Thursday, June 11, 2015

The Only One on My Side Is The Blood-Sucking Lawyer!

Hello Internetland!

It's officially summer and I realized I hadn't posted anything since last fall!!! I've got two posts to throw out there, this one being the second.... But in a weird Inception-style twist, this one will be posted first... Ok, maybe more like the Star Wars saga... where we get the good trilogy first, and then have all our childhood dreams crushed and mutilated when the back story of our beloved favorites comes careening and screeching through out minds like steel nails on a chalkboard.... Or something like that... but less dramatic.... And not as epic sounding.

But seriously, if you've never had the pleasure of hearing, or even feeling, nails on a chalkboard or just plain old chalk making it's screech as it accidentally (or even on purpose) scrapes across the surface of the board.... Well... There's no real way to describe that feeling. Although some have tried by pointing to the Star Wars prequel trilogy.... But even that is tame by comparison. But that debate (which Star Wars trilogy is the best) is for a later post. Like closer to Christmas. You know, when that Lost director forgets to use his Alias when he takes us on a Star Trek, Into Darkness to find The Force Awakens....

(If that wasn't enough of an oblique reference for you... well, then I give up....)

No. Today, I'm going to post about a much *ahem* larger epic. One that has captured my personal imagination since I was a young lad. Much like everyone in my generation about 20-some odd years ago, if not more. This particular post will be one in a four-part series over the next few days. I hope you stick along for the ride! So, without further ado, click on past the jump to journey into...





You know you're feeling those impact tremors...
(image courtesy: The Guardian)
Back in 1993, Director Stephen Spielberg, and producers Kathleen Kennedy and Gerald R. Molen brought to life the late-author Michael Crichton's epic of prehistoric proportions with the help of the magical music provided by John Williams.

The two-hour ride had audiences on the edge of their seats right from the get-go. I recall the first time I sat through the film. It was at a time when it was actually cool to sit in the front row at the movies. From the opening atonal notes all the way through the final ear-drum-shattering roar of the T-Rex, my senses were on full alert, ready to absorb all that was being thrown my way from the silver screen.

Audiences across America, and most likely the world, flocked to theatres to partake in the thrill of dinosaurs come to life, even if it was just in a movie. At the time, no one had ever seen anything like it. Now, in films saturated by CGI characters (here's looking at you Star Wars), this film seems positively mundane. With a fourth film in the franchise poised to release in less than 12 hours, as of this writing, my wife and I decided to build our own excitement by having a Jurassic Park Marathon!

We watched the first film last night, and as it always does, it brought back the flood of childhood dreams and wonder. While the version we watched (a DVD on a Blu-Ray player) wasn't as crisp as I recall from my youth, the thrills and the story still captured and held my attention. Even though Mrs. DrthGeek and I traded quoting the film at different points seconds before the characters on screen delivered the lines! ("Now that's one big pile of $#!t...")

After the credits rolled, we discussed our memories of seeing the movie for the first time. I was as old as "Lex", the sister in the film, while Mrs. DrthGeek was closer to the same age as "Tim". We both grew up learning to play musical instruments, and at different points, we each learned to play the iconic theme from the film, me on the trumpet/coronet, my wife on the viola. Where our dino love started to separate ways was as the additional movies in the franchise released, I still went to see them, but they held less sway on me as they did on her. I thought at the time that my film repertoire had matured beyond childhood dino dreams.

Two years ago, the studios re-released the Jurassic Park film in 3D. 3D has come an incredibly long way since the days of my parent's youth. After rewatching this film through my oldest's eyes (in 3D... on the big screen...), my love of this franchise reawakened. Especially as details and rumours of the forth film started to surface! Now that we are mere hours away, I am full of excitement to catch this next new installment!

Tonight, however, we still have to survive our journey into The Lost World....

Until next time,

Stay Classy, Interwebs!

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