Lindsay Graham Died, Sam Neill Died, and People Think the GOP is Faking Mitch McConnell's Alive ? What a Week!

This week marked the sudden passing of Senator Lindsay Graham, and not too long later, the unexpected passing of Sam Neill. Graham's passing resulted in a ton of jokes and vitriol. Everyone pointed out how much he hated Donald Trump and seemed to have principles...before suddenly becoming one of Trump's biggest cheerleaders and excusers when it served him to keep his political power. Also, the supposedly open secret that he was gay in his personal life, whilst in his political career, pushing an extremely anti-LGBTQ agenda, has been covered extensively. 

Few seemed to mourn him, while Sam Neill's passing had a ton of folk upset. He had shared a cancer diagnosis some years ago, but was in remission. He'd discussed how he wasn't afraid of dying but it would, "Annoy," him. Neill was, by all accounts, a really nice person and skilled actor who wasn't afraid to lean into the humor about how he was, "The Jurassic Park guy," with that being one of his most beloved roles. I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, but I will say I'd hope that when I die, people react more in a manner like with Neill than Graham.

While all of this has been going on, the internet has, for a handful of weeks, been debating if Mitch McConnell is alive and healthy, on life support, brain-dead, or simply dead, period. He had a mystery health scare and didn't appear in public or say anything for weeks. Fellow members of the GOP, friends, and aides claimed they had chatted with him on the phone for 20 minutes or more, and he was perfectly fine...but then freaked out when asked to give Mitch a ring. Rumors swirled this was to stop a special election or such, and once we hit August, then it would be revealed Mitch had, "Suddenly," died. With Graham's passing the jokes got even crazier about it being a conspiracy/distraction or proof that Mitch must be fine because how could his death be hidden if Graham's went public so fast? From riffs on, "Weekend at Bernie's" and more, everyone has been cracking wise, with a supposedly, "Casual," photo of McConnel feeling perfectly fine after needing some hospitalization due to a simple fall (with a recent newspaper just happening to be nearby), only inadvertently egging the jests on more.

The one thing I, personally, find hilarious is anyone in the GOP acting offended at these, "Mean liberals," stating hurtful things about Graham or McConnell. Anytime someone Donald Trump disliked has died he wastes no time in saying despicable things about them. Rob Reiner was mocked and Robert Mueller's death was greeted with the statement that it was, "Good," that it happened. When your party's poster child says worse things online than even the meanest high school bullies, you can't exactly clutch your pearls when people quip about Graham's funeral being, "Open closet," or put an AI video of a zombie McConnell dancing to, "Thriller," on TikTok. 

It goes to show just how bad the reputation of Republicans has become when people don't even believe the party stating one of their Senators is recovering just fine and chilling in a hospital bed as opposed to a slab in the morgue. I mean, Trump tells more lies than truths while at the same time having no filter, so maybe ask him about it so he can say, "Oh yeah, Mitch is doing fine, such a shame he's dead though. Oh, did I tell you about my latest cognitive test?" and that'll settle the mystery. For now, we know Graham and Neill are dead, and the public had very different reactions. As for McConnell...stay tuned?

Film Friday--Jurassic World: Dominion

I enjoyed "Jurassic World: Dominion," despite itself. It is overlong and bloated. It adds a whole new subplot about giant locusts to further complicate what should be a straightforward flick about Dinosaurs in the real world. It also focuses less on the clever idea of Dinos trying to coexist with humans that, "Fallen Kingdom," introduced and instead takes us back to a park of sorts--this time a, "Conservation park." We spend the second half of the movie in that conservation park and it would be a bit dull except for the fact it is when the film finally brings all the new leads (Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard) into contact with the returning nostalgia-packed leads (Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and good ol' Jeff Goldblum). 

I honestly enjoyed the first half of the movie a bit more as it had a chunk of the, "Dinosaurs in our World," plot I was expecting. Frankly, the movie is basically a number of big set pieces loosely tied together by a plot with an evil CEO who seems like a cross between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg with a fondness for genetic tampering. Various plot points overlap and diverge but it matters little because we're here for the big and impressive Dinosaurs, damn it. At least the movie does deliver on that.

We get Dinosaurs running along rooftops with humans in a scene that gave me, "Jason Bourne," vibes, but with Dinos, we get the big ol' creatures in the American wilderness being herded like cattle, we witness some huge ones fighting, and it is all a good time. Then the movie slows itself down to tell us more about genetically modified locusts with Dinosaur DNA and I start checking my phone until we get to some more prehistoric action.

The series has continually moved away from being science fiction that seems a bit plausible and goes full-out future-tech in this entry with the aforementioned conservation area being a jungle in the middle of freezing Italian Mountains surrounded by a fancy research base that looks a little bit like the corporate areas of, "Westworld." I don't mind it, but things are far removed from the now quaint-feeling vibe of the first, "Jurassic Park," we got decades ago. If it gets us weird and wild Dinosaurs though (one dives into icy water and swims like a lethal penguin), I'm cool with it.

"Jurassic World: Dominion," wants to feel futuristic but also feels obsessed with the past. A big enough check was written for the OG trio to all return and while Neil, Dern, and especially Goldblum seem to be having fun, it is often one big heaping helping of nostalgia designed to remind us of far more superior entries in the franchise (the first two films, "Jurassic Park III," can burn in Hell). I enjoyed this movie, but it felt like a letdown after how, "Fallen Kingdom," at least tried to do something different and a bit weirder with its horror-movie-styled second half that featured a genetically-modified raptor stalking through a mansion like a supernatural monster. "Dominion," did still entertain me even if it could have trimmed a good 30-45 minutes off its 2-and-a-half-hours of runtime. I give it...

3 out of 5 stars.

My ranking of the franchise now stands as...

1. Jurassic Park--5 stars

2. Jurassic World--I've rated it 5 stars before and stand by that.

3. Jurassic Park: The Lost World--4 stars.

4. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom--3.5 stars.

5. Jurassic World: Dominion--3 stars, as you saw above.

5. Jurassic Park III--1 star.

"Jurassic World: Dominion," Had a New Trailer Drop With Lots of Original Cast Members

 

"Jurassic World: Dominion," is the third, "Jurassic World," movie, and the sixth, "Jurassic Park," flick if you count them as one big six-movie arch. I really liked, "Jurassic World," and found, "Fallen Kingdom," to be good even if it felt like two different flicks smashed together--a return to the island movie and then a monster movie with a big raptor instead of a monster in a mansion. At the end of that movie, a bunch of Dinosaurs escaped into the wild to breed, thrive (etc.), and now it's essentially Human Vs Dino. Give the trailer a look:

I'll admit seeing so many of the OG cast gives me a nostalgic rush. I mean, "Jurassic Park," is one of my favorite movies ever (and I enjoy many of the hit-or-miss sequels), and seeing Sam Neil, Laura Dern, plus Jeff Goldblum is rad. We just need Samuel L. Jackson's character to somehow not be dead (maybe he's simply missing that arm) or Wayne Knight's character to also have survived against all odds (perhaps the Dilophosauruses just nibbled him) and that would rock. As long as this is better than, "Jurassic Park III," I think I'll enjoy this, "Conclusion," to the franchise even if it obviously is going to have more movies though I don't know where things can go now that we've taken the Dinosaurs out of the park and into the rest of society. Wait! I'm calling it now, before long we will have space travel involved! "Jurassic Space Park," by 2025 or bust!