Entry for May 26, 2008: Indy 4 review

Friends, I hope that you’ve had a good Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday, 24 May 2008, Janice and I drove down to Norwood, Massachusetts, for lunch at Conrad’s and to pick up my subscription at New England Comics. From there, we went to the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro, Mass., where we ran into Sara F. & Josh C. After walking around a bit, we met Ken G. at the Showcase Cinemas nearby, later followed by dinner at Applebee’s. Here’s my review of Indiana Jones [4] and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Indy 4 wallpaper — Once more, cliffhanging adventures

First, the usual disclaimer: I’ve been a fan of this cliffhanging franchise since seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark with my father back in 1981 (“It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage”). I own numerous DVDs, reference books, novelizations, comics, role-playing games, and toys associated with the works of producer George Lucas, director Stephen Spielberg, and lead actor Harrison Ford. And, yes, I did wear my safari shirt and fedora, but at least I left my whip at home! Thus, this is hardly an objective review, and since a movie ticket now costs about $10 a pop, I tend to like those films I choose to see in theaters.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, or “Indy 4” for short, picks up the story of our favorite adventuresome archaeologist in 1957. The Nazi and Thuggee adversaries of the earlier flicks have been replaced by Soviets, and the MacGuffin this time is a South American artifact that may be of extraterrestrial origin (I’ll try to avoid “spoilers,” but some of the reviews I’m linking to may give away more of the plot).

The strongest part of this movie is the cast, with Ford only slightly slowed by age as Professor Henry “Indiana” W. Jones Jr. and Karen Allen still attractive as a middle-aged Marion Ravenwood, Indy’s spunky onetime girlfriend. I missed the presence of the late Denholm Elliott as mentor Marcus Broady, John Rhys-Davies as Egyptian ally Sallah, and Sean Connery as Dr. Henry Jones Sr., but their absence was noted, and Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone, and John Hurt do add a bit of gravitas to the ensemble, even if their roles are small.

Newcomers to the franchise include Cate Blanchett as nefarious Soviet paranormal investigator Col.Dr. Irina Spalko and the ubiquitous Shia LaBeouf as youthful rebel without a cause Mutt Williams. As in last summer’s Transformers, LaBeouf acquits himself well and isn’t as annoying as he could be in a blockbuster movie. Lucas’ musings on father-son relationships, human history and belief, and the value of friendship are here as in his Star Wars space opera series.

The cinematography reminded me of how Raiders, Indiana Jones [2] and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones [3] and the Last Crusade revived interest in the pulp entertainment of the 1930s. This time, Indy and his globe-hopping compatriots go from the desert of New Mexico to the groves of academe in the U.S. Northeast to the highlands of Peru. Computer-generated imagery smoothly replaced the matte paintings and animatronics of previous films.

Speaking of the previous films, there are several “Easter eggs” for alert fans, including references to the lost Ark of the Covenant, to the camaraderie of The Last Crusade, and even to the instructive Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series, as well as the novel and comic book continuity.

The set-piece action scenes are also well-done, playing to Spielberg’s strengths. They include fisticuffs in a secret government warehouse followed by a nuclear explosion, a swashbuckling chase scene through the jungle and down some waterfalls, and the usual trap-riddled tombs and temples. There are of course snakes, angry natives, and this time, ants. Yes, the pace is slower than it was in the original movies or in those that would carry on their legacy, such as The Mummy and National Treasure, but I think that gave the characters time to shine.

I would have preferred a more mystical MacGuffin or plot device, in keeping with the previous movies, but I understand the need for more science fictional elements since Indy 4 is set in the 1950s. In fact, I did like seeing the greasers and bobby-sockers of Lucas and Ford’s American Graffiti, visual allusions to Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and displays of the patriotism and paranoia of the Cold War that are still strangely relevant. The movie quietly ends on a high note, if not quite the ride into the sunset of Last Crusade. On the other hand, I’m not sure if a continuation about Mutt would really count as an Indy flick.

Overall, I’d give Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which is rated PG-13 for violence and profanity, an 8 out of 10, or a B+. How does that compare with the previous installments? Raiders gets a 9 or a 10, or an A+. I’d give Temple of Doom a 7 or an 8, or a B+, while Last Crusade deserves an 8 or a 9, or a A-. I’d also give the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (now on DVD) an 8, or a A-/B+.

Janice and others at dinner noted that they enjoyed Indy 4 more than Speed Racer or The Chronicles of Narnia [2]: Prince Caspian. We all liked Iron Man, which remains the genre film to beat so far this summer. I don’t know if I’ll get to the theater for computer-animated comedy Kung-Fu Panda, but I do hope to catch The Incredible Hulk in the coming month.

In related news, I belatedly watched Disney’s computer-animated Meet the Robinsons, which was fairly entertaining. The season finales of supernatural slacker comedy Reaper, superhero drama Smallville, and Showtime’s The Tudors were decent, although I’m not sure the latter was historically accurate.

Completely devoid of historical accuracy was Brian W.‘s fun “Savage Worlds: Paranoia” one-shot last week. It was the first of a series of games between the D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains” Arabian fantasy campaign and the Boston-area group’s first Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition party. The “Broken Chains” disbanded after many adventures; after fighting monsters, cultists, and demons, it was nice to end that party for now with the birth of one character’s children!

I thought Brian did a good job of melding the Savage Worlds rules-light pulp system with Paranoia‘s comedic cyberpunk. Tonight, I’ll be missing Josh C.’s Everway fantasy session because I’ll be running the D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: Holy Steel” teleconferencing team. I’ve spent much of the holiday weekend catching up on reading and filing. Janice and I also recaulked our bathroom, although painting and plumbing issues remain. Next weekend, we’ll be visiting my family in Virginia.

Entry for February 04, 2008: Movies, Super Bowl

I’d like to congratulate the New York Giants and the team’s supporters on their victory in Super Bowl XLII and offer my condolences to fellow fans of the New England Patriots. While the Pats didn’t get the perfect undefeated football season they had hoped for, the big game was a close challenge rather than a blowout for either side.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning successfully drove down the field, and his defensive teammates did an excellent job of keeping the Patriots from advancing and kept the overall score low. Unlike some more hard-core sports fans, I have no interest in gloating and am glad that the game was close and that the Northeast was well represented.

Backing up a bit, on Saturday, 2 February 2008, Janice and I had brunch at Fresco and ran some errands in Needham Heights, Massachusetts, which The Boston Globe reports is becoming a foodie town. It remains to be seen if the local population can support the various restaurants that I’ve blogged about. We also caught up on Avatar: the Last Airbender, The Batman, and decent romantic fantasy comedy Ella Enchanted.

We then met co-worker Ken G., who was in the neighborhood and brought over some DVDs. We watched noir comedy Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, which was based on a graphic novel. We were pleasantly surprised to like the movie, which starred Robert Downey Jr. (soon to be Iron Man‘s Tony Stark) and Val Kilmer (once Batman). I’d rate it about an 8 out of 10.

We grabbed dinner at the Ground Round before Ken left, and Janice and I watched a dog show. The next morning, after the usual City of Heroes game online, I met Thomas K.Y. and Beruk A. for a seafood lunch at Jasper White’s Summer Shack in Cambridge, Mass. We then went back to Thomas‘ place in Lexington, Mass., to watch a DVD of Day Watch.

The Russian modern horror/fantasy movie wasn’t as visionary as its predecessor, Night Watch, but I still thought the story of one man’s search for redemption and interpersonal connection amid a supernatural struggle among the forces of light and darkness was interesting. I’d give the subtitled film about a 7 out of 10.

We also checked out the dieselpunk/horror video game Bioshock and a few movie previews. As with the Super Bowl broadcast, Iron Man and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian look most promising. The other commercials during the game were lackluster in comparison with previous years, but at least Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers gave a solid classic rock performance at halftime.

Speaking of various contests, next time, I’ll blog about the U.S. presidential primaries!

Entry for January 22, 2008: Cloverfield

Friends, I hope you’ve had a good week. Among other things I learned in the “Writing for Multiple Platforms” class at work last week was the fact that I need to shorten my blog posts and update this more frequently. So, here goes.

On Friday, 18 January 2008, Janice and I had a good dinner at Stone Hearth Pizza, following my New Year’s resolution to eat healthier, locally sourced food. We also ate at Finagle a Bagel later in the weekend, but we mostly stayed in and continued catching up on movies.

Speaking of food and film, I enjoyed French postapocalyptic farce (not a term you hear every day) Delicatessen, and Janice watched computer-animated comedy Meet the Robinsons during one of my D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands“ sessions. On Sunday, I watched the New England Patriots and New York (actually, New Jersey) Giants win their respective football championships.

Yesterday, I met Thomas K.Y. to screen Cloverfield at the AMC Burlington cineplex northwest of Boston. Janice had to work. While I’ve been a fan of kaiju, or giant monsters, since watching the “4:30 movie” on Channel 11 as a child in metropolitan New York. Thus, the family-friendly imports of the 1960s and 1970s, in which men in rubber suits stomped through miniature Japanese cities, and the classic stop-motion fantasies of Ray Harryhausen defined my tastes.

Kaiju in Manhattan — Cloverfield monster

Cloverfield is closer in spirit to the original Gojira as a parable and horror film. Just as the traumas of postwar Japan spawned Godzilla and Gamera, and Cold War anxiety led to a wave of alien-invasion movies, so Cloverfield and recent zombie flicks reflect our feelings after the tragic terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, whose images it directly invokes. As a result, I had more of an emotional response than I did to 1990s disaster pics, such as Independence Day or the weak Americanized Godzilla.

While the handicam-style cinematography is a bit tiring, the street-level view of an unidentified monster and the bloody destruction it wreaks on New York is compelling. Of course, I wish that other cities besides my hometown would be trashed in fiction, but Manhattan’s skyline is an icon of modernity. As usual, military’s weapons do little good as crowds of civilians try to flee. The creature is depicted as a force of nature whose origin and motives remain mysterious.

Like many movies of its kind, Cloverfield takes its time introducing its doomed human characters. I felt that some of the protagonists’ decisions endangered them irrationally, even for a horror flick. Cloverfield has gotten mixed reviews but done well at the box office. Overall, I’d give it about a 7 out of 10. After the movie, Thomas and I had a burger dinner at Fuddrucker’s.

Next time: Genre and gaming updates!

Entry for July 10, 2007: SFTV and music

Friends, I hope that you had a good weekend. On Friday, 6 July 2007, I chatted with role-player Byron V.O. in St. Louis. Unfortunately, fellow “Holy Steel” teleconferencer Dexter V.H. was unable to join us in time, but at least I recorded the solid third-season premiere of the BBC’s revived Doctor Who.

The long-running, time-travel television show has had regular rounds of turnover, not unlike my gaming groups. While Christopher Eccleston gave the good Gallifreyan a strong relaunch, I’ve grown to like David Tennant, who in these most recent episodes reminded me of the swashbuckling third doctor, Jon Pertwee.

While Freema Agyeman has been somewhat controversial as new companion “Martha Jones,” I thought she has been an intelligent addition in the episodes I’ve seen thus far. Granted, comedienne Catherine Tate was funny as the “Runaway Bride,” and we’ll see her again in Series 4.

I’m still catching up on recorded episodes of the BBC’s latest Robin Hood. I’d also like to mark the passing of science fiction author Fred Saberhagen, whose “Berserker” novels were favorites of my brother Peter and me.

On Saturday, July 7, Janice and I drove to various used bookstores in Sharon and Waltham, Massachusetts in an unsuccessful initial attempt to sell four boxes of used books that we got from Robert A.S., who recently moved to North Carolina.

We also caught an early matinee of computer-animated culinary comedy Ratatouille, which we liked. I would compare the Disney/Pixar movie favorably to Dreamworks SKG/Aardman’s Flushed Away, which also had clever rodents trying to find how to coexist in a society that mirrors that of humanity. I’d give “Ratatouille” an 8 or 8.5 out of 10.

Later, we watched some of the Live Earth concerts on Bravo and NBC. Thanks again to Steve M.R., who notified me of the events on his blog. A good mix of musical acts performed around the world for the worthy cause of raising ecological awareness and starting to change consumer behavior.

Speaking of music, in recent weeks, I also watched the tribute to the late Diana, princess of Wales, and to Paul Simon. Princes William and Harry organized a nice tribute to their mother, but the audio quality of the broadcast from Wembley Stadium wasn’t very good.

I thought that the best songs in the latter special were those with Simon’s old collaborator Art Garfunkel, a rockin’ medley with Stevie Wonder, and songs with South Africa’s “Ladysmith Black Mambazo.”

During the various Fourth of July concerts, I was glad to catch a few songs of Bebe Neuwirth, best known as Frasier Crane’s shrewish wife Lilith in Cheers and Frasier. Neuwirth was also the star of Broadway’s Chicago revival, which Janice and I later saw in Boston before the recent movie with Catherine Zeta Jones, so it made sense for her to sing numbers from various Bob Fosse musicals.

In a related genre, current pop favorite Amy Winehouse is a young British singer whose latest album harkens back strongly to 1960s soul. The song “Rehab” is as catchy and retro as Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” was last summer, with dark undertones but a sense of humor.

Of other current Top 40 music and video hits, I like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (O.K., perhaps seeing her gyrate painted a la Goldfinger has something to do with that, but so does the beat), the “Black-Eyed Peas'” Fergie stretching a bit in “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and Carrie Underwood’s righteous fury in “Before He Cheats.”

As various games resume this week, I’m already making plans to screen Harry Potter [5] and the Order of the Phoenix with some of the local group this coming Saturday and Live Free or Die Hard [4] with visitor Ron J.K. on Sunday. I’ll try to post a review of those and more role-playing games in the coming week.

While my primary blog is part of my Yahoo 360 site, I have posted a few things to my MySpace page, including the results of a “What Superhero Are You?” quiz and a link to a preview of the animated adaptation of D.C. Comics’ Death of Superman.

Nov. 21, 2006 — mice, cheese, cons, Casino Royale, and preholiday heroes

Friends, it’s hard to believe that autumn is passing so quickly! As expected, on Saturday, 11 November 2006, Janice and I raked leaves before the unseasonably pleasant weather ended. On that Sunday, we caught Flushed Away — the Aardman/Dreamworks computer-animated comedy, featuring Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet as mice and rats, was better than we had expected.

We also had dinner with Thomas K.Y. at Acapulco’s, a nearby Mexican restaurant, for the first time since his family vacation in Japan. We’ve been going to Newbury Comics quite a bit lately, partly because with the demise of Tower Records and Virgin MegaStores, it’s the last good (and local) chain for discounted music CDs, movies on DVD, and pop culture trinkets.

On Monday, Nov. 15, Janice and I met with former co-worker and fellow genre fan Jacqui M.D. We chatted about our competing employers, Heroes, and the careers of actors who have worked with Joss Whedon. After dinner at Bertucci’s, she stopped by our place for the first time before heading back to her hotel.

This past Saturday, Nov. 18, Janice and I visited the shops in Harvard, Central, and Porter squares in Cambridge, Mass., including Pandemonium Books and Games. We also ate lunch at one of my favorite places near Harvard University: Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, where I usually get the “Viagra burger,” which contains blue cheese. As Wallace & Gromit might say, “How about some cheese!”

There has been no cheese to speak of in recent strong episodes of Veronica Mars, Heroes, Avatar: the Last Airbender, and Doctor Who, IMHO (in my humble opinion, for those who are netspeak-impaired). With the revisionist Battlestar Galactica moving to Sunday nights and the Stargates coming off of hiatus, my television viewing schedule will change yet again.

On Sunday, I went to Super MegaFest at the Sheraton in Framingham. The genre entertainment convention was a bit of a bust, with fewer vendors and several last-minute cancellations by guests such as professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper, Buffy: the Vampire Slayer‘s Juliet Landau, and Firefly/Serenity and Justice League Unlimited/Stargate SG-1‘s Morena Baccarin.

However, it was still a decent show, with “Elvira, mistress of the dark” (nee Cassandra Peterson), Star Trek and Batman‘s Yvonne Craig, and Happy Days‘ Erin Moran, as well as wrestler “Captain” Lou Albano. Since relatively few of these cons have been successful in the Boston area, I try to patronize those I can get to. The more literary (and pricey) speculative fiction gatherings of Arisia, VeriCon, Boskone, and Noreascon tend to be in the winter/early spring.

That afternoon, I met Thomas and Greg D.C. at the AMC Framingham 16 to screen Casino Royale. We had tried to get together to see The Prestige a few weeks ago, but those plans fell through. Greg and I mostly liked the latest James Bond flick, which marked a return to a more serious tone than the Pierce Brosnan or Roger Moore versions.

Casino Royale (based on the first Ian Fleming novel, and not to be confused with the David Niven spoof of the same name), opens with an impressive free-running stunt sequence and tries to explain Bond’s attitudes toward women, his superiors, and his lethal occupation.

Thomas felt the film was too predictable, and Dexter V.H. preferred the more glamorous espionage/action movies of the past. However, I’d give newcomer Daniel Craig and the franchise relaunch (not unlike Batman Begins) about an 8 out of 10.

Here’s my list of Bond movies and ratings:

Doctor No (Sean Connery, 1963) ****
From Russia With Love (Connery, 1964) ***
Goldfinger (Connery, 1964) ****
Thunderball (Connery, 1965) ****
You Only Live Twice (Connery, 1967) ***
Casino Royale (spoof with David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Woody Allen) **
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (George Lazenby, 1969) ****
Diamonds are Forever (Sean Connery, 1971) **
Live and Let Die (Roger Moore, 1973) ***
The Man With the Golden Gun (Moore, 1974) ***
The Spy Who Loved Me (Moore, 1977) ***
Moonraker (Moore, 1979) **
For Your Eyes Only (Moore, 1981) ***
Octopussy (Moore, 1983) **
Never Say Never Again (Connery, 1983) **
A View to a Kill (Moore, 1985) *
The Living Daylights (Timothy Dalton, 1987) ***
License to Kill (Dalton, 1989) **
GoldenEye (Pierce Brosnan, 1995) ***
Tomorrow Never Dies (Brosnan, 1997) ****
The World Is Not Enough (Brosnan, 1999) **
Die Another Day (Brosnan, 2002) ***
Casino Royale (Daniel Craig, 2006) ***

Before last autumn’s basement floods, I owned some first printings of Fleming’s novels, but I still have several reference books on James Bond. As you can tell from the list above, I prefer the Sean Connery/George Lazenby portrayals of the cinematic superspy, as well as stories rooted in the Cold War. However, I don’t mind updating the archetypal series, as long as the cool hero, daring stunts, exotic locations, beautiful women, and dastardly villains are left intact.

After the movie, Thomas and I had dinner at the Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse. The D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: Halmed Desert” fantasy game is going well, but we’ll have a few breaks in the coming weeks due to the holidays and weekend one-shots. Dan A. will be running a D20 Call of Cthulhu on Tuesday, Nov. 28, and Byron V.O. and Dexter V.H. are still working on plans to visit the Boston area in early December.

The City of Heroes virtual superhero party has been meeting more regularly, although Steve M.R. had to drop out (hopefully only briefly) due to the same kind of technical problems that have afflicted David I.S. and Kim M.E.A.G. We’re still working on tactics but are proceeding in level.

This coming weekend, Janice and I will be visiting her immediate family in Upstate New York. It’s likely that I’ll be watching some of my nieces and nephews while Janice, her sisters, and their mother go shopping on “Black Friday.” Wish me luck! Fortunately, I look forward to hanging out with them and with my brother in law Gary T.L. May all of you and your families have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!