Masterpiece of Horror Theatre- The Beast from 20000 Fathoms

     "The Beast from 20000 Fathoms" was a short story by Ray Bradbury originally published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1951. The basic story is about a sea serpent attracted every night by the sound of a lighthouse fog horn that resembles its mating call. Ray Harryhausen (Bradbury's friend from their time as friends of sci-fi superfan Forrest Ackerman) saw the similarities between the short story and a film he was working on called "Monster from Beneath the Sea", particularly one scene at a light house, after Bradbury pointed it out. Given Bradbury's reputation, producers Hal Chester and Jack Dietz bought the rights to the short story, changed the name, and added "Suggested by the Saturday Evening Post story by Ray Bradbury" into the credits. (Bradbury would change the name of the short story to "The Fog Horn"). The original film itself was more or less inspired by King Kong, with Dietz and Chester getting Harryhausen (who was the apprentice of Willis O'Brien, the special effects director of that film) to do the effects. The creature used was based off an illustration used in the original Saturday Evening Post, as well as the illustrations of early Paleoartist Charles R. Knight (whom Harryhausen admitted was a massive influence). The creatures (a quadripedal archosaur) was originally going to breathe fire, but due to budget limitations, this was scaled back. Ultimately, Warner Brothers would buy the distribution of the film, and replaced the original score by Michael Michelet with something more "dramatic" by David Buttolph. It was a massive box office success, and would spark off the giant atomic monster craze of the 1950's.

      "Operation Experiment" (real original name there) is an atomic test being conducted by the US government in the Arctic. After a successful detonation, the radar operators find something strange emerging from the test range. When investigators, including physicist Dr. Tom Nesbitt (Paul Christian) come to area to investigate the event, they see a strange four legged creature walking around in the snow. Nesbitt is injured, and he is dismissed as insane after describing the creature. He is sent to a psychiatric ward, where he learns that a strange sea creature has been attacking fishermen. He tries to convince paleontologist Dr. Elson (Cecil Kellaway), who also dismisses him. Elson's assistant Lee (Paula Raymond) is sympathetic, and after another attack, she convinces Nesbitt to identify the creature. Sure enough, he finds it to be Rhedosaurus, a creature from the Mesozoic. With another account, he and Lee convinces Dr. Elson. Now, as the creatures destroys lighthouses and ships, they must work with the military to put a stop to it.

     The best  part of this film is the creature attack scenes. It shows a stunning amount of technical acumen, from the creature to the sets it destroys to the way it integrates this footage into the scenes of people running, or the military trying to bring it down. It creates some truly excellent scenes. The Rhedosaur itself is very well designed, showing both classical dinosaur design with a menacing design. The texture was especially impressive. Despite it's jerky movement, it feels like a real animal walking around. I like that the characters are fairly rational in dealing with the creature, dealing a reasonable amount of skepticism until it is undeniable.

     This is surprisingly short, at only 80 minutes. It conveys most of the action and plot well during this period, but I feel more should've been there. Maybe the creature rampaging through the country, or more planning against it, but it feels a little too short as is. I feel that maybe show a little sympathy for the creature might've helped, especially seeing it writhing in pain at the end. The film clearly shows it as a great "the monster is gone" moment, but it is a bit difficult to watch, and maybe more of an acknowledgment of it.

     This was a very good monster movie, with all the good ingredients (good monster, good effects, good characters). If you like monster movies or stop motion monsters, this is likely the premiere example of the genre. Even if you don't, it's just a fun film to watch, with some excellent scenes of destruction. Certainly one of the best monster movies I've seen thus far.

     We continue looking into monster movies with Frankenstein Conquers the World.

Current Film Reviews- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

         When I was an early adolescent, I picked up a book at an airport called Z-Raptor.  Apparently, a sequel to another book called Z-Rex  (which I hadn't heard of until I read this book), it centered around this kid learning his father's research as a video game designer (somehow) has been used to create dinosaurs. The first book was about them creating an advanced T-Rex, now it was apparently a raptor. I never read this book beyond the first few chapters, but based on my limited experience with it, these two are very similar in terms of plot. Not making accusations or anything, but that was the immediate thing running through my mind as I watched this picture

      Based on the film franchise in turn based on the novel by Michael Crichton, the film is set three years after the original (apparently, since it says that the first Jurassic World was set in 2015), and it turns out that Isla Nublar, the island that Jurassic Park and later Jurassic World is situated on, is on a hitherto unmentioned dormant volcano, which has become active, and threatens the remaining dinosaurs (the fact that there is another island of dinosaurs, Isla Sorna from the other sequels, seems not to factor in at any point). Claire Dearings (Bryce Dallas Howard), the executive in the first one (note: the first one in this case will refer to the first Jurassic World in all other mentions), is now an activist trying to evacuate Dinosaurs from the volcanic eruption. After government intervention is prohibited thanks to the testimony of Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum, on screen for about the amount of time you can read this entire paragraph), she is approached by Eli Mills (Rafe Spalls, doing his best Charlie Day impression) , who works for Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), John Hammond's hitherto unmentioned business associate, who hopes to evacuate the dinosaurs using his own resources. She is brought in to recruit Owen Grady (Chris Pratt, looking incredibly bored and disinterested throughout the film), who is reluctant, until Claire reveals that Blue, the velociraptor that he had a strong connection to in the first film, is still alive on the island. They set out with Dr. Zia Rodriguez (Danielle Pineda) and Franklin Webb (Justice Smith), to retrieve the Dinosaurs. However, as they proceed with the mission, they find that there is a far more sinister agenda at play here, as found by Lockwood's granddaughter Isabella Sermon.

      I'll give the film this: this is actually a good idea for a sequel. Especially since it has gotten into a formula, and it does shake things up. Honestly, this could've worked as a sequel to the original Jurassic Park. I do appreciate that they commit to continuing the combination of real effects and CGI, and it doesn't look that bad honestly. Michael Giacchino's score is also entertaining, and fitting any scenario. Some of the actors are trying. There are couple good scenes towards the third act, which utilize great set piece, and have a bit of a horror edge to them.

       I hated the nostalgia pandering the first one did, and this ramps it up. From the inclusion of Jeff Goldblum, to Cromwell's inclusion as a fake John Hammond to the constant evocation of the original. It gets tedious, and makes me really want to see the original. Whilst it has a good idea, it squanders it by basically rehashing both The Lost World and the first Jurassic World. As a result of that, and scenes that feel less enticing and more boredom inducing, I just wasn't that interested, especially with it being as long as it is at 2 hours. I found myself confused as to what was happening, since stuff is barely explained or so heavily drenched in foreshadowing for future films, it forgets to forshadow for this one, (with twists that either are obvious or barely register as such) and staring in bafflement at the more absurd stuff. Oh, trust me, there is insane moments, especially from Chris Pratt, who has apparently gotten superpowers, and while they do show him compromised, manages to survive any ordeal given to him. It also botches its moral quandaries, when, instead of focusing on the endangered species angle, instead continues with the "dinosaurs as weapons" idea from the first. Apparently, guns and bombs don't exist in this world, and if they did, dinosaurs are completely impervious to them (except when they aren't). Oh, yeah, and the big bad at the end (I won't spoil it), was a complete let-down and boring as hell.

     It is somewhat refreshing to know that something seemed bad, turned out to be bad. A nice little bit of consistency in a very chaotic universe. Anyway, if you liked the first Jurassic World, I'm not sure you'll even like this, since it basically does the same thing. Hell, I was basically fine with the first one, and I disliked this one. If you liked the Jurassic Park movies, and want to see this for completion sake, fine, but, as someone who has seen all the films, it is the worst entry of this series. If you've never seen a Jurassic Park film, don't bother.  

Film Review- The Good Dinosaur

     So, in my very ill-spent youth, I surfed the web extensively. I also had an obsession with dinosaurs. Both of those collided when I found out about the "Speculative Dinosaur Project." Basically, it was a collaborative online project which describes a world where the Dinosaurs never went extinct, and evolved into present time. It was very creative, as far as I could tell, given most of the site was blocked off (in German.) It is virtually gone now, though the Wayback Machine could access those old pages, and there are places where the ideas live on. I start my review with this, because since discovering it, I have been fascinated with the idea of a world where the dinosaurs never went extinct, and they continued to reign. If you want to go earlier, The New Dinosaurs by Scottish naturalist Douglas Dixon is also a good spin on the idea. Still, even with the my longtime fascination with the premise, I was skeptical of The Good Dinosaur. Primarily because the way it was described by the people who made it was... eh. I was not interested in watching farmer dinosaurs. The trailers didn't really help with that. Maybe because I had seen Inside Out, which was a great film by all measures, but I felt, in the end, The Good Dinosaur would not measure up. Now that I've watched the film, it doesn't measure up. But, it's still good. A lot better than I thought.
    Before I get into the film, I just briefly want to discuss the opening short, Sanjay's Super Team. It revolves around Sanjay, who was forced to do the traditional Hindu prayers with his father, rather than watch his beloved superhero cartoons. He then fantasizes about the Hindu gods (Vishnu, Hanuman, and Durga) fighting a demon (presumably Ravana) in the style of those cartoons he watched. As someone who grew up watching a lot of Cartoon Network, and was also raised in a Hindu household, it appealed to the child inside me, and I am likely more inclined to enjoy it than others, who don't share that background. Still, it was enjoyable, fun, and cute. I just wanted to bring that up.
    The actual film, as I said, is set in a world where the Dinosaurs never went extinct. Millions of years after the asteroid missed, they have some form of early agriculture. The film focuses around Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), the youngest (and smallest) of a family of sauropod farmers.(All of whom remind me of the Sinclair Oil logo) They farm corn, primarily, and raise these odd chicken like dinosaur. (This bothered me throughout the film. Sauropods have long necks, so they could feed in trees. Why would they grow corn, which is very low to the ground? And if they were herbivores, why are they raising chickens. The only reason to raise chickens is to eat them. Am I overthinking this?) Anyway, Arlo's family includes his parents, Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand), his brother Buck (Marcus Scribner), and his sister Libby (Maleah Padilla). Arlo's main problem on the farm is his cowardice, which makes his main responsibility as chicken feeder difficult. While his siblings gain the respect of their parents (symbolized by a muddy print on the food storage building), Arlo struggles with his intense fear. To soothe this, Henry decides to give Arlo the responsibility of preventing a pest from feeding on their food storage, by trapping and killing it. Arlo manages to catch the little culprit, a little humanoid creature later dubbed "Spot" (Jack Bright) (He's not named Spot until later, but for convenience, I'll call him Spot), but does not have the heart to kill it. Arlo lets it go. However, Henry then scolds Arlo for letting it go, and forces him to join him in capturing Spot in a storm ridden mountains. However, Arlo is injured, and Henry is forced to turn back, right as a major flood occurs. Arlo watches as his father drowns. Arlo then encounters Spot again, and furious from his father's death, he chases him, but both are caught in the river, and Arlo is knocked out. He wakes up to find himself miles from home, along with Spot. While initially hostile to poor Spot, Arlo grows to like him, particularly after Spot leds him to some berries, and saves him from a snake with legs. Arlo, remembering his father's advice that the river will led him home, resolves to go back, with Spot by his side. All the while, he encounters colorful characters, like an eccentric Styracosaurus named Forrest (Peter Sohn, who directed the film. It is also his debut as a director), a band of pterosaurs, led by Thunderclap (Steve Zahn), who are viciously fanatical carnivores (and my sister pointed out to me later that they were meant to parody apocalyptic religious fanatics, so thanks to her), and a group of Tyrannosaur ranchers, father Butch (Sam Elliot) and siblings Nash (A.J. Buckley) and Ramsey (Anna Paquin). Can Arlo and Spot return home to their families.
   First, I really like the production design, particularly the backgrounds. I live in Colorado, and I sometimes drive through the state. It easily replicates the environments I see whenever I head into the mountains. It looks beautiful. The animation is also well done (par for the course regarding Pixar). I liked the way Arlo was animated. Loose and flexible, which allows for a lot of creative gags and fluid motion. Sort of like a classic 2-D cartoon transposed to a 3-D setting. The character designs for most of the character also benefit from this flexibility. It's also has a lot of creative ideas, like, for instance, using a cricket for a harmonica. The plot is not deeply complex, but it does have the appeal of a traditional Campbellian "Hero's Journey," which makes films like Star Wars enjoyable.
    A lot of times, Arlo makes very poor decisions, which cause problems later on. I understand this is meant to show that he is making mistakes and growing, but really, there are moments, where Arlo should have made the other choice. There is also not a lot exciting about the plot. Like I said, it's a standard Hero's Journey. Not a lot of intrigue. It's not bad, but it really doesn't hold up compared to other Pixar films. There is also a lot of things that outright don't make sense when you think about them.
   This surprised me. It honestly did. It was fairly good. Not just decent. Legitimately good. I really enjoyed it. Not one of the best films of the year, but one I'm glad I watched once. If you want a really good Pixar film, well, Inside Out's on DVD now, so go watch that. If you just want a film to watch for your younger relative, I'd say go and watch it. Thanks for reading.