Amanda's Review: Jurassic World

Hello Everyone!

I had the greatest pleasure of seeing Jurassic World this weekend, just like everyone and their mothers! I have to say, I was definitely not disappointed. Take some dinosaurs and add Chris Pratt and I'm set. It was definitely a nostalgic movie that included some elements from the original trilogy which was very nice. It was a film that fans of the old franchise could enjoy, along with new fans.

Since I'd seen the original Jurassic Park films, I felt a sort of obligation to see Jurassic World. I knew I had to see it this past weekend because EVERYONE was going to see it. I was afraid that I was going to see another mediocre movie or just see nothing but dinosaurs and no plot...luckily, I was wrong. Here's what the plot is according to IMDb: The original Jurassic Park failed (22 years prior) and now Jurassic World is open. At this point, Jurassic World has been open for 10 years, and now they need a new attraction in order to fulfill a corporate mandate. The new attraction is a genetically engineered dinosaur...what could possibly go wrong?

My rating: 9/10!

I have to say, I really REALLY enjoyed this movie. It kind of had a bit of everything for me: action, suspense, humor, romance...I even think I almost cried (or maybe I did, so what). It just had all the elements of film I look for. The editing was so great, along with the amazing special effects, and I mean come on, Chris Pratt? What a dreamboat! It was a great movie to watch from start to finish. It also had that special mixture of old and new. I felt like it basically followed the original Jurassic Park's formula but with an extremely new twist and it was wonderful. There were also a couple of hidden gems for the old fans to enjoy. 

Some of you might be thinking, if you loved it so much, why not give it a 10? And I'm going to explain that right now...My boyfriend and I went to one theater to try to watch the movie and it was sold out, we went to another theater (an hour in advance) and it was sold out, as the old saying goes...the third time was the charm, we finally got in! That, in itself, would not have caused the number to drop but mixed with little kids talking and crying throughout the movie, it was pretty bad. I can't explain to you how annoyed I was in the theater with parents not taking care of their children or taking them out when they were crying...there was also this guy behind me making jokes the whole time...normally I wouldn't have been bothered but he just wasn't funny at all. Nothing in the film was really ever bad to me, it was just my setting that made the experience a little less than perfect.

I'm going to take some time to talk about the special effects and the acting.

Special Effects: I have to say, the special effects in this film were so great. So much better than the original film (obviously with our new technology). It was just so incredible to see how these dinosaurs looked. I almost forgot that they weren't real because I felt so deeply for them! Going into this film, I knew that special effects were going to be a huge part of it. I just didn't know if it was going to be worthy of the Jurassic World title...but it was. The film exceeded my expectations in terms of the dinosaurs and any other type of special effects...there's not much more I can say than the special effects were amazing and I really have no problems with that area whatsoever.

Acting: Obviously I'm going to start off with talking about Chris Pratt! He was absolutely amazing. He did such a great job with this role and he managed to look good while doing it. I've been a Chris Pratt fan for a while from the The Five-Year Engagement to Parks and Rec to Guardians of the Galaxy to Jurassic World. I think that he is definitely someone to watch out for in the near future. He is a great gift to the film industry. Bryce Dallas Howard is someone whose face I recognized but I couldn't place her, she did a great job in the film as well. Her character was kind of like annoying but meaningful and I don't know. Her character was a good mix of some very stubborn traits and it just worked for the film. There was a slight flaw in her character: she managed to run, in the dirt/mud, and in heels and never fell. Other than that, her character was pretty good, I'm glad that she wasn't just a weak woman, she had her powerful moments! The kids in the film also did a great job! They acted just like kids in a theme park would act. I would have to say that Ty Simpkins who plays Gray did such a good job, his character was definitely deeper than his brother, Zach (Nick Robinson). The acting overall was great!

Would I see this movie again? Definitely. A+ great job, would see again. 

I recommend everyone to see this movie! I really hope I haven't hyped it up too much, but I'm just so thankful I didn't see a film as disappointing as Entourage was for me. 

Amanda's Review: Entourage

Hello Everyone!

I went ahead and saw the Entourage film this weekend, for blogging purposes...and I have a lot to say about it. As usual I will not include any spoilers and I do need to include a little disclaimer...I, Amanda Rodriguez, have maybe seen around 4 episodes of the HBO hit, Entourage. I am viewing this film as someone who has no emotional attachment to the characters, no background information to story-lines, no bias whatsoever.

The only thing I knew prior to watching the film was just that it was a show and Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) is famous and the other guys are just his...yes, entourage. I assumed this film was just going to be a typical bro film about, I can't say I was terribly wrong. Anywho, this is the storyline/plot according to IMDb: Vincent Chase, and his buddies, Eric, Turtle, and Johnny are back - and back in business with Ari Gold (super agent-to-studio head) on a risky project, in which, Vince is making is directorial debut. The trailer promises basically 3 things: fame is the only thing on the line, living the lavish lifestyle is something that everyone wants, and oh, a bunch of famous people are in this movie.

My rating: A hard 5/10...maybe even a 4/10 depending on how I'm feeling.

Let me mention this one more time right here: I DID NOT RELIGIOUSLY WATCH ENTOURAGE ON HBO. I know for a fact that this definitely had an impact on my score because both of my parents loved the movie...they saw every single episode of Entourage. Is this a film tailored to fans - definitely.

My reasoning behind the score: Like I've mentioned twice before, I wasn't a fan. It's not that the show didn't interest me, I just never had time to watch Entourage. I knew nothing regarding the characters or their past coming into this film and I'm glad. I got to see this with an unbiased eye. I thought it was an OKAY movie. I couldn't help but feel that this movie was definitely not made for my viewing pleasure. It also felt like a total bro movie, cue the boobs within the first 2 minutes. As a woman, I can't even begin to tell you how degrading this film made me feel. I felt that every woman on this film was treated terribly. They were nothing but objects to these men. I like the fact that they threw Ronda Rousey (MMA Fighter) in there but one strong woman doesn't cover up the rest of the women that were simply used for sex. Maybe I'm just digging way to into this, but that's how I felt, and I can't help it. 

I will say, I did enjoy the cameos. It was nice to see a new face every 5 minutes and try to decipher who he/she is and where he/she is from. I liked that, but I didn't like it enough to give the film a better score.

 I'm going to talk a little more about the storyline/plot and the acting. 

Storyline/Plot: I thought the main plot was...alright. It was a plot that definitely didn't grab my interest. Luckily, for me, there were so many other little plots that I could try to find salvation in...notice the sarcasm. There were so many intertwining plots that I honestly didn't even know what was going on half the time. It felt like there were 5 different episodes of Entourage mixed into one...all of which didn't even have a proper ending. There were so many open-ended plots that it honestly makes me hope pray that there isn't going to be an Entourage 2. I really really hope that HBO doesn't go there. The box-office numbers are definitely in my favor as Entourage made a total of $10.4 million this weekend...let me put this into perspective, it cost about $30 million to produce the film. I'm thinking HBO saw how much they made with the Sex and the City films that they just thought they'd try the same formula with Entourage. 

*I would recommend having some Advil on hand, I definitely left this movie with a headache. 

Acting: Just because I really disliked the plot(s), doesn't necessarily mean that I hated the acting...I enjoyed it a lot more than the plot. I actually expected better from these people. I expected a great film and what I got was an below-average to average film. If I had to give this movie a mood: it would be stress. That's all the actors were giving me, as if that's the only emotion they could portray. The actors did have their moments. I have to say that I absolutely love Turtle (Jerry Ferrara). I say this in present tense because I just love him, that's all. I can't say the same for everyone else. If there was one character that just bugged me...it would have to be Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), don't get me wrong, he did a great job with the character, the character is just REALLY annoying to me. Also, something has to be said for the "star" of the film Adrian Grenier...I've somewhat disliked him since my analysis of The Devil Wears Prada for my film class. His character in that film just really bugged me and it sort of transferred to this film. I just saw him a "typical celebrity." There wasn't much depth to his character...or any of the other characters. 

The one thing I will say I loved was that the characters did have a great bond. It was somewhat endearing to see what they'd do for each other, and it really felt like it was genuine...like the actors would actually do that for one another. That is the one thing I loved about the acting and the film in general. That one small thing really did save this film from getting a COMPLETELY horrible score.

Would I see this movie again? Yes...and I'll tell you why. As I've stated, many times in this review, I never watched the show. I have no attachment to these characters. I'm looking at this from a clean slate. I want to go and watch every episode of Entourage and re-watch the film. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I knew the characters going into the film. So that's what I'm going to do.

I know that this review was pretty awful. I kind of just word vomited my thoughts onto this review. Everything I wrote is my opinion, feel free to leave a comment about what you thought of the film...especially if you loved it, please leave a comment below!