Zora Iman Crews comes on to talk about her upcoming Mockumentary The Daphne Project.
Review: NOPE
NOPE (2022)
R ‧ Horror/Thriller ‧ 2 Hours 11 Minutes
Written and Directed by Jordan Peele
THE CAST
- Daniel Kaluuya
- Keke Palmer
- Steven Yeun
THE STORY
(In their own words) Caretakers at a California horse ranch encounter a mysterious force that affects human and animal behavior.
THE BEST
(from left) OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya), Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer) and Angel Torres (Brandon Perea) in Nope, written, produced and directed by Jordan Peele.
BEST things about the film
- The anticipation
- Incredibly imaginative
- Wonderful acting
- Perfectly timed comedy and terror
- It has its own genre
- Great messages underneath
THE WORST
The three WORST things about the Film
- THERE ISN’T A DAMN THING WRONG WITH THIS FILM.
- See number one.
- See number two.
THE REVIEW
Nope is a lot of things. It’s a horror, it’s thriller, it’s comedic, it’s…..a Jordan Peele film. While other filmmakers are out there just crafting new stories, Peele is out there creating his own genre.
This marks director and writer Jordan’s Peele third film and third horror film….with the Peele style. This is easily his best work yet. A clear story, great characters, great performances and underlying themes and messages that will not be obvious to everyone when they first walk away. But there is a lot there. I think this film will be studied and studied. It’s a very layered film.
The trailers for this film frankly give too much away, and yet, tell you nothing. It’s kind of amazing. I didn’t watch trailers for NOPE since the first teaser until after I watched the film. I’m glad I got fully surprised.
The film is incredibly imaginative, well crafted, and full of suspense. The film flew by as I was on the edge of my seat from anticipation of the entire film.
How scary? Like Silence of the Lambs? Gory at all?
I feel like if I say it’s not gory, people will come after me. I think the gore is actually minimal but it is used incredibly and effectively.
I’m not sure how scary it is. I walked in planning to pee my pants. I was pretty tense the whole time.
THE LESSON
Keep your head down.
THE FINAL WORD
Nope is a “yep”.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
NOPE gets a LOVE IT.
THE TRAILER
THE REVIEWER
When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.
Review: Thor: Love And Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
PG-13 ‧ Action/Adventure ‧ 2 Hours 5 Minutes
Written by Taika Waititi(story by) Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Directed by Taika Waititi
THE CAST
Chris Hemsworth; Christian Bale; Tessa Thompson; Jaimie Alexander; Taika Waititi; Russell Crowe; Natalie Portman.
THE STORY
(In their own words) Thor embarks on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced — a quest for inner peace. However, his retirement gets interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods.
THE BEST
BEST things about the film
- The Direction- It is probably the first Marvel movie with such a distinct voice of the director. This is no doubt a taika Waititi film. It is quirky and funny and takes unexpected approaches to the situation.
- Special Effects – Excellent special effects that’s becoming par for the course for Marvel films.
- The comedy – This is a very fun film. It really leans into comedy, which director Taika Waititi.
- Story – The story has a huge level of magnitude and will have huge impact on the future MCU. I think I now know what the direction of Phase 4 is, especially after the two post-credit scenes.
- Christian Bale – Holy moly. I totally forgot he was in the film and I didn’t realize that was him until the film ended and I saw the credits. Incredible transformation as an actor
THE WORST
WORST things about the Film
- Lack of relatability – This film deals with a lot of “Gods.” Similar to The Eternals, we are starting to deal with less “grounded” characters that we can relate to. Which makes it tough to really feel relatable.
- Jane -You know from the previews that Jane somehow gets the power of Thor in this film. I was super excited about this, but it kind of hurt the film by making everyone super powered. Suddenly, we don’t have our relatable character to side with. Jane needed John, someone to look after that would be more vulnerable.
- Villain – We hear a lot about the villain, but don’t get to see a lot. I don’t feel like they properly built up the big bad for this film. He was there, present, but I didn’t have a strong feeling of caring. Without a good villain, we just don’t care if the hero wins. The origin of him they showed was fantastic, but we needed to see him as the villain longer before we intro’d the heroes to fight him.
THE REVIEW
This will probably be the most polarizing marvels film we’ve had yet. In fact, I could see this movie being as polarizing as the Star Wars film The Last Jedi. Some people will love Thor Love & Thunder for its quirky, offbeat filmmaking style, it’s continuous use of comedy throughout, the stretching of the established characters’ personalities, and the unexpected direction this film goes with its story. Others will hate the film for the exact same reasons.
My daughter watched the press screening with me and she said it didn’t feel like a Marvel movie to her. And I get that. It is the first Marvel film I can remember that feels distinctly different because of the director & writer’s style. Most of Disney’s Marvel movies director’s point of view gets generalized by the powers that be. They don’t want anything to be too unpredictable, that’s why so many Marvel movies feel the same. For this one they clearly let director Taika Waititi have free reign.
THE LESSON
Love, above all else.
THE FINAL WORD
Thor: Love and Thunder is a mixed bag. It’s got a lot of elements I really, really liked. It had big shoes to fill after Thor: Ragnorok, and I think it might fall short of expectations in that regard. However, it is still a quirky, fun Marvel film. You haven’t seen anything like this yet. Don’t think too hard and enjoy the action and story. This film is setting up the next big phase of the MCU, so don’t miss out on it.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
Thor: Love and Thunder gets a Like It.
THE TRAILER
THE REVIEWER
When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.
Episode #203: New Documentary – Accepted
This week, Silas is joined by director Dan Chen and two people who were subjects for his premiere documentary Accepted, Isaac and Aighty. This documentary focuses on a K-12 school in Louisiana with a 100% college acceptance rate and a 33% Ivy League school acceptance rate. But something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Listen up and then watch the film coming out this July 1st.
Review: Cha Cha Real Smooth
Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)
R ‧ Comedy/Drama ‧1 Hour 47 Minutes
Written by Cooper Raiff
Directed by Cooper Raiff
THE CAST
Cooper Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Raúl Castillo, Odeya Rush, Evan Assante, Vanessa Burghardt, Brad Garrett, and Leslie Mann
THE STORY
(In their own words) A man who works as a bar mitzvah party host strikes up a unique friendship with a young woman and her teenage daughter.
THE REAL STORY
A young man who can’t help falling in too quickly gets caught up being a nice guy to a (slightly) older woman and tests his own boundaries and hers in this “coming of love” story.
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- The Direction – this is really hard to describe to people who haven’t worked on making a film, if the film isn’t stylized toward a particular director like Wes Anderson or unless the director is really known for things like making giant explosion films like Michael Bay. Sometimes excellent directing is just because the director really knows how to work with a wonderful script and knows how to create the gorgeous moments between actors. That’s what this film does. Some of the best moments in the film happen between the lines. The silences in this film are incredibly rewarding. This film’s moments are handled with incredible care. There’s a delicate touch to the film as it is guided. The director, who was also the star, really understands how to craft a story and how to draw the viewer into the scene without visually trickery.
- The writing – It’s just so damn well written. It’s the kind of film that I watch as a filmmaker and go “why can’t I do this.” I’m simultaneously jealous and inspired and in awe. It’s not a complex story but it tells a lot. I almost would calling it a coming of age story, but the lead is too old for that. So I call it a “coming of love” story. This film reminds me of the saying “do a simple story, really well.” Accomplished. Also, it has so many great lines that I’ll be quoting for years.
- The pacing – I know the film is paced really well and incredibly tight because I was shocked to discover the runtime was an hour forty-five. It flew by.
- Dakota Johnson – Her performance was so nuanced, subtle and strong in this film. Mark my words, she is going to get a bunch of nominations at the end of the year for best actress at awards shows. As a testament to her acting, her character was crossing some lines that I really felt she shouldn’t and would normally upset me, but she managed to drum up so much empathy, I could let it go.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the Film
- Acting – I don’t have a lot of bad things to say about. the film, there are few weeks spots. I will say that when I found out the star of it, Cooper Raiff was also the director, I wasn’t surprised. I did unfortunately feel like he had the weakest performance in the film. He relied too much on constantly smiling as a reaction to everything. Maybe this was a choice, but I kept thinking “that’s an odd choice. Why is he still smiling like that?” I don’t think choices should be distracting.
- Apple Streaming – This isn’t really a fault of the film but rather of Apple TV+. They list the film as a comedy, in reality it is definitely more of a drama/comedy. Calling this a comedy was a little misleading for what I was expecting, though perhaps it did get me ready to laugh, which it did at times, but it is at very least a mixed genre film.
THE LESSON
Love is hard.
Finding your soulmate doesn’t mean it will be easy.
THE FINAL WORD
Cha Cha Smooth is funny, charming, and exceptionally directed film. It’s the kind of film that I love; one that focuses on a good story and acting. It examines flawed characters and gives us a better insight into what it is to be human.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
I give Cha Cha Real Smooth a Love It.
WHERE TO WATCH
Cha Cha Real Smooth is streaming exclusively on Apple TV+
THE TRAILER
THE REVIEWER
When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.
Review: Elvis
Elvis (2022)
PG-13 ‧ Musical/Drama ‧ 2 hours 39 Minutes
Written by Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce and Jeremy Doner
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
THE CAST
Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Olivia DeJonge, Luke Bracey, Natasha Bassett, David Wenham, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Xavier Samuel, and Kodi Smit-McPhee
THE STORY
(In their own words) Elvis Presley rises to fame in the 1950s while maintaining a complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- Loved that this is one of the first films to really show how much Black music influenced Elvis by him growing up in the culture.
- This first ½ of the film is filmmaking at its best.
- Tom Hanks is brilliant in his role as Colonel Tom Parker. Hanks has this amazing ability to draw us in to watch him in a film and then let us forget that it is him.
- Cinematography is fantastic in this, the editing is wonderful. It really does a great job telling this story.
- Despite having seen a lot of films about Elvis, I feel like this film actually showed us a new story.
- The pacing is great. It’s a long film but it didn’t feel like it.
- The music. You have to like the Elvis music style a little bit to enjoy this. But even outside of his singing there is a lot of rhythm and blues music, showing us what Elvis was influenced by.
- It actually made me care about Elvis again, which I didn’t think would happen since I was twelve years old.
- Austin Butler’s performance is an amazing impersonation of Elvis.
- This film finally got me to understand why girls went crazy for Elvis. The cinematography really created this understanding.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the Film
- It really glosses over some really bad stuff about Elvis – like how old Priscilla was when he married her, and his cheating on her while on the road.
- Some of the music choices, like including rap during his walking around the Black neighborhoods, didn’t work for me because they didn’t continue throughout.
- It suffers a typical problem of biopics, this film struggles in the third act trying to include his whole life. It would work better to just be a section of his life.
- At no point did the film seem relevant to today. I kept asking, why this film? Why now? I really didn’t need this.
- The music wasn’t that memorable and I would expect the Moulin Rouge director to do better with a piece like this.
THE LESSON
It doesn’t matter what you accomplish, if you are unhappy with yourself, you’ll never feel like you’ve done anything.
THE FINAL WORD
The first ½ of the film is worth the ticket price. This is an interesting take on Elvis but not one that feels especially poignant for today.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
Elvis gets a Like It.
THE TRAILER
THE REVIEWER
When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.
REVIEW: GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE
R, Comedy/Drama, 1h 37m
Written by Katy Brand
Directed by Sophie Brand
THE CAST
Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack
THE STORY
(In their own words) Nancy Stokes, a 55-year-old widow, is yearning for some adventure, human connection, and some sex–some good sex.
THE BEST
Three BEST things about the film
- The writing – Excellent dialogue. Usually when it is this good it started off as a play or something. But it wasn’t. Also the setting is very minimal, most of it just being two people in a room. Felt so much like a play, that’s good writing.
- The bravery – Emma Thompson commits some huge acts of bravery in this film for what she’s willing to bare for the part. Hollywood is not kind to women over 50. She is raw, and brave and takes some huge chances she didn’t have to in order to make this film happen. Fearless. I wish I could be as brave as her.
- The acting – The acting in this film is delightful. Both actors. It’s everything that I love about acting and watching actors worth. The back and forth, the pinches and ouches, action and reaction. This is a master’s class in acting. Just delightful.
THE WORST
The three WORST things about the Film
- For a film it isn’t super dynamic. It’s almost all in one location. Is this the best medium for the story?
- The film may have limited appeal for audiences. Not sure how many young people are able to connect to Emma Thompson’s character.
- By nature of the way it was done, subplots that were created can’t really get resolved.
THE REVIEW
After recently seeing film after film of huge casts in giant Hollywood blockbusters,Good Luck To You, Leo Grande is a breath of fresh air. Getting the opportunity to watch two exquisite acting performances by Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack is a welcome palette cleanser.
This film is very honest, raw, brave, and pretty sexy. It’s a film about exploring sexuality and sensuality. It’s about coming to terms with parts of life you missed and deciding it isn’t too late to explore them.
Nancy Stokes hires an escort so that she can enjoy sex with a younger man. Mostly so she can experience something she never experienced in her life long marriage; sexual pleasure. Her deceased husband was the only lover she ever had in her life, and sex was a bit utilitarian.
Her escort, the dashing Leo Grande, teaches her to open up, both sexually and about her life.
The film is broken into four different acts with three of them being in the same location, with just the two of them on screen. This gives us a rare treat in film these days; the exploration of characters through dialogue. Emma and Daryl both have wonderful chemistry with each other. The dialogue runs smooth and unforced, the scenes make sense from beat to beat, and we get to see monologues. Monologues in modern cinema are so rare when the film is not based off of a play or novel, it was so great to see that there are still screenwriters who know how to write them. I was just really impressed by the writing of the film.
And with that, you really have to give huge props to the director, Sophie Hyde. Making an interesting feature length film with mostly two actors is not an easy task. She hit all the moments nicely, created really nice builds, and kept the pacing perfect. This might be the best direction I’ve seen in a film this year.
This film is going to be streaming on Hulu and I really do feel like this will be a trophy piece film for them. If they can find more films like this, it could get known as a place to watch films with terrific performances.
THE LESSON
It’s never too late to learn to enjoy yourself.
Pleasure isn’t something to be ashamed of.
THE FINAL WORD
An acting triumph. Excellent writing and wonderful performances make this a much watch for people who love acting. Be prepared to take a cold shower after.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande gets a strong Like It
THE TRAILER
THE REVIEWER
When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.
Episode #202: Documentary “End Of The Line” with Director Emmett Adler
Director of the new documentary “End Of The Line”, Emmett Adler joins Silas to talk about this new documentary available VOD June 14th.
Review: Lightyear
Lightyear (2022)
PG ‧ Animated Adventure ‧ 1 hour 45 minutes
Written by Jason Headley, Angus MacLane
Directed by Angus MacLane
THE CAST
Chris Evans, Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Keke Palmer, Efren Ramirez, Peter Sohn, Dale Soules, Taika Waititi, Isiah Whitlock Jr.
THE STORY
(In their own words) From Disney and Pixar comes an animated sci-fi action-adventure — the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans), the hero who inspired the toy. “Lightyear” follows the legendary space ranger on an intergalactic adventure alongside ambitious recruits, Izzy, Mo and Darby, and his robot companion Sox. As this motley crew embark on their toughest mission yet, they must learn to work as a team to escape the evil Zurg and his dutiful robot army who are never far behind.
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- The Comedy – It’s a pretty funny film.
- The Premise – We are watching the movie that the Buzzlight year action figure was based off of. This is a brilliant rounding out of Toy Story Universe.
- The Easter Eggs – The film is absolutely filled with little easter egg nods to past scifi films.
- The inclusiveness of the film. Wonderful amount of diversity and representation and I believe this contains Pixar’s first openly LGBTQ+ character that is human.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the Film
- Time travel stories always have problems. You have to just nod and go along with it.
- Buzz DID NOTHING WRONG – The premise of the story is built on the idea that Buzz made a mistake. But he doesn’t really. He feels guilt but not for a good reason and nobody tries to counter him.
- Dropped plot of the third new Ranger. I wanted some resolution to that.
THE REVIEW
I’m going to be honest, I was a skeptic. I almost didn’t even go to see this screening because I thought, “Why on Earth do I need to see a Lightyear spin off? The Buzz Lightyear origin story? What is that supposed to be? But I thought if I could find a friend I hadn’t seen in a while to go watch with me, it would be a good excuse to see them and I’ll give it a chance.
THANK GOODNESS I WENT!
I am shocked how much I enjoyed this film. I said it before and I’ll say it again – This is the Toy Story tale that I didn’t know I needed.
The premise is this: In 1996 Andy (from the Toy Story film) is given a Buzz Lightyear action figure based on a character from a movie. This is that movie.
Wait…What? It’s a movie?! It’s not some weird origin story, we get to see the movie that excited Andy so much that he neglected his longtime favorite toy Woody.
The film we see is basically the story of the Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear who is traveling with a group of scientists to a new colony when the discovery of an uncharted planet makes them go off course to investigate. While Buzz and his fellow Rangers are checking out the planet, they discover it’s a hostile planet and attempt to leave, during their emergency exit, an accident happens and they are trapped on the planet. They begin to colonize the planet while building a new “hyperspeed” engine, which Buzz is the test pilot for. The problem is, everytime he takes it out for a test, four of his minutes pass by while on the planet, 4 years pass by. All of Buzz’s friends are growing older while he keeps trying to get the new engine working correctly. The question becomes, will Buzz be able to find them a way off the planet before everyone he knows is still alive?
While the role of Buzz Lightyear has been played in the past by Tim Allen, this version is voiced by Chris Evans. Though while writing this review, it’s really hard to get Tim Allen’s voice out of my head. Evan does a fine job taking the voice over.
Lightyear is a delightful and funny story. Sold animation again by the folks at Pixar. They did a great job with this film. They managed to make the character of Buzz more likable than he ever has been in the past. We get a new adorable side kick in the robot cat, Sox. This is a cat that will be talked about for a long, long time. Cause unlike a lot of side kicks, this one is original and acts in surprising manners.
They also present a same-sex relationship and marriage, between two human characters, which is a great advancement since last time they did that directly was in Pixar and they weren’t human.
I was really drawn to the messages about how important teamwork is to the success of any goal. But ultimately Lightyear is about coming to terms with past mistakes. It reminds us that the past should be left in the past because dwelling on it makes us lose sight of what’s important and straight up miss the life that is happening.
This is definitely a rewatchable film. Sprinkled throughout the film are obvious nods to past scifi films and television, from Star Trek to Aliens, you will find lot of visual nods. This is a film made with love and care not just to Buzz Lightyear, but to scifi in general. It may not advance the genre but it has an amazing time playing in the sandbox.
To infinity and beyond!
THE LESSON
Living with regret will make you miss out on life.
THE FINAL WORD
This is the Toy Story film I didn’t know I needed. And I did, I absolutely did.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
Lightyear gets a Love It.
THE TRAILER
THE REVIEWER
When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.
Review: Jurassic World Dominion
Jurassic World Dominion
PG-13 ‧ Adventure/Sci-fi ‧ 2h 26m
Screenplay by Emily Carmichael and Colin Trevorrow
Story by Derek Connolly
Directed by Colin Trevorrow
THE CAST
Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, BD Wong, Omar Sy
THE STORY
(In their own words) Four years after the destruction of Isla Nublar, dinosaurs now live–and hunt–alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures in a new Era.
THE REVIEW
If this movie was a dinosaur, it would be a Funasaurus Rex.
This is the sixth film in the Jurassic park/world franchise. The original was a masterpiece, in part because it was the first time we saw dinosaurs on screen at that quality of animatronics with touches of CGI, and it was the first time exploring this universe. Not to mention it being directed by Steven Spielberg who is a master storyteller. At this point in the franchise, there are just naturally going to be less mystery and less surprises about this universe. One of the biggest mistakes sequels make is trying to recapture the former glory by repeating the same tricks, by following the exact same formula. Also, with CGI becoming so much cheaper and studios wanting to utilize it, I think it hurts franchises like this. The limitations of CGI actually help in creating mystery and with story telling. I am of the strong opinion that limitations are great for storytelling.
Where this film exceeds is in its special effects and the storytelling.
The special effects; at times it’s hard to tell which is a practical animatronic dinosaur and when it’s CGI, the biggest give away is when it does “too much.” But also, the CGI itself is pretty incredible. There are times I had to tell myself “dinosaurs aren’t real, this is just a story, breath, Silas. In through the nose, out through your mouth.”
Storytelling; I liked that it managed to tell a somewhat new story within this established universe. Are they stories I’ve never seen? Not really, but I loved the way it was told and that they put them in this world. The story is split in the first two-thirds between two narratives – one following the original Jurassic Park stars and the second by the Jurassic World stars, until they inevitably meet up. This isn’t a spoiler because you know this is something that has to happen.
Let me say this though, if you are coming to a film about dinosaurs walking modern day earth as a result of cloning technology and the complete breakdown of the amusement park they were built for, you need to be watching this film with a very open mind. You need to be watching this for the fun of it, for the wild entertainment, to enjoy it like an amusement park ride. This is not meant to be Shakespeare, we know we are not watching a serious academy award contender. This is not going to be a Million Dollar Baby with dinosaurs.
Do I wanna see crap? No. Do I expect crap? No. Not at these ticket prices. What I want is to be swept away into a fun story that doesn’t make me think too much, and plays within its own defined laws of physics, science, and stretched believability. I think Jurassic World Dominion does that.
Two people behind me thought it was hard to follow the story because it jumped around so much. I think maybe they are idiots and I guess they don’t like subplots. It followed the story telling technique of something like Empire Strikes Back, which while I love it, isn’t exactly rocket science.
THE BEST
Three BEST things about the film
- Special effects. The animation is really incredible. The use of “practical dinosaurs was great. Hard to distinguish which were CGI and which were animatronic.
- They actually found an original story to tell within this Jurassic Park world setting. This wasn’t just a rehash of old plots, it had definite nods to the past, but those were mostly pretty subtle.
- Pacing and surprises. The film went by really fast. There are definitely a fair number of twists and turns in the film to keep suspense up throughout the film.
THE WORST
The three WORST things about the Film
- There’s a lot of movies to watch before this to get the full emotional depth the film would provide.
- There’s only so many ways to get eaten by dinosaurs, so there are limits to what the film can do with action scenes.
- Even if you suspend your belief for the dinosaurs, you have to really not have your thinking cap on as far as physics and laws of science would work. Don’t think too hard for this film.
THE LESSON
There are actually many lessons from this film.
1. Biotech companies that alter food are nearly always questionable
2. Our desire to mess with natural law will lead to our deaths.
3. Humans tend to fail to learn from their mistakes when there’s money to be made.
THE FINAL WORD
This movie is a thrill ride for your soul, not for your brain. Grab some popcorn but not a big drink because the runtime is so long.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
I give Jurassic World Dominion a Love it, because it is something I definitely want to see again.
THE TRAILER
THE REVIEWER
ABOUT SILAS LINDENSTEIN
When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.
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