Waiting for a good, realistic looking dinosaur movie as a kid was like waiting to grow up. It couldn’t happen soon enough. Specials and educational programs of dinosaurs, as well as books and puzzles galore decorated every little boy’s room, just waiting for that movie that didn’t look like stop motion to come sweep us off our feet. And no, dinobots do NOT count. Little did we know, five movies about these very creatures would soon roam our theaters, all overseen by the director who had already changed cinema forever the decade before.
After Jurassic World came out in 2015 and proved with its over $1 billion take that people were indeed still thirsty for dinosaurs, producer Steven Spielberg once again got the ball rolling on another sequel. Though with previous director Colin Trevorrow writing the script and stepping off the director’s chair, Spielberg once again had to choose a new face to head his franchise. Enter Juan Antonio Bayona (pronounce Bah-Jona). He had proven himself a director of talent with the tear jerkers A Monster Calls and The Impossible. Yet, he was yet another director armed with a hefty budget that he had never played with before. How did he do?
Join me, Nate, and Law as we answer that question, and subsequently finish (for now) our Jurassic Park series of podcasts. This was a hell of a series to go through, and I would once again like to thank my co-hosts, as well as those who listened. Stay tuned, more retros to come.
Waiting for a good, realistic looking dinosaur movie as a kid was like waiting to grow up. It couldn’t happen soon enough. Specials and educational programs of dinosaurs, as well as books and puzzles galore decorated every little boy’s room, just waiting for that movie that didn’t look like stop motion to come sweep us off our feet. And no, dinobots do NOT count. Little did we know, five movies about these very creatures would soon roam our theaters, all overseen by the director who had already changed cinema forever the decade before.
Fourteen years after Jurassic Park III came and went with little more than a whimper, producer Steven Spielberg was ready to once again tackle the world of dinosaurs. But instead of bringing in someone known for big blockbuster entertainment like he did with Michael Bay and Transformers, he brought in Colin Trevorrow. Who the hell is Colin Trevorrow, you may ask. He was the director of a little 2012 Sundance highlight called Safety Not Guaranteed. Based off that film, which was by no means a showcase of visual effects, the gamble on Trevorrow paid off as Jurassic World ended up making over $1 billion. But how do we feel about it?
Join me, Law, and Nate as all three of us revisit Jurassic World for the first time since theaters. All of us were initially dead set against its machinations and unending nuances back in 2015. But will the three of us feel the same way now?
Download below to find out, and be sure to tune in next Tuesday as we dissect the new release Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, and I give the Binge Aftertaste schedule for the remainder of summer.
Note: There were a few technical difficulties spread throughout this episode. Sorry about that. Please don’t make us extinct as a result.
Waiting for a good, realistic looking dinosaur movie as a kid was like waiting to grow up. It couldn’t happen soon enough. Specials and educational programs of dinosaurs, as well as books and puzzles galore decorated every little boy’s room, just waiting for that movie that didn’t look like stop motion to come sweep us off our feet. And no, dinobots do NOT count. Little did we know, five movies about these very creatures would soon roam our theaters, all overseen by the director who had already changed cinema forever the decade before.
After 1997’s The Lost World Jurassic Park came and went, the sour taste that film left in peoples’ mouths made it seem like a sequel might never reach our cinemas. But money talks, and Universal knew that a new movie would bring in some more cash. But after two films from behind the helm, Steven Spielberg decided that he was out as director. Enter his longtime behind the scenes collaborator Joe Johnston.
With a rather unimpressive directorial resume up to this point (though I would bat for 1994’s The Rocketeer), Johnston would seem to be a hack whom Spielberg threw a bone to in order to keep his franchise in the limelight. But here we stand, without Jeff Goldblum. This time with William H Macy, Tea Leoni, and a returning Sam Neill. Could the third movie in the series be the creative answer to an all podcaster on this show agreed upon dismal second film?
Join me, Jim Law, and an exhausted Nate Peterson to find out the answer, while also bearing witness to another Binge sparring match with threats of tapping out of the entire series. After all, what would a series of podcasts on this network be without at least one of those? And no, it has nothing to do with killing kids.
Listen below, and be sure to tune in next week as all of us dreadingly return to Jurassic World, and then come back the week after to review Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Waiting for a good, realistic looking dinosaur movie as a kid was like waiting to grow up. It couldn’t happen soon enough. Specials and educational programs of dinosaurs, as well as books and puzzles galore decorated every little boy’s room, just waiting for that movie that didn’t look like stop motion to come sweep us off our feet. And no, dinobots do NOT count. Little did we know, five movies about these very creatures would soon roam our theaters, all overseen by the director who had already changed cinema forever the decade before.
After a 1993 where Jurassic Park arrived to wide spread acclaim and box office success, followed by Schindler’s List‘s garnering Steven Spielberg some Oscar gold, the director felt he had accomplished all he needed to accomplish in his career, and took four years off to contemplate what he wanted to do next. Would he spend the rest of his career as just a producer and/or mentor? Would he altogether retire from the business and concentrate on being a father and husband?
Nope. Rumblings of a Jurassic Park sequel were happening all the way back to the end of 1993, and Spielberg was secretly having meetings with author Michael Crichton and screenwriter David Koepp, coming up with a plan of producing the inevitable sequel. But he loved the world of dinosaurs so much that he felt he needed to come back as director. After telling future Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston to wait his turn, Spielberg did just that, throwing almost all the ideas from Crichton’s 1995 sequel novel out the window and coming up with a story of his own for 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park. But how do we feel about it?
Me, Nate, and Law gather once again to talk some Jurassic Park. And after my so-called blood thirst from that first film’s podcast, will I be ok with a more ways than one darker sequel, and will Nate’s wish for more Jeff Goldblum be one he lives to forget? Download below to find out, and keep checking back as we lead to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) (?/10, ?/10, ?/10)
Waiting for a good, realistic looking dinosaur movie as a kid was like waiting to grow up. It couldn’t happen soon enough. Specials and educational programs of dinosaurs, as well as books and puzzles galore decorated every little boy’s room, just waiting for that movie that didn’t look like stop motion to come sweep us off our feet. And no, dinobots do NOT count. Little did we know, five movies about these very creatures would soon roam our theaters, all overseen by the director who had already changed cinema forever the decade before.
Welcome, to Jurassic Park. Or in this case, three assholes who talk about all five films in the series, starting with this tent pole of a film. Coming months before he finally gained critic’s respect with Schindler’s List, director Steven Spielberg once again unleashed a blockbuster that defined blockbusters. Jurassic Park is, and always will be, the film without James Cameron’s name attached -though listen to find out how THAT almost happened here too- that set the standard for realistic looking computer generated effects. Armed with a T-Rex and his special weapon Jeff Goldblum, Spielberg’s film would go on to gross over $1 billion at the box office. But how do we feel?
Join Law, Nate, and myself as we begin our journey into the Jurassic age, and make ado with whether or not after this film, to just tap out of the entire rest of the series.
How’s it going CS’ers? Hope your week is starting well and the 18 hour or so Bingecast is helping said week go by even faster by moving in and out of your ear holes at an expected drunken pace. I also hope you are saving some of that fright feeling for the rapidly approaching Halloween holiday.
Anyway, let’s get down to business. I am making this post to kind of announce something Binge has been toying with getting into for quite awhile. There have been suggestions that we start covering some conventions. Now I cannot speak for my bosses over here. But I can only assume that the reason they resisted was because they started this site as more a way of continuing doing their podcasts and bringing friends along to help enhance their network than some other site which covers conventions. Many sites do that, and Binge would not be sticking out if we fell on that same exact bandwagon.
But when the opportunity to go to the Texas Frightmares Convention in May came along, I pretty much begged and pleaded to Law and Moreno that we cover it. Now the coverage is not going to be the same type of coverage you are used to from other sites. There will not be ten people from the site there to cover each and every panel, and get interviews with each and every celebrity which comes our way. The staff there representing the site will be me, myself and I. And I will not say there WON’T be interviews and coverage of certain panels. But instead of each one getting their own page, I will more than likely just include them in one or two articles that will wrap up the event.
With all that in mind, if any of you cocksuckers are in the Dallas Texas area, May 5th – 7th is going to be something truly special. And not just because your friendly ol’ 4 on 10 is going to be there.
Some highlights from this convention include:
A 35th Anniversary Celebration of John Carpenter’s The Thing, featuring Keith David and Wilford Brimley, among others.
A reunion featuring the principle cast of Tom Holland’s 1985 original vampire next door flick Fright Night. Including writer/director Tom Holland, Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, and yes, Stephen Geoffreys.
The appearance of one Shannon Elizabeth.
The Hills Have Eyes 40 Anniversary Celebration, featuring Jim La…I mean, Michael Berryman.
Did I mention Keith motherfuckin’ David?
Jurassic Park, the original Halloween, and Back To The Future trilogy cinematographer Dean Cundey.
And sooo much more, some has still not been announced yet. Go here for updates on upcoming guests, and join their Facebook group. And of course, keep checking in with Binge Media and The Aftertaste for more updates and interviews.
Entertainment media is starting to get a little ridiculous. TV shows are being produced so frequently that before you know it shows like Ash Vs Evil Dead already have a second season rolling out, even though it feels like the series just premiered a month or two ago. This isn’t a bad thing, but it does require us, as film nerds, to be a little more selective with what we watch. It’s not a matter of picking out what is good or not, because the baseline of quality is now so high that more often than not a new series is going to be pretty good. Now it has really become a matter of seeking out the entertainment you really want to see. We’ve moved past the point of requiring everyone to watch Seinfeld and Mad About You every Thursday night. Now I find myself in need of some serious convincing before I pick up a new show or movie. Typically if the guys review something favorably on one of the podcasts, I’ll seek it out. If you, like me, look towards Binge Media for your weekly recommendations, then let me be the first to tell you this; of all the TV pilots I’ve seen in my life, I don’t know that I’ve seen one better than Westworld.
For those unfamiliar with the movie from which this series is based, here’s the synopsis; Jurassic Park with cowboys instead of dinosaurs. Got it? Good. The boys reviewed the movie on a recent podcast and we all agreed at the time that this is the type of story that should be remade since the first pass was lacking some depth. Not a bad flick, just could have been expanded upon. From the first five minutes of this pilot, it is clear to me that the creative team behind this series has a firm grasp on what they want this show to be, and I am in 110%.
Westworld starts as the story of Dolores, a woman living on the frontier with her parents who lives her days keeping positive and looking for the good in her world. She goes about her daily chores, riding into town to get supplies for the family where she runs into Teddy, the clear love of her life who has been away for some unidentified amount of time. Upon returning to her homestead with Teddy, Dolores sees an attack of some sort going on, prompting Teddy to ride in and save the day. As he does, he bests the two bandits who have murdered Dolores’ mother and father. However, a man dressed in all black, who is impervious to bullets (played by Ed Harris) starts talking about how he’s been doing this for “30 years”, then shoots Teddy and drags Dolores into the barn to have his way with her.
Cut to the next day, where the cycle repeats as if nothing happened, and we get the wider scope of what’s going on. Westworld is a playground for the wealthy and well off. Have the cash? Come on down for a totally immersive theme park experience, complete with prostitutes, guns, bandits, Indians and cowboys to help you live out your fantasy of having an adventure in the old American west. The operation, being run by Jeffrey Wright as a lead programmer and Anthony Hopkins, the doctor who first devised the idea of Westworld, operate from a technologically advanced control center located somewhere within the land that the park resides in. From here, they have complete control of the park, from the androids, or as they call them hosts, to the storylines going on in the world. From here the show takes us to some interesting places, not wasting any time in setting up both the conflicts in Westworld and also the more global plotlines revolving around the park management.
I like a story that finds a lot of rich thematic questions to present and expound upon. It’s part of the reason why Lost was so intriguing in those early episodes, what with not only the mystery of how the plane crashed but also how’s and why’s of who those people were. Westworld brings out the big guns, literally and figuratively, with some very solid action scenes featuring shootouts reminiscent of stuff we’ve seen from modern westerns 3:10 To Yuma, The Assassination of Jesse James or even The Proposition. That being said, there were some much more intriguing and surprising scenes where we get to see and understand the characters. My favorite moment in the pilot was when Anthony Hopkins, playing Dr. Robert Ford, questions a host whose software has clearly malfunctioned. The pervading question on my mind throughout the episode was whether or not these machines are becoming self-aware. The question doesn’t get answered, but I’m interested to see how the writers are going to deal with it. Ed Harris, stepping into the role of the Gunslinger/Man in Black role that Yul Brynner made famous in the original film, is pretty fantastic as the show’s current wildcard. We’re not sure what he’s doing or why but it’s clear he knows more than anyone else in Westworld, even seemingly operating outside the view of the park managers. It will be interesting to see where they take him before the series’ end.
From top to bottom, everything here is working flawlessly in the opener, so much so that I don’t know how I couldn’t be disappointed with what’s to come. The cast is chock-full of phenomenal talent across the board, from the aforementioned Anthony Hopkins to famous character actors like Michael Wincott and, of course, Evan Rachel Wood with maybe the most nuanced performance of her career. I know there is an overabundance of stuff these days to keep up with, but you need to be watching this show. It is thematically interesting, well written, action packed and well made. I can only hope the show runners have the gusto to keep this going for a full season.
Regardless of whether you side with the Morenos or the BearcLaws of the world there’s no denying that we are living in the age of the franchise film. Since X-Men burst on to the scene in 2000, we have seen a steady annual increase in franchise films every year. Right now it seems as though every summer film that does well is part of something larger than itself, and there are varying levels of success that come along with that. Marvel, Fast & Furious, Hitman and Pitch Perfect represent a fairly broad spectrum of the types of franchises out there but most center on some sort of super-hero or heroine defying the odds to achieve their goals. The amazing thing about this year in particular was the resurgence of older franchises like Jurassic World, Mad Max and Star Wars. Outside of the aforementioned Star Wars, I do not know of a more successful film franchise than James Bond, and with the release of Spectre this week we are about to experience our twenty-fourth official Bond film, not counting some of the spinoffs. Much like Batman in recent years, I think the re-emergence of Bond as a great modern film hero has everything to do with the film that rebooted the franchise, Casino Royale, and of course the guy playing Bond, Daniel Craig.
Without having seen Spectre yet it does look to be very much in the vein of Skyfall and, of course, Casino Royale before it (for the sake of quality we’re going to overlook Quantum of Solace for the most part here). If this film has even half the quality of Casino Royale, then we may be looking at the greatest Bond run in history. Connery, to his credit, began as the original Bond (sort-of) and eventually starred in six official Bond releases; Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds are Forever. While the first three films are exceptional, to me there is a drop in quality as soon as we hit Thunderball. While none of the Connery films are outright bad movies, it is pretty clear to me that at a certain point the producers were more interested in pushing out the product than creating worthy follow-ups to the solid first three entries. So if you break it down (and ignore the unofficial spinoff/remake Never Say Never Again), it could be argued that about fifty-percent of the time Connery’s Bond films were pretty damn spectacular. Cut to now where the sample size is admittedly smaller but just as revealing. Across four films, one of which was inhibited by a writer’s strike, Daniel Craig may end up with at least seventy-five percent of his outings being good films. Of course this argument hinges on whether or not Spectre lives up to the pedigree of Skyfall but there is often a lot of animosity when the “Best Bond” argument comes up, claiming the distance between the performances is greater than it actually is. Connery was great in his time as the icon, but Craig is the stronger actor.
You have to also take into account the talent that is now around the Bond franchise to appreciate the type of films this franchise is now aiming to make. Since The World is Not Enough, the Bond franchise has been co-written by a guy named Robert Wade. While the Brosnan Bond films are pound-for-pound some of the worst outside of Goldeneye, I think it is interesting to note that despite putting out two horrible Bond stories that Wade was kept on the franchise. The producers must have thought something clearly worked with Wade’s perspective but the inclusion of Paul Haggis on Casino Royale, and then John Logan on Skyfall, really elevated the quality of the films into more serious fare. The Bond films are now about Bond as a fully-rounded character, which is something you could not really say about the older films. Typically the Bond films are pretty paint-by-numbers. There’s a tried and true formula that consists of getting gadgets, sleeping with the girls, getting captured by the villain while he explains his plan and then besting said villain. Outside of the criminally miscast On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond was never portrayed as vulnerable character until Royale, and you have to credit the writing for bringing out those sides of the character to be at the forefront of the films.
Craig was my true introduction to the Bond franchise and helped me realize that the versions I grew up with, aka the Brosnan years, were not a great representation of the character. After Royale and then into Skyfall, the franchise became a little more dynamic. I feel now like somewhere in the world there could be a guy like Bond. I think the opening foot chase in Casino Royale does a great job at taking a ridiculous idea of two guys fighting on top of a skyscraping-crane and building up to it in a pretty logical and action packed way. By breaking the conventions of what Bond stories typically were, Casino Royale marks a turning point in both this franchise and reboots in general. It is easy to forget just how awful the Bond films got at one point, and while Quantum of Solace was a moderate reminder of this it is nice to know that the team behind Bond seems to be committed to moving this franchise forward in new and exciting directions.
So what’s your favorite Bond actor? Film? Do you even like the guy? What have you got against him? Let us know below and, as always, Binge On!
Most times, I spend this space talking about the good and bad things having to do with film. Today I am going to change things up, as two things have been on my mind as of late that need addressing. First up, the sad passing of a true innovator. Only my best friends -and listeners to Binge Sportscast- know that growing up, I was a huge fan of professional wrestling. Later years would bring boxing parties. But as a child, it was wrestling parties. Sunday nights would be spent inviting friends over and watching wrestling. Professional wrestlers get a bad rap as ‘non athletes’ and people who ‘pretend to fall.’ I have always found all of these non whimsical, non thought-out assumptions to be complete bullshit. If these same people actually watched a few matches, they would see it is made painfully clear that it is impossible to ‘pretend’ to fall. A man who innovated how we as fans see the sport is Virgil Runnels, AKA Dusty Rhodes.
As we said on the Binge SportsCast, Rhodes was not the picture of physical perfection. He was a guy who was out of shape and had a splotch on his belly. What Rhodes DID have in spades, perhaps more than anyone, was charisma. Give the man a microphone, and he would have you rooting for him in a heartbeat. Rhodes had the ability to make an audience look past what he was physically, and cheer him for what he brought with him to each and every arena he was in. Something you cannot teach, he made you take his pride and feel like it was your own.
Another thing Rhodes had was a clear vision. Some of professional wrestling’s most exciting matches, including the violent WarGames and entertaining BattleBowl, were booked and made up by Rhodes. While some bookers who were still wrestling would book themselves as badasses who did not lose, Rhodes recognized that it was all about the chase.
After a violent bit of booking on his part as an F U to Turner Broadcasting’s no blood clause involving a spike being driven into his eye -listen to the Binge SportsCast with me, Luke, and Batch to hear those grisly details- Rhodes was brought into the WWE by Vince McMahon, who proceeded to bury him. To Rhodes’s credit, he did have some entertaining feuds, specifically with Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase. But Rhodes never seemed to gel with the WWE style. He returned to WCW in 1991 and was even a member of the NWO in the mid to late 90s, which is when I lost track of him.
In addition to Rhodes’s innovations in the sport of professional wrestling, his death also brought to light another subject that needs to be addressed. After ‘numerous complications’ arose from a fall at his home, I started taking a look at my own life and realized that no matter what problems arise on a day to day basis, at least I am waking up and breathing every single day. You just never can tell when life can change, so enjoy and take in every precious moment.
Goodbye David Letterman
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I had originally intended to write this piece a couple weeks ago. But following the announcement of a possible Big Trouble in Little China remake, I felt that needed addressing first. But, here we are. A few weeks after the exit of David Letterman from the late night ranks, I am still feeling its effects. Now don’t get me wrong. I had not watched Letterman in close to five years to the night he retired. Yet I feel he was one of -and I am going to use that word again- the true innovators in the world of late night television. People like Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien openly admit they hold Letterman as an idol of comedy. And I have a hard time arguing with them.
As a young man, Johnny Carson was too old to hold my attention. So I switched to Arsenio Hall. When Hall was over, the Late Night insignia hit the screen, and it was all over. David Letterman had a self deprecating style which meant what you were seeing onscreen is what you got. He was the one who pushed me to watch TV under my covers, as his show came on at 12:30 and I was supposed to be sleeping. Little did I know all the things he was talking about having to do with normally taboo at the time things such as fights with his NBC bosses, were not a put on. Letterman, in the late 80s early 90s in particular, was a grumpy, angry man. But he was genuine. And genuinely funny.
One particular night, it was the middle of the show and Letterman was reading who was appearing on the following night. With each passing name, the audience groaned because they were not going to be attending that show. In other words, the show they were attending that night was a crappy night of guests and humor that did not work. While most hosts would kind of play this off with a line or two, Letterman stood up, looked at his audience and yelled, ‘I’m glad you’re here tonight of all nights! I’m glad this is a lousy show!’ Letterman then proceeded to sit down, put his hand to his mouth in an ‘oops, my bad’ gesture, and went on with the show. It was a genuine moment, which is something late night was sorely lacking, and part of the reason why I identified and laughed with him as often as I did.
In later years, Letterman became more ‘corporate,’ and in turn lost a lot of what made him such a different late night personality to begin with. Even in the cusp of a 2009 scandal involving affairs with female workers, Letterman still had a slickness to him which made him seem unrebellious. Of course, the shows immediately following the said scandal were littered with some more of his self deprecating humor (“Right now I would give anything to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail. I got into the car this morning and the navigation lady wasn’t speaking to me.”). But there was still something to him and his humor which kept me from watching on a regular basis. Maybe I was doing in my life just what he was doing onscreen. Maybe I was growing up.
Letterman’s career is one that shows a bitter but funny self deprecating man proceed to eventually get married, have a child, and become a man. Yet, stories about Letterman staying in his office throwing pencils in the ceiling are what made him stand head and shoulders above anyone else in the late night wars. While working for a San Francisco based contracting company called First Call, I noticed a piece of what looked like Letterman’s set in the back offices. I asked my boss if that was what I thought it was. He proceeded to tell me that First Call was the company which constructed Letterman’s sets when he did his show in San Francisco for a week. I asked him if he got a chance to meet my comedic idol. He said that he did, and Letterman was one of the most socially awkward, grumpy men he has ever done work for. Still, even with all his negativity, I feel this is what made Letterman stand out amongst the crowd. While most people would get turned off to stories such as this, I kind of cracked a smile. These stories are what made Letterman what he was on the air, which I wouldn’t change for a thing. Even if Jay Leno’s Tonight Show was the constant ratings winner, David Letterman will always be the winner in my eyes. Goodbye Dave. Thanks for the memories.
In light of the recent success of Jurassic World, I feel it best to leave you with this 1993 Top Ten list which is just as relevant today. So watch it, laugh, and know that who you think is funny now probably laughed just as hard as you did.