STAR WARS vs JURASSIC PARK

There was a time in my life when I was into Star Wars films.  The first appeared in 1977 when I was still teaching engineering at the University of Hawaii.  That was 48 years ago.  I bring this subject up today because I will focus on entertainment, and saw a headline:  Giant "Darth Vader" sea bug discovered off the coast of Vietnam.

• First, this not an insect but a crustacean,  and a local delicacy.
• Second, does not much look like DV to me.  If this isopod (Bathynomus vaderi) was colored black, maybe

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  There have been 12 Star Wars films so far, and the next one, The Mandalorian & Grogu, will be released in May, next year.  But I've grown up, and couldn't care less.
• This franchise has kept returning because later productions also scored well on Rotten Tomatoes.
• The highest rated was the first in 1977, Episode IV--A New Hope, got the highest score, 94.
• However, #2 was the 1980 The Empire Strikes Back at 93, #3 2015 The Force Awakens 93 and #4 the 2017 The Last Jedi at 91.

However, I remain interested in Jurassic Park productions.  There have been six of them.

• Jurassic Park (1993)
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
• Jurassic Park III (2001)
• Jurassic World (2015)
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
• Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Next week, though, opens Jurassic World Rebirth.  Still no Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

• Advertised as a New Era.  What does this mean?
• First, some history.
• The 1963 film was based on the 1990 book by Michael Crichton.  

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  Directed by Steven Spielberg, with Crichton as an advisor and David Koepp writing the final draft.  

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  Filming took place in California and Hawaii in 1992.  Hurricane Iniki overwhelmed Spielberg and his crew.

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  Starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough (as billionaire John Hammond) and Samuel Jackson.

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  Score by John Williams.
• Watch this Welcome to Jurassic Park clip and the wonder of awe.  While it would have taken around 20 years for the dinosaurs to mature, mention was made of genetic manipulation to allow for swift opening of the park.
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  Got three Academy Awards.
• Has been cited for its pioneering used of computer graphics.
• Cost $63 million, but scored at the box office, just more than a billion dollars.
• Spawned six sequels, comics, video games, TV shows, theme park attractions and more.

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  This new era introduces new characters five years after Jurassic World Dominion (which in the next movie is 2027, 34 years after the original).  I guess this is why it is called the New Era.
• Steven Spielberg returns as executive producer.  So does David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay.
• There is a new monster, a mutant hybrid of a TRex that flies, a pteranadon.

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  Now stars Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali.
• This franchise needs swift reboot, for, while the first scored 91 by Rotten Tomatoes, the sequels declined to 72, 52, 49, 47 and 22.  I might actually go to the theater if Rebirth returns into the 90s.

So in a battle between Star Wars and Jurassic Park, which is the better franchise?  Here is an earlier Pandora comparison, from 2014.

• By then, there were 6 SW films and 4 JPs.
• Best villains?  SW had many of them, with Darth Vader preeminent.  JP, mostly raptors and dinosaurs.
• Best theme music?  John Williams did both, with the one from SW more memorable.
• Best computer generated imagery?  Probably JP, although SW looked good too.
• Since 2014, the SW franchise has produced better films, while JP has waned.  So the winner is Star Wars.

About SW, Solo is the only one currently on Netflix, which also has four JP films, but not the first two. Amazon Prime has zero SW films (they can generally be found on Disney+) and two free JP movies (World and World Dominion), plus Fallen Kingdom for rent.  Peacock has all six JP productions and no SWs.

As you know, the wedding of the year ocurred yesterday.  61-year old Jeff Bezos got prematurely married yesterday in Venice to 55-year old Lauren Sánchez, wearing a Dolce & Gabbana lace wedding dress.  Something to do with protests.  Was supposed to occur today.  This was the second for both.  Total of seven children already.

• There were more than 200 invited guests, like Oprah, two Kardashians, Usher, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bill Gates, Mick Jagger and Tom Brady.
• Ceremony kicked off with Matteo (son of Andrea) Bocelli singing Can't Help Falling Love.

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  Food?  Pizza, fried zucchini flowers, arancini, octopus and cod.  Plus, Spaghetti alla Nerano.  
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  Was that all?  Well, $2 million on  wines and champagne, as for example, 50 bottles of 1964 Petrus Pomerol (something to do with Bezos' birthday), 20 bottles of 1969 Giacomo Conterno Barolo (yes, Sanchez's birth) 20 magnums of 1961 Dom Pérignon and 500 bottles of 1996 Dom Pérignon Brut.  Also 15 bottles of Louis XIII Cognac and 50 bottles of rare rum.  That Petrus?  Between $3500 and $8600/bottle.  I've paid $4000 for a bottle of Louis XIII, more than once.
• Cost?  $1,170/guest
• Instead of gifts, guests were told to donate to the UNESCO Venice Office, CORILA and Venice International University.

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  Why Venice?  They said it is a magical place.  I agree.  Maybe my one best day on any tour was here.  On this day I first met my Blue-Bar Pigeon, who was eating my breakfast, and later in the day watched me have a truffles lunch at Quadri.  In the evening I had a choice seat of Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the auditorium where he wrote these pieces, more than three centuries ago.

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