I’m seven years late to the party, but that doesn’t make me feel insecure. I recently began watching Californication starring David Duchovny, the X-Files guy, as Hank. He’s a writer in L.A. who has written a successful novel that was turned into a shitty rom-com. Hank tries to win back his ex-long term partner with whom he has a teenage daughter and beds a multitude of random women as easily as you or I can scratch an itch.

Immediately, we begin begin to empathize with his situation (females can only sympathize): losing the love of his life and hopping on the hedonic treadmill of casual sex with the women who cross his path.

Despite his oneitis, Hank embodies many elements of alpha, such as his outcome independence and cocky funny attitude. For those of you trying to embody the characteristic elements that women find attractive, I’d recommend Californication as an entertaining and educational piece of artwork to show you the way. The show has pragmatic takeaway value if you watch it with an active mind that focuses on identifying the principles of Hank’s character that women find attractive. For example, notice how when he is on top of his game he generally initiates the farewell and exits the scene first.

It’s the little details like that which become more apparent after internalizing the many facets of charisma and social dynamics. I encourage those who who haven’t watched the series to do so. Hank just might inspire you to stop supplicating to the fairer sex and treat them as they should be treated; with amused mastery.

Jurassic World Trailer

Released ahead of the stated premiere date, just like Avengers: Age of Ultron was: the Jurassic World trailer gives us a glimpse of the successful dinosaur theme park John Hammond ultimately visualized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4

We open to a woman giving a couple kids some tongue in cheek advice about “if something chases you… run.” This foreshadowing is what all of the Jurassic Park films have been about and it rightly gets fans excited. After seeing some oversaturated CGI establishing shots that pay homage to, but mainly replicate those seen in the first 1993 film, we get to see the park in all its modern glory, fully equipped with a high-speed rail.

To give some credit, the establishing shot with the high-speed rail is great at opening up the world for us, making the park feel way bigger than Disney World could ever hope to be. In my opinion the best scene in the trailer is of the Great White Shark dangling as bait over the water, waiting to be devoured by a more ferocious aquatic predator. Through the use of silence, this scene is made to be more epic than it would be if the trailer music continued throughout. Not only that, but the audience members watching the oversized liopleurodon chomp down on the Great White are capturing the moment via cell phone to post instantaneously to social media. +1 for behavioral realism on that part.

Unfortunately, after that majestic scene, the trailer begins to dampen my expectations for the film. We cut to a montage of science lab shots with actress Bryce Dallas Howard giving an exposition that would have better suited an older male character who had bass in his voice to lend credibility and an innate wisdom to all the scientific babble. As much as attractive young females are nice to look at, having a bunch of them in white lab coats weighs down my suspension of disbelief. If this were the rebooted Star Trek universe with many young attractive geniuses, the fact that it takes place very far in the future could bring me to believe that young looking people are doing the work that today usually correlates with terrible eating habits and grey hair.

During the hot science chick’s expositional montage, we learn that the “first genetically modified hybrid” dinosaur was created…*rolls eyes*. We can now look at previous movies with genetically modified organisms gone wrong and place bets on plot predictions. Then again, they had to create another type of plot that, compared to past films, isn’t too redundant, but is consistent with the rest of the Jurassic Park universe. If you have a problem with the GMD (genetically modified dinosaur) then you should be thankful that the human-dinosaur hybrid plot wasn’t green-lighted.

Chris “Starlord” Pratt’s character Owen, gives the obligatory comment on the GMD as “probably not a good idea.” Maybe he’s an avid reader of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s criticism of GMOs? I don’t particularly care for the cheesy dialogue that follows Pratt’s appearance, but it’s meant to build up anxiety and fear all while a soft piano plays the Jurassic Park theme song in the background. There is pretty good symmetry in how Bryce Dallas Howard’s character Claire lets out a hauntingly raspy “Ruuun!” scream and then we cut to one of the children who in the beginning of the trailer was advised to run, as he hides from an off-screen predator.

What makes this movie a whole new ball game is how my favorite Jurassic Park dino, the “Velociraptor” or more accurately the Utahraptor or deinonychus, are domesticated or at the very least well trained. Trained enough to not eat Chris Pratt as he rides a motorcycle alongside what used to be considered the most deadly and cunning predator in the Jurassic Park universe.

My expectations for the movie are lessened, but not so much that I won’t be able to enjoy it for nostalgia purposes. Everyone who’s loved the other Jurassic Park films is going to see this regardless of their expectations. We’ve all been waiting 14 years for this film, almost a whole generation. We are damn sure going to see it.

This blog is an artistic display of commentary by an individual who wishes to practice his writing abilities as well as promote his opinions and observations.

I will try to limit my commentary to the entertainment (films, televison, etc) realm as it can provide greater insight into the surrounding (American) culture and give examples as how to deal with the cultural environment. There will be links to other outside sources which I find relevant and encourage you to investigate.