Nostalgia Sequels, Dinosaur Cloning and the Diminishing Returns of Dopamine Chasing

‘Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should’, says Ian Malcolm – all clad in black like a nerd rock star – to the congregation of genetic engineers swooning over their wondrous achievement of cloning long-extinct dinosaurs in Steven Spielberg’s classic Jurassic Park. The lesson of the 1993 classic, which by the way is celebrating its 30th birthday this year, is that we should perhaps think twice before acting on our radical ideas because we may not have the acumen or necessary understanding of the world to handle the consequences.  

Continue reading
Advertisement

The Fabelmans (2022)

By his own admission, A good chunk of Steven Spielberg’s directorial work has always been analogous to his real-life experiences. A keen observer will immediately find repeating patterns in stories he ends up attracted to, from E.T. to War of the Worlds and beyond. He’s been consistently coming back to revisit themes of broken families, absentee parents etc., especially visible in those rare movies he had a hand in writing, such us Close Encounters of the Third Kind or A.I.  

Continue reading