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Jurassic Street?

12 Aug
Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway star in THE END OF OAK STREET

One of my favorite things about the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies is what happens when the dinosaurs get off Isla Nublar, or whatever island or nature preserve they’re living on, and onto the mainland.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park gave us the T. rex stomping through San Diego, turning the city into prehistoric chaos. Jurassic World Dominion sent raptors and other assorted dinosaurs into Malta, where the streets became the setting of a giant chase sequence with creatures that really, really wanted to eat Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard — or anyone else they could find.

Those sequences work because there’s something inherently cool about watching dinosaurs in the real world. Put a velociraptor in a jungle or a contained environment and, sure, that’s scary. Put one in someone’s backyard and suddenly all hell breaks loose in a more relatable way.

David Robert Mitchell’s new sci-fi thriller The End of Oak Street takes that idea and runs with it — or, more accurately, shuffles along behind it.

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It’s Technically Child Labor, but We Signed Up for It

10 Aug
COOKIE QUEENS

There are few things more quintessentially American than Girl Scout Cookies.

Every winter, like clockwork, troops of girls appear outside supermarkets, in shopping malls, and on front porches, selling Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils, and Do-si-dos. For the girls, it’s not just about cookies; it’s a chance to learn a little something about business, perseverance, and themselves.

Cookie Queens, the charming new documentary directed by Alysa Nahmias, takes that annual ritual and turns it into a surprisingly engaging story. The film follows four determined young Girl Scouts as they set their cookie-selling goals and discover that reaching them can be about much more than simply moving boxes.

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