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Showing posts from June, 2015

Jurassic World

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The original Jurassic Park was a hugely successful film, for a number of reasons: it was a landmark in special effects, the characters were believable and relatable and Jeff Goldblum was actually surprisingly convincing. Two sequels followed, trying to rehash the same formula and completely failing. Over 10 years later, it was pretty inevitable that a reboot would emerge to profit from the nostalgia and hope to survive where others had fallen. And it just about has.  The new theme park, Jurassic World, succeeds in putting a modern twist on the old park. Bigger dinosaurs and more advanced rides are incorporated pretty well without detracting from the wonder of the island. While the original was set before the official opening of the park, here huge crowds fill the park and it works in the film's favour. The classic theme from John Williams helps to conjure up the nostalgia as the doors open on the park but there is a certain limit to the amount of times the use of this music wo

The Shining

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(In this review I have attempted to cover as little of the film in detail as possible, as I feel going into The Shining knowing little about it will increase its impact greatly)   Stanley Kubrick's The Shining has received praise from just about everyone it seems, becoming one of, if not the best, examples of the horror genre and a benchmark for all since. The extremely unsettling atmosphere that runs through it, coupled with the bursts of brutal violence and sickening tension, is a perfect lesson in how to unnerve an audience in ways that Paranormal Activity and Saw can only dream of. Of course, every film has its critics, chiefly Stephen King, author of the book, who described Stanley Kubrick's adaptation as like "a fancy car without an engine." It is understandable that it may not have been portrayed as he had imagined it though, with King later going on to create his own television adaptation (which was awful, so who had the last laugh there then?).  The s