A Day of Moviegoing at AMC Theatres...

Just watched Tim Burton's first Batman film (which celebrated the 35th anniversary of its theatrical release last year) in Dolby earlier today!

I saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on the big screen almost three months ago; the only other blockbuster that I watched in the summer of 1989 (I was 9 years old at the time) which needs to be re-released next is Ghostbusters II. I doubt that's gonna happen, though.

Another Day of Moviegoing at AMC Theatres...

Gettin' ready to watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (which celebrated the 35th anniversary of its theatrical release last year) today...

The last time I saw The Last Crusade at the movie theater—which was an AMC, to be exact—was on June 9, 1989 (according to my personal journal)!

A Day of Moviegoing at AMC Theatres...

Gettin' ready to watch Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny today!

"I'M BATMAN." And My Most-Anticipated Movie of This Summer Is...

So Super Bowl LVII has come and gone, with the Kansas City Chiefs winning their second NFL championship in four years, and all I can say is— Bring on The Flash!

The TV spot for the upcoming DC Comics movie was aired during the Big Game today...alongside the commercials for other highly-anticipated summer flicks like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Let's party like it's 1989! Considering the fact that 34 years later, Michael Keaton is donning the Batcowl and Harrison Ford is sporting a fedora and whip once more...

Oh, and I'm also stoked to see Ezra Miller return as the Scarlet Speedster despite Miller's real-world legal issues (Google it), Ben Affleck as the DC Extended Universe's version of Batman (one final time, supposedly) and Sasha Calle as Supergirl in The Flash.

Check out the trailer and Super Bowl spots for The Flash, Rise of the Beasts and The Dial of Destiny below!

Movie Review: BABYLON...

Yesterday, I went to AMC theaters to watch Damien Chazelle's newest film Babylon.

While it wasn't as moving as 2014's Whiplash or 2016's La La Land, Babylon was more enjoyable than Chazelle's previous movie, the 2018 Neil Armstrong biopic First Man.

I commend Chazelle for tackling the glory days of NASA like Ron Howard did with 1995's Apollo 13 (Chazelle also co-wrote the 2016 sci-fi flick 10 Cloverfield Lane), but he was more in his element doing another film with a strong musical theme (even though this theme was mostly featured during a huge orgy scene at the beginning of Babylon), as was the case with Whiplash and La La Land.

In Babylon, the story depicts an incredibly insane (but in a good way) take on Hollywood's silent film era during the late 1920s, and how the 'talkies' (movies with sound) wrought havoc on it the following decade. We see this transition have a huge impact on the four main characters in Chazelle's comedy drama: Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) and Manny Torres (Diego Calva).

Only two of the four characters above make it through this transition relatively unscathed.

Even though it was hugely exaggerated, the depiction of set life in Babylon made me both dread and appreciate the fact that I experience this as a background actor...which I've been working as since late 2011.

And just like with the final scene in the movie (spoilers ahead), where Manny Torres grows teary-eyed as he watches a couple of 'talkies' at a crowded theater after he visits his old job at Kinoscope Studios (which is actually Paramount Pictures...where I worked between mid-2005 to '06) from years past, I'll probably grow emotional in my hopeful old age thinking about my time in the entertainment industry should I finally leave it for greener pastures.

Babylon is Chazelle's love letter to filmmaking...with a montage showing actual movies like the first Avatar flick, The Matrix and Raiders of the Lost Ark featured at the end of the film. Babylon, with its extremely-long running time of 189 minutes, may not be as simple and impactful as La La Land, but it's still an intriguing flick by Chazelle that should be appreciated by filmgoers who have an extreme passion for cinema.

Merry Christmas!

Movie Review: JAWS... (I'm 47 Years Too Late, But It's All Good)

"You're gonna need a bigger boat." I finally understood the context of this memorable line from Jaws after watching Steven Spielberg's classic 1975 adventure thriller—the very first summer blockbuster ever made—in IMAX at AMC theaters today.

While it doesn't have the high-octane energy that action scenes in today's blockbusters have, Jaws was nevertheless a very enjoyable film...and one whose message still has resonance today. Just as how some people in the 21st century willfully ignore the dangers of exploiting Mother Nature (resulting in issues such as climate change) to continue making a buck, the folks of Amity—a fictional island community off the coast of New England—refused to do anything about a ravenous great white shark that threatened their ability to earn lots of money through tourists visiting from the U.S. mainland on the Fourth of July until it was too late.

Considering that it was released almost a decade before the PG-13 rating was created (in 1984 thanks to Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), it's amusing to know that Jaws was merely PG—what with the implied nudity (via that unlucky female skinny-dipper in the opening scene and the poster above), drug use (also in the opening scene) and bloody depictions of people getting attacked and maimed by that great white throughout the film.

There was even a moment or two where Jaws really gave me a jump-scare...one of them being when oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) dove into the water to examine a seemingly-abandoned boat that was attacked by the shark, only to discover that someone was still onboard—but clearly no longer breathing.

The final act where Amity's police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), the shark hunter named Quint (Robert Shaw) and Hooper sail out to sea to hunt down that great white was no doubt an exciting sequence 47 years ago. To watch these three characters put their lives on the line as they chase after an apex predator in its own habitat was an enjoyable thrill to see.

And the fact that the shark met its demise in such an epic and explosive manner makes Jaws so revolutionary for its time. No wonder why Quentin Tarantino recently called Jaws "the greatest movie ever made." That's obviously not true—but I understand the sentiment behind it!

Also, it was great to hear John Williams' classic Jaws theme in the film itself...on the big screen. It wasn't great that Amity's repulsive mayor (Larry Vaughn, aptly played by Murray Hamilton) managed to get through this entire movie without a single shark bite, but oh well.

Image of the Day: A New Production Still from INDIANA JONES 5...

Just thought I'd share this new image from next year's Indiana Jones 5. This production still was revealed during last weekend's Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California.

As a reminder, Indy 5—which does not yet have a proper title—will be released in theaters nationwide on June 30, 2023.

Along with Harrison Ford reprising his role as the whip-welding, Nazi-beating archaelogist, Indiana Jones 5 also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Toby Jones and Antonio Banderas. Happy First Day of June!

Photo of the Day: Indy Is Back for His 5th Adventure!

Photo by IJ Adventure Outpost - Twitter.com

Almost two years after he appeared as Han Solo on the big screen for the final time in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Harrison Ford is donning the fedora once again as he began filming Indiana Jones 5. This photo was first posted online yesterday...as principal photography has commenced on the first Indiana Jones film that will not be directed by Steven Spielberg, but by James Mangold (of 2005's Walk the Line, 2017's Logan and 2019's Ford v Ferrari), respectively. Joining Ford in this cast will be Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Mads Mikkelsen, and Solo: A Star Wars Story's Phoebe Waller-Bridge. John Williams is set to return to compose the music score for this latest installment. Indiana Jones 5, which doesn't have a proper title yet, will be released in theaters nationwide on July 29, 2022, hopefully.

And yes, I hope that this sequel will be more along the lines of The Last Crusade (Raiders of the Lost Ark can't be beat) than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! Happy Tuesday.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK Has Received a New Release Date...

So contrary to this previous Blog entry where I posted that Top Gun: Maverick was supposed to arrive in theaters nationwide on July 2, it will instead be released on November 19 of this year. This is actually great news! I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (by Pfizer) a little over a week ago, and I should get my second and last dose on April 21. While the protection by this vaccine would've been at its most potent in the middle of the summer, late November also gives a lot of time for millions of other hopeful moviegoers to get vaccinated before Tom Cruise's much-anticipated air-combat sequel lands in multiplexes everywhere. Herd immunity in the United States should already be taking place by the Thanksgiving holiday...hopefully.

And on another note, Indiana Jones 5 is expected to debut in theaters on July 29, 2022. James Mangold of 2005's Walk the Line, 2007's 3:10 to Yuma and 2017's Logan will direct the film. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who starred in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, will appear alongside Harrison Ford in the fifth Indy flick—while John Williams will return to compose the film's music score, respectively. Happy Friday!

REMEMBERING SEAN CONNERY (1930-2020)...

Rest In Peace, Sir Sean Connery... While the rest of the world honors him as one of the best iterations of Agent 007 in the James Bond franchise, I remember him for his role as Professor Henry Jones, Sr. in 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Soviet submarine commmander Marko Ramius in 1990's The Hunt for Red October. I saw these films when I was still in elementary school, and it was Red October that got me interested in filmmaking when I drew my own storyboards for a submarine thriller after I watched the Tom Clancy-inspired movie at the theater on opening weekend. While Connery had officially been in retirement from acting since 2006, he will be missed by the world of cinema.

The Scottish legend passed way in Nassau, Bahamas at the age of 90 yesterday. My condolences to Connery's family.

"Have You Ever Danced With the Devil by the Pale Moonlight?"

Just thought I'd share this poster marking 30 years since the first Tim Burton Batman movie was released in theaters...on June 23, 1989. Batman, along with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as well as Ghostbusters 2, were my favorite films of that year. With Batman, though, the movie made me such a huge fan that I got the soundtrack on cassette tape (and listened to the Prince songs Partyman and Batdance multiple times), bought a toy Batwing (on which one of my brothers broke one of the tail fins...intentionally), considered Jack Nicholson the greatest personification of the Joker before Heath Ledger came along 19 years later, and had such a huge crush on Kim Basinger that I rented her movie My Stepmother Is an Alien (which was released in cinemas the year before) on VHS tape. Oh, and I constantly had an argument with one of my elementary school classmates (I was in 4th grade the following semester) about how Michael Keaton was awesome as the Dark Knight (he disagreed just because Keaton played Beetlejuice a year earlier). My classmate was an idiot.

Of course, Batman Returns came out in theaters three years later (on June 16, 1992)...and was a fun film even though it wasn't as awesome as the original movie. And then Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever was released three years after that (on July 15, 1995)—and the Batman franchise pretty much went down the crapper until Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins redeemed the Caped Crusader 10 years later (on June 15, 2005). But this Blog entry is about the film that started it all...and Batman '89 will always have a special place in my comic book movie-loving heart, behind 2008's The Dark Knight. The music videos for Partyman and Batdance are posted below. Carry on.

Disney Acquires 21st Century Fox...

So as of today, Disney not only owns Star Wars, Indiana Jones and the majority of the Marvel film franchise, but it now has total control over The Simpsons, Aliens, Avatar, Independence Day, Family Guy and the rest of the Marvel film franchise (Sony owns Spider-Man but Marvel Studios is allowed to use him in its own movies). All I can say is, offer Hugh Jackman a huge paycheck so he can play Wolverine one last time in Avengers 4, make sure that Deadpool remains R-rated, ensure that James Cameron's Avatar sequels don't conflict with the release dates of future Star Wars movies (i.e. Rian Johnson's new trilogy) and (this is a NO-BRAINER) make sure that the next Fantastic Four and X-Men flicks (Will next year's Dark Phoenix be canceled? Of course not) are officially included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Oh, and create an Independence Day sequel that's as good as the first one! Carry on.

And yes, I will be watching The Last Jedi during a 7 PM screening at AMC Theatres tonight.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - Movie Review

So last night, I drove down to the Cinemark theater in Orange County to watch J.J. Abrams' long-awaited installment in the Star Wars franchise. So what did I think of The Force Awakens (TFA), you ask? It was awesome! The movie definitely had the energetic feel of the original trilogy, plus the clever dialogue that Lawrence Kasdan (who, along with Abrams and Michael Arndt, wrote the screenplay for TFA) originally injected into The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and non-Star Wars flick Raiders of the Lost Ark, respectively.



In regards to the new characters of Disney's Star Wars trilogy [it was surreal to see Han Solo, Luke Skywalker (briefly, but in the most memorable moment of the film), Leia Organa, Chewbacca and even Admiral Ackbar back on the big screen], they were commendable! Daisy Ridley definitely took heed of Abrams' comments when he supposedly called her acting 'wooden' on the first day of shoot for Episode VII. Daisy Ridley did a wonderful job as Rey...and her spunkiness as a Jakku scavenger plus ability to be a bad-ass with a blaster (and another, more elegant weapon in the climax) showed that she is a heroine who's not to be messed with in this new trilogy.



John Boyega did a great job as Stormtrooper-turned-Resistance fighter Finn...and the witty dialogue that he shares with Rey and Han Solo showed that he is up to the task of taking the reins from Solo (for a reason that I won't divulge here) in terms of being the wisecracking hero that fans will be able to identify with as the Light and Dark Sides of the Force clash once more.



Oscar Isaac was terrific as hotshot X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron, and set the genial tone of the film by spouting this humorous line to Kylo Ren in the opening scene: "So who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?" The million dollar question is: Who would win in a dogfight, Wedge Antilles from the original trilogy or Dameron's Black Leader? My money is on Black Leader.



And of course, not to be overlooked is Adam Driver's Kylo Ren! Contrary to Driver's comment about this Master of the Knights of Ren, Kylo is truly evil. Like his predecessor Darth Vader, Kylo wants to get rid of any trace of the Light from his soul...ordering a squad of Stormtroopers to wipe out an entire village on Jakku, using the Force to choke a fellow First Order officer after destroying an entire control room with his lightsaber in a fit of rage, using the Force to torture and interrogate captives such as Poe Dameron (you saw this in the final theatrical trailer) aboard a Star Destroyer and even at Starkiller Base, and (SPOILER ALERT) committing patricide. I wonder how much more powerful he will become once he begins training with Supreme Leader Snoke (supremely voiced by Andy Serkis) in the next movie.



In regards to nitpicking about The Force Awakens, John Williams' music score left a lot to be desired in this movie. I do feel that TFA is the second best Star Wars flick in the saga, behind The Empire Strikes Back. But just as Empire had loads of memorable music in it, TFA had few (the most noteworthy cue being—ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT—the haunting music that played as Rey ascended those steps on that island to confront a certain Jedi Master at the end of the movie). If the score for Star Wars: Episode VIII will be anything like in Episode VII, then I'm gonna sound like a heretic by saying that I won't have any issue about Williams being replaced by another composer for Rian Johnson's 2017 installment. Assuming, of course, the composer retains classic motifs such as the Force theme that defined Williams' work in the Star Wars saga for the past four decades.



Online reports state that Gwendoline Christie's Captain Phasma will have a larger role in Episode VIII. I hope that this will be the case! Assuming, of course (again), it is explained as to how she was able to escape that trash compactor on Starkiller Base. Watch the movie to know what I'm talking about.



And lastly— In terms of Rey suddenly summoning the skills to aptly take on Kylo Ren in the climactic lightsaber duel...the Force awakened! [Personally speaking, it also explains how R2-D2 awoke from his sleep after Rey proved her mettle against Kylo Ren... Abrams said that this was due to BB-8 (adorable droid) conversing to R2 as he lied dormant at the Resistance Base earlier in the third act, but it made more sense for Luke to be behind this.] It's just as Kylo said (to paraphrase): The longer that Rey was on the loose in Starkiller base, the more dangerous she was becoming as she discovered her powers.



This Sunday, I'm planning to watch The Force Awakens again in IMAX 3-D. How many times will I watch this film during what should be a long theatrical run, you ask? You would need to be able to read my mind like Kylo Ren could... May the Force be with you!

4.5 out of 5 stars. ****1/2

© 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey... Check out the newest trailer to the first installment of The Lord of the Rings' prequel trilogy. Originally, there were only supposed to be two films for The Hobbit, with There and Back Again being released in cinemas on December 13, 2013. With the recent addition of a third flick, however, There and Back Again will be shown at theaters in 2014, while The Desolation of Smaug will be released next year.

It's not a surprise that Peter Jackson is going back to the movies that made him the Oscar-winning director he is today. George Lucas obviously returned to the Star Wars saga 16 years after the release of Return of the Jedi with The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith...while Michael Bay will be back to helm a fourth Transformers flick after his first three films did stellar business at the box office in 2007, 2009 and 2011, respectively. And of course, Steven Spielberg and Lucas returned to the Indiana Jones series with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and an upcoming fifth installment. Along with the first two Star Wars prequels, however, I don't think the new Indy flicks are very good examples of why filmmakers should go back to the movie franchises that help boost their careers. Oh well.

RED TAILS... Check out the trailer for next January’s World War II action flick, which is produced by George Lucas and chronicles the real-life exploits of African-American fighter pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Red Tails, which stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard and...Method Man, is the first Lucasfilm production since 1994 to not be connected with Indiana Jones or the Star Wars saga. Radioland Murders was the last movie Lucas worked on before he focused on the 1997 Star Wars Special Editions and the prequels.

Red Tails gets released in theaters nationwide on January 20, 2012. I’ll watch this flick...though what’s up with the 300-style letter font for the movie’s title? Zack Snyder might not be pleased.

IMAGES OF THE DAY... ComicBookMovie.com posted this cool fan-made poster below that was inspired by Drew Struzan—who is best known for his awesome artwork on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and other classic movies. The two other images in this entry were taken on the set of The Dark Knight Rises as it filmed in Pittsburgh during the past month.


Alexander Stojanov - deviantART


Getty Images

SUPER 8... I watched the new sci-fi flick by Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams this weekend, and considering what I read in recent newspaper articles about Abrams struggling to combine two movies of different genres into a single flick, I'd have to say it came out pretty good. The beginning of the film started out kinda slow (with one dude in the audience I saw Super 8 with wondering out loud "What’s this movie about?"), but as it went on, the movie became very enjoyable to watch. You can clearly tell which scenes in Super 8 were influenced by Spielberg and which ones were conjured up by Abrams. All the father-bonding-or-not-bonding-with-son moments, action sequences like that Jurassic Park-ish scene where the alien creature attacks that bus on a dark road, and the Close Encounters of the Third Kind/E.T. moment at the end of the movie? All Spielberg. The alien creature itself (which looks like it may be the brethren of the monster in Cloverfield), the army firing upon the creature in the middle of the night (another throwback to Cloverfield...and um, other monster flicks) and Super 8’s Fringe-like atmosphere? The work of Abrams...though let’s ignore the fact he’s the one who actually wrote and directed the film, hah.



Comparing X-Men: First Class (which I saw a few days ago) and this movie... I find it amusing that Spielberg/Abrams like to show teenage kids constantly spewing out profanities in Super 8 while the only major use of profanity in X-Men was in the bar scene where Wolverine (yea, Hugh Jackman makes a cameo in First Class) tells Professor X and Magneto to "f**k off". Of course, leave it to Spielberg to use the ‘s’ word in movies he’s either directing (such as Jurassic Park) or executive producing (such as Super 8 and Transformers). Oh well. Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, which is a previous Spielberg flick if you aren’t a film buff and/or wasn’t born before the 1980s, was—I believe—the movie that lead to the PG-13 rating being created (what with the monkey brains and hearts getting ripped out and whatnot). Just one example in a hundred where Spielberg revolutionized cinema. But Super 8 is first and foremost the work of J.J. Abrams...and I want to give him credit for making a summer flick that was as satisfying to watch as his 2009 remake of Star Trek. When does Star Trek 2 come out, by the way? That’s for a Blog on another day.

BEST SUMMER MOVIE OF 2008... Or hell, THE best movie of 2008, so far. I watched The Dark Knight in IMAX today, and I don’t think anything will top this film until the actual Oscar movie season starts this Fall. Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker was TRULY phenomenal, and if The Departed (which I enjoyed) could be nominated (and win) the Best Picture for 2006, then why not The Dark Knight for '08? Both dealt with the gray line that separates good guys from criminals...though one of my friends who I saw The Dark Knight with today said Chris Nolan did a better job with this topic than Martin Scorsese did with The Departed. A science fantasy like Star Wars got nominated in 1978, an action-adventure serial like Raiders of the Lost Ark got nominated in ’82, and all three films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy got nominated in 2002, ’03 and ’04, respectively (with Return of the King actually winning Best Picture in ’04), so why not The Dark Knight as the first Oscar-worthy comic book flick? If you disagree, then you’re either a hater, or you haven’t seen the film yet. Or you thought Mamma Mia! was a better film to see this weekend than the newest Batman flick. I’ll hunt you down if that last one was the case.



So why did the Joker kick ass in this film? So many moments to use for examples... That "magic trick" he did with that pencil... His many stories about where he got those scars near his mouth from... The different weapons he used, ranging from an Uzi to a bazooka, to take out that armored police van that had Harvey Dent in it... Or the very scene in that hospital where he successfully converted Harvey Dent from the "White Knight" District Attorney into the vengeful Harvey "Two-Face". Or maybe it was the two conversations (the first one in that police interrogation room, and the second one as the Joker was hanging upside-down from that ledge atop the skyscraper in the movie’s climax) that the Joker had with Batman. "You won’t kill me because you’re incorruptible, Batman. And I won’t kill you ‘cause, well, you’re just too much fun." Awesome.



Everyone in The Dark Knight gave great performances. Christian Bale once again did an awesome job playing Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne. Morgan Freeman gave an amusing performance as Batman’s gadget supplier, Lucius Fox. Michael Caine, as Alfred, had a couple of witty conversations with Bruce Wayne [ALFRED (on Bruce Wayne turning himself in as Batman): "Are you gonna turn me in as your accomplice?" WAYNE: "Are you kidding? I’m gonna tell them this whole thing was your idea."]. Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon was just as heroic as Batman. Aaron Eckhart did a cool job as Harvey Dent and Two-Face (the prosthetics/CGI on his face looked totally awesome! Truly gruesome in a positive way). Maggie Gyllenhaal did a nice job taking Katie Holmes' spot as Rachel Dawes...though unlike Ms. Holmes (I will NOT call her Mrs. Cruise), the camera wasn’t exactly friendly to Maggie’s face during those extreme close-ups. Or is it the other way around? Sorry for sounding like a jerk, haha. And the Bat Pod was totally freakin’ awesome! Though I’ll miss the Tumbler. Such a cool ride.



So all in all, The Dark Knight rocked! Ledger should at least get nominated a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. And the movie itself should get noms for tons of technical categories (namely— Best Cinematography, Best Make-up and Best Film Editing. And maybe even Best Original Score...though new Academy rules prevent that from happening since we already heard most of the tunes in Batman Begins). So who should the villains in the next Batman Begins sequel be? Two names come to mind: BANE and AZRAEL. More on that in a future Blog...

THE DARK KNIGHT Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. *****

MORE ON INDIANA JONES IV... Two of my co-workers and I were able to sneak into a midnight screening of the film today (despite the fact we wrapped up our work shift during a research screening two hours earlier), and the auditorium was packed! Obviously. There was one dude sitting nearby watching a *cough-bootlegged-cough* copy of Iron Man on his laptop, another moviegoer who was fully decked out in Indiana Jones attire (yep, plus the whip... Is it just me but being dressed as Indy is waaaay cooler than wearing a lame Harry Potter or Hobbit costume? But not as cool as wearing a Jango Fett outfit as one Star Wars fan did when I attended a midnight screening of Revenge of the Sith 3 years ago), his hot-ass girlfriend—who interestingly looked like, um, porn star Jenna Haze—who was also wearing a fedora and a light brown shirt (plus a really short, and tight, light brown short pants), another hot Indiana ‘Jane’ who was showing her abs with her light brown shirt rolled up, and lots of people with beach balls in hand. I feel sorry for the two security guys (whom the crowd was harassing and teasing by calling them ‘rent-a-cops’) and the cute female AMC employee who constantly had to go up and down the stairs to confiscate beach balls (plus an unused condom that was inflated into a makeshift ball) in the hour-or-so leading up to the 12:01 AM showing.



So what did I think of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, you ask? It was good...but it was one of those films that you had to let sink in afterwards before you start to really appreciate it (a.k.a. "refrigerator logic". Look it up on Google). The climax, not to spoil it for y’all, was obviously very sci-fi-esque—which, in a positive way, made this movie stand out from the first three films. In a negative way, though, the climax also seemed kinda out of place. But keep in mind all three ancient artifacts that Indy searched for in the original trilogy (the Ark of the Covenant, the Sankara Stones and the Holy Grail) had great magical powers that helped those who were good and killed (or should I say, incinerate in a ball of flames? Not to spoil anything for y’all) those who wanted to use those artifacts for evil purposes. The Crystal Skull was no different. I’d say more about Indy IV, but today is barely opening day and I don’t want to be a jerk. However, I will tell you this: The rumors you’ve heard about Shia LaBeouf’s character since LaBeouf was first cast for the role a few years back are true. That is all.

FROM MOST FAVORITE TO LEAST:
-Raiders of the Lost Ark
-The Last Crusade
-Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
-The Temple of Doom


Paramount Pictures / Lucasfilm Ltd.

Next film to watch: The Dark Knight (July 18).

THIS THURSDAY, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comes out in theaters. Not that you needed a reminder or anything.


Paramount Pictures / Lucasfilm Ltd. / Drew Struzan