3DD!3

In terms of special effects, The Lost World is much more sophisticated than the first Jurassic Park. Spielberg took advantage of all available technology to be able to film a spectacular sequel to the more than excellent part one. You can see that he embarked on this project not to create a copy of the first Park, but something completely different, something new. And he did a good job. An new island, more species (as a dinosaur lover I was overjoyed), a different team (just Ian Malcolm played by Jeff Goldblum remained from the original movie). Although he has changed a lot since the events of part one, but his lines are just as snappy. I have three favorites :). One: “The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle." Two: “It’s so important to your future that you do not finish that sentence." Three: "Taking dinosaurs off this island is the worst idea in the long, sad history of bad ideas." I just loved that when I was little. Despite all of its good points and lots of excellent scenes (hunting dinosaurs, the scene in the bus, the Tyrannosaurus attack on the camp, the Velociraptors, the finale in San Diego), The Lost World wasn’t as well-received as you might expect. Not that it didn’t pay for itself, but neither the public or the critics were satisfied. What mattered to me was how the finale was somehow disjointed from the rest of the movie - the move from the island to the city was too fast. Nonetheless, The Lost World: Jurassic Park is certainly worth watching.

A fine, not ground-breaking documentary about endangered animals in Africa, enriched by 3D tricks. Absolutely wonderful landscapes alternate with a crazy ride in a jeep (the juddering camera really bugged me) and excellent views from above à la Google Maps. The best of the animals shown was without a doubt the rhino, with the elephant in second place close behind. Simply a classic offering for IMAX, so don’t expect anything more of it.

Excellent. I have loved cars ever since I was little and this was just perfect. Pixar celebrated its twentieth anniversary in great style. He embellished a classic Disney story with a completely new universe full of cars, each one cuter than the other, whether we’re talking about the self-confident Lightning McQueen, Mack the truck or Sally (darn, I fell in love with a Porsche ;). The story may not be as original as they tend to be with Pixar, but this small drawback is made up for with such care that you (or a car) have no reason to complain at all. By the way, this is the first time this year that I laughed out loud in the movie theatre. PIXAR IS THE BEST. I recommend staying till the end of the credits, it’s worth it.

An excellent concert by one of the best music bands of present times. It’s interesting that the DVD was the result of two concerts edited together and not one single concert as they tend to be. The band chose the best songs from their performances in Huston and Irving, where they were performing as part of the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003 appearing alongside acts such as Metallica and Limp Bizkit. The entire show has the right drive and Linkin Park reel out one hit after another. Especially the second half beginning with the song Figure.09 goes particularly well. I can’t but give it a full set of stars. The set list is as follows: Don’t Stay, Somewhere I Belong, Lying From You, Papercut, Points Of Authority, Runaway, Faint, From The Inside, Figure.09, With You, By Myself, P5hng Me A*wy, Numb, Crawling, In The End, A Place For My Head, One Step Closer.

The Last Stand is definitely the most bombastic part of the whole mutant trilogy. Despite the change in director (Ratner instead of Singer), they managed to film an epic piece of entertainment with great special effects that makes skillful use of the psychology already developed in the first two X-Men. The story revolves around the discovery of a cure against being a mutant (the ever more frequently casted fresh-faced Cameron Bright). Magneto takes advantage of an opportunity and widens the ranks of his followers (Juggernaut, Callisto, Phoenix...) and makes preparations for the long discussed war. Which makes room for lots of playing about. Ratner even came up with several wonderful novelties (the 1 to 5 mutant evolution scale, Wolverine’s improved fighting style) and amazing scenes (Wolverine approaching Jean is absolutely perfect, as well as Xavier testing his strength with Phoenix). But Ratner is no Singer and so his work with character psychology was a little shoddy. He tied up some loose ends from part two and tried to open some new storylines (Angel, Mystique), only to close them again. It’s hard to say how it would have all ended up if Brian Singer hadn’t eloped with the guy in the red cloak, but even so X-Men: The Last Stand is the biggest blockbuster event of this year. P.S. I really like Famke Janssen, but she gave me goose bumps in this movie and I was almost afraid of her.

This is one of the movie milestones of my childhood. This gave me the initial impulse (as a kid) to start looking at movies in greater detail. Spielberg’s adaptation of Crichton’s novel “Jurassic Park" appeared from out of the blue at a time when dinosaurs were my whole life. Back then this was in short "mind-blending" for me ;) . First the digital effects and second the excellent directing and great acting performances make Jurassic Park a breathtaking watch, even thirteen years later. Mainly Sam Neill put on a perfect performance. Then of course the Tyrannosaurus and not to forget Sam Jackson and his “Mr Arnold". And there’s one more name to mention. John Williams.

"Simon's going to tell Lt. McClane what to do, and Lt. McClane is going to do it." Unlike the first two, Die Hard With a Vengeance isn’t set at Christmas time and, after Los Angeles and Washington, tries its luck in New York. The position of director was taken up again by the tried and tested maker of part one, John McTiernan and, instead of being cooped up in a skyscraper, this time we career around one of the largest cities in the USA. The story harks slightly back to part one, but in a completely different style than to what we were used to in previous Die Hards. Even Willis’ McClane is more like Joe Hallenbeck from The Last Boy Scout. And we also have Sam Jackson, who is excellent as McClane’s involuntary partner. Plus, the original dubbing on the VHS is almost as perfect as the dubbing of the cult Pulp Fiction and wisecracks are reeled out left right and center.

How could somebody wreck their life like this? At the beginning everything looked so perfect. A little rough here and there, but nothing too hard to handle. The goods were selling well and business was booming. Why did his friends betray him? For money? Or was it nothing more than business? The life story of George Jung is compelling and, as it draws to an end, truly sad. As it tends to be in similar movies, the contrast between wealth and poverty was presented perfectly. Plus, Johnny Depp in the main role was great, as always. Attracting most of the attention to himself again. But I’ve never seen him looking like this before: a bit chubby and wearing a light blue shell suit.

It’s Christmas again and John McClane is waiting for his wife to arrive at Dulles International Airport in Washington. I know no better way of spending this stifling summer afternoon (12 July 2006, temp. 90°F in the shade) than in the company of John McClane and a band of terrorists capable of any atrocity. Bruce Willis is simply flawless as McClane and 16 years later he’s just as cool as ever. Renny Harlin handles action and suspense perfectly and lots of déjà vu lines like: "Just once, I'd like a regular, normal Christmas. Eggnog, a fuckin' Christmas tree, a little turkey..." They pleasantly lighten the mood of Die Hard 2. Too bad that they don’t make movies like this any more.

The first half hour follows the Quentin movie template to the letter. Perfect dialogs and flawless black humor. "If it’s not too much trouble, could I possibly borrow your ice bucket? I promise I’ll bring it right back." The second part is more reminiscent of Rodriguez’s Desperado - fast moving, action and a massacre in the bar. The turning point between these incongruous halves comes in the form of the “devilish dance performed by the gorgeous and wonderful Salma Hayek (Quentin just has a knack at arranging these things ;-). Maybe it is this incongruousness of the two halves that stopped me from giving this movie a full five stars. Although I found this difference less disruptive when watching for a second time. Maybe third time round I will work up to five stars. Cheech Marin is certainly worth a mention for playing three roles in this one movie: the border guard, the MC of the Titty Twister and Carlos.