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Alan Grant and his assistant Billy are hired by a rich couple to give them a tour of the island from the second film. Grant discovers that instead of just flying low over the island, his hosts plan to land on the island. It turns out that the couple are actually there to find their son who disappeared on a trip with his mother and her boyfriend. When they are attacked by… Read More
The Success of Jurassic Park made a sequel pretty inevitable, but Spielberg took time to craft a new adventure, rather than rush out something that just met the obligatory requirements of a sequel. This film focuses on a second island…the real labs of InGen. When the park went out of business, so did site B. And the dinosaurs thrived. Hammond fought to leave the island alone and let the dinosaurs live in… Read More
John Hammond has built an amazing and elaborate theme park. One like no other, and he has spared no expense. But as they prepare to go a live, there is a deadly accident. His investors demand professionals endorse the safety of the park. Hammond enlists Paleontologist Alan Grant and Paleobotanist Ellie Sattler, while the corporate lawyer brings in the “Chaotician” Ian Malcolm. At first, they are not fully sure what their presence… Read More
The Freeling family have a good life. Steve and Diane have three children. One evening they are awakened by their youngest, Carol Anne, who is talking to the TV. As days go by they notice unusual phenomena and not just Carol Anne watching static on the television. The dog responds to something nobody can see, the son is sure the tree outside his window is alive. After a traumatic night which results… Read More
Or…Indy Gets Old. Lucas envisioned a new Indiana Jones trilogy, with one change. Where the first three films focused on religious and supernatural artifacts, the new films would focus on science fiction themed artifacts. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is set in the 1950’s for this reason, and instead of Nazis, the villains are Russians. The film opens with Indy and his friend Mac as prisoners of the Russians. They are taken… Read More
After the criticism of Temple of Doom, Lucas and Spielberg opted to return to Judeo Christian artifacts. This time was far more myth, in that they search for the Holy Grail, the cup Christ used at the Last Supper and gifted with the power of eternal life. They brought in Jeffrey Boam, writer of two Lethal Weapon films and the Lost Boys, to provide the Screenplay. The film opens in Indiana Jones’… Read More
Of course, Indy had to return. And Spielberg and Lucas have returned, with longtime Lucas collaborator Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz providing the script. The film opens with a musical number and Indy meeting with Chinese Gangster Lao Che. After a double cross, Jones makes a dramatic (and entertaining) escape with singer Willie Scott. A plane crash detours Indy and Scott, along with sidekick Short Round (one of the weirdest choices is a… Read More
1981 was the meeting of two titans. Steven Spielberg had thrilled the world with Jaws and two years later George Lucas had started to take over the world with Star Wars.The two teamed up to create the ode to pulp novels and action serials of yore. Dr. Henry Jones, nicknamed Indiana is a professor of Archaeology and adventurer. He is not a treasure hunter, at least not in the traditional sense. He… Read More
When you beget the first summer blockbuster, the studio will want to get back to that gold mine. Of course, Steven Spielberg did not return…reports include production conflicts as he was working on Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Others report that he thought sequels were a joke. Close Encounters also prevented Dreyfuss from Returning. However, much of the central cast did return. Set a few years after the first film, Brody… Read More
In 1975, Steven Spielberg created “The Summer Blockbuster”. Based on the book by Peter Benchley Jaws tells the story of police chief Martin Brody, who must deal with an aggressive great white shark that has invaded the beaches of his island community. The film opens on a beach party, a young woman named Chrissie runs off with Cassidy for a late night skinny dipping session. While Chrissie swims, Cassidy passes out on the… Read More
If you started watching movies in the early 80’s, you have seen the work of Drew Struzan. Actually…if you listened to music in the 70’s, you probably owned his artwork on your shelf. The documentary Drew: The Man Behind the Poster is an opportunity to make folks aware of Struzan and his long body of work and for people to heap tons of praise on the man. And looking at the enormous… Read More
It has been 14 years since we saw a Jurassic Park movie. And they opted to bring us one thing we had not seen. A fully operational space station. Wait, that is not it. I meant a fully functional theme park. Considering the last two film trod similar ground (small group of people stuck on the island running from dinosaurs) it makes sense that they went bigger this time around. It is… Read More
