Cracking Good Films
There’s no better time of year than Easter to sit down and enjoy some cracking good films with the family. Niamh O’Reilly puts together some eggcellent recommendations to watch over the break.
JURASSIC WORLD (2015)
Twenty-two years after the infamous scene of a baby Velociraptor hatching out of an egg in a lab in Jurassic Park, a bigger, ‘badder’, more genetically engineered surprise claws its way out of an egg in this 2015 reboot. This time around it’s the aptly named Indominus Rex who is going on the rampage against the unsuspecting guests. Bryce Dallas Howard stars as Claire, the face of the company who thought it was a good idea to open a new theme park built on the original site of Jurassic Park.
While not quite capturing the same magic as the 1993 original, Jurassic World is a fun thrill ride that has plenty to enjoy. Chris Pratt is having the time of his life as Velociraptor wrangler Owen who manages to turn the former foes into new allies.
ALIENS (1986)
Considered by many to be superior to the1979 original, Aliens leans full-tilt into the thrilling action side of the franchise. Picking up where Alien left off, we follow Ellen Ripley, 57 years after she wakes from her over extended hyper-sleep, where she is called upon by the nefarious company to assist a group of tough marines to investigate a terraforming colony which has mysteriously gone dark.
You can probably guess that it’s not just a power outage and is, in fact, more nasty aliens, only this time there’s an egglaying queen involved. Giving us one of the greatest showdowns in cinema history with two kick-ass women in Ripley Vs the Alien Queen, it might have you thinking twice about cracking open that Easter egg.
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (2005)
Proof that it’s not just bad guys that hatch out of eggs, this documentary film will absolutely warm your heart, even if the majority of the scenes are of the utterly freezing Antarctic winter.
The all-important care of the penguin egg is at the core of the film, which touches on themes of survival, love, endurance and loss that we can all relate to, especially in a post-pandemic world.
It will make your laugh; it will make you cry. It will probably make you want to adopt a baby penguin. Narrated by the velvet-voiced Morgan Freeman, this is pretty much chicken soup for the soul and one of those films that will please every age group in the house.
COOL HAND LUKE (1967)
If you ever wondered where the saying “I can eat 50 eggs,” comes from, well dear readers, this classic film is the source. The dreamy Paul Newman plays the titular Luke, who’s sent to hard labour on the chain gang for a relatively minor offence. While there he refuses to bend to the stifling system and inspires his other inmates to challenge the regime, but with fatal consequences.
George Kennedy won an Oscar for his role opposite Newman as the prison’s toughest con, Dragline. Seen very much as an anti-establishment movie in the era of the Vietnam War, the film is also known for its amusing egg-eating contest where Luke declares that he can eat 50 hard boiled eggs in an hour.
FLY AWAY HOME (1996)
This is a really wholesome gem of a film, especially for the younger members of your flock. Anna Paquin plays Amy, who is sent to live with her dad Thomas in Canada (played by Jess Daniels) after her mum dies. Initially withdrawn and grief stricken, Amy finds some orphaned goose eggs and decides to raise the young birds as her own.
The only problem is that they imprint on her and believe she is their mother. Wanting to set the geese free, she calls on her inventor dad to help and together they come up with a plan to show the birds the path to freedom.
It sounds like a schmaltzy, average watch, but it’s surprisingly good. Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin are a delight as the father/daughter duo and for my money, it’s still one of the best children’s films to watch out there.
ERAGON (2006)
Before we had the Mother of Dragons, this film based on the first in The Inheritance Cycle books, gave us a mythical dragon egg and lots of fire breathing action. Ed Speleers plays the title role of the farm boy who discovers the egg and after mistaking it for a rock, brings it home only to watch a dragon, who he calls Saphira, hatch from within.
The film doesn’t reinvent the wheel. There’s lots of familiar tropes around destiny, going on a journey and finding oneself along the way.
It didn’t have the warmest critical reception at the time, but with an all star cast including Rachel Weisz, John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons and Robert Carlyle, fantasy lovers will no doubt enjoy the dragon-fuelled escapism.