Wicked

Well that kinda ruins Wizard Of Oz for me.

Not even because it's bad, far from it but this story does indeed take things from a certain point of view. Now I haven't seen the musical, frankly I feel like I should after seeing the movie, so we just gotta go off the movie as gospel. I bet most people didn't know the musical itself is based off a book painting the Wicked Witch as a more sympathetic character and is one of the few villain origin stories I know of. So we follow the life of Elphaba from childhood transitioning into her magic school years where she's horribly ostricized by her peers but makes an unlikely friend in the most popular witch Glinda before getting swept up in this plot that I just can't fully divulge into. For a film pushing nearly 3 hours with credits it breezed by and I like the pace of it, presumably this is act 1 before the intermission on stage so it doesn't have to rush anything. Granted I wasn't that big a fan of how they potray the denizens of Oz, I mean I get it we have to score sympathy points for Elphaba somehow, but I can't decide if this is terrible screen writing or just shitty character writing, but everybody save for like 5 characters are the biggest biased bitches who treat Elphaba like she's the walking plague, constantly giving her good grief to the point where we just cross over into Mean Girls territory and I hate that movie with my entire soul, it's just grating. And even Glinda takes a minute to warm up to her, thank God she actually grew a spine or I'd want to shove the silver slippers straight up her tightwad ass. Now the acting from Cynthia and Arianna is actually really good, perfectly embedding themselves in these characters, stage differences be damned. Cynthia easily has the most emotional performance and indeed I had at least two or three moments where the waterworks were welling up, obviously she's our main character so we get the most insight into Elphaba's character as a ultimately good willed and kind spirit and I think she did a marvellous job bringing the heart and vocals big time. Arianna truthfully made me laugh my ass off despite the valley girl ditz and rudeness, she still has those pipes, and while it took a hot minute for Glinda to make friends with Elphaba I did buy the friendship between the two a good deal. Jonathan Bailey as a quasi-love interest between Elphy and Glinda, Fiyero is a self proclaimed shallow and self centered man and yet somehow is charming and a joy to watch. Now that's gotta be witchcraft. He may even have my favorite song number, he's just a shameless flirt and kind of a big dumb hunk, I have no idea what happened but I rather like him! Michelle Yeoh hell yeah, get to see my lady woman in another role as the most prolific professor of the magic university Madame Morrible was a treat to watch and she had more to do than just be a mentor figure so that was nice. Jeff Goldblum, I don't know whose call this was to get him as the Wizard but I strongly applaud that person because it is about as strange as you would expect but is so fun to just see him kinda screw around and just have a fun time performing so that was excellent. The set design and costuming is practically a character in and of itself, they spared no expense in this production showing a good scale of familair and new Oz locations with stellar and I do mean stellar costuming. Probably gonna be the easiest Oscar snag we've seen in recent memory to be honest! As for the musical numbers, though I didn't have any I absolutely adored or feverishly abhorred they were decent songs with full fledged choreographed dances included most times, yeah it's an actual lavish musical, but the vocal performances were spot on throughout! Had no friggin' clue this was part one so I felt slightly baited and switched but that also means I can't judge it because it isn't fully out yet! It's Dune all over again. So as a placeholder score I give it 3 stars, 8/10! I enjoyed it a good deal and can recommend it whether you've seen the stage show or not, and it was fun to waffle on about Wizard Of Oz for a week. Sadly I don't have much planned for next week due to the holiday and I was trying to find something fitting that exquisite fall atmosphere so join me next week for a very overlooked Cartoon Network series.

Jurassic World Dominion

Alright, not a bad way to end. Now don't f*** it up and make another movie 30 years later.

Yeah, it took until the 3rd movie of the Jurassic World series to give us a jurassic world but honestly it all could have been handled much poorer. Now the plot I am about to describe might sound like they done goofed severely, because the movie's central dilemma isn't about dinosaurs. It has dinosaurs in it and they utilize them all very well, but our respective teams of old cast and new cast are brought together through the machinations of a corporate business that has developed a creataceous strand of locusts that can bring global catastrophic damage, while also kidnapping Blue's hatchling and Maisie. I know, I know, they could have made it anything but corporation baaaaad, but truthfully I was rolling with it enough to like the movie's other aspects. As I said, beautifully done how they show the world coexisting with dinosaurs and while it's not the full focus it is spotlighted long enough. I actually applaud the movie for going all out, trying to explore as many facets, angles, and situations with this backdrop of then extinct creatures in today's world and they wanted to go balls out for it and they somewhat succeed. I can appreciate that. Do I need to talk about cast? We have Laura, Sam, and Jeff back and I'll give you a twenty if you can guess how they were. It might seem like they don't have much to do and are brought back for the novelty, but it is nice to see them together again and they can have fun with it. Chris, Bryce, and Isabella still do good, particularly with Isabella getting that teen angst and attitude down to a pitch perfect science. And...as upset that I am we didn't get much Daniella Penada beyond one scene we have another new addition. Yes, hi, welcome to another edition of The Crush Chronicles vol. 98, where I now say...oh my God. DeWanda Wise, holy moly. That woman is literally so beautiful my soul ached every time I gazed at her, and she was a fun add to the cast even if everytime she was on screen I couldn't look anywhere else. A small price to pay. Moving swiftly on. Colin Trevorrow, yes the director of the Episode 9 that never was and got an upgrade from co-writer of Fallen Kingdom straight to director's chair, fairly good work I found he did. He takes advantage of nature scenery to the max, knows when to bring the movie down but also ramp it up effectively, overall did solid competent work. Better than Fallen Kingdom? Uh, no shit. So now the question becomes where does it rank for me? It's better than Jurassic Park 3, World, Fallen Kingdom, so it's top 3. But remember what I said last time. 3 stars, 7/10, from the ancient pass to the space faring future and beyond next time.

In Retrospect: Isle Of Dogs

Yes, it's finally out!!

It's felt like forever but Isle Of Dogs has finally hit video and I still love it! It's still just as entertaining, endearing, and funny as before and I would gladly buy it again. I know I talked about the animation before good lord, it is unreal how they pull off this animation! Stop motion is already pretty hard and very meticulous, but they just blow it out of the water with camera movements, environmental effects, large scale animation. It's just ridiculous how good this turned out, you really have to appreciate the work and craftsmanship these people did. It's such a good movie for pretty much any age group, and I notice that stop motion films in particular can be enjoyed by all, which is odd because it's such a rare medium and you think most older people would stay away from it but think of any movie that has had extensive if not complete stop motion effects in them, and ask yourself would you still watch it 20 years down the road. Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, Isle Of Dogs,The Lego Movie, any Willis O'Brien or Ray Harryhausen film! It's all done so well and everyone can enjoy it! I had such fun watching this movie again, and I know it is timeless. The usage of Japanese backdrops and culture add a lot to the movie, which you know I'm a fan of. I mean the movie is practically gift wrapped for me, so how could I not love it? I know the film only got a limited release in theaters but now, you have no excuse to go out and watch it now. Seriously, give it a shot.

And apparently our buisness in Japan is not over. I mean it never will be over, but we got one more movie this week set in Japan. So join me for trouble in Tokyo with the Teen Titans.

Jurassic Park: The Lost World

Not to be confused with The Lost World from 1925, based off the novel The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle which is not to be confused with The Lost World by Michael Crichton from which this film is based on. The Lost World.

All jokes aside, this movie is interesting. Set 4 years after the first movie, Hammond contacts Ian Malcolm to help in the protection of the true island where they created the dinosaurs from greedy corporate officials who wish to exploit the animals and bring them all to San Diego. Makes sense to me, because the first Park was absolutely foolproof! Yeah, the plot is as weak as an after school special or a Captain Planet episode, yet I still think it's decent. Come on, it's a sequel to Jurassic Park. What quality do you think you are getting? Granted Steven is back in the director's chair, and nothing is bad about the inner workings of the movie, the special effects are still really good, cast is decent with a lot more room for Jeff Goldblum to bring some good comedy in the film, the action is really good especially when the T-Rex tramples through San Diego which is no doubt the highlight of the film. But plot is lacking and not as tight as the first, but I don't think the film is bad. This is the movie for the dinosaur action lover. It takes...maybe 5 minutes before you see a dinosaur in full glory, and there is lots more to be had. You can tell it's a very different breed from the first movie, but if you don't expect a better movie than Jurassic Park (cause let's face it Jurassic Park is the best) and are game to see lots of dino action, you're gonna enjoy this movie! There's not much to it, but it's better than the next one. You know what was really odd? This movie got a 2 VHS tape release, so the second tape was behind the scenes stuff, it wasn't a Titanic deal where the movie was split in half. Hell that was the exception in the late 90s, I think those and Cecil B. Demille's The Ten Commandments which was one of my favorite movies as a kid, were the only movies I knew of where they came with two tapes. Yeah that was how hardcore I was, I watched The Ten Commandments multiple times all the way through when I was like 4 or 5. Do you know long that movie is? Like 4 hours! I was made for movies boy. Ranting aside, decent movie, worth your time if you love dino action, pray for me tomorrow.

Jurassic Park

I can't even believe it! You know, it only took 3 years, over 350+ reviews, and only now have we got to Jurassic Park. Most people ask, why do they always remake or make sequels to classic films? The answer to that question is so that I can finally talk about Predator before the new Predator movie comes out.

So, because it's fun to talk about and to enlighten the 5 of you who have lived under a rock since 1993, how is Jurassic Park? Quite good I would say. Because you know it only ushered in a new age of special effects, and showed Spielberg could still bring blockbuster dollars and serious film material even 20 years after he got famous. But beyond the spectacular special effects, if you really just take a few steps back or more like a Superman leap backwards and watch this movie as if it were your first time you notice a lot. They do an incredible job with the dinosaurs, not only with the special effects but how they use them. You never see a dinosaur unless it is absolutely necessary, the first scene you see trees giving way, splitting apart, and you think oh shit here it comes. But it's a container that holds a dinosaur. And you get hints, an eye, this guy being dragged in the cage, shrieking and snarling sounds. That's really it. It makes you wonder what on earth that thing was! You didn't know first time, no way no how, even if you read the book. So there is lots of buildup throughout the film even after you see the dinosaurs, the moving through the grass leading to the Triceratops, the booming of the footsteps of a T-Rex, the feeding of a cow to a paddock of Velociraptors, it takes it's time which makes the wonder of these creatures unbelievable. Spielberg was on his high game, like ridiculously high game in this movie. True there are some kind of dumb things in this movie, but it does such a good job stringing you along you never notice until you dive deep in the analysis, and for what faults it does have it has some scenes that make you forget the stupid things. Who cares if they sent Samuel L. Jackson alone to turn a fusebox on when dinosaurs are running amok, when you get the perfection of the T-Rex scene. Both of them. You can forgive a lot because the craft, and execution, and little moments make this a great movie. And another thing I noticed is, there are a lot of wonderful little character moments, you need to look for them though but they are there on the screen. Like when Lex trips and Alan catches her, she holds his hand despite the fact he wants to let go cause he's not a fan of kids. Or seriously probably the best bit of acting in the whole movie, when they watch the cow being fed to the Raptors that look that Hammond gives to Alan while he watches is seriously the most intriguing and yet almost the most terrifying part of the movie. I mean obviously the guy needs to be some flavor of crazy to make dinosaurs, but God dang he seems almost deranged in that scene. I love the acting in this movie! Sam Neil is a wonderful lead, Laura Dern is just awesome in general, Jeff Goldblum is correct in every statement in this movie and who doesn't love Ian Malcolm I ask you, and Richard Attenborough like I said is the most interesting character in the whole film. There's tons of great stuff in this movie, some more noticeable than others, but still worth repeated viewings for all your life. PS. Those Velociraptors could be the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed in film.

You know what really surprised me? Steven Spielberg came back to direct The Lost World, all these years I swore it was a different director. I'm extremely curious to see it again after so many years, but we will wait for that until tomorrow.