Four Reasons Why Jurassic Park's Visuals Still Amaze

by Tim Brayton

Twenty years ago – an eon in filmmaking years – Jurassic Park was the shiniest new toy on the block. Now it’s getting an anniversary release as a bona-fide classic, having existed for more than the entire lifespan of the teenagers that make up the target audience for splashy popcorn fare. Those twenty years have seen the computer-generated visual effects that were so radical in 1993 become more commonplace and utilitarian than ever seemed plausible back then; we live in an age when even romantic comedies and family dramas have CGI work in them. Summer tentpoles of the Jurassic Park lineage exist only in computers to such a degree that it’s really little more than convention that makes us refer to them as “live-action”.

You’d think, with all that time gone by to refine the technology, that Jurassic Park would look hideously outdated, or at best charmingly quaint. After all, the effects showpiece DragonHeart, released just a couple of years later, more resembles a cartoon now, than anything aiming for photorealism. It took less than a decade for Spider-Man to look a bit flimsy and thin; the later Harry Potter movies already seemed a bit wan when they were still in theaters. But Jurassic Park is as impressive now as it was all the way back then.

With just this one exception:

more after the jump

Click to read more ...

If you can... link it here ♪ you'll link it... ♫ anywhere

Moviefone looks back at the troubled release of Martin Scorsese's New York New York for its 35th anniversary
Awards Daily someday my prince will come... or not. On Brave and more in 2012
Serious Film gets into spoilers to revel in the whiteboard of terrors in Cabin in the Woods 
Movie|Line Magic Mike already making Broadway transfer plans. Huh. 
The Incredible Suit happy third birthday to this fun blog 

Rope of Silicon applies Pixar storytelling rules to Brave to see where it went wrong... um. If you think it went wrong. It's not a perfect movie but I'm surprised by how much some people don't like it.
Vulture first look at Shirley Maclaine in Downton Abbey. Yes! 
How Are You I'm Fine Thanks illustrates the Scooby Doo gaga at the beach. Great stuff. 
GQ interviews Elisabeth Moss on Peggy's Journey in Season 5 of Mad Men... and Season 6 
Empire spreads the rumor that three Avatar sequels will shoot back to back. I can think of better things for Sigourney Weaver to do with her time and I loved Avatar.
TMZ more old footage of Channing Tatum's stripper days

Linkopolis

Movie|Line Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams take over for Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier in the insta-remake of Love Crimes (read my Ludivine interview) now dubbed Passion 
Self Styled Siren and friends are hosting another For the Love of Film blog-a-thon (May 13th-18th) to raise money for a recently discovered fragment of White Shadow which was assistant directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I shall try to write a Hitchcock piece to join in.
NPR worries that James Cameron will be stuck on Pandora forevermore with Avatar sequels. I wouldn't worry. It takes him so long to make a movie, we'll be lucky if we get even two more narrative movies -- of any kind -- out of him.  

Animation Magazine Guillermo Del Toro will be co-directing a new Pinocchio movie and presumably be given all the credit for it (sigh). His soon to be unsung partner will be the Fantastic Mr Fox whiz Mark Gustafson so this should look lovely.
Stale Popcorn is working on a 1994 retrospective and has already covered Reality Bites, Blink, and Nell... all movies I loved back in the day. 
Hollywood and Fine has had its fill of Zooey Deschanel. Is she overexposed and overquirked now? 
Pajiba proof that every rabbit in the history of cinema has been evil.  Yes, even the boiled one in Fatal Attraction.
John August first person account of a year on the writing staff of Ringer. Interesting behind the scenes glimpse 

Avengers Mania
The Atlantic terrific piece on Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow in The Avengers and the challenge of being a woman in male entertainments
THR The Avengers sequel confirmed (duh) so it's 3 solo sequels over the next two years (Iron Man, Thor, Cappy) followed by another group effort. Why not a Black Widow / Hawkeye movie just to keep things just a tad fresher? I know there are people clamoring for a third Hulk movie since he stole the show but there's a reason he stole it. It's called "leave them wanting more"... something Hollywood is not good with once something's successful.  
Vulture times the six heroes to see who has the most screen time. They seem surprised by Black Widow's showing but I wasn't at all. It's Joss Whedon and he always makes room for strong women.

Cannes is Coming
In Contention Cannes Check Jeff Nichols' Mud (and the McConaughey Renaissance continues)
Little White Lies has predictions from four of their contributors. Good read. So much to think about. 
The Playlist amazing photoshoot of Robert Pattinson styled after older Cronenberg movies like Dead Ringers and Videodrome. 

Sleeping Beauty or Sleeping Gaudy?

In the past few days you may have heard that Elle Fanning is in talks to play Sleeping Beauty and you may have wondered why I haven't said a word. All things Sleeping Beauty send me into instant hyper sleep until I have the strength to deal.

As often confessed, I am an über fan of Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959) which is easily among their tippity-top achievements as a studio and my personal favorite (at least of their pre-Lil'Mermaid history). A live action Maleficent could go wrong in about a million ways even though it will meet animation halfway by starring everyone's favorite Cartoon Movie Star* Angelina Jolie.

*since she can't be real she must have been drawn that way.

It's always a bit strange to watch the way Hollywood gloms on to certain actresses and right now it seems like if you aren't Chloe or Elle you simply don't exist to them in the teen bracket. But if it has to be one of them, yes please 1000 times on Fanning. The strange thing about the internet's / entertainment world's fascination with Elle Fanning is her absence of any distinct persona. I bet you can describe Dakota Fanning and even Saoirse Ronan and definitely Chloe Moretz's personalities (or your projections of them) right this second but try telling us who Elle Fanning is (outside of "Dakota's little sister") without using the generic term of  "fashionista" which describes 87% of all young actresses with substantial income / fame.

We'll wait.  [more after the jump]

Click to read more ...

Links: 2011 Lists, Avatar Rides, W.E. Edits, Drive Colors,

The Wrap have you heard this big news? Florida is getting an Avatar theme park. Florida is just overrun with theme parks, yes? How can they work in the hair sex thing? 
Movie|Line Madonna's W.E. will be reedited following festival savaging.
In Contention Now officially moved to the HitFix family. Check it out.
Movie|Line the movie Brad Pitt wants to be remembered for is... ??? Really? A personal pick I see.
Fuck Yeah Dementia I loled at this reworked moment from The Shining. [via]
Ultra Culture on Crazy, Stupid, Love. It's okay to want to f*** Ryan Gosling. Society says so! 

My New Plaid Pants discovers the Evil Gay (Rob James Collier) in the Emmy winning Dowton Abbey. And loves him.
Han Cinema we've been wondering if we'd see any foreign animated films in Oscar's weak animated eligible pool this year? Wonder if this could be one King of Pigs from South Korea. 
The AV Club and PopWatch both wonder if it isn't time that we all let go of Star Wars. As someone who grew up with them, seeing them in first release, I understand this issue too well.
Low Resolution, taking Nick's Flick Picks cue, is making a best of the first 50 he saw this year. Interesting and fine choices for acting honors including my Higher Ground gals (see previous interview) 
Some Came Running on Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method and the notion of what's cinematic. Interesting read for sure though I quit halfway through as it'll be better once i've seen the movie in question. My online reading is increasingly developing this pattern so my link lists are becoming cataloguing lists given that bloggers tend to write about movies so far in advance of your ability to actually see them.

Finally... since we're obsessed with Drive this week

Her breasts aren't real! Just sayin'.

Scanners I was just about to post this very framegrab from the Drive trailer. I hadn't noticed it until I accidently freeze-framed at this moment the other day and saw all the blurry breasts. LOL. It's a very breasty setpiece in the movie (and one of my favorite scenes; the strippers collective zombie like performances are perfection) But here it kicks off a host of observations about the color palette of Drive: teals, pinks, oranges and its orgasmic but nonsexual relationship with red.