Jurassic World - Movie Review

20 years has flown by since the first Jurassic Park was released - and I have to admit that was the only Jurassic movie I caught.  So for that reason, I invited my good friend and favorite Vintner, Kraig Keesaman, to join me at the screening.  He is a Jurassic Freak.  I mean Freak. I knew he could fill any gaps needed as I watched Jurassic World.

PG -13 - 124 minutes

According to Kraig, Jurassic World picked up where the first film left off and pretty much acted like The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3 never happened.

Jurassic World had the typical sub-plots of greed, family drama, and sexually frustrated park employees.  There were plenty of "jump scares" for me - although the boys didn't seem nearly as affected.

Chris Pratt is the perfect guy to play the "Raptor Whisperer" and Bryce Dallas Howard is a beautiful damsel in distress.

Soap Box Moment:  Not one woman in ANY WORLD would take the time to rip her shirt open and tie it up in cute little knot while preparing to fight a rogue dinosaur.  And she would also lose the stilettos.  Why must movies keep doing this to women?  It is very frustrating.

Parents will appreciate that, while there were plenty of casualties in Jurassic World, there was no blood and gore.  (At least I like when they make these things a bit more kid friendly)

Overall, Kraig and I had a good time - I give this movie a 3 out of 5 stars - while Kraig gives it 5 of out 5!!

(Shameless Plug for Kraig - he and his beautiful wife Becky own Windy Wine Company in Osborn, MO - you must check it out!  It is one of my Happy Places)

I Believe In Unicorns - Movie Review

A couple of weeks ago I saw an #indieWIRE post calling this film "One of the Most Authentic Female Coming-of-Age Films in Recent Memory."  I was all in - couldn't wait to see it.  (Here is the article: bit.ly/1HXMjHf  )

The movie tells the story of Davina (played by the lovely Natalia Dyer),  a teenage girl diving into her first "adult relationship".  The object of her affection is a bad boy named Sterling (played by Peter Vack).  Both actors are receiving accolades on the festival circuit for their work in this film.  Understandably so.

This is not your typical movie about young lovers. This film isn't for teenage girls.  This film is for all of us women who have survived first love  - it is a bittersweet trip down memory lane - a look in the mirror for us all.

Davina & Sterling's whirlwind romance takes them on a short roadtrip - an escape from the reality of their difficult lives - but it isn't the miles they cover, or even the intensity of their physical attraction that makes this film interesting.  It is the beautiful mind of writer/director Leah Meyerhoff  and her ability to balance reality with fantasy.  We - as young girls falling in love for the first time - we can not tell fantasy from reality and that is quite honestly what ruins our lives.  We are lucky to get out unscathed, unwed, unpregnant.  Some of us do - and some of us don't.  Meyerhoff reminds us of these emotions - taking us between fantasty and reality, between past and present, at a dizzying pace. And isn't that how it really felt?  So intense, so surreal, we didn't know if any of it was real?

I fell in love as a young girl once, far too young to understand the consequences of my actions.  Far too young to control my emotions and my hormones.  I understand the delicate dance between childhood and womanhood and I was overwhelmed at times at the films ability to really make us see that we were children.    If only the young women in our lives would listen to us now - trust us when we say "I've been there!! Let me be your lesson so you don't have to find out the hard way!" But they won't.  And we didn't.  And we all have our stories and our war wounds and we survive.

Beautifully shot and great story telling - a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Entourage - The Boys Answer to Sex In The City

Whether or not you were a fan of the HBO Series Entourage, you won’t be disappointed by this big screen adaptation.  Lavish living, over-sexed beautiful people and life-long bromances make for a hilarious –and very raunchy – movie.

All the actors from the series are back – but it is Jeremy Piven (stressed out Ari Gold) who shines on the big screen.  He was absolutely fantastic. 

 Kevin Dillon’s Johnny Drama also has a very charming moment in the movie.  This was a Hail Mary because he annoyed the hell out of me for 99% of the movie.

Let’s talk a minute about Adrian Grenier (the kind hearted heartthrob Vince).  What a gorgeous man!  I think I may have to move my Eddie Redmayne poster and make some room.  I could watch him all day.  Don’t you agree?

There are far too many cameos in Entourage to list here, but Kelsey Grammer storming out of a marriage counseling session was one of my favorites. 

Haley Joel Osment – the little kid from Sixth Sense – does a believable job as a spoiled rich manchild trying to sabotage Ari and Vince’s multi-million dollar movie project. 

The one mis-step in  Entourage was the acting job of Billy Bob Thornton.  Because Slingblade is one of my Top Five movies of all time, I hold Billy Bob to pretty high standards.  I was very, very disappointed in his acting job this time. What a bummer.  

Overall, I loved the movie, laughed out loud at all the inappropriate jokes, and was really glad I went. 

I will give this one three Joes.