dinosaurs – Looking to God

Owen

Posted on November 11, 2015November 10, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Hunter. Trainer. Soldier. Owen fulfills the roll of the every-man. He leads by instinct and deals with problems in a way that is reminiscent of Indiana Jones. His only flaw is he cares too much, which leads him into situations that may cost him his life. That is a good thing.

Today’s Wednesday Warriors highlight is Owen (Chris Pratt) of Colin Trevorrow‘s movie Jurassic World. Spoiler free.

Years ago, when the idea took hold that science could spawn a dinosaur from DNA preserved in amber, it seemed like the most extraordinary Peter Pan fantasy anyone could ever devise. However, when John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), a rich investor, took the notion a step further and built an island off the coast of Costa Rica, giving birth to the lofty creatures, a dream evolved into reality.

That dream soon became a nightmare once life, in all its primal form, turned against its creator and transformed the island into a feeding ground. The Tyrannosaurus Rex reigned as the dominate beast and the food chain that sat dormant for millions of years awakened. Humanity was no longer at the top of the mountain.

Jurassic World's Owen — Jurassic World’s Owen

In 2015, John Hammond’s dream of a park that would spark the imagination of children everywhere comes to full realization. No longer should anyone fear the dinosaurs running amok among the people. Fences are up. Controls are in place. And millions of dollars pour into the pockets of the park owners. Only this time, there will be no mistakes to jeopardize human life.

This is where Owen makes his appearance. He lives alone, away from any form of civilization, preferring the comfort of jungle life. Rugged. Strong. He’d rather fight with the terrors of a Jurassic jungle than to get into a spat with a woman. At least, he knows he can win a few against prehistoric beasts.

Owen is also the voice of reason. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), the park’s delegated leader, may have a problem no one else can fix, but Owen knows level-headed decisions are the only way to go when things don’t make sense. In spite of resistance by others, and an overwhelming sense of duty, he doesn’t allow those in positions of authority to influence his natural inclination to get involved. He sees ten steps ahead before it’s too late.

Owen’s only flaw is his inability to step aside. It has nothing to do with courage or being a hero. He simply sees an opportunity to lend aid and can’t prevent himself from jumping in. It’s within his nature to do so, much like it is for carnivores to hunt and kill for food. They can’t help themselves.

And this is how Jurassic World begins—as a place fit for the whole family that soon looks to Owen for help.

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Have you seen Jurassic World? What do you think about the main character Owen?

Monday Mayhem

Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens

Posted on June 29, 2015June 28, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Summer movies mean only one thing—aliens. This year it also means dinosaurs rampaging through the theater. Given Jurassic World‘s incredible cash haul at the box office, it’s a wonder anything has survived its carnage. Wouldn’t it be interesting if aliens and dinosaurs battle it out in one movie? I wonder what that would be like? Would you go see it?

For today’s Monday Mayhem, I would like to fantasize for a moment about a movie that I’d love to see at the theater. How does that old writer’s adage go? Oh, yes. A writer writes stuff they’d like to read. In this case, although I’m not a director, a movie I’d like to see would be an all-out battle between aliens and dinosaurs. Wouldn’t that be something?

How would such a movie start?

First, I’d like to see the amped-up dinos from Jurassic World make an appearance. It would only be fitting. Give the aliens ray guns to blast, make the dinosaurs impossible to kill, and what you’d have would be a film filled with intense battles, outstanding special effects and a crazy amount of science fiction to boot. Even more so, would the dinosaurs win if the aliens were the aliens from the movie Aliens? Try saying that fast three times.

The aliens from Aliens have acid for blood. If a dino bites the head off one of the aliens, the beast would surely choke on its own blood. It would be like it had slugged back a carton full of glass. Raw and tender doesn’t even describe the pain the beasts would feel.

How about making the film more fantastic? How about if the aliens were the little green men from another planet like in the movie Mars Attacks!? I’m not sure if the dinos would survive, but at the same time the beasts would have their paws full chasing after the little buggers all over the entire planet.

Since I’m throwing ideas out there to see what sticks, how about a movie that features the creatures from Gremlins? Talk about little annoyances. Remember what the three basic rules are for not producing a gremlin from a mogwai? Here they are

Never get them wet
Never expose them to bright light
And never, ever feed them after midnight

Imagine if you had a pool full of these creatures run after the dinos? I don’t even think velociraptors would be able to survive such an onslaught.

I can’t help myself—one more. How about a movie where Aliens and Gremlins face off in an ultimate death match to see who would go after the dinos?

Why limit it to a handful of velociraptors? Let’s throw a few thousand of these killer animals on an island to go after anything that movies. Oh, wait. I think that was the point of Jurassic Park III.

No matter, it’s always a great way to pass the time imagining about worlds teeming with fantasy.

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RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

What movie would you like to see made that no one has ever made before?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Dr. Ellie Sattler

Posted on June 19, 2013June 18, 2013 by Jack Flacco

If someone were to say Dr. Ellie Sattler rocks in her hiking boots, the response would probably be, Dr. Who? No, not that doctor. But if someone were to say the chick from Jurassic Park kicks ass, all the fists would pump in the air. Women Who Wow Wednesday celebrates the good doctor’s contribution to the classic movie.

The big controversy these days is the consumption of GMO products. In particular, a certain biotechnology company is spending millions to prevent labeling on packages containing genetically modified organisms.

In 2010, scientists pondered on what would happen if they could alter mosquito DNA to make them resistant to malaria. It would be a breakthrough and perhaps cure the spread of the disease. In 2009, they added a lethal gene in the mosquito DNA to combat Dengue fever. They let loose the insect in the Cayman Islands and it reduced the fever by 80%. Although highly controversial, the results astounded.

In 1993, genetics were also all the rage, a little movie by the name of Jurassic Park came to theaters. The premise? Create a park made up entirely of dinosaurs, and the public would pay through the nose to see the natural attractions in action. Of course, things don’t go as planned, there’s running and screaming and, well, you get the picture. In the midst of this wonderful premise, lies buried an interesting theory. What if scientist could find a way to extract dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes trapped in amber from millions of years ago? Would scientists have enough information to recreate the dinosaurs? Movies are movies, yet this had the markings of something plausible that may happen.

Enter Dr. Ellie Sattler, paleobotanist. She studies prehistoric plants. Invited along with paleontologist Dr. Grant and mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm to Jurassic Park by creator John Hammond, she immediately asserts her position in the grand scheme of things:

Dr. Ian Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs.
Dr. Ellie Sattler: Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth.

No denying she has a way of grabbing someone’s attention. Her moxie directs her to do the things that guys ought to do. Who’s the one who hops into the middle of a dangerous jungle to investigate the ill condition of a Triceratops? Dr. Sattler. Who’s the one who dives hands first into a pile of fresh dung to examine the root cause of the pharmacological poisoning of the beast from local plant life? Dr. Sattler. And who’s the one who accompanies a skilled hunter into the wild to retrieve the children from harm’s way? Yep, you guessed it, Dr. Sattler.

As a natural leader, she embodies the spirit of true serving. How else can one describe her disregard for her own safety when searching for the children and finding the remains of the truck from which they fell? On her own, with only a flashlight in hand, she searched for them at the bottom of a gorge—unarmed, mind you.

Then there’s the pivotal scene where she’s the one who has a talk with John Hammond, as the whole park falls apart at the seams, scolding him about the illusion of control he thought he had over the park. No one else could have pulled that off with him and get away with it. And let’s not forget who brought the power back up in the park while the raptors were having a party feasting on the guests. That’s right, she went and did it all on her own. Adding to fun times, she even came face to face with a raptor, keeping it at bay while finding a way of escape.

Dr. Ellie Sattler certainly is one of the fiercest female characters to hit a Spielberg film. It would have been amazing if she strapped on a shotgun and made meat of those carnivorous creatures threatening her friends. It would have been too easy, though.

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What did you think of Dr. Ellie Sattler? What did you like about Jurassic Park?

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