Episode 117 - JURASSIC PARK

Even before you saw Jurassic Park, you felt its impact. Steven Spielberg's hyper-intuitive knowledge of movie audiences hatched a phenomenon that transcended pop culture, inspiring an evolutionary leap in filmmaking technology while revitalizing the field of paleontology for years to come.

Life found a way to bring Jack Stovold back to the 'cast, and together we share our memories and (chaos) theories regarding this cinematic milestone. Hold on to your butts for more Mesozoic musings as Jurassic June continues!

Part 1

 

Part 2

Jurassic Park (1993)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Gerald R. Molen
Written by Michael Crichton and David Koepp
Based on the novel by Michael Crichton
Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Wayne Knight, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards, and Samuel L. Jackson

Episode 116 - THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK

Calling all dino-lovers and chaos theory adherents! This month we're examining cinematic prehistory, and what better place to start than with a T-Rex rampage through San Diego? The Lost World: Jurassic Park works hard to one-up its predecessor in terms of sheer spectacle, and experiments with an action hero who doubles as a consistent and thorough naysayer.

Also in this episode, Nate Tapp returns to warn us of the horrific consequences of resurrecting unpredictable primordial beasts. Welcome...to Jurassic June!

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Gerald R. Molen, and Colin Wilson

Written by David Koepp

Based on The Lost World by Michael Crichton

Starring Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Richard Schiff, Arliss Howard, Vanessa Lee Chester, Peter Stormare, Richard Attenborough, and Pete Postlethwaite

Episode 58 - INDEPENDENCE DAY

 

Best remembered for boot-strapping highlights like Bill Pullman's rousing speech or Will Smith's aggressive greeting of an alien visitor, Independence Day teaches us that only good old-fashioned American courage and ingenuity can take down an intergalactic threat.

Sure, the film also tries to be a gallery of character moments tied together by vague, warm feelings of human resilience and unity in times of great crisis. But what other country's head of state is going to strap into a fighter jet and feed those E.T.s a steady diet of air-to-air missiles?

For this special Fourth of July episode, we welcome two real patriots--Brian Rudloff and Daren Sprawls--to debate the merits of ID4, from the appearance of its extraterrestrials and the dimensionality of its cast, to its tempered version of blockbuster machismo and its entertainment value relative to Mars Attacks!

Independence Day (1996)
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Produced by Dean Devlin
Written by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin
Starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Randy Quaid, Margaret Colin, Mary McDonnell, Robert Loggia, James Rebhorn, and Brent Spiner

Episode 12 - THE PRINCE OF EGYPT

DreamWorks Animation in the pre-Shrek era is a fascinating subject.  Before it became known as the home of the arched eyebrow, the studio aimed to provide a sleeker and slightly more mature alternative to Disney's family fare - think of the neurotic worker drones in Antz and the sly POW parody of Chicken Run.

Against that backdrop, DreamWorks' earnest Biblical epic The Prince of Egypt doesn't seem like the anomaly it appears to be.  It's a sweeping account of the prophet Moses - who, as the film's title cards helpfully point out, is a figure central to three major world religions - from his wicker basket ride down the Nile to his parting of the Red Sea.  And because this is an animated movie in the '90s, it's also a musical.  (Can't leave that soundtrack lucre on the table.)

In this episode, we investigate what The Prince of Egypt brings to the re-telling of this ancient story and how it's placed in a context with everything from The Ten Commandments to Exodus: Gods and Kings.

The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Directed by Simon Wells, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Hickner
Produced by Penney Finkleman Cox, Sandra Rabins, and Jeffrey Katzenberg
Written by Philip LaZebnik and Nicholas Meyer
Starring Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfieffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Stewart, Danny Glover, Steve Martin, and Martin Short