Review - Jurassic World

Remember when dinosaurs ruled the Earth? It wasn't so very long ago, actually. 22 years, to be precise, since Steven Spielberg's revolutionary blockbuster Jurassic Park left audiences gaping in adrenaline-juiced awe at the ironic parting shot of T-Rex reigning supreme over her new kingdom.

You'd think humans, being such a highly evolved species, would learn to steer clear of the planet's new/old top predators. But that didn't stop similarly ill-fated expeditions from returning to the Costa Rican isles in Spielberg's somewhat mean-spirited sequel The Lost World and Joe Johnston's Jurassic Park III (which is better than you remember).

And now we arrive at part four, directed by little-known Colin Trevorrow, which adopts the premise that park management has finally gotten their act together and built Isla Nubar into a thriving tourist trap, renamed Jurassic World. The name isn't the only upgrade they've made. The theme resort now has new buildings, new rides, and even new creatures.

Attempting to draw in more spectators, those God-playing geneticists have cooked up a new monstrosity called Indominus-Rex; Part tyrannosaurus, part who-knows-what, all bad news. In an early scene, the park's high-strung coordinator played by Bryce Dallas Howard (not Jessica Chastain) explains to investors the need for new dinosaurs, callously referred to as 'assets': The modern consumer wants attractions that are, “Bigger. Louder. More teeth.”

One Category at a Time: Supporting Actress

What is it with this category? For four consecutive years now it's housed two nominees from the same film. Is the actors branch really so stretched for options? This year it's two from The Help (accounting for 50% of the film's nomination tally), and they still couldn't include the best supporting female from the movie, Bryce Dallas Howard. At any rate, having costar nominees is always an interesting question mark as to how that will affect the overall outcome.

My Awards nominations: Supporting Actress

Not the strongest year, in my opinion. These Supporting Actress performances are good, but none of them truly stands out to me as an obvious winner. I'm actually interested to find out which one I'll decide upon!

JESSICA CHASTAIN in The Help:

I could just as easily slotted her down for her graceful work on The Tree of Life, but she had more to chew on here; her character bubbles with infectious eccentricity to suppress her messy and complicated feelings of grief and shame.

ELLE FANNING in Super 8:

For being in a second-rate monster movie, she is surprisingly memorable. Her puppy love affair with Joe ratchets up the cute factor, and her rehearsal scene for the movie-within-a-movie seems to be the unanimous highlight of the film.

BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD in The Help:

She takes up the thankless task of playing the waspish queen bee of Jackson's privileged elite, an easy-to-hate but tricky-to-perform character in whom can be detected a frighteningly human element. Her final scene = perfection.

MELANIE LAURENT in Beginners:

Laurent is softly radiant as the love interest in this melancholy romance. You can't help but smile at her light comic touch, nor can you help but sigh at the fragility of her tender heart. Exquisitely supports the tone of the film.

CAREY MULLIGAN in Shame:

Mulligan shows us her range with a spikier, worldlier character than the naïve nymph that first brought her to our attention in An Education. She exceptionally plays the clingy, complex relationship with her sex-addicted brother.

Just missed:
Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life, Evan Rachel Wood The Ides of March,
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants, Cate Blanchett in Hanna,
Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus

Review - The Help

Capitalizing on a loll in enticing summer theater fare, The Help offers a swell counter-programming alternative to filmgoers tired of the deluge of loud blockbusters. It's clearly struck a chord with audiences, hurtling Rise of the Planet of the Apes in its second week of release. In the interest of seeing what all the fuss is about, I took it in today and rifled off a brief review.

Fresh-faced college graduate and aspiring writer Skeeter (Emma Stone) returns to her Mississippi hometown of Jackson and is spurred by the old-fashioned racist attitudes of her peers to compose an exposing series of interviews with the community's black housemaids. Of course, finding willing interviewees among the apprehensive help proves a challenge, but she eventually makes an ally in the at-first reluctant Aibileen (Viola Davis), and their boat-rocking project discreetly lifts off.