Oscars Line-Up and Trivia 2020

It’s that time of year again – the movies have been chosen, complaints have been made, and ReelTalk is going to cover them one at a time.  Joker leads the pack with 11 nominations; The Irishman, 1917, and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood follow with 10 nominations apiece. 31% of the nominees are women (though this year’s lineup has once again mostly excluded women and nominees of color in the “major” categories), and Netflix has garnered 20 nominations, despite some claims that it is not entirely relevant cinema.

Fallen Kingdom: The Park is Truly Gone

Note from ReelTalk: Though this movie wasn’t a favorite by any means, there is a slight soft spot when writing its review, because when ReelTalk started three years ago, Jurassic World was the first movie I covered. It’s amazing to see the changes between then and now, and I hope that improvements continue to come as we dive deeper into the worlds of film and television.

I have been dreading this movie for months – with every new trailer that was released, I felt my excitement level dropping to a sub-basement level.This is one example where the trailers made the movie actually look worse than it is, which is partially good news: if you’re a big fan of the series, you’ll probably enjoy this a little bit more than you expected to. But it’s also likely you’ll still find yourself a little disappointed, because when it gets right down to it, this isn’t Jurassic Park anymore. This rebooted saga doesn’t have the heart or the magic of the original movies – the dinosaurs have become gimmicks, the characters are less engaging, and it’s harder to suspend your disbelief at the stupidity of people in the story. Sure, it could be part of the commentary that the movie is trying to make, but it would be better if there was a clean break. If you’re looking for a good way to kill two hours, you might be fine with what happens in this movie. But when you think of the original movies – the first time you saw the dinosaurs – you can’t help but wonder how we got here.