Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: A second time round…

I love writing about things I enjoy, which should give you a clue as to how I feel about this current installment of Indiana Jones. And how I feel about movies. Thankfully everyone involved in the making of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull seems to also love movies and thankfully Indiana Jones.

There’s more joy for the cinema captured in the first 5 minutes of the Crystal Skull than there has been in any movie I’ve seen this year. Admire how Spielberg effortlessly swings his cameras in and out of cars, catching reflections off hubcaps and side mirrors. And in the details, how extras playing Communist Infiltrators shake their heads at the crazy youths driving them down. The lighting separates the action and space inside and out [Janusz Kaminski] exquisitely giving details to every actor’s face. It’s beautiful. It’s fast, furious, free-flowing and fun to watch. You take in every aspect and every aspect is perfect. Anyone who’s said this movie is on auto-pilot isn’t watching.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”: The first reaction.

***While they may not be major spoilers here. Plot points are discussed. If you want the film to surprise don’t read this review!…yet.***

I don’t care how long of a title it is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the movie I was looking most forward to this year. It’s the reason why movies are made! The theatre let us in an hour before the film was to unspool at 12:01am Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I sat there shaking anxiously (or was it nervously?) The poor loud woman in the front row was getting the brunt of my unused energy while I verbally and quietly attacked her from a distance (though she was really annoying.)

How could you not be excited about this film? Harrison Ford playing one of the greatest characters to grace the silver screen? Indie was my childhood, more so than all of those battles in space. I knew who Steven Spielberg was before I knew who Jesus Christ was. I knew John Williams before I knew Abraham Lincoln. Probably not, but you get the idea. A matinee idol for our times. Grounded in the mythology of our world. Taking us to places on our planet, places just beneath the very feet we walk on that were full of magic, wonderment and danger. And the Indiana Jones character is so grounded, accessible and fallible to pain and emotions and his own desire to see the unknown, how could you not look forward to another engagement?

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

I didn’t think it would be so possible to be moved by a film that I’ve seen on countless occasions as if I’d just watched it for the first time. But as the Ladd Company tree appeared on the screen and the first boom of Vangelis’ score echoed throughout the theatre, I felt myself sink back into my chair as my eyes watered over and it felt like the first time I had watched Blade Runner on the floor of my Grandparents living room two feet from the television monitor And I sat speechless until the credits were done with their scroll.

Bladerunner: The Ultimate Version

Bladerunner is my favorite movie, not by much, but it has remained so since I first saw it at 14 years of age. I’ve been waiting in anticipation for the newest version that comes out on DVD in December. But this evening I heard from a producer that the newest version of Bladerunner is playing at a theatre near you…or at least me…or at least if you live in the Los Angeles area.

It’s playing until next Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at the Landmark Theatre in the Westside Pavillion Mall on Pico Blvd, just East of the 405.

I’m rushing to see it tomorrow, so will refrain from speaking anymore about it until after.