Tag: Jurassic World

Action/Adventure/Heist

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

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Image credit: The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1997

Happy Jurassic Week to all who celebrate! Before I slide into my seat for Jurassic World Rebirth, I need to re-watch the six other films that came before. I’ve already covered Jurassic Park and Jurassic World on the blog, so now it’s time to reminisce about the film Steven Spielberg probably wishes he could forget: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Disc/Download).

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I should say that I really do like this movie. I don’t find any of the Jurassic films unwatchable, though of course some are more successful than others. What keeps The Lost World from being as iconic as Jurassic Park is the convoluted script and heavier reliance on CGI over practical effects. CGI just wasn’t “there” yet in 1997, and the result looks hokey by today’s standards. However, I can overlook it because scene-stealer Jeff Goldblum is back as Dr. Malcolm, with an unexpected daughter in tow—a daughter who is also an aspiring gymnast and uses her parallel bar routine to knock out a Velociraptor???  Like I said, convoluted script. I enjoy watching Julianne Moore and Vince Vaughn give emergency medical care to a baby T-Rex, and the scene of mamma and daddy Rex attacking their trailer is fantastic. Also, the miniature dinosaurs that wear out their prey before moving in for the kill is a fun introduction to the canon. I’ve often had nightmares where a dozen cats or chihuahuas are clawing at me, so this plays into my existing fear of tiny creatures.

Because the movie takes place in the Costa Rican jungle, it seems like a great opportunity for a tropical rum cocktail. This is a variation on the traditional Last World, substituting in Rum and Yellow Chartreuse. While watching The Lost World, I recommend drinking a Lost Word cocktail.

Lost Word

2 oz Aged Rum

1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse

1 oz Lemon Juice

3/4 oz Simple Syrup

Mint (garnish)

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

The final act of The Lost Island veers into King Kong territory, as the T-Rex is drugged and brought by ship to the port of San Diego. I love any monster movie where the creature roars against the backdrop of a city skyline and tosses over taxicabs, so if this was Spielberg’s nod to classic films, it sticks the landing. The Lost World may not be a “classic” itself, but at least it gives the people what they want: dinosaurs and Jeff Goldblum. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist

Jurassic World

LizLocke1 Comment
Image credit: Jurassic World, 2015

Lately, I’ve been thinking about reboots, and what makes them successful or disappointing. Planet of the Apes has managed to knock it out of the park decade after decade, while the recent Twisters left me yearning for literally any connection to my beloved Twister, beyond the basic existence of tornadoes in the Midwest (they couldn’t even throw in one flying cow or Tori Amos song???). It’s my opinion that Twisters struggles with the one thing this week’s Cinema Sips pick Jurassic World (Disc/Download) does so well: telling a new story on the bones of the old one.

If you know me at all, then you know I’m obsessed with the Jurassic movies. I even flew to Hawaii just to visit some of the filming locations of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World (well… also to drink Mai tai’s), and the giddy excitement I felt at seeing the claw marks in the Indominus Rex paddock was the same excitement I felt as a ten-year-old, watching a man in a port-a-potty get eaten alive by a T-Rex. Jurassic World doesn’t try to re-invent the wheel. It’s still a movie about a theme park where dinosaurs run amok, even with all the new safety precautions. There are a plethora of nods to the original, including the old logo, the old jeeps, the old night-vision goggles, and even the old T-Rex. It doesn’t have the entire original cast, but we get to see one familiar face in the form of BD Wong’s morally ambiguous scientist. Yet among all this old stuff, there’s still new family drama, new romance, and newly trained raptors. Nostalgia is powerful, but even more so when it interacts with the modern world.

One fantastic new addition to the cast is the late, great Jimmy Buffet, who runs screaming out of a Margaritaville when the pterodactyls get loose. Jimmy is of course double-fisting a couple frosty margs, which sounds like a great idea to me. Let’s kick it up a notch with some hatch peppers because this movie has a terrifically creepy title credits scene featuring a tiny dino hatching from its shell. While watching Jurassic World, I recommend drinking a Hatch Margarita.

Hatch Margarita

2 oz Hatch Chile-infused Reposado Tequila

1 oz Lime Juice

1 oz Orange Liqueur

Hatch pepper, lime slice (garnish)

To flavor the tequila, combine a cup of tequila with 1 TBSP chopped hatch chile peppers. Let sit for approximately 3-4 hours, then strain the peppers out. In a shaker with ice, shake together tequila, lime juice, and orange liqueur. Strain into a glass filled with fresh ice, and garnish with a sliver of hatch pepper and lime slice.

When it comes to reboots, I am one hundred percent in favor of winks to the past. It reminds me of what it was like to marvel at these dinosaurs that looked so real, and of how loudly I screamed in a suburban Ohio mall cinema when Laura Dern experienced that raptor jump scare. Jurassic World gives me that same childhood thrill while raising the stakes now that I’m an adult. Life, and movies, still find a way. Cheers!