Sunday, November 3, 2024

Wicked (part one) opened

Wicked

Released: November 3, 2024

Studio: Universal Pictures

Genre: musical

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 472.52 Worldwide: 727.84

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Jon M. Chu

Screenwriting: Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox

Starring: Cynthai Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum

Review:

Wicked is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 2003 stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, a “Tony-winning origin story for the witches of Oz.” ^IGN That musical was loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, which was a reimagining of the Oz book series and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

The musical offers the back story about Elphaba (Erivo) and university classmate Galinda (Grande) who go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch in the Land of Oz. When they get the opportunity to meet the Wizard, Elphaba realizes he is a fraud with no magical power and that he is persecuting the animals in Oz. She steals a spell book and flees, leaving Glinda behind.

IGN.com’s Alyssa Mora says the movie, “defies some incredibly high expectations.” ^IGN Director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) “unwinds Wicked with tremendous insight” ^IGN and Grande and Erivo “deliver masterful and passionate performances…no small feat for roles originated by Broadway legends Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel.” ^IGN

“The intricately designed sets elevate the choreography of each musical number” ^IGN and “triumphantly translates the joy of seeing Wicked live.” ^IGN “Choreographer Christopher Scott brilliantly plays to the remarkable production design from Nathan Crowley.” ^IGN

Sources:

^IGN IGN.com movie review by Alyssa Mora
^WK Wikipedia

Awards/Honors/Lists:

Eras:

Box Office:

Awards:

Oscars:

Wins: 2: Best Production Design, Best Costume Design

Nominations: 10: Best Picture, Best Actress (Erivo), Best Supporting Actress (Grande), Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Styling, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects

First posted 3/2/2025.

Friday, June 11, 1993

Jurassic Park brings dinosaurs to life

Jurassic Park

Released: June 11, 1993

Studio: Universal

Genre: sci-fi/fantasy/monster

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 402.80 Worldwide: 1109.80

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 900.64 Worldwide: 2183.50

Directing: Steven Spielberg

Screenwriting: Michael Crichton, David Koepp

Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Wayne Knight

Review:

“Dinosaurs are recreated from genetic material for a theme park on a remote island. Chaos erupts during a test run when the dinosaurs break free and prey on the park guests. Landmark visual effects brought dinosaurs back to life.” ^A07

“When dinosaurs first ruled the movie-Earth, they did so in a herky-jerky stop-motion manner that while charmingly effective, required a fair dose of disbelief-suspension.” ^E18 Spielberg, however, makes us feel “for the first time they could be real, breathing animals (as opposed to monsters).” ^E18 The credit goes both to the “astonishing animatronics work” ^E18 of Stan Winston and the groundbreaking CGI from Industrial Light & Magic.

Critic Roger Ebert said Spielberg was so devoted to creating the dinosaurs that the human characters suffered. Ebert calls them “a ragtag bunch of half-realized, sketched-in personalities, who exist primarily to scream, utter dire warnings, and outwit the monsters.” ^RE

Richard Attenborough as the millionaire who creates the dinosaur theme park is “basically a good soul” ^RE but “realizes the error of tampering with nature.” ^RE Two dinosaur experts (Neill and Dern) are invited, along with a mathematician (Goldblum) to preview the park before it opens.

“An unscrupulous employee (Wayne Knight) shuts down the park’s computer program so he can smuggle out some dinosaur embryos.” ^RE “The subsequent events – after the creates get loose – follow an absolutely standard outline” ^RE although “there is a high technical level to the execution of the cliches” ^RE because the director is Spielberg.