5 Reasons to Watch Passengers

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Passengers, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, is a character-driven romance set in a futuristic outer space. Despite mixed reviews, here are five reasons why you should give Passengers a chance.

Warning: Passengers is rated PG-13 for sexuality, nudity, and action/peril. Consider this recommendation at your own discretion. 

1. Plot

Passengers follows two passengers of the starship Avalon who wake from their sleep chambers ninety years too early. As they fall in love, ship malfunctions and a hidden secret jeopardize their relationship and the safety of all the starship's passengers. While the focus of the movie was the romance between the main characters, there was still room for action and suspense in this film. There were a lot of twists and turns with the plot, which provided an edge-of-your-seat experience. The concept is intriguing and well-developed, providing a worthwhile story for people who enjoy science-fiction, romance, or adventure.

2. Characters/Cast

The characters of Passengers are intriguing. Jim Preston is an engineer who leaves earth to help build (literally) a new colony. Aurora Lane is a writer who wants to be the first person to travel to and from a colony and write about it. Together, they provide an intriguing and emotional foundation for the story. Each character is established with a rich back story, an intricate personality, and a fantastic actor to make them come to life. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence were amazing in this film. They made this movie soar. The other actors, Martin Sheen and Laurence Fishburne, did great in their respective parts as well. I was thoroughly impressed by the acting as well as the character development in this film.

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3. World-building

The "world-building" (or should I say, universe building) was phenomenal. There were so many details put into the spaceship Avalon and the futuristic world it came from. I loved every moment of it. From the breakfast kiosk in the cafeteria to the layout of the ship's interior: it was spectacular. I wish more science-fiction stories could show the ingenuity and creativity that the production team and writers of Passengers reveal in their design for the Avalon. Even the starship itself, from an exterior view, is an incredible masterpiece. There is just so much packed into the concept. I'm still amazed.

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4. Theme/Message

Passengers is a movie that makes you think. It makes you contemplate life and question decisions. It makes you wonder about fate and destiny and morality, but it does so in a new and refreshing way. It's also relatable, despite that you and I didn't wake up 90 years too early on a starship in the middle of the universe. There are fundamental truths about human nature and about life that are ingrained in this film, and I admired how much it made me sit back in my theater seat and just mull over what I had watched. A lot of movies are so focused on entertaining the audience, they miss introducing important messages. Passengers keeps its ideas at the forefront of the film without being too pushy or overwhelming.

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5. Outer Freaking Space

I'll admit my favorite parts of the film were the outer space scenes. The starship Avalon flying through the star-scattered void of space. The space frolic along the ship's exterior. The slingshot around the burning star. All of it was magical and breathtaking. I was constantly overwhelmed by the beautiful cinematography and special effects. There aren't adequate words to describe those scenes, and I highly recommend watching Passengers in theaters for the full experience of those shots on a large screen in a dark room. A lot of movies set in outer space focus on the dangers of space, forgetting the beauty that is also held there. I'm grateful this movie showed the brilliance and excitement of space instead. I teared up a lot due to the gorgeous views. Somebody give this movie twelve Oscars or something just for the outer space scenes.

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Overall, Passengers is a unique movie with a fantastic cast and a marvelous production and design team. I highly recommend it to anyone who is even slightly interested in the film or loves outer space (or Chris Pratt).

Have you seen Passengers?

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A Very Fangirl Birthday!

Well, as you may have guessed by the title, this week was my birthday! On Tuesday, I turned twenty years old (what?!)! I thought it'd be fun to see some fandom moments that happened on my date of birth and see if I share my birthday with any of my favorite characters or celebrities!

Fictional Characters Born June 21st

Princess Anna :: Disney's Frozen

Courtesy of Disney's Frozen

AHH! This was very exciting for me. I love Frozen, and as overplayed as the title songs can be, I will probably not tire of it. Princess Anna was indeed born on June 21st. Actually, I think this is fantastic characterization because it's the Summer Solstice and it's interesting, if you know the story, that her sister is an Ice Queen and she was born on the first day of summer.

Plus, she just really gets me. We would totally understand each other, like look at this--

Courtesy of Disney's Frozen

--it's very me.

Comics Published

So, since comic book releases are usually set for specific dates, I had to go with the week of my birthday, but this was still really exciting!

On June 19, 1996, two days before I was born; an issue of Batman & Robin Adventures came out... with Batgirl on the cover!

Courtesy of D.C. Comics

Music on June 21, 1996

In the music world, on that fateful day, the Sex Pistols began the 1996 "Filthy Lucre Word Tour," their first live performance in over 18 years!

Courtesy of The Sex Pistols Facebook

Famous Birthdays

Finally, I looked up some stars I share my birthday with and was far from disappointed. 

Lana Del Rey :: June 21, 1985

Courtesy of Billboard.com

Chris Pratt :: June 21, 1979

Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly

Prince William :: June 21, 1982

Courtesy of People Magazine

What and who do you share a birthday with?

This post brought to you by a whole bunch of birthday cake.

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Jurassic World: A Movie Review 65 Million Years in the Making

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After twenty-two years, Jurassic Park World is open. Set on the same island that started the epic franchise for Universal Studios, Jurassic World is a successful, fully-functioning theme park like John Hammond imagined twenty years earlier. Complete with rides, a learning center, a petting zoo, and dozens of dinosaur species, nothing could be better.

Until corporate decides to give the green light for a new dinosaur: the Indominus Rex, the first successful, genetically modified hybrid. When the Indominus Rex breaks out its paddock, chaos takes over Isla Nublar once more.

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Jurassic World was released in theaters a month ago (June 11th, which was the same day Jurassic Park released twenty-two years ago). It broke the global record for opening weekend by making over $500 million. It's been the subject of a lot of buzz on the internet, including the famous new "prattkeeping" meme.

But does Jurassic World live up to the Jurassic Park franchise standards? We've gathered together to let you know our opinion on this summer's block buster film. The park is open.

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Jaime Heller
If there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that I like movies and I like dinosaurs (and dragons). So when the two combine into something pretty epic, I'm definitely going to talk about it. And I probably won't stop for a while. Jurassic World is something I'm going to be talking about for a long time. Why? Because I think it's definitely worth it.

I had high expectations for this film. I mean, DINOSAURS, right? Plus, I've loved Jurassic Park (and the other movies) since the first time I saw it. For years I'd heard there were plans to make another movie, and I could hardly wait. Since the first teaser trailer was released (with that altered theme music to give me goosebumps), I've been ecstatic. Plus, Chris Pratt. I mean, dinosaurs and Chris Pratt? How could this go wrong?

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Well, it didn't. Personally, I think this is the best movie I've seen all year and probably will see this year (I'm sorry, Age of Ultron). Before its release, I wrote a post listing fifteen reasons Jurassic Park works. And after I saw Jurassic World not once, not twice, but three times (I know, I know, but dinosaurs remember?), I went through the list in my head. And it nailed every single one of my points. It had a wide variety of dinosaurs to gander at. But it also had a good plot, fantastic tension (seriously, I was on the edge of my seat during most of it), well-developed characters (Chris Pratt!!! Bryce Dallas  Howard!!!), good lines of dialogue, and fabulous music. I love the way Michael Giacchino adapted the original music by John Williams to remind me of the first movie, yet also introduces his own creativity in the score to fit the film (I've listened to the score over and over in the past month). There was humor, great special effects, and plenty of dinosaur butt-kicking.

I laughed, I screamed, I cheered, I even cried over Velociraptors. Me. Crying over the dinosaurs that used to give me nightmares. Heck, by the end of the movie, I wanted my own Velociraptor posse.

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For me the movie started off slow because of all the new characters, this new world, etc., but once the action started (and Chris Pratt showed up with his Raptor gang) everything snowballed into awesomeness. They successfully balanced between the "dinosaurs, run!" dangerous side of such endeavors and the original preservation of dinosaurs as beautiful creatures.

I expected something better than the second and third movie, while still reminiscing the first film. I think Jurassic World captured the spirit of Jurassic Park. And I hope there's more movies to come. After all, I think I need to see Chris Pratt riding a motorcycle with his Raptor squad again.

Plus they've got the perfect opportunity to name the next movie The Lost Park (since Jurassic World is basically Jurassic Park + The Lost World smashed together).

Erinn Leach

I absolutely adored the velociraptors  in the movie so I drew their eyes. The animatronics in the film were beautiful and one of my favorite aspects of the film. I'm so happy they kept it in.

Mirriam Neal
Everyone grew up with Jurassic Park. Some of us (coughmecough) even love the second movie, and like the third one okay (it didn’t have Ian Malcolm, which was a big downside, but hey – it had the cute guy who saved Dr. Grant’s hat). I was pretty sure I would love Jurassic World. Why? Because a) it’s the Jurassic Park franchise, b) Chris Pratt, and c) Chris Pratt. I wasn’t disappointed. The special effects were much less ‘overdone’ than they looked in the trailer. The brand-new, cooked-up-in-a-lab dinosaur was the perfect Big Bad. Chris Pratt’s character Owen – can I just marry the man? And Claire running like a boss in heels throughout the entire movie – oh yeeaaah. Woman of the year, right there. But the real show-stealer? The velociraptors. Velociraptors made me cry. They gave me emotions. I rooted for them. When a velociraptor ties with the main actor for your favorite character, you know one of two things: either the movie is really terrible, or the movie is completely awesome. In this case, I pick the latter. Jurassic World was a fun, emotional, gripping, action-packed installment just as good as the first movie, and I would be very fine if they announced a fifth Jurassic Park movie. In fact, shut up and take my money.

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Did you see Jurassic World? Let us know what you thought of the film in the comment below!

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