OJ's Movie Review - Jurassic Park

A milestone in cinematic history, a huge achievement in CGI effects, and by the most well-known director in the world.

 Jurassic Park. An island full of dinosaurs who terrorize people; a simple premise but extremely well done. From beginning to end this film is just an enjoyable watch. Back in 1993 when it was released these never-before-seen effects had to have wowed audiences, and even now it still holds up with the anamatronics, CGI combo, it is really good; I've seen worst stuff in other movies and TV series. The characters I thought were pretty well done and acted, you really didn't want certain things happen to certain people and I really like Sam Neil as Alan Grant. Now, I was really exited to watch my favorite film on the big screen and especially in 3D, I watched it in IMAX as well, something I had never done before, and boy did it deliver. The 3D in this movie was one of the best I've seen in ages, better than Man of Steel and Iron Man 3 by far. Jurassic Park in the third dimension brought a whole new life too it, just some of the scenes with the trees, and leaves and then an awesome scene in the kitchen was good in 3D. So yes, I think Jurassic Park will continue being my favored film for a long time to come; I do enjoy the sequels too but this will always be... AWESOMENESS.

The OJ Reviews 1st Anniversary

WELCOME to the first ever OJ Reviews Anniversary Post; these little things will be posted annually marking the day the website was created - each post will give you updates, stats, upcoming stuff and more!
  To start this thing off I'll give you a load of statistics about the website from the past 365 days!

Stats

Numbers 

Page views of all time - 4,604

Comments of all time - 7

Subscribers of all time - 5

Top three countries that visit the site:

1. United Kingdom (1843)
2. United States (1048)
3. Germany (338)

Posts

First Post Ever - OJ Reviewing: Megamind (http://bit.ly/1nQ3SN5)
Most Viewed Post Ever - ORIGINAL VS REMAKE - King Kong (http://bit.ly/1h9Z4A3)
Longest Review Ever - Iron Man 3 (http://bit.ly/1jfyrMe)
Shortest Review Ever: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (http://bit.ly/1c4lpvT)

Changes to the Site

Now you've seen the stats and that it's still in the early stages, I'll tell so you some big changes that are coming up on The OJ Reviews.

  The description at the very top of the site that introduces everyone to what I do will change - I will completely redo that due to a better sounding intro and easier for translation into other languages. 

  Another bit of change will come to the right-hand bar. All of the little things on there will get a bit swapped around and changed, maybe some new stuff added and some stuff taken, but keep your eye out!

 Just another thing is the theme, possibly some color changes, maybe the title font and look will change, and some other bits and bobs.

Rating System

The biggest change I'm most looking forward to is the new rating system! Yes, originally I was just doing who I'd recommend it to but/and now I will be rating the things I review! How you ask? Well here is a little key:

10 = AWESOMENESS (Truly an awesome, well-made thing, I really enjoyed it)

9 = TIME WELL SPENT (There are better stuff but I didn't class reading/watching/playing this as a waste because I quite enjoyed it))

8 = I'D SEE IT AGAIN (If on TV, or a friend brought it round, I wouldn't mind but I wouldn't go out of my way for it - excludes some books & games.)

6-7 = IT WAS OK+ (It was alright but it had more good parts than bad)

4-5 = IT WAS OK- (It wasn't too bad but had more bad things than good)

3 = FAIL (Something that was hyped a lot, or tried to be something it wasn't or was just bad and a complete fail)

1-2 = SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN MADE (Can we just forget this thing ever existed? Why was this even made??)

Upcoming Stuff

Well, my next review as you probably know will be my favorite movie Jurassic Park, as I will be seeing it 3D at the cinema on Monday and then reviewing it straight after. After the month of August expect a lot of TV Series reviews including Falling Skies, Arrow, and the new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D later on! On the movie front is obviously Thor: The Dark World, maybe RED 2, and Gravity. With games, you can look forward to Oddworld: Abe's Odysee (plus sequels) and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (PC). Books, hmmmm, not particularly reading any at the moment but we'll see.

Shoutouts and the Thanks

Each year I think I'll thank everyone who have gone on The OJ Reviews and looked around, read my stuff and liked it. I'd like to thank my five only subscribers: LegoJT, pluckykelly, Lulu Newman, Georgia Newman, and Ethan Grierson. Ethan is a friend of mine and loves roller coasters and tech so you can check out his two websites:

• EJ Grierson
• Tablet and Phone Specification

So that's it. Thanks for all the views over the past year and I look forward to doing more reviews! Don't forget to subscribe, which you can by pressing one of the buttons down the right-hand bar and also visit some other sites The OJ Reviews are on:

• Google Plus
• Instagram
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Pinterest

 And don't forget, you can always comment on my posts in the comment section; if you want to debate, agree express a thought or ask for a shoutout.

OJ's Top 10 Favorite Films

For the 1st Anniversary of The OJ Reviews I have decided to count down the top ten of my favorite films I like to watch again and again. Now this list could be out of date next year, and a lot will probably change as more and more good movies are coming out, so this is my 2013 Top 10 Film list:

10. Holes

YEAR: 2003
STARS: Shia Labouf, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight

PLOT: A wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason.

WHY I LIKE IT: A really original story, true to the book; has great mystery and good humor.

9. Life of Pi

YEAR: 2012

STARS: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain

PLOT: A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery; while cast away he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal Tiger.
REVIEW: http://bit.ly/1gK7Fv6

WHY I LIKE IT: I love tigers, and I love adventure; truly epic and the visuals are stunning.

8. Jumper

YEAR: 2008

STARS: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Rachel Bilson

PLOT: A teenager with teleportation abilities suddenly finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between those like him and their sworn annihilators.

WHY I LIKE IT: A unique story, with good CGI and Samuel L. Jackson with white hair!?

7. Iron Man

YEAR: 2008

STARS: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges

PLOT: When wealthy industrialist Tony Stark is forced to build an armored suit after a life-threatening incident, he ultimately decides to use the technology to fight against evil.

REVIEW: http://bit.ly/1mvxYu1

WHY I LIKE IT: A really entertaining movie with brilliant action and humor; plus set in the Avenger's universe!

6. K-PAX

YEAR: 2001

STARS: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack

PLOT: Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet; his psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.

WHY I LIKE IT: A really unusual and intriguing plot that leaves you with an open view of what just happened.

5. Captain America: The First Avenger

YEAR: 2011

STARS: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell

PLOT: After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending the USA.

REVIEW:  http://bit.ly/1l0YI3P

WHY I LIKE IT: The best of Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe I think and is really funny.

4. Iron Man 3

YEAR: 2013

STARS: Robert Downey Jr. Guy Pierce, Gwyneth Paltrow

PLOT: When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called The Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.

REVIEW: http://bit.ly/1jfyrMe

WHY I LIKE IT: An awesome Iron Man film that's hilariously good and excellently cast.

3. Signs

YEAR: 2002

STARS: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Abigail Breslin

PLOT: A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.

REVIEW: http://bit.ly/1ha05rY

WHY I LIKE IT: Really suspenseful and one of M. Night Shyamalan's better movies.

2. Avengers Assemble

YEAR: 2012

STARS: Robert Downey Jr., Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson

PLOT: Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. assembles a team of superhumans to save the planet from Loki and his army.

REVIEW: http://bit.ly/1jSvbsL

WHY I LIKE IT: It ties in a load of movies into one universe which creates a fantastic piece of entertainment.

1. Jurassic Park

YEAR: 1993

STARS: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum

PLOT: During a preview tour a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows it's cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.

REVIEW: http://bit.ly/1jfzD1S

WHY I LIKE IT: Dinosaurs, Spielberg, Dinosaurs

Almost Made It:

Some movies that almost made to Top 10 include:

• Some Like It Hot (1959)
• The Fifth Element (1997)
• Jurassic Park III (2001)
• Windbag the Sailor (1936)
• Super 8 (2011)

Thanks for reading my list; do you agree? Do you have your own list? Comment now to tell me!

ORIGINAL VS REMAKE - Spider-Man

This Original VS Remake is all about Spider-Man from 2002 and The Amazing Spider-Man from 2012. Technically the later one isn't a remake but just a different adaption of the comics, but I'll refer to it as a remake

Original

In 2002 we got a very superhero film, one of the first of it's kind with sci-fi, humor and action. Spider-Man was just a nerdy kid who was just leaving school and worked for a newspaper company. After a spider bite he becomes the guy who can climb walls, have superior strength and shoot web from his wrists. This was all pretty good; a nice family film we can all enjoy. I mean the villain wasn't too brilliant but the story seemed to go OK. Unfortunately many people didn't like the sequels, I myself didn't think they were too bad but eventually it killed the franchise, but the first movie I always think is a good watch.

Remake

Ten years later we get a new and improved version of Spider-Man, this time he is 'Amazing'. With updated Cinematic Technology and 3D this remake was pretty good. I felt it was more realistic and more funny. I like Andrew Garfield's take on it and enjoyed quite a few things about it - although this movie is not perfect. You can see my full review HERE.

Comparison

I think Spider-Man is still a good movie now and doesn't seem out of place but The Amazing Spider-Man I enjoy more so for this Original VS Remake, the remake wins!

OJ's Game Review - Test Subject

Well, this is my first review of a free online game you can play on your desktop browser.

 Test Subject is a series of platform games on the popular site Nitrome; the site has many games but few spawn sequels and even fewer have an entire trilogy and story. Test Subject is basically about some sort of living organism being tested through different obstacles and other organisms, its a pretty simple premise but can be quite challenging both to the mind and fingers! The story in itself is pretty good for a little internet game; a professor creates the organism and tests it but feels he is being watched until things start to happen and then there's kidnapping, and all sorts, so that was enjoyable to watch, and each level has something new and more difficult. The controls are simple and you get a slight upgrade in each game; the obstacles are fun to work out sometimes too, so it is definitely worth a try. The entire thing is split between 3 games and a bonus 2-player one, so go to www.nitrome.com and enjoy!

OJ's Review - Marvel One-Shots (Phase 1)

Just a quick post about my thoughts on the first three Marvel One-Shots that tie in to The Avenger's universe.

The Consultant

The Consultant was a little bonus short film found on the Blu-ray edition of Thor. It has Agent Coulson and Agent Sitwell talking about something they've been assigned to do and how they go about it; the entire thing takes place before, during, and after the final scene of The Incredible Hulk. Even though its only about 4 minutes it has a slight humorous tone and ties up a few loose ends, an enjoyable watch if you can see it as it can be found on YouTube.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer

The second little one-shot from Marvel takes place just before the post-credits scene of Iron Man 2 and follows Coulson's journey to Thor's hammer in New Mexico - purely for laughs but a nice insight to the life of Phil. This Marvel One-Shot came on the DVD for Captain America: The First Avenger, but is also available on YouTube.

Item 47

Now this One-Shot is very different from the previous as it has its own poster and it is considerably longer; it takes place after the Battle of New York from The Avengers/Avengers Assemble and follows a mission for Agent Sitwell. This third one-shot I think was an interesting take on the MCU and I am expecting the upcoming Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D. to be very similar. Item 47 came on the DVD release of The Avengers but you can find a few official clips on YouTube.

OJ's Movie Review - Now You See Me

I seem to be reviewing a lot of movies lately, but this one's a good one.

This movie is one of the most interesting, movies I've seen in a long time. I honestly don't know what else to say, it's really thought-provoking and just fascinating to watch; not just for the illusions featured in the film or the explanation of how they're done, but also the story, the puzzle, everything. Now You See Me, I was expecting to be some big heist film with some cool scenes of illusion and then an on-the-run type scenario, but really, it's much more. It's one huge mystery from the first scenes, and then the very last scene, you're just kind of like, 'wait, what?'. All-in-all I can say Now You See Me is definitely worth a watch, by everyone; the plot takes you in and you enjoy whats happening, one or two parts I felt were a tad boring but they only lasted, like, 3 mins. I will definitely want to see it again and urge you to go watch it too. I don't really have a rating system (at the minute) but I would put this film at level: AWESOMENESS