'American Animals' A Review

American Animals is a heist docu-drama about two angsty college students in Lexington, KY who hatch a plan to steal rare books from a collegiate library. The film cuts back and forth from real life interviews from those involved to a fictional depictions of the events. Spencer(Barry Keoghan) is an aspiring artist in search of a real world experience to help propel his creativity. His best friend Warren(Evan Peters) is the Dean Moriarty stand in, energetic and impulsive. The two loop in Eric(Jared Abrahamson) an accounting student and Chas(Blake Jenner) an entrepreneurial rich kid to round out their crew.

The casting is pitch perfect and brings a weight and emotional resonance to the somewhat immature existential crisis which seemingly propels the various burgeoning adults motivations. Keoghan proves again(in the wake of Dunkirk and his incredible turn in The Killing Of A Sacred Deer) that he is one of the most talented dynamic actors of his generation, providing subtlety and depth of pathos surprising for his age. Peters who has demonstrated massive ability in his television work and in his scene stealing turns in the X-Men series is finally given a realistic dynamic character to play. Abrahamson(from the underrated TV series Travelers), in a smaller role, gives the quartet a much needed stolidness and morality. Jenner in the least developed role provides a frenetic aggression which balances out the foursome. The performances from the four leads are all surprisingly assured, they have a wonderful chemistry, and they impart a gentle dignity to a situation that could(with a different angle) lurch into the territory of broad comedy.

The one fault of the film is its pacing, it's probably fifteen minutes too long with a false finish about three quarters of the way into the run time. The cinematography is innovative and vital cutting between the real life participants, the actors, sometimes having them interact with each other, and the recurring motif of birds and wildlife with a thumping dread-inducing score.

Significant craft paired with confident performances make for an unexpected treat.

See It.

Ghost Town

All that's left

is flaking paint,

rotting timber,

and the echo
of laughter

from long ago

'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' A Review

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is an action/adventure movie. a sequel to 2015's Jurassic World and the fifth in the Jurassic Park series. The story picks up three years after its predecessor and the volcano on the dino-island is about to erupt. In a hard-to-believe animal rights effort Claire(Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen(Chris Pratt) return on a mission to save various dinosaurs and get them to an animal sanctuary. The team is organized by the blatantly suspect Lockwood foundation and the turn, which is spoiled heavily in the trailers, is that the mission is not a rescue effort but a money making mercenary scheme. The fact that the "rescue mission" is made up of a force of 100 paramilitary is something the lead characters seem not to question. Our leads barely survive the volcanic eruption and the black market dino auction and final showdown take place at the Lockwood estate.

Howard and Pratt, both solid performances, fail again to rise above the lazy writing and convoluted illogical plot in which their characters appear. There are a handful of decent performances- Jeff Goldblum reprising his role as Dr. Malcolm, Daniella Pineda as Dr. Rodriguez, Geraldine Chaplin as Iris, and Isabella Sermon as Maisie- but they are all supporting even bit players with slivers of screen time. The bulk of the movie is carried and dropped by Howard and Pratt. They are competent actors but this new trilogy operates under the false impression that it was the dinosaurs alone that made the original film rocket towards the front of the cultural zeitgeist when in fact it was the fully flushed out compelling characters that allowed us to experience the wonder and danger of the dinosaurs.

Overly CGI'ed and apathetically plotted this installment is marginally better than it's predecessor perhaps because it abandons the lip service to characterization the first Jurassic World attempted and so disgustingly failed at.

In a world where dinosaurs are genetically re-engineered it may seem odd to question the internal logic of the movie however genre films work doubly hard to maintain narrative credibility. The whole concept of worldbuilding exists for this reason- to have fictitious sometimes fantastic worlds that operate by other-wordly means in consistent ways. I can buy that these dinosaurs exist but I can't buy the inconsistency and vagueness of Claire's character, job, and skills. I don't buy that Dr. Rodriguez and Owen are ostensibly veterans but don't recognize a clearly military force. The characters half-assedly debate the "rights" of the dinosaurs yet the movie is book ended with an excellent monologue by Dr. Malcolm explicitly refuting the idea we should care about them. Not to mention the ENTIRE SERIES has been about human hubris and the inevitable violent reaction of the dinosaurs. How could this "animal rights" angle possible exist after the sweeping and substantial loss of life over the course of three decades. It makes no sense.

The reason Jurassic Park was so successful and stands the test of time was because it had heart and conveyed a certain wonder and mystery about life. It wasn't because it featured multiple violent dinos. It seems the Jurassic World creators have no idea why the original was a success and continue to flounder pathetically.

Stream It.

Mackinac Bridge

There are few examples
of human ingenuity
and nature's splendor
in perfect harmony
but crossing Lake Michigan
on a five mile stretch
of steel and concrete
gliding above glimmering waves
with Gaia's beauty all around
and man's stolid effort beneath
the possibility of a lasting acord
need not be so far out of reach.

Final Leg

Headed out of Green Bay kind of late, didn't have that much ground to cover today. We stopped off at the Horicon Marsh which was amazing- lush and green and huge.

Had dinner in Madison with my sister Marta and her family and had a wonderful visit before heading back to Rockford and completing the trip. I'll have one more hop tomorrow to get back to Chicago but I'll do that solo.

We rode about 1100 miles over the course of four days and did about 7/8 of the coast of Lake Michigan before cutting inland. It has been a bit of a whirlwind. My dad and I have taken a couple rides together but only for the afternoon and once he accompanied me half way on my trip to Richmond but this was the first time we rode together on a multi-day trip solely for us. It was a wonderful experience. Not only all the gorgeous scenery and oddities on the road, the varied and interesting people we met, but to share it all. To have the time, father and son, that was ours alone doing something that we both loved. This adventure that was very immediate and physically taxing at times but was ultimately joyous. I took care of him a bit, he took care of me a bit, we rode a lot, we saw a lot, and we did it all together. I'll need more time to unpack the experience but overall I'd say it was a real triumph. I'm supremely grateful to be able to share such a cool, fun, challenging journey with my dad.

Long Hall

Went from Ludington to Petoskey yesterday along the coast. Valleys and lakes and cliffs and coastline, really beautiful. Today went from Petoskey to Green Bay. Through the Tunnel of Trees, across the Mackinac Bridge(pictured above) which was really breathtaking, across the UP with a stop for pasties, and finally, exhausted, into Green Bay.

We did make a brief stop at the Kitch-iti-kipi spring which was cool but kind of a bust for half an hour out of our way.

Today was the biggest riding day we had. We saw some incredible stuff but it was quite the trek. Final push tomorrow.

Resort Towns

A series of near identical
picturesque cookie-cutter
truncated municipalities
some puritanical architect's
wet dream from 1955
brick and white-wash
post-colonial consturction
for miles on end
comforting, perhaps
for those aging affluents
with little sense of adventure.

There's nothing wrong
with fudge shoppes
and general stores
but taken in sucession
it smacks of Steppford
of sameness
of control.