Personal details
- Professions: Writer, Producer, Actor
Derek Connolly’s name has popped up in some seriously fun flicks, right? If you know anything about indie sci-fi or blockbuster dino movies, you’ve probably stumbled across his work, even if you didn’t clock his name in the credits. He kicked things off with “Safety Not Guaranteed” back in 2012, which, let’s be real, is not your everyday time-travel movie. It was weird, quirky, had heart, and honestly, it made you wonder if maybe, just maybe, there’s a little more magic in Craigslist ads than we think. The dialogue? Sharp. The characters? Oddballs with depth. It’s one of those films that sneaks up on you and sticks in your brain. But Connolly’s no one-hit wonder. Fast forward a few years and suddenly he’s wrangling dinosaurs. Yup, “Jurassic World” in 2015 — the one with Chris Pratt doing his best raptor whisperer impression and Bryce Dallas Howard sprinting through chaos in heels. Connolly helped breathe new life into that franchise, making it fun and wild again, but also giving it a bit of a wink and nudge. Dinosaurs eating tourists? Check. Corporate shenanigans? Oh, big time. And then, because once isn’t enough, he came back for “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022, which tried to tie the whole prehistoric package together — old cast, new cast, way too many teeth. Through it all, Connolly’s style is kind of unmistakable: a mix of humor, action, and just enough weirdness to keep things from feeling stale.
The Tale of Despereaux is this wild little animated flick set in a kingdom that’s literally obsessed with soup—yeah, soup—and then everything goes off the rails when the queen croaks after a rat falls in her bowl. The main dude, Despereaux, is a mouse with giant Dumbo ears and more bravery than sense, and instead of acting like a normal mouse, he gets all tangled up with humans and ends up banished to the rat dungeon. Meanwhile, the rats are a whole other mess, and there’s this servant girl Miggery Sow who just wants to be a princess but, honestly, she’s not exactly working with a full deck. The plot gets twisty with betrayals, rescues, and a lot of weirdly emotional moments for a movie about rodents and soup. All while Despereaux tries to save Princess Pea and teach everyone to stop being such cowards. And, oh, Matthew Broderick voices the mouse, but don’t get me started on that whole thing.
Konidela Ram Charan