Brendan Fraser has been the odds-on favorite to win this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor since reviews from the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4 started pouring in. This was when the first images of Fraser’s transformation into a 600-pound reclusive online English teacher began to surface. Suddenly, Austin Butler (Elvis), this year’s darling and thought-to-be shoo-in, had a serious contender for the top prize for acting. With a few more films still to debut at the time of this writing, this category is a two-actor race. However, having seen both performances, first Butler and now Fraser in Darren Aronofsky’s (Black Swan, The Wrestler) The Whale, there is a strong case for either man. These two performances transcend anything I have seen in a year that could be stronger in this category. However, Fraser’s redemption story of a once A-list actor who has fallen into almost complete obscurity for the last decade will undoubtedly play a significant factor in the voters’ minds. This performance lived up to its hype, and this award feels like Fraser’s to lose.
Category Archives: Ty Simpkins
Jurassic World (2015)
It’s been 12 years since we last saw the Tyrannosaurus Rex tearing up the supposedly revamped dinosaur park in Jurassic Park III. While much better than the 50% rating it earned on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie pretty much signaled the end of the franchise. Gone were Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. There was talk over the last decade to reinvigorate the series, but nothing ever materialized. Then came the move to call this Jurassic World rather than Jurassic Park IV and add all new players to the game. Had this movie been released in 2005 (to continue the pattern of every three years), I think this movie would have stunk. Even with its 2015 release date, it still could have stunk. But it didn’t stink. It wasn’t the original (93% on Rotten Tomatoes and $350 million domestically + another $50 million on re-release in 2013, not to mention the millions it earned overseas and through rentals). However, it was still very, very good. I’ll go as far as to say that if this was the first movie with Jurassic in the name that it would have earned higher than its respectable 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. With over $200 million drawn on opening weekend, it’s likely to smash any of its predecessors at the box office (by contrast, Jurassic Park earned just $50 million in its first weekend). Regardless, I felt that if the movie received a rating of over 65% fresh, it would probably do very well at the ticket office. I didn’t think it would do this good. But I feel like it deserves its positive reviews and its revenue. It was a very entertaining movie and one that I recommend seeing on the big screen.
Continue reading Jurassic World (2015)