. Also that random appearance in Other Side of the Wind.

Essential fact check against Almost Famous. Great read. Hope there's a second volume on the films. Why doesn't he do a second autobiographical film, like about him being a more established journo, or going to high school to write a book? 

Book review - "Ready When You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe" by Jerry Ziesmer

 Memoir of an assistant director has some decent moments but needed an edit. Too much Apocalypse Now and schedules not enough personalities. Fun sketches of Sly Stallone (nutty but endearing), Cameron Crowe (all positive), Tom Cruise (hyper), Robert Redford (charming but a c*nt), Babs (into everything), Peter Bogdanovich (didn't expect Illegally Yours to be made), Otto Preminger (a bully who was a pussycat).

Most memorable bit is fact Ziesmer's son killed himself. I did like him schmoozing extras on The Way We Were. I guess it's interesting how they did Superbowl in Black Sunday.  

Movie review - "Jaws" (1975) ***** (re-watching)

 Saw it on the big screen. Just wonderful. Perfect. Maybe could lose the Ben Gardner boat scene and the dock feeding scene... but possibly because I know what happens whereas new viewers would be more settled. Beautifully structured script. First half you go "how did this go over budget?" Second half you go "okay wow". All on screen. Truly epic. Wonderful actors. The kids, the mum of Alex Kitridge, the lead three. Unselfish Roy Scheider, funny Richard Dreyfuss, mad Robert Shaw. Just perfection.

Book review - "The Future was now" by Chris Nashawaty

 Not bad look at key films from 1982 - ET, Poltergeist, The Thing, Blade Runner, etc. I didn't learn anything new and some of the prose was a little purple but it passed the time.

Theatre review - "Back to the Future The Musical" (May 2025)

 A surprise - my expectations were low, I'd heard some songs that weren't much but this is a really colourful, fun show, a reminder of what a terrific film its source material was, bright 80s and 50s fashion and fun, energetic numbers. I liked some changes - swapping terrorists for plutonium, and having the car only respond to Doc's voice not Marty's. The heart of this is George but the by play between Marty and Doc is joyout and the horny mother gives it an edge.

Movie review - "Twilight Zone The Movie" (1983) **1/2

A film totally overshadowed by the accident, which is fair enough, people died (though more people die on films than you might think).

Interesting people constantly pop up in the cast - Steven Williams from Jump Street, John Larroquette as a Klan member. 

The Landis segment is in the spirit of the show - heavy-handed but effective, and Vic Morrow is very good. The Spielberg one isn't very much - he does his tricks, all that, it's just meh. 

Joe Dante's with the powerful kid is better, even if Kathleen Quinlan seems bored. The George Miller segment is, as commonly agreed, the best, helped with the strongest story, John Lithgow going for it, and high stakes.

Script of Jaws

Knocked out again how good the script is - superbly directed, acted, etc... but feel script is also magnificent and never gets its due (aside from “Indianapolis” monologue which everyone bangs on about). Why is it so good?
- basic structure very strong: first shark attack (kills girl), cop not dumb and tries to shut down beach but can’t bc of business, second shark attack (kills kid), everyone panics, mum of kid offers huge award which sends out vigilante, someone kills a shark but (twist) it’s the wrong shark, third shark attack (kills guy who tries to help cop’s son), go out on expedition
- Solid conflict all through: shark versus human, but also mayor versus cop and scientist (and the mayor is well motivated i.e. he’s doing it for business), macho fisherman vs scientist, macho fisherman vs cop
- Basic engineering plotting but very well done: we know cop will face off against shark, so we have him (a) afraid of water (b) be the least knowledgeable person about sharks on the boat compared to scientist and the macho fisherman (c) leave him abandoned by the other two at the end via killing fisherman and knocking out scientist (d) remove the boat - this is breathtakingly good and amazingly has not been copied enough (I think because stars want to play superheroes)... but you have our lead, have him go on a shark hunting expedition but we think he’s safe because he’s on a boat and we have the world’s toughest shark fisherman and the world’s smartest shark scientist... BUT THEN... they destroy the boat, kill the fisherman, take out the scientist... why is this not ripped off more?
- Things that might have been a little contrived (eg going shark hunting on a boat that is falling apart, not radio-ing for help) makes complete and utter sense if motivated by character: Quint the fisherman is full of swagger and machismo, thinks he’s the toughest guy on the block, tougher than any shark so of course he’d go off shark hunting on a crappy boat (it wouldn’t make character sense if he went off on a good boat) and wouldn’t call for help (of course he wouldn’t call for help) - it is about character
- Also, watch building of status of shark through Quint’s attitude: ‘I’ll catch him easy’, on trip, ‘no worries’, then over trip ‘hang on this shark is really skilled’ then ‘you know what lets try to drown him in the shallows’ then... shark eats Quint!
- Incredible sense of verisimilitude - everything feels real around the edges, mainly the day to day life in the town for the cop: he’s always got people whinging about karate students karate chopping people’s fences, and sitting in front of him at the beach whingeing about people parking in front of their shop, people make jokes at the town meeting about the reward being cash or cheque - it’s all grounded in reality which sells the outlandish story
- key change from the novel... where there’s a big subplot about the scientist having an affair with cop’s wife... now in terms of conflict this is good... you can see the scenes and the dramatic tension... but someone somewhere along the line went “let’s not do that because it overloads the script” and instead he gives the cop and wife a loving marriage (“want to fool around?”)... also it makes the cop and the scientist friends, and thus focuses the conflict between fisherman and scientist - I don’t think keeping the adultery subplot would have been fatal to the film but it would have robbed “Jaws” of much of its warmth... and I think would have been less popular (speculative theory: what is the difference between Spielberg and Scorsese? Scorsese would have kept the adultery subplot if he’d done Jaws).

Anyway thanks to Peter Benchley, Carl Gottleib, Howard Sackler and John Milius

Movie review - "Jaws" (1975) *****

 Why is it awesome? Many reasons. Beautiful locations, directions, cast (even minor roles0. Watching it I. kept thinking how executives would've ruined it. I'm sure they tried.

Why is the script good:

- verisimilitude

- exposition wrapped in humour

- makes a nice guy ordinary man likeable (cute stuff with kids, job and wife "want to get drunk and fool around")

- uses basic oppositional dramatics: mayor cares about money more than safety, main hero isn't as smart as Richard Dreyfus or touch as Robert Shaw and doesn't like water, but is the last one standing

- great tension... the town think they've got it sussed, but they dont, the top fisherman is killed, then they go on a boat but it breaks down and is crap, then Shaw thinks he's got it sussed but he doesn't. and Dreyfuss thinks he can do it but he doesn't

- has three contrasting heros, Mr Average, Mr Smart, Mr Brawn

Location work was all worth it. Simply wonderful.

Movie review - "Small Soldiers" (1997) ***

Not as big a hit as it should have been, like so many Joe Dante films, even though this had many elements of Gremlins - to wit, boy and girl battle small creatures in small town, some good others bad. Maybe it lacked a Gizmo. I do think the opening sequence with Jay Mohr and Dennis Leary could've been cut and they could've just gone into the kids (I'm sure this was discussed). Also maybe the nice animals lack a bit of personality.

But when the soldiers go on the rampage it's a lot of fun. Kirsten Dunst is a star - the male not so much. The computer screens and fringes and flannos date it in a 90s way.

Movie review - "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) ***** (rewatching)

 Not much to say extra about this just some thoughts:

* Belloq a great antagonist - smart, brave, the other side of Indi - Marvel films learned from them to have this sort of villain

* The set up, pay off is so good - so is the exposition

* Smart, smart, smart

* Skilful use of sidekicks for story, exposition, eetc - Denholm Elliot's kindly museum man, John Rhys Davies' Sullah (who gets Indy out of a few tight spots)

Book review - "Steven Spielberg and Duel" by Steven Awalt

 Duel helped launch Steven Spielberg and obviously it's a classic. I'm not sure there's quite enough material in here for a book. It covers the incident that led to Matheson's story, the scripting, hiring Spielberg, the making of the film. Problem is, because it was a Universal telemovie everything was very well run, it was all quite smooth. There was no drama like say Jaws.

Maybe this book should've expanded to explore all of Spielberg's telemovie work. It's a solid book, mind, the writer has done a good job, I'm just not sure the subject matter sustains.