My Own Little World

Somehow, some way, Jurassic World  is both one of my most anticipated films of the year and one of the most surprising. The anticipation shouldn't be hard to grasp: I remember seeing the original Jurassic Park  on VHS when I was give or take 8 years old. I fell in love with it immediately and even more so when last summer I saw it on the big screen for the first time at my local arthouse. So, where did the skepticism come from? Well, as I saw more and more material come from Jurassic World , I kept thinking (and hearing from others) that it looked more and more like a mindless CG crapfest similar to the Transformers  franchise...or Jurassic Park III . Thankfully, the 14 years we've waited for a fourth Jurassic Park  film were well worth the wait. Not only is Jurassic World  visually entertaining and thrilling, it also captures a lot of the magic of the original film. The majority of this magic comes from the story. The "too long; didn't read" version...

I'm going to be starting another new series on my blog: My Favorites. These are simply some of my favorite films. First up (and definitely not-so-simply): Christopher Nolan's 2010 heist thriller Inception .  My number one reason for liking Inception  might seem fanboyish, but I'll say it anyway: it's a Christopher Nolan film.  Now, my reasons for liking Nolan's films are too numerous to count, but I'll say this: he is one of the very few directors who makes artistic, thoughtful films on a blockbuster budget. Starting out as an indie director with Memento , Nolan really hit his stride when he inherited the Batman franchise and made his Dark Knight  trilogy (which I will cover later in this series). However, he always had a knack for taking original content such as the magician-focused novel The Prestige  or creating his own original ideas. This is where Inception  comes in. How many films can you say have been made about the subconscious of the ...