Movie Moments: "The Lost World: Jurassic Park"

The first time I did this item was august 14th 2011. The movie: “Jurassic Park”. So it’s time that I’m looking a little closer to the sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park”, that I think is also wonderful. Here are my favorite moments from the movie.

Moment # 1: The little girl

In the opening scene we see a couple and their daughter spending time on an island. The girl is exploring the sight and finds some little creatures. At first they are friendly, but soon the small dinosaurs appear a little less innocent then they are.

Moment # 2: Stegosaurus

Ian Malcolm is forced to go to the island, to get his girlfriend Sarah back. When he finds her, Sarah sees a baby stegosaurus. She wants to photograph him and Ian knows she will be getting too close. When Sarah runs out of film, the baby doesn’t like the sound of it and calls out for his mom. And they are mad!

Moment # 3: Baby Rex

After freeing the dinosaurs that were captured, Owen decided to take the baby Tyrannosaurus Rex with him because his leg is broken. Sarah and Owen get him into the trailer, but son mommy and daddy come looking for their baby.

Moment # 4: Compsognathus attack

While the group is resting, Dieter needs to take a leak and wanders of in the woods. He is followed by a group of little compsognathus. They won’t leave him alone and attack him. Dieter can’t find his way back and it’s a painful death for Dieter.

Moment # 5: Tent

The group is trying to get some sleep and Ian’s daughter Kelly and Sarah are sleeping in a tent. Their sleep will soon be disturbed when a Tyrannosaurus Rex is coming to camp. He checks out the tent. When one of the people starts to scream, everyone has to run away.

Moment # 6: Long grass

When the group goes into the long grass, which is a very bad idea, they don’t realize a group of hungry velociraptors is surrounding them. From different angles they attack and pull down people in the grass.

Moment # 7: Facing of raptors

While trying to find a save place, Ian, Sarah and Kelly stand eye in eye with two velociraptors.

Moment # 8: T-Rex in San Diego

It’s a brilliant plan to capture a Tyrannosaurus Rex and then bring it to the big city, right? No! It eats everyone on the ship and breaks out.

Favorite Moment: Moment # 3 : Baby Rex

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 151: Something Borrowed

Director: Luke Greenfield

Genre: Comedy/ Romance/ Drama

Runtime: 113 minutes

Year: 2011

Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, John Krasinski, Colin Egglesfield, Steve Howey

Description: Friendships are tested and secrets come to the surface when terminally single Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) falls for Dex (Colin Egglesfield), her best friend Darcy's (Kate Hudson) fiancé.

Review: Poor Dex, he earns heaps of money as a lawyer in Manhattan, can smile like Tom Cruise, can get every woman he wants and gets a mansion from his father. But Dex wants to teach, he doesn’t do it, but he wants to. And his love life also shakes up his stabile life. The ideal son in law is torn between the serious and single lawyer Rachel and the partying and outgoing Darcy.

A romantic comedy like “Something Borrowed” is about love and the problems that come with it. Viewers love it. The movie looks like a perfectly styled soda commercial, with picture perfect fashionably dressed people, sunny weather, hip clubs, New York apartments and a house in the Hamptons. Rachel is the one to mess it all up, by having a ‘fun night’ with Dex, the man who is about to marry her best friend Darcy. How the two are friends is a big mystery, they have nothing in common. There has always been something between Dex and Rachel, but right before the wedding is the perfect time to actually speak about those feelings.

A romcom is a genre where, as a viewer, you have certain expectations and you always know the outcome somehow. It’s like unwrapping a present when you can already see by its shape what’s inside it.

Kate Hudson is good in her role, but she didn’t manage to make me feel any form of sympathy. Ginnifer Goodwin is likeable as Rachel, but it’s a character she has played before and she brings nothing new to the screen. Colin Egglesfield as Dex is okay. I think he’s just another pretty face and very forgettable. John Krasinski, who was only given a supporting role, is the only character I could relate to, he was the only sensible one and I actually sympathized with him. It also has to do with Krasinski’s high likeability level. He’s the only actor that gets away with the comedy part of the movie.

“Something Borrowed” is not a very original movie, filled with romcom clichés. Thanks to John Krasinski it was a bearable film to watch and the movie did have its moments. But overall it’s a meaningless romcom that will easily be forgotten.

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 150: De Poel

Director: Chris W. Mitchell

Genre: Drama/ Horror

Runtime: 80 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Carine Crutzen, Bart Klever, Chris Peters, Alex hendricks, Jamie Grant, Katje Herbers

Description: Lennaert (Gijs Scholten van Aschat) takes his wife, two sons, a friend and his daughter on a hiking trip in the woods. After a long search for a spot to set up camp, the father finds a perfect place overlooking a pool. Everybody seems to get settled quickly and when the night falls the two sons listen to a ghost story told by their father's friend at the campfire. The youngest son begins to have strange dreams and bizarre occurrences begin to develop at the camp side.

Review: For us Dutch people camping is the ultimate holiday feeling. Bare feet in the grass, barbequing and a six pack of beer within reach and the kids having fun in the pool or lake. Some people hate it, but in the Dutch horror movie “De Poel” we see how really bad a camping trip can be.

Two families go camping, but choose a place where it’s actually not allowed to set up camp. Lennaert takes his wife SIlke and their two sons Marco and Jan on this trip. Together with Lennaert’s friend Rob and his daughter Emily he wants to make it unforgettable. Lennaert is also the only one who’s excited about the trip. After a day, all their freshly bought meat has gone bad and they have to find their own food. With all that, son Jan starts having weird dreams about the lake and also Lennaert sees visions and hears voices.

The scenario is strong and the characters are well written too. This horror flick doesn’t have a lot of gore, but it’s more focused on the atmosphere. No shock effects and it actually doesn’t really feel like a horror movie. It’s not a scary film, it’s more a thriller.

The acting is good, especially Gijs Scholten van Aschat and Carice Crutzen stand out. The other actors are all above average as well.

“De Poel” is a pretty good film, but shouldn’t be titled as a horror movie.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 149: The Skeleton Twins

Director: Craig Johnson

Genre: Drama/ Comedy

Runtime: 93 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell, Boyd Holbrook

Description: Having both coincidentally cheated death on the same day, estranged twins reunite with the possibility of mending their relationship.

Review: Milo Dean is unhappy with his life and decides to step out of it. Right at the time that his estranged twin sister Maggie wants to take a pill overdose, she gets a call that Milo is in the hospital. It brings the two back together after ten years of not speaking to each other.

That Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig work well together, we have already seen on “Saturday Night Live”. They were part of the cast for many years. The two of them team up again in “The Skeleton Twins” and it works like a charm. It’s clear that the duo had a lot of fun making it and they are well attuned. Especially the scene were Milo is trying to make Maggie feel better by lip syncing to an eighties song, you can see how well Wiig and Hader function on screen as a duo.

What I found fascinating was to see all these comedic actors in more serious roles. Kristen Wiig has already proven a couple of times that she can also do light drama. Bill Hader also finds his way around the genre. Luke Wilson and Ty Burrell, who have supporting roles, are both convincing as well. When you put drama and comedy on a scale, it wouldn’t be balanced, because the drama has the upper hand. Although the movie deals with some heavy themes, the drama is kept light by the touch of comedy that sometimes has a dark edge.

“The Skeleton Twins” is a strong drama, that especially succeeds because of the great chemistry between the two lead actors. It’s their power that made us care for them and their story.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 148: Nightcrawler

Director: Dan Gilroy

Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 117 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Rick Garcia

Description: When Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a driven man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.

Review: The word “Nightcrawler” can mean many things. In this case it’s not the newest X-Men spin-off or a movie about worms. Here it means journalists who deliver newsworthy happenings that occur at night.

This tingling theme is translated to film by scenario writer Dan Gilroy, who makes his directorial debut with “Nightcrawler”. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the lead role, who lost 20 pounds to make his character come to life. Who says method acting is dead? He’s koined by Rene Russo, the directors wife, and it’s great to see her in a good film again. Bill Paxton plays a fellow nightcrawler.

Lou Bloom is trying to sell stolen construction material, but it doesn’t get him a lot of money. When Lou witnesses a traffic collision, he sees freelance journalists filming the accident. His new life goal is to become successful in that business. After some rookie mistakes, he starts getting the hang of it and he actually has talent for it. But Lou soon goes beyond boundaries and gets obsessed with the job, by losing all his morals and ethics.

Like “Collateral” and “Drive”, night time Los Angeles is the décor for “Nightcrawler”. The City of Angels is filmed beautifully and adds something to the already gripping atmosphere.

Jake Gyllenhaal can join the club of actors, with for instance Matthew McConaughey and Tom Hardy, who land one good role after another. After being in “Prisoners” and “Enemy”, his portrayal of Lou Bloom might be his best performance so far.

Knowing that the theme of “Nightcrawler” is based on reality, make it very worrying. The tension is very high at times. “Nightcrawler” might just be one of the best films of 2014, a joy for every movie fan.

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 147: Prometheus

Director: Ridley Scott

Genre: Actie/ Science Fiction/ Horror

Runtime: 126 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Patrick Wilson

Description: A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Review: Director Ridley Scott doesn’t make it easy for himself. He tried to tell a story, located in the universe of his own classic “Alien” from 1979, to answer one question: where do we come from? Man who wants to meet his maker. Scientists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway find a series of identical cave drawings in 2089. They think they know the answer to that question and billionaire Peter Weyland sets up an expedition. On spaceship Prometheus they are on a search for the truth.

The Prometheus arrives, with a crew of seventeen, on a planet similar to the one in “Alien”. The tension is built because you don’t know why each of the crew members are on the mission. The distant Meredith Vickers has to lead the crew and her help is android David.

Scott could have chosen to play out a cat and mouse game, but instead he focuses on David. His plans are revealed little by little, but it’s clear he’s the one with the most dangerous mission. Dangerous for mankind. The questions isn’t who is going to survive, but why David does what he does. There is no emotional impact whenever one of the crew member dies. And even though some scenes are pretty gruesome, they are never as anguished as in “Alien”.

The movie is visually stunning and detailed. This movie is beautiful in 3D. But beautiful pictures alone don’t make a good movie. Scott made this movie a bit too simplistic and the characters lack intelligence and depth. “Prometheus” is still a pretty good movie.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 146: Total Recall

Director: Len Wiseman

Genre: Actie/ Science Fiction/ Thriller

Runtime: 118 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, Bill Nighy, John Cho

Description: A factory worker, Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), begins to suspect that he is a spy after visiting Rekall - a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have led - goes wrong and he finds himself on the run.

Review: Remakes of big movies are really popular these days. You take a big film from the last twenty to twenty five years, modernize it a bit, throw in some famous actors and a success is guaranteed. Right? There are movies that where ready for a remake, like “Cape Fear” by Martin Scorsese or “Ocean’s 11” by Steven Soderbergh. And the Hitchcock classic “Psycho” was a film that didn’t really need that at all. Len Wiseman’s “Total Recall” falls right in the middle.

It’s 2084 and due to a chemical war the biggest part of the world is uninhabitable. Two big areas fight for the power on earth. Factory worker Douglas Quaid lives in The Colony with his wife Lori. He has a recurring dream where he and a woman are being chased. Quaid wants more from his life and he decides to visit the company Rekall. They implant memories. Quaid chooses a memory as a secret agent, but before they can implant it something goes wrong and he turns out to be a wanted man. When Quaid is chased by the police he finds out that nothing is what it seems.

With a remake it’s hard not to compare. “Total Recall” from 1990 was Paul Verhoeven’s break. The biggest difference between the two movies is that in the original the planet Mars is a big part of the film. In the new one, the movie is set on planet earth. Verhoeven’s version had some self-mockery, but Wiseman is going for a more serious approach and gives it a political touch. And the look of the film reminds you a bit of “Blade Runner” as well. Originality is hard to find here. It does look very good, the visuals and action sequences are amazing. But it’s hard to take in the environment because it all goes in warp speed.

Colin Farrell is off course a better actor then Arnold Schwarzengger and he’s a believable action hero. My biggest problem with the film is that you never really know if the events really happened or were all in Quaid’s head.

“Total Recall” is an entertaining action/ sci-fi film that takes itself a bit too seriously. Visually it’s stunning and Colin Farrell is doing a solid job as Quaid. But the movie never convinces you the way the original did.

Rating: 3/ 5