What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

Jurassic World has to be one of the most badly written movies I've seen in a long time. I was just flummoxed the entire time that a script so poor made it to production. It has all of the hallmarks of a script that went through countless revisions, focus group testing, producer notes, etc.

The kids were probably the worst part of it. The parents' divorce had absolutely NOTHING to do with ANYTHING. It carried zero theme through the narrative, and it didn't even really serve as a reason for them to be sent to an aunt they barely knew (whom the younger runs up and embraces even though by the dialogue she would have seen him last when he was like two) to an island near Costa Rica. We see that the older kid has a girlfriend that he won't say "I love you" to, but that also amounts to nothing. When they get to the island, he's checking out girls but that leads to absolutely nothing too. It felt like the writers couldn't contrive a reason for the kids to get to the island so they came up...really just some nonsense.

They're riding in the hamster ball and the younger one is saying "where are they, where are they!" literally as they ride out into a field full of dinosaurs.

The helicopter-flying owner somehow doesn't know that there is now only one Indominus Rex. Nobody bothered to tell him. Three weeks before the exhibit is supposed to open. And then he makes all of these "let's remember that these are animals with feelings" comments...while continuing to treat them and speak about them as though they are not.

Oh, and when we meet Claire, she's soliciting corporate sponsors for the I-Rex exhibit...again, three weeks before it is opening? That's WAY late, lady!

It's never really clear what the hell Chris Pratt is doing on the island. Is he some kind of handyman? Is he some kind of government operative? Is he a velociraptor whisperer?

The InGen bad guy was just laughable...that dude was just totally not taking his part seriously and it shows. "Allow me to deliver some exposition in this crisis moment..."

"She's a little shy"...and then we see the Mosasaur show up like ten times as a deus ex machina.

What was even the point of "Zara", the lady Claire dispatched to watch the kids? I can not for the life of me figure out why they bothered to write, cast, costume and give a call time to that actress.

The "friendly" velociraptors...oh come on...that "knowing" look between animal and trainer there toward the end. GROAN.

Oh, and the JP fanboy/nerd...what the hell was the deal with him out of nowhere trying to kiss that nerd girl he worked with? There was ZERO character development leading to that moment. It was just. dumb.

All the dinosaurs- which we are told repeatedly are animals- immediately turn into rampaging monsters whenever they're out of their paddocks/aviaries/whatever. None of those wonderful, peaceful moments like in the first film where we see them just being animals.

Yet I somehow didn't hate it and I watched it twice. The dinosaurs were fun to look at , at least. I-Rex was pretty cool and the fight with the T-Rex was pure 10 year old bliss. Bryce Howard got prettier the more disheveled she got.

Better than American Sniper and Birdman, by far.

Tomorrowland - Maybe it was the low expectations but I actually liked this movie. It definitely has flaws, but its also got a lot of cool retro sci-fi visuals and ideas. I like that its very optimistic in a Trek way and even points out the modern preference for more apocalyptic futures.

I am watching the Mexican cult classic Brainiac/Baron of Terror on Netflix. It's really something. Also better than Birdman and American Sniper.

Jurassic World was like a fart. Something you do and immediately forget about. Except how bad it was maybe.

SebastianBludd wrote: My son said that The Thing was creepy and gross, but it didn't scare him. I believe him based on the lack of bedtime drama the night we watched it.

Finding horror films to watch with both of my sons - the younger one being 7 - is tricky, but so far this month we've watched The Monster Squad, It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Abominable, Gremlins, and last night was Silver Bullet. I was surprised that one of the moments that scared my sons the most was when Corey Haim was stuck in the abandoned covered bridge and the priest followed him inside on foot.

I think they both like Gremlins well enough and none of us really liked The Monster Squad or Abominable. Abominable is basically Bigfoot meets Rear Window starring the guy who played Lloyd Braun on Seinfeld. I'd seen it once before and completely forgot that there was a short, surprise nude shower scene that my sons declared "gross," and a little more gore than I remembered. It wasn't really worth watching again and the movie is really hampered by the fact that Bigfoot looks too much like Jack Elam to be scary.

Try Critters.

My favorite creature feature should also be ok. Though there are a few f bombs.

Tremors

I just watched the Honest Trailers version of Jurassic World, it touched on many of the issues Michael brings up. The one that sticks in my mind: Bryce outrunning big dino in HIGH HEELS! My gf always laughs when we see Kate Beckett do that in Castle.

I watched Critters with my son for the first time in years a few months ago and I was disappointed in how underwhelming it was. It wasn't scary nor funny enough, though the shotgun on the porch bit ("They have weapons." "So what?") is still a classic.

Mr. White wrote: My favorite creature feature should also be ok. Though there are a few f bombs.

Tremors

I've watched that one with the oldest - and it's one of my favorites - but after Silver Bullet and Abominable I'm sure his brother can handle it. We might watch it tonight.

I've been trying to make it through John Carpenter's Vampires the last couple of nights and it's been rough sledding. I keep falling asleep which is probably my brain's defense mechanism against how terrible this movie is. I've read the book it's based on, John Steakley's Vampire$, which is amazing, but this is garbage with poorly-written profanity shoehorned into the script at every turn. Neither James Woods nor Daniel Baldwin are any good and I still have an hour(!) left. Ugh...

Speaking of dropped threads in Jurassic World, I was disappointed that the idea of I-Rex being socially stunted was immediately dropped as soon as it broke out of its pen. There was an opportunity to make the I-Rex into a semi-tragic character that has gone crazy and is emotionally damaged from being raised in solitude since birth, but after it's out it was just another monster rampage.

Tremors is an okay movie. A pleasant way to pass time. I like that there is an internal logic to the situation that the heroes can figure out. I also liked the speculation about the origin of the monsters without coming to any particular conclusion. The characters were all borderline annoying but seemed like real people.

John Carpenter's Vampire$ was disappointing. I even paid to see it in the theater, a few years after I read the book. The book was okay, but had some interesting ideas. The movie retained a couple of those ideas but mostly followed typical vampire hunter cliches. Mainly I remember the movie for the hard-partying motel scene early on.

That scene in Tremors where Michael Gross and his wife and panicking in their basement and then they move off camera, the camera pans with them, and there's this insane wall full of weapons. That was great.

I also like the guy that climbed the power tower and died there, not wanting to touch the ground.

Cool movie.

I can't believe how many of them they've made. I channel flipped past one the other day and one of the creatures looked like it had wings or something. Looked like a big chicken thing, not scary