Does Dan Dig Dinosaur?
One question kept going through my head as I watched Disney's CGI flick, Dinosaur tonight -- if I had $200 million, tons of computer hardware and animation talent, and the specific request for a family movie about dinosaurs, what would I come up with? It beats the heck 'outta me, and it seems like Disney had a hard time with this question as well -- the final result comes off feeling like a battle between two groups of people over at the Mouse: the guys who want to show off their nifty special effects, and the ones that want to tell a story.

Unfortunately, while Dinosaur sure has some nice effects, in the end the special effects won out over the story, and as a result, Dinosaur will never be remembered like other Disney classics like The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast: The story was simply a disappointment, playing like a rehash of every Disney movie thus far, including a lot of Tarzan and The Land Before Time.. the dinosaurs could have been replaced with lions or deer without changing one line.. Frankly, I was expecting something better in the plot department.

Not to say that the movie wasn't good.. it was. It just wasn't great. The music (by James Newton Howard) was fantastic. The movie is pure eye candy, and contains some very nice action scenes that would make the ILM animators gearing up for JP3 proud (and maybe a bit nervous). Unlike other reviews I read, I didn't feel as if Dinosaur was boring or dull (my main fear going in) -- the audience we saw it with (85% kids) was gripped to the screen, and cheered and applauded at the end. The "Love Monkey", which I dreaded seeing, turned out to be ok, and there was really no scene that made me groan and turn away out of lameness (except for near the end, when the Carnosaurus is scared away by a few tiny dinos making measly noises).

Despite all the positive aspects of the film, all-in-all I was a little disappointed in Dinosaur -- Disney has a long way to go before it turns out great CGI films like Toy Story. It's a good start, however (it'll make a great DVD), and while you're watching at least be glad they didn't make dinosaurs sing.

May 18, 2000

"Jurassic Park 3 is scheduled for the Fourth of July weekend next year. The story is about a group of people that are stranded on the island seen at the end of The Lost World. The group must fight for survival as the dinosaurs have become territorial. There is rumored to be some kind of large predator on the island that we have not seen in the previous two films."

Duh
The idiot who has been sending in fake JP3 news over at the Spielberg-Dreamworks fansite has fessed up, and the site has posted a correction. I've left the original "news" below for the record, but removed my editorial comments doubting the truthfulness of the rumor.

Dinosaur Tomorrow
Well, tomorrow is Dinosaur day, and I'm not sure whether to be excited or dreadful.. Harry has posted some early reviews of the film, like this scathing one, as well as this pretty positive one (both spoiler-free). I remember seeing storyboards for this film five years ago at Disneyworld, and reeeeallly hope they didn't screw it up. My comments tomorrow...

May 15, 2000

Plot Rumors
I hate having an update with just rumors, but it looks like this is going to be one of em.. GoldblumRules pointed out that the sequel-tracking site SequelBuzz.com reported at the end of March that the plot of JP3 has to do with "a group of shipwrecked passengers who are trapped on the 'Monster Island' that was created at the end of JP2." Again, salt this bit of news to taste.

May 11, 2000

Dan Does Homework
Thought you people might be interested in an online project I've done for a class here at college (I go to UMD, btw). It's entitled "The History of Computer Animation in Film", and you can find it here.

May 2, 2000

New Screenwriter Rumors
A few new names to add to the heap of writers rumored to be working on JP3: the up-and-coming website that tracks projects in the works, 4filmmakers, now lists the names Jonathan Hensleigh (The Saint, A Far Off Place, Armageddon) and Peter Buchman (who has worked on some crappy TV movies), in addition to the others we know already (Rosenberg, Gilroy, Johnston). How many writers do we need, Joe?!

New Fan-Made JP3 Trailer
Those future Spielberg's over at Las Cinco Muertes have finished work on another high-quality JP3 trailer, this one featuring a dog! Check it out, here. Don't forget to get RealPlayer before you download.

April 25, 2000

Universal DVD Announcement
Steven Spielberg has finally announced that he will introduce his library of Universal Studios films on DVD starting this summer. According to this Reuters story a "Collectors Edition" DVD of the director's 1975 hit Jaws will hit shelves on July 11th, with others to follow on a "staggered basis". E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and The Lost World will follow.

April 21, 2000

April 12, 2000

'Walking with Dinosaurs' Reminder
Just a reminder if I don't update by Sunday, the BBC's acclaimed series, Walking with Dinosaurs will air on the Discovery Channel from 7 to 10 p.m. (all 6 episodes in a row) on Sunday, so set your VCRs! Also of related interest is the live webcast Science Live! on the Discovery Channel site, which will air at 8:10 p.m. ET tonight and give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the series. You can submit questions here.

April 8, 2000

April 5, 2000

Horner Confirmation?
While looking around The Dreamworks SKG Fansite, I noticed that they reported awhile back that according to an official-sounding publication called "Composer's Magazine" (I can't find it anywhere online, however), James "Titanic" Horner has, in fact, been signed to compose music for JP3, and the rumors were correct.

Fan-Made JP3 Trailer
I don't usually post things like this, but this one is especially well done. The Jp3 fan site Las Cinco Muertes has posted a very nice fan-made JP3 trailer in RealVideo format, which will most likely whet your appetite for the real thing.