"The Fault In Our Stars"

Right from the start, you get the message. This is going to be no sickly sweet young teen romance story, nor will it end happily, but what is clear is that this is a well made movie, and it is evident why it has taken the box office by storm.

Hazel is a young girl dealing with cancer. In order for her to get out of the house, and also to try and express what she is feeling, she goes to a Cancer support group, more to apease her parents than anything. The head of the group is a God loving nut, and she clearly finds it tiresome attending. But there could be some entertainment from winding up one of the newest members, Gus, who has come partly for himself, as he too has cancer, but mainly he is accompanying his partially sighted friend Issac.
Hazel finds Gus to be very cocky, and she takes pleasure in having fun with a battle of words with him. But soon a friendship does develope. They find out more about each other, discovering each others likes, trading books. Which leads Hazel to lend Gus a book which she regards as her bible. He too finds the book a revelation.
She has tried on numerous occasions to contact the author, but with no joy. Gus however proves to be more successful, and they decide to have a trip to Amsterdam, to meet the author.  The trip does not go to plan. Prior to the trip, Gus had always been more infatuated with Hazel, than Hazel with Gus, she being happy to just stay as friends. But the short break changes that, and their love for each other starts to blossom.
But a secret is told, and we discover that one of the two teens is more seriously ill than we imagine, and the inevitable starts to unfold.

I am sure there are so few people in this World who have not been affected by cancer, whether it be themselves or a family member. So certainly there will be many who have something to relate to with this film.
Director Josh Boone does a great job, admirable considering he is a relative newcomer, making the film engaging without being too sombre or too over sentimental. There are some good performances in the film from seasoned veterans like Laura Dern, as Hazel's mother, and Willem Dafoe as the author that Hazel and Gus seek out.
But top marks to both Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, playing Hazel and Gus. They really convey a sense of friendship, love and loss with great performances. A very minor quibble would be that maybe they are a few years too old for their roles, but that aside it leaves little wonder why it has been so successful, and fair play to a film on such a small $12 million budget that can do te business that this movie has been doing.

Have the tissues at the ready.....8 out of 10

"Jurassic Park"

There has been a real lack of re-releases at my local cinema so far this year, a trend it seems to be continuing from 2010.
But thankfully we see a welcome return this week of the monster classic "Jurassic Park" from Director Steven Spielberg.

You all know the story I'm story, but just in case.....Through the cloning process dinosaurs are recreated and allowed to walk the Earth once again, only within the confines of a Park, which the public will be allowed to visit. During initial preparations, a worker is killed by a dinosaur, and the family are taking legal action against billionaire John Hammond, the man and money behind the enterprise. To appease the courts he enlists the help of Dino experts Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, and also Theorist Ian Malcolm. They are given a tour of the facilities, along with a lawyer and Hammond's Grandchildren.
Unbeknownst to them all, a disgruntled employee is hoping to sneak off the island with 15 dinosaur embryos to sell on to a rival company. He throws the Park into disarray to effect his escape, and this is where all hell breaks loose, and so do the dinosaurs.

Hard to believe that it has been almost 20 years since the original release. And it still is one thrill of  ride. The visual and special effects are still awesome, for the most part, it does however have to be said that a few effects now look a little dated, though technology has moved on in leaps and bounds in those 20 years. Without doubt the T-Rex sequences are still stunning, and remain a firm favourite. The whole cast are delightful in their roles and the score from John Williams is always a winner.

A great film for Cinema viewers young and old.....8 out of 10