The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

I think it's mellowed over time.

Story time! I didn't start getting into Indiana Jones until after this movie came out but from all the contemporary word of mouth there was, you either despised it or liked it. Hell my mom tried to get me to watch it before any of the others and I just couldn't go for it yet, but I quickly loved the previous 3 movies and when I watched it the first go around it didn't strike me very much. I guess the line is drawn at do you think extraterrestrial life belongs in an Indiana Jones movie? My teenage self would say hell to the no, but nowadays I'm kinda on the fence. I mean it's Spielberg in conjunction with Lucas, they wanted to do a big throwback to film serials and adventure films of their youth in creating this character and you could argue the progression is sound, science fiction and alien movies were huge in the 1950s so they wanted to tip their hat to that genre as well, and I do feel Spielberg did fine work with all the elements here. So we basically follow Indy as he's being hounded by KGB agents where we meet his son Mutt Williams who enlists his help to find an old teacher and his mom as we piece together the puzzle, world hop, get into some action, and touch upon another religion albeit a less than common one. Now how they weave this story of the crystal skull for the most part works, bringing in conquistadors, the legend of El Dorado, and various bits of mesoamerican history I feel works well. You follow it, understand it, and can even be intrigued by it. It doesn't feel like an exposition dump and feels natural in this world, my only gripe is they introduce two crystal skulls and that can be a bit confusing because it just didn't need to be there and we only focus on one anyway. I don't really know why they chose to add another one in the mix for only one scene. My other more major gripe is I cannot grasp why the character of Mac even exists, he turns heel on Indy almost right from the word go but he doesn't contribute a goddamn thing and they keep yo-yoing between he's a double agent and he's actually a bastard helping the commies. Superflous. Fucking superflous. I'm not all that wild about our villains here either, I mean I get why, the time is 1957 and the movie actually does exceptional work setting you in that time frame! The cars (with a subtle nod to American Graffiti for the opening credits), the fashion, the Red Scare is rampant, all the details of the world help a lot, but I'm sorry the russian army doesn't have at all the menace and force of the natzis in any way whatsoever. But honestly those are my 3 main problems with this movie, I mean yeah sure it gets a little friggin' Looney Tunes and a bit too much CGI when they're in the Amazon jungle, but even then I kept my eyes peeled the whole movie to discern what they actually did and what was CG and I'm happy to report they did the majority of stuff for real! There may be a CG background but the sets are real, the stunts are real, it's not quite to the extent people would leave you to believe that it's very much a Star Wars prequels production. I've heard many a people say that Indiana Jones is too old, I heard it back then and I'm certainly damn well hearing it now but...no. He's not. Indy would adventure, preserve artifacts, and keep learning as much as he could until his last breath, that's why I'm not against The Dial Of Destiny. Harrison still fucking has it, he's great as always and this gives him a new angle when he learns he has a son. It's rock solid all the way through. It's nice to see Karen Allen back and I'm more curious as to what that will entail in the next movie with their relationship. Same goes for Mutt, is Shia LaBeouf gonna make an appearance? I felt he did okay here, I mean this was a point in time where he was a getting a huge push, remember Transformers came out the previous year, I'm not a fan but I'm not a hater either. Cate Blanchette, sorry hun I think you were way more intimidating even when you're just chilling in Lothlorien with your husband Celeborn, you did decent but I can't blame it on you. Poor John Hurt needed more material, I adore that actor but I feel he was more on the wasted potential side in this movie. But all the acting is good and serviceable so no major points deducted. Effects work again is primarily solid with a few bits that were off, but I'm just thrilled they did as much as they could in camera and I hope that tradition continues one last time. The story progression was good, I liked all the bits of history and trivia, even if I'm not fully on board with interdimemsional creatures. For a movie that got some bashing over the years, I think people are at the point where they can re-evaluate it and make peace with some grievances. Is it still at the bottom of the ranking list for me? Yeah, but I would not go so far as to say it is a bad movie. I give it 2.5 stars, 6.5/10. I really have zero clue as to how the next movie will go, cause I've seen young and old Harrison Ford, they made my sexy man an SS officer, and they tout this as Indy's last adventure. Can't wait until he gets blasted by missiles on an island saving his love and his child. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Animal House

And yes in my eyes Animal House is a spoof, it has several moments where it's pure exaggeration and ridiculous stuff. Very funny, but nowhere near real. I means seriously, the pillow fight scene......what even the flying circus??

Okay, Animal House. Very fun, that's how I would describe it above even being funny, it's just a fun movie. Concerning a rugged, rule breaking fraternity that is trying to be put down by the stuck up dean. Dirt simple story, but you don't watch Animal House for story. You watch it for good comedic actors playing fun characters, pretty crazy situations, and to have a blast with friends during a movie night. At first I didn't laugh or enjoy the movie much, yet strangely the more I watched the funnier it got. It's harmless fluff really, though it does probably disappoint many who picture college like this. Now I'm sure there are colleges, or universities, whatever the hell you want to call them who do have frats like the ones in the movie, both the preppy rich stuck up jackasses, and the down and dirty fun loving and mainly alcoholic party people. But honestly I did 3 years of community college, and that was enough for me. Which is hilarious cause I just love that line, "7 years of college down the drain." cause I do believe there is a sort of subtle message, the movie setting is in 1962 so the hippie culture is in swing, Vietnam is right around the corner, there was a lot of stuff going down back then so when the Dean threatens them with expellment and military recruitment, you do get this sense of oh shit, a good portion of these guys could go to Vietnam and not make it back. And they actually do tell what happened to the main characters in later years, some are more surprising than others but yeah that was kind of a brief but deep scene for me. Even in comedy movies, you need a point to get back down to reality but the comedy is very good! It's not gut busting funny, and I'm not that much of a snob who can't stand college movies (I'm only sort of a snob who can't stand college movies. Looking at you Van Wilder....) but I still laughed and had fun with it. It's prime material to watch with lots of friends and lots of alcohol, but kids don't get that excited.

Scrooged

Well damn this movie was awesome!

In fact....this is my favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Yep, I said it. Why? Well, here we go. Scrooge is a loose adaptation of Charles Dicken's classic tale, with a new modern spin on it. Bill Murray, more or less plays Bill Murray specifically this outrageous jerk named Frank who is the head of a major broadcasting channel, and he is a diiiick in this movie. Like, to the point where I was laughing but also taken aback by just how unashamedly brutal and mean this guy is. It's like if Scrooge, the Grinch, and Blackadder spawned this evil, yet hilarious person. And I was surprised how great the movie was, cause I read up on it and the production seemed like a total mess, with the script constantly being re-written, Richard Donner and Bill Murray had a very strained relationship on set, and yet through all of that this is still a coherent, funny, and a very decent adaptation of a classic. This movie still has the heart and message of the original, while still doing a fresh take. Sure, we still get all the ghosts but the film has fun with it, and really treks into dark comedy which I love. The ghosts all have unique personalities but by far my absolute favorite is Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Now let me go on record and say, I friggin' love Carol Kane. She is 90 different flavors of crazy and perfect, she's just wonderful and I adore her. Her scenes in this movie had me rolling on the floor laughing! She stole the movie for me, that is how great she was! She was just so odd, and offbeat, yet so funny, and for lack of a better word...adorable. I must meet her and hug her, because Carol is brilliant in my eyes! Another person who I just loved watching is Bobcat Goldthwait in a supporting role, mainly because almost the whole movie I was like, "I know this voice. This is so damn familiar. But why? This guy is funny and his voice is so recognizable!" and then I found out. Ah! Good old Bobcat, funny dude! The music caught my attention too, throughout the movie I was just thinking, this music sounds like unused tracks from Batman Returns. This is very Danny Elfman. Guess what? Music was done by Danny Elfman. About 4 years before Batman Returns. Hey man, if your brain is really onto something, chances are you are totally correct. Scrooge was a treat to say the least, to the point where I want to make it a tradition to watch it every December. There's even a great Groundhog Day reference 5 years before Groundhog Day was even released. Yeah, this movie's a bit weird. But great. You gotta see this movie before Christmas, especially because of the speech at the end. It still rings true after about 30 years, and really makes you feel good inside. 4 stars! Check it out! And come back tomorrow, cause we always got more.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Well I figured we could look at the Indiana Jones trilogy this week, since we just finished the Star Wars saga last week and Steven Spielberg and George Lucas helped each other making both series so it really ties together well.

So how does the first Indiana Jones film hold up after over thirty years? Amazingly well. This is one of the greatest action-adventure movies of all time, and a classic to behold. So our story follows this particular adventure of famed archaeologist Indiana Jones played to perfection by Harrison Ford in pursuit of The Ark of The Covenant. We follow his travels from the university where he is a professor to the mountains of Nepal to retrieve a headpiece of the Staff of Ra to find the location of the Ark. There he meets an old flame of his, Marion played wonderfully by Karen Allen who becomes his partner in crime. They then travel to Cairo to meet with an old excavating friend of Indy's, Sallah played by John-Rhys Davies who is a joy to watch, soon they discover the location of the Ark and must protect it from the Nazis. A lot of the tropes and what you could consider cliches found in treasure hunting movies and epic action-adventure films were made popular by this movie, but it doesn't take absolutely anything away from it, it's still a spectacular movie that should be seen by all. I couldn't recommend this movie anymore, go out and watch it, you will love it. I think the best part of the entire movie besides the great cast and the unforgettable opening scene is the buildup to the Ark. You don't see it until near the end but hints are dropped as to how unearthly and truly dangerous this relic is. It legitimately makes me cautious as to our characters getting closer and closer to this artifact from wrath of God times. I'm sorry I didn't delve into it that much but I want there to be some mystery as to what happens in this film if you haven't seen it already. Wait until you see the end, you'll freak out a bit. So bottom line, watch Raiders Of The Lost Ark, I promise you that you will enjoy it greatly.

So tomorrow we will review the Indiana Jones movie that almost got an R rating and has a very split audience even to this day.