The Dinosaur Project Review

So this week I have been watching The Dinosaur Project...never heard of it? Neither did I until I saw it in the listings on a website I use to stream movies. Yet apparently this movie hit UK cinemas last August, even though I never saw any trailers for it. Anyway, once you have watched it you’ll know why it didn’t receive any coverage.

The film starts with the recovery of video footage from a missing exhibition team which vanished without trace a few weeks before. Trying to imitate the style of hand-cam films like The Blair Witch Project but much more poorly, The Dinosaur Project retells what happened to the awry exhibition. 

Things kick-off with explorer Marchant, played by Richard Dillane, preparing his team to head off into the deepest recesses of the Congo in search of a mysterious lake creature (think Loch Ness monster) that has been sighted in recent months. 

The team end up stranded in the jungle after some ‘birds’ crash into the helicopter, sending it spinning downward into the depths of the Congo. Most of the team manage to escape alive before the helicopter goes up in flames and resolve to head out of the jungle and back to safety. 

They take shelter for the night in an abandoned village and are attacked by small, winged dinosaurs. The next day the team run into even more dinosaurs, become separated and then have to run from some more dinosaurs. While separated, Luke Marchant (Matt Kane) and Charlie Rutherford (Peter Brooke) discover a fabled gateway to a valley of dinosaurs - where the reptiles have somehow managed to survive for the last 65 million years. 

I’m not going to spoil the ending in case you do want to watch it but to be fair you see it coming from ten miles away. 

And I think that’s the main problem with this film. You know what’s going to happen all the way through. It is just like any other exhibition-gone-wrong film like Anaconda or...erm...Congo...but without the gorillas. There are no surprises and no clever twists, which is a shame, because that could have been what made the film. 

The CGI dinosaurs are also not up to scratch. They are alright but there are some creature films from ten years ago that had better special effects than in this. The dinosaurs aren’t terrible but they are not amazing either. That said though there is a scene near the end of the film where you see the valley of the dinosaurs and the quality of the backdrop is stunning. 

Another thing I will compliment in this film is the camera work. The scenes are shot well but that is also a problem for a film like this. If anything the cameras are a little too still. If you were running through the rainforest being chased by a dinosaur, there is no way that your hand would be that steady.

The Dinosaur Project gets 4/10.

An Interview with Author CJ Sullivan

This week I have been speaking to Texas-based author CJ Sullivan about her Wings of the Divided trilogy and how she got into writing, self-publishing and angels. 

Can you start by telling readers a little about yourself?

I'm approaching 30. I've been writing all my life. I only recently decided to take the indie publishing route after having a few things traditionally published. I have tonnes of interests, which are always shifting. Right now I'm really into studying Feng Shui and being in the present moment. It really helps with anxiety.

Can you tell us how you got into writing?

I started writing stories just for fun as a little girl to entertain myself and my family. My parents were probably the biggest influence at the time. They encouraged me to keep writing, so I did. I think parental support is one of the most crucial things for believing in yourself and starting life off on a positive note. So if you have kids, always encourage them to do the things they love.

Can you tell us about your first novel in your current trilogy, Wings of the Divided, for those who have not read it? What is it about?

This novel is the first in a trilogy. It's my take on angels. It's the beginning of an epic tale that ends up taking the readers on a journey out into the universe. Book one takes place on Earth and starts the ball rolling. Though it centres on Fallen angel Laphelle, you also get to peek into the personal lives on a few of the other angels as well.

What inspired you to write a paranormal tale like this? What influenced the characters? Are they based on anyone you know?

I'd always been fascinated with angels. At the time I wrote it, not many books had been written with angels as the central characters. I started the trilogy a decade ago. The characters just kind of made themselves. I know it sounds strange, but it's almost like they were just out there already developed, waiting for me to put them into a story. A few of my human characters are based on people I know. For instance, Clark is completely based on a younger version of my brother Clark.

 Is there anything that you are working on at the moment and can you tell us a little bit about it?

I am going through the manuscript for book three and getting it ready for publication sometimes before the summer. I can't tell you about it because it might give away the secrets of Book one!

The Nightlife: New York Review

This week we return to the bloody and sex-filled world of Travis Luedke’s The Nightlife series. This time around I have been reading The Nightlife: New York, the first in the main series (for those who have read my Bloodslave review you’ll know that novel was a spin-off). 

Anyway, for those unfamiliar with Travis Luedke’s work, it’s about vampires...and sex...and more sex.

But I digress. The Nightlife: New York introduces us to Aaron Pilan, a twenty-year-old waiter working in a restaurant in the Big Apple. The story wastes no time in Aaron leaving work one night, attempting to help a mysterious French woman who is being accosted by two nasty policemen and then getting shot for doing so. 

Feeling bad for his plight, the woman, Michelle, decides to turn Aaron into a vampire like her - it being the only way to save him from certain death. Aaron survives the transformation and the rest of the book chronicles his first two weeks living his new life in the shadows. 

Aaron’s transformation into a super-strong blood sucker is told very personally through the narrative as he goes from being amazed by his new powers to be taught the rules of feeding on humans and not being caught (because everyone knows if you get caught you’re dead meat). 

I liked Aaron’s character because you see him going through the motions of learning that he can never go home, to acceptance, to almost eventually fearing what he has become. As the story develops he almost develops a dual personality; part of him intoxicated with the power, the other, his former, good natured, easy-going self. 

Michelle on the other hand (Aaron’s master and teacher) I did not feel like I really connected with. You learn some things about her long, dark past as the story goes on but I don’t think enough is revealed about her and at times I feel like she lacks personality. 

If you have read Bloodslave, you will find that The Nightlife: New York is more toned down. Yes, there are a few sex scenes in it but nowhere near as many. Bloodslave was a fantastic book at times I felt there was a bit too much sex, so it is nice to read another story in the series that’s more plot driven and also less graphic. 

Also I had another moment at the end of this book where I wanted to cover my eyes again because something quite grisly happens (Damn you Travis, you did it again). 

The Nightlife: New York gets 7/10

It is available from Kindle here. 

Django Unchained Review

Let’s talk about Django Unchained. It’s rare to see a Western these days and even rarer to see a Quentin Tarantino movie. As most of you out there will probably know this man rarely releases any films, so when he does it usually comes with a lot of hype and Django Unchained is no exception. 

Yet I will be the first to admit that I was not to keen on this film when the trailer first came out. To me it just looked like another Western, even if it did have Tarantino’s name glued to it. I will also admit that I am not a huge fan of Tarantino films. Don’t get me wrong I like Kill Bill One and Two and Pulp Fiction but I don’t think any of the three films are exceptional, as is the general consensus. 

Yet Django Unchained I really enjoyed. The movies starts out with Django (Jamie Foxx) being led by slavers to a sale. On route he is freed by Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a former German dentist-turned bounty hunter. 

Dr Shultz asks Django to help him track down three brothers - as he knows what they look like - with the promise of sharing the cash reward for their heads if he helps. Django accepts the offer and after a bloody massacre on a plantation where the trio are hiding, Django decides to join Dr Shultz in the bounty hunting business. Ultimately the two partners arrive at ‘Candie Land’, a cotton plantation where they face off against Leonardo DiCaprio in a game of wits, will and cash to free Django’s wife.

The acting in this film is nothing short of amazing. You do feel that the right person was cast for every role and it is nice to see Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio taking on more mature roles and complex characters compared to some of their previous incarnations. Samuel L Jackson must also be praised for an exceptional performance as Stephen, a slave who holds a fierce loyalty to his master Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) despite a lifetime of forced servitude. 

While slavery is a constant in this film, it is a chapter in American history that Tarantino does not shy away from. He makes fun of the type of white, rich, plantation owners that had slaves but also looks at the darker fate of those who tried to run away and were caught. 

There is also that quirky Tarantino undertone that exists in all of his films. A moment or a line that the viewer does not expect coming - like when Django is allowed to choose his own clothes and opts for a blue leotard-type outfit which attracts many stares.

Also don’t mess with Django. He blows both Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L Jackson up. Are fictional characters allowed to do that? I’m sure there’s a law against blowing up Hollywood legends but you’d be crazy to blow up TWO.

Yet it is funny...

I know I have been praising this film a lot but there is genuinely really little that there is to criticise. It is one of only a handful of movies that I have seen in recent years which has not left me disappointed.

Want a criticism? It’s too long. Two and a half hours is a bit long winded, no matter how good your film is. 

Django Unchained gets 9/10.