For possibly the first time in my life, I've seen a movie on its opening weekend. I usually wait until at least Monday after a Friday-Sunday weekend, and until the next Friday if the weekend is longer. I've only seen a few movies twice in the theatre -- I prefer to wait until I purchase it to watch it multiple times.
But Friday night I found myself in the cinema in Simsbury, Conn. watching "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." I won't say I've been waiting 19 years for it, but I did want to see it a lot.
We got there early enough to get seats but not early enough to get good seats; I prefer to sit in the exact middle of the theater so I don't get blasted by the speakers and freaked out by the giant heads, and we were sitting pretty close to the screen on the left aisle. I couldn't stop punning from when we sat down until the movie started, so I am now wearing a tiny action figure attached to my lanyard keychain - he's an Indy pendant. I'm planning to wear more on July 4.
A spoiler-free movie review: it was so campy it was accepting deposits for eight-week sleepaway sessions. The plot was weird. Shia LaBoeuf (sp)'s facial hair was distracting. I was totally skeptical about a 65-year-old being able to pull off "demonstrative action hero" but my worries were unfounded.
While I couldn't help the facial part since I don't even know Shia, I wonder about the first two parts: the campiness and the weird plot. I know that the films are supposed to read like B-movie serials. I know that the previous three films also had similar plots. And I know that a lot of people who claim to be die-hard Indy fans are really disappointed by the current flick.
Personally, as someone who wasn't old enough to see the films in the theatre until Last Crusade (no one should have seen Temple of Doom when they were six and easily startled), I was glad to see Indy again on the big screen. At least for me, the character has become mythical in the last 19 years, and I think that's what a lot of the so-called die-hards feel, but they were less able to deal with the new plot. Also, George Lucas does have a little trouble beyond his first trilogies, that I will agree with. I despised Star Wars episode I and haven't seen II or III. I thought there were too many explosions in Phantom Menace, and heard Attack of the Clones was singularly awful. It didn't help that I didn't like any of the actors in the second trilogy.
Also, I'm not a typical Indy fan in that Last Crusade is actually my favorite of the trilogy. It's the big screen, the repeated line "Ahh, Venice," the interplay between father and son, the line "You chose wisely," the riding off into the sunset...
While the film was campy and weird, I'm going to see it again in the theatres. And buy it. Because it is Indiana Jones, and I have a total fictional character crush on him. I know he doesn't exist, and even if he had actually been born, he'd probably have died by now, but he is exceptionally hot. I find him the hottest when Marion is trying to wash off Indy's wounds on the boat in Raiders. I actually had a crush on Harrison Ford back after the rerelease of the first Star Wars trilogy (as well as a crush on Han Solo), but it stopped when I realized how old he was looking - he's technically old enough to be my grandfather. But after seeing him put on the fedora again, if he gave me a flower, I'd follow him anywhere. Or at least I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers. And I might name my dog Indiana, if I ever have one.
But Friday night I found myself in the cinema in Simsbury, Conn. watching "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." I won't say I've been waiting 19 years for it, but I did want to see it a lot.
We got there early enough to get seats but not early enough to get good seats; I prefer to sit in the exact middle of the theater so I don't get blasted by the speakers and freaked out by the giant heads, and we were sitting pretty close to the screen on the left aisle. I couldn't stop punning from when we sat down until the movie started, so I am now wearing a tiny action figure attached to my lanyard keychain - he's an Indy pendant. I'm planning to wear more on July 4.
A spoiler-free movie review: it was so campy it was accepting deposits for eight-week sleepaway sessions. The plot was weird. Shia LaBoeuf (sp)'s facial hair was distracting. I was totally skeptical about a 65-year-old being able to pull off "demonstrative action hero" but my worries were unfounded.
While I couldn't help the facial part since I don't even know Shia, I wonder about the first two parts: the campiness and the weird plot. I know that the films are supposed to read like B-movie serials. I know that the previous three films also had similar plots. And I know that a lot of people who claim to be die-hard Indy fans are really disappointed by the current flick.
Personally, as someone who wasn't old enough to see the films in the theatre until Last Crusade (no one should have seen Temple of Doom when they were six and easily startled), I was glad to see Indy again on the big screen. At least for me, the character has become mythical in the last 19 years, and I think that's what a lot of the so-called die-hards feel, but they were less able to deal with the new plot. Also, George Lucas does have a little trouble beyond his first trilogies, that I will agree with. I despised Star Wars episode I and haven't seen II or III. I thought there were too many explosions in Phantom Menace, and heard Attack of the Clones was singularly awful. It didn't help that I didn't like any of the actors in the second trilogy.
Also, I'm not a typical Indy fan in that Last Crusade is actually my favorite of the trilogy. It's the big screen, the repeated line "Ahh, Venice," the interplay between father and son, the line "You chose wisely," the riding off into the sunset...
While the film was campy and weird, I'm going to see it again in the theatres. And buy it. Because it is Indiana Jones, and I have a total fictional character crush on him. I know he doesn't exist, and even if he had actually been born, he'd probably have died by now, but he is exceptionally hot. I find him the hottest when Marion is trying to wash off Indy's wounds on the boat in Raiders. I actually had a crush on Harrison Ford back after the rerelease of the first Star Wars trilogy (as well as a crush on Han Solo), but it stopped when I realized how old he was looking - he's technically old enough to be my grandfather. But after seeing him put on the fedora again, if he gave me a flower, I'd follow him anywhere. Or at least I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers. And I might name my dog Indiana, if I ever have one.
Labels: continued trilogies, fictional character crushes, you chose wisely
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