A Walk Through the Park

Movies can be more then just entertainment, they can be a place holder for memories.  In fact I did a blog on this very topic a few years back.

During my younger years, and before she passed, my sister and I would watch Jurassic Park.  We often would argue about what to watch, whether a TV show or VHS, later DVD.  Jurassic Park was one we would settle on.  We often heated up a microwavable popcorn and split a sprite.

Over the weekend I took advantage of an opportunity to, once again take a walk through the park.  In honor of my sister I had our customary snack of popcorn and sprite.  As a I side note I realized that sprite is not my favorite soft drink but still enjoyed slurping it up.  

I took my seat in my favorite seat in the auditorium, towards the front on the edge.  Then the film started.  The T-Rex roared, the people ran, and the raptors hunted their prey.  After almost twenty five years this film held up really well.

Seeing the film brought back a flood of positive memories.  I enjoyed remembering watching the VHS with my kid sister.  We would both get excited to see the dinosaurs when Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum first arrived on the island.    We would get bored with the science talk scenes about the cloning process and then cheer as the T-Rex arrived on scene to eat up the car.  At the end of the film we would get scared as the raptors sniffed around the kitchen.  I still jumped at the scene during this movie.

It was nice to remember how much I miss her and not just on the anniversary of her passing.  

The 2017 Summer Movie Season Wrap Up

The summer nights are getting shorter, which means it’s August.  The summer blockbuster season is coming to a close.  There are still two films I’m excited to see before the season yields to the Oscar bait of fall.  Those two are Annabelle: Creation and Logan Lucky. 

Looking back at the past few months it was a pretty good summer season.

Three films took my breath away, figuratively and literally: War for the Planet of the Apes, Detroit, and Dunkirk.  All three should be destined for awards success but knowing the trends of the academy the ladder two are the more likely. 

Setting aside my biasism for War for the Planet of the Apes it’s an incredible film that brought a tear to my eye and deserves to be considered for heavy awards as well. Detroit should be required viewing for high school history and seen by everyone at least once.  I found myself moved by the events unfolding in the story and couldn’t help but draw comparisons to events today.  I think that was the filmmakers point.  Yay for me for picking up on that. 

I once heard Dunkirk described as a WW2 movie for the MTV generation and would agree with that point.  As a member of the MTV generation I found how it played with time to be an incredible way to tell the stories.  I also loved how the perspective switched from main character to main character.  

I could go on about those three films alone but there was more to the summer season.  I loved the adrenaline rush that was Baby Driver.  I enjoy a good action flick and this was that plus an awesome soundtrack, easily the best this year.  While were talking good action flicks Atomic Blonde was a ton of fun.  It had a nice twist at the end that I saw coming.  That didn’t stop me from enjoying all aspects of it.

It Comes at Night takes the cake as the best horror film of the summer.  It was atmospheric and kept me guessing all the way through.  Easily one of the best films of the summer and the year.  I am disappointed by the lack of horror, or good horror, the rest of the summer brought.  The year started so strong for the genre with releases like Split and Get Out.  Hopefully the fall will bring some good stuff!

The Big Sick was excellent on many levels.  It was sweet without insulting my intelligence.  It had a unique sense of humor that didn’t go stale over the course of two hours.  It’s topped off my an awards worthy performance from Holy Hunter.  It’s truly a gem of the 2017 summer season.

My inner ten year old loved Despicable Me 3 and was highly entertained by the pixar release Cars 3.  I enjoyed sitting up front, where the screen hovers above me in awe, for both films.  The title wave on enjoyment engulfed me completely and I won’t complain about how mediocre the two films were, especially in comparison to others in each respective franchise.  For Cars 3, that sentiment expands to the Pixar canon in general.  Up, Brave, Inside Out, Toy Story 3 all emotionally charged films and Monsters Inc is a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Alien Covenant was what I expected it to be.  A good ride with some great moments.  The duel roles that Michael Fassbender played were both incredible and topped by a truly unique scene I won’t spoil.

The summer did bring some duds.  The horror flick Wish Upon disappointed me.  As I already stated there has been an uptick in horror release this year, Wish Upon takes away from that.  

The science fiction film Valerian was just awful.  What little story there was bored me.  Some of the visuals looked good but in the end the effects overwhelmed me.

I’m not going to talk about A Ghost Story beyond how disappointing I found it.

With all that said I look forward to the cool nights of fall and winter yielding some awesome looking awards bait films.  Hey I’m a sucker for those!