What Movies are Perfect to watch of the 4th of July?

First and foremost Happy Independence Day to everyone here in the United States. I hope you have a great day no matter what you are doing; hanging by the pool while someone makes burgers and hot-dogs or spending the day inside (hopefully with air conditioning) and watching some patriotic movies. Whether it is something about our founding fathers or a movie that makes you feel patriotic. Today I want to do something a little different today other than a review. I’m gonna give you some movies I feel are perfect to watch whether it’d be today or just to make you proud of waving the American Flag. Here are some of my picks in no particular order. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

1. Yankee Doodle Dandy. This 1942 biographical musical follows the true story of George M. Cohan (James Cagney) as he takes Broadway by storm; although his ego gets in the way a lot. Featuring songs such as “Over There” “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “The Yankee Doodle Boy”. This film means so much to me because it was one of my grandmother’s favorites. Knowing George M. Cohan was so proud of our flag, and he was born on the fourth of July, makes me happy to be a musical fan as well as an American.
2. Air Force One. I did a review for this 1997 film, but let me give you a quick recap. President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) has to rely on his former military training when terrorists, led by Egor Korshunov (Gary Oldman), hijack Air Force One and threaten to kill everyone on board unless their dictator is released. One of my favorite Harrison Ford films outside the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises; this film showed just what would anyone do to protect their family; also who doesn’t cheer a little when Marshall says “Get off my plane.”
3. 1776. Yes another musical but at least it takes place leading up to why we celebrate the fourth of July. This 1972 film, based on the Broadway musical sees the Continental Congress as they make tough decisions; including whether or not independence from England is worth it. Starring William Daniels (yes, Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World) as John Adams, Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin, Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson and Virginia Vestoff as Abigail Adams this musical gets your feet taping and flag waving.
4. Jaws. Maybe not a movie about war or the American flag, but this 1975 film helped start the phenomenon known as summer blockbusters at the movies. Jaws is about a town being threatened by a great white shark and the three men wanting to put the shark down for good. The film does take place over the Fourth of July weekend, so I guess that counts.
5. A League of their Own. Baseball has often been called the American past-time, and this 1992 film just might be one of the best sports films of all time. Starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, and Lori Petty the film takes a look back at the short lived All American Girls Professional Baseball League which took place during World War II. We watch as the girls have to deal with sexism, getting the public’s attention and proving they can be just as good as the men. A true classic film if I may say so.
6.  Hidden Figures. I don’t want to call this film a surprise hit, but I’ll admit that I did not expect to see this 2016 movie to appear at so many award shows. That being said it is still a fantastic watch. When it looks like the Russians might beat the U.S. to space three brilliant African American women working for NASA step up to make it possible. Staring Taraji P. Henson as mathematician Katherine Johnson, Octavia Spencer as supervisor, and later computer expert Dorothy Vaughen and Janelle Monáe as engineer Mary Jackson. The film also features Kevin Costner, Jim Parsons, Kirsten Dunst and Mahershala Ali as people who either stood in the way or made a path for them to succeed. A movie about change as well as patriotism.
7. The Rocky franchise. I know many will say Rocky IV is the most associated with patriotism, and that may be true, but I think not enough credit is given to the other films (at least the first three in addition to the fourth.) The franchise follows boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) as he does from underdog to champion while finding and keeping the love of Adrian (Talia Shire). Everyone loves the underdog story, but I’ll admit the 1985 fourth film in the franchise is probably the more patriotic of the franchise; Rocky fights a Russian boxer named Drago (Dolph Lundgren) on Russian turf after Drago kills Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring. On a side note I cannot wait to see Creed II this fall.
8. Independence Day. Come on, how was I not going to put this 1996 film on here? When aliens arrive to take over the world, military forces must team up to combat the menace. Starring Will Smith in one of his breakthrough movie roles, Bill Pullman as the president of the United States, Jeff Goldblum and Vivica A. Fox this film showed when a force wants to fight, we are gonna fight back.
9. Captain America: The First Avenger. I had to put one superhero movie on here and this 2011 film might be the most American of them all. The origin of one of the most popular comic book heroes is brought to life as Steve Trevor (Chris Evans) is transformed into Captain America. While starting of as joke, Steve soon proves he has the strength and heart of an American hero as his fights off a secret organization known as Hydra. Admittedly this is the weakest origin film of the Marvel movies, but it was one heck of a start to the Captain America part of the franchise.
10. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Another underdog story, but this time it involves politics. Released in 1939, Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) is taken under the wing of Joseph Paine (Claude Rains) a crooked senator. The simple-minded Smith is at first destroyed by the newspapers and politicians, but after a little help Smith rallies for the people and earns their respect, as well as the respect of the Senate. James Stewart does a phenomenal job and his speech reaffirming what America is truly about is one of the best parts of the movie.

I hope everyone has a great Independence Day. Is there a film missing from my list that is one yours? Please leave a comment of what film and why it is great for the Fourth of July.

Movie Review: The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Because one island full of dinosaurs wasn’t enough right? Released in 1997 the sequel to the massive hit Jurassic Park was not as well received; could be any number of reasons but I’ll get into that later. However I think we can agree out of the original sequels this is the better one. As always spoilers will be ahead. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Four years after the events of Jurassic Park Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is invited to John Hammond’s (Richard Attenborough) mansion, where he also briefly reunited with Lex and Tim (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello). Hammond explains that his greedy nephew Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard) is now in charge of InGen, the ones responsible for creating the dinosaurs, and wants to use the secret island of Isla Sorna where the dinosaurs were originally living before moving to Isla Nublar for the park, as collateral damage for not just the prior events but for a lawsuit by the parents of a little girl who was attacked on Sorna. Hammond wants Malcolm to help document the dinosaurs in order to create public support in protecting them and he agrees, only after learning his girlfriend Dr. Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) is already there. Malcolm, along with engineer Eddie Car (Richard Schiff), video documentarian activist Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn) and inadvertently Malcolm’s gymnast daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester) arrive on Isla Sorna and soon discover Ludlow’s real plot of bringing the dinosaurs into San Diego for a theme park, while the leader of Ludlow’s team Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite) wants the Tyrannosaurus Rex, by luring it out using its injured baby (yeah that had BAD IDEAS written all over it.) About as far as I should go without spoiling the rest of the movie.

I think everyone can agree that their favorite character from the first film, and maybe the entire Jurassic franchise, is Jeff Goldblum, and I did love him in this one. Normally supporting characters in one film are not so great with their own; however Goldblum is so good I thought he did fantastic. Moore is pretty good as Sarah and I enjoyed seeing Hammond, Lex and Tim from the first film. As far as acting goes the rest of the cast is not bad, but the script fails to live up to the hype after the fantastic first film (although to be fair that is a high bar.) This was also the last of the Jurassic movies to be based on a book. Special effects had come a long way in between the first and second film, however I think that is why The Lost World has pretty mixed reviews from critics and fans. The first one made it feel like the dinosaurs were real when you know that is impossible; this one kinda took away that magic. I will say seeing the T-Rex attacking San Diego is probably the best part of the movie while my favorite line in the movie is Sarah asking how they would find the T-Rex and Malcolm (whom already has fantastic lines in here) responds “Just follow the screams” (because that it literally the answer to where did the bad guy/monster went.) I think while The Lost World is flawed it is not as bad as I think the critics and longtime fans say; I will say the kills in here were probably the most brutal until the first Jurassic World. If you are starting the Jurassic Park franchise and are curious if this is worth the watch then I would say yes, otherwise put this on the maybe list.

Movie Review: Jurassic Park

With the fifth film opening this Friday I thought it would be a great idea to finally review one of the most successful film franchises of all time. Based on the 1990 novel of the same time, this 1993 Steven Spielberg movie opened the door to a brand new world 65 million years in the making. For some reason if you haven’t seen the franchise here is a massive spoiler alert. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), his paleobotanist girlfriend Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician/chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are invited by industrialist John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and a lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) to verify that Hammond’s new park is safe. When they get to the island called Isla Nublar Grant, Ellie and Malcolm are stunned (to say the least) that Hammond and his team, including Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) and Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck) have recreated dinosaurs using DNA from mosquito and frogs as well as keeping the dinosaurs all girls in order to prevent breading; Dr. Malcolm quickly disbelieves this famously stating “Life finds a way” as well as dismissing the thought of controlling the dinosaurs. Grant, Ellie, Malcolm, Gennaro and Hammond’s grandchildren Lex and Tim Murphy (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello) go on a tour of the park, called Jurassic Park, and that is when things go wrong. A tropical storm hits the island at the same time Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight), who has been bribed by a competitor to steal embryos, cuts off the security system in order to get to where they are stashed. However because of his stupidity the power goes off as well and trucks with Grant, Malcolm, Gennaro and the kids get stuck right by the Tyrannosaurs Rex area (for those who haven’t seen the film this ends about as well as you think.) Everyone soon has to find a way to survive in Jurassic Park with not only the T-Rex but velociraptors after them until help can arrive. About as far as I should go without giving away the rest of the movie.

I actually avoided this film when I was younger because dinosaurs freaked me out (also seeing people getting eaten on screen makes me nauseous.) However when Jurassic World was coming out my curiosity was getting the better of me and I finally sat down to watch all three films. My reviews for those will come later, as for this this is clearly the best of the Jurassic films so far (not just my opinion but a fact.) This is widely regarded as one of the best films of all time; not just in dinosaur but in terms of Spielberg films as well. Everyone in the movie did a fantastic job acting wise, the script was fantastic and the special effects, given how computers were back in the 90’s, were amazing. The dinosaurs in here are either robotics and/or CGI are so well done you would think they were actual dinosaurs. Of course I cannot forget about the incredible music on the background, one of the most recognizable themes in film and why Jurassic Park won Oscars for its sound mixing, editing and visual effects. While I think the three sequels, as well as the upcoming fourth this Friday, are/may not as good as this one it was still a great way to start off one of the best film franchises of all time. If you haven’t watched the original Jurassic Park I highly recommend it, I’d even call it a must see. In the words of John Hammond: “Welcome to Jurassic Park.”

Movie Review: Thor: Ragnarok

Truth be told I did not expect to laugh as much as I did in this movie, and yet it was one of the funniest superhero movies I’ve seen (genuinely funny not bad funny.) Besides laughing it does have a great story that will continue at least to the next Avengers film. I’m going to try and avoid spoilers, but just in case here is a warning. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) had been searching for the Infinity stones since the last time the audience saw him, Age of Ultron two years ago. However he returns to Asgard after learning his father Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins is no longer there (if you may recall in Thor: Dark World his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is posing as Odin) and Ragnarok is coming, the end of Asgard. Thor as well learns of another threat to Asgard, Hela (Cate Blanchett) who let’s just say has a long history with Odin. Thor and Loki try to battle Hela, but they end up cast out into another world and Thor’s might hammer is destroyed by Hela. On this new world, run by the Grand Master (Jeff Goldblum) Loki quickly makes friends with him while Thor is forced into battle with his longtime friend The Hulk, aka Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo.) Determined to get back and stop Hela, Thor teams with Loki, Hulk, Heimdall (Idris Elba) and Scraper 142, a former Valkyrior (Tessa Thompson) to get off this world and back to Asgard. About as far as I can go without spoiling as this is still in theaters.

As I have stated before this is very funny and action packed film. I will admit some of the comedy bits had me saying “Ok we get it bigger issues going on right now come on.” Other than that I really enjoyed this film. I am glad we had a more light-hearted tone in this compared to the other Thor films, oh almost forgot they do have a cameo by Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) which if you saw that film at the end will explain the end scene as well as a few other actors you may recognize. For those curious as to how they will explain Natalie Portman’s Jane not being in it does for about a minute. I loved everything about this film, cannot wait to see more of Tessa Thompson actually I enjoyed her a lot, and I hope if you like superheroes you will see this movie.