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Jerry Cantrell recommended Van Halen by Van Halen in Music (curated)

 
Van Halen by Van Halen
Van Halen by Van Halen
1978 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"He's a friend of mine and I'm proud to call him that. They gave us one of our first breaks, around 1990 when we were on tour with those guys for about half a year. When I discovered his music, I think they had already released a couple of records. The first one was in ‘78, and I was in Pennsylvania in ‘79 when Van Halen II came out, but I had never actually heard them, instead I’d heard friends talking about them at school. A couple of my friends had the Van Halen logo written on their folders. I was like: ""What's that?"" ""This band Van Halen man, they're fucking killers, you gotta check 'em out!"" So, my Dad let me join the Columbia records and tapes club. It was a total scam. It was like you send a penny then you could pick out, I don’t know, seven or eight records, but then you were hooked for so many records after that, for way past full price. Some of the records I picked for my penny, were Van Halen I and II. I remember, my dad was watching TV in the living room like we did most nights. We had a pretty decent stereo system. So I put the headphones on, and I put on Van Halen I for the first listen. And from the first fucking note... I remember how magical that was. Same thing as with Hendrix. That's why I cite Eddie and Hendrix, ‘cause I think those guys are like brothers, of different eras. It's completely unique. There's nobody before that guy that sounded like that guy. But there were a ton of guys that sounded like him afterwards, or were trying to emulate him. I tried my tapping technique, but I'm no good at it. That record, for a kid wanting to be a guitarist, that was like an unachievable goal, to be that fucking good and to sound that fucking bad-ass, but it made you wanna try. Years later, when we went on that tour, we became really good friends. He had his new guitar and amps that he had had made. I remember asking if I could buy one, if he could give me a little discount or something like that. He's like: ""Fuck that man, I'll just give it to you!"" and, ""Look man, I got paid. It's the lamest thing in the world: when you got nothing, nobody will give you anything, when you have everything, everybody just gives you everything for free. So let me just give you some shit."" I forgot about that, it was sometime in the middle of the tour... I got home from that tour. I was living with my manager Kelly Curtis and his wife, down in their basement. Kelly greeted me at the door, like: ""Welcome home man! How was the tour?"" “Oh that was good man!"" ""Oh that's cool man! And d'you mind getting your shit out of my garage?"" I'm like: ""What are you talking about?"" He's like:""Eddie Van Halen has put so much gear in my garage, I can't even park my car. Get that fucking shit out of there."" So it was there, two full stacks and two guitars that he had fucking sent me for free. And I still have one of them. The other was stolen by someone years ago and I never saw it again. I still mourn the loss of that. But I saw him [Van Halen] about a month ago in LA before we left. As a matter of fact, I stole his guitar tech, Craig DeFalco [laughs]!"

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The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
1997 | Adventure, Sci-Fi
Ian Malcolm Should Have Left Them On the Island
Thoughts before watching The Lost World: Jurassic Park as a twelve-year-old in 1997: “Oh man, I can’t wait to check out all this dino action! Raptors for life!” Thoughts before watching The Lost World: Jurassic Park as a thirty-five-year-old in 2019: “Why the hell are they going back to the island? These people clearly have a death wish!” Yes, the sequel to one of the greatest movies ever made sees a return to the dinosaur madness as a special team led by Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm goes on a mission for Jurassic Park’s creator John Hammond (Richard Attenborough).

Acting: 10
Jeff Goldblum has a way of captivating any screen he’s on. He has charm, wit, and an erratic nature that’s absolutely hilarious. He has a strong cast backing him up with guys like Vince Vaughn and Julianne Moore helping to run the show.

Beginning: 10
Strong start as we see there are still idiots out there that don’t know how to stay away from these islands. The movie is immediately entertaining while also letting you know it’s going to be a different kind of movie than the first. Definitely piqued my interest.

Characters: 6
One of my biggest issues with the entire movie. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t score it lower. For the most part, I hated these characters outside of Ian Malcolm. I almost wish he had left the rest of them to stew on the island by themselves. Julianne Moore’s character Sarah Harding was obnoxious and pretty annoying. Then again, I can say that for a lot of the characters including Malcolm’s daughter Kelly Curtis (Vanessa Lee Chester). At times, it really made it hard for me to enjoy the movie.

Cinematography/Visuals: 9
The dino special effects were taken to new heights in this one. I particularly love the extra work they put into the velociraptors showing off their incredible jumping ability and rogue-like stealth. I also appreciated the multitude of dinos you get in this one as well from the stegosaurus down to the tiny compies. I can’t remember their names, but my particular favorite dino was the one with the bone head. His hard skull could crash through just about anything. I enjoyed watching it wreak havoc on a number of doors and people.

What bothered me just a bit was the choice of a darker color tone throughout the movie. It was almost as if they were trying to purposefully differentiate from the first by doing this. It takes some getting used to, but ultimately didn’t kill the movie for me.

Conflict: 10

Entertainment Value: 10

Memorability: 4

Pace: 8

Plot: 4
What a stupid story. Who in their right mind after hearing all the craziness that went down at the original park would ever go back to face off against these dinos? Rescue mission my ass, not this guy! Had they followed the book, I feel it would have been a lot more believable.

Resolution: 9

Overall: 77
Let’s be honest, no way this movie was going to match the first in any way. Jurassic Park set an amazing standard that is just hard to follow. However, I will say that, while not perfect, The Lost World: Jurassic Park does have its moments that make it a decent enough watch.