Topic: Steven Spielberg

Indiana Jones: big adventure, big nostalgia

By David W. Shelton | May 23, 2008 |

With the advent of Memorial Day Weekend, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull kicks off the holiday stretch with a rousing race through jungles of all types, promising action, reunions, and lots of booby-trapped labyrinths and ancient artifacts. This third sequel to 1982’s masterpiece, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is a fitting addition to the Jones pantheon. It clearly resides in the shadows of Raiders, and never quite reaches the fever pitch of breathtaking awe that it could achieve.

It’s by no means a bad movie. In fact, it’s really quite good. Director Steven Spielberg, Producer George Lucas, and Harrison Ford all fit back into their old clothes quite nicely, especially the latter as he puts on the famous hat and title role once again. To put it plainly, he’s still got it. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. He owns the role like a seasoned Rolex, and there’s no sign that he ever let it go.

Set in 1957, nearly twenty years after the events of the Last Crusade, Crystal Skull picks up in an eerily-familiar warehouse that supposedly houses a particular artifact that Soviet KGB officials seem to require. The Soviets are led by Irina Spalko(Cate Blanchett), one of the least-developed villains in the entire series. Blanchett has done well with her Russian accent, but aside from that, there’s really not a whole lot going for her. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Opinion | No Comments

Indiana Jones whips through Drive-In Saturday Night; Indy 4 coming in 2008

By Christine Anne Piesyk | August 31, 2007 |

The first time I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), I left the theater exhausted, as if I had raced through the adventure right alongside the now legendary Indiana Jones. I raced back to the studio with my partner Jesse and we wrote our review that night, taped our radio program in the wee hours of the morning for a 7 a.m. airtime, and made plans to see it again. That night.

Harrison Ford made the inter-gallactic leap from his dashing Han Solo of the futuristic Star Wars to the historic backdrop of pre-World War II and carved a niche in a second, equally swashbuckling role as a seemingly mild-mannered college professor with a secret life as a treasure hunter. Raiders hits the screen on a dead run, with ‘Indy’ scooping a golden idol and fleeing angry natives (Hovitos) in a plane that has the one thing he hates most: a huge snake. That ‘little’ weakness is endearing in this tough guy persona.

Indy is about to get the biggest challenge of his life in the form of a quest for a holy grail of sorts: the Ark of the Covenant, the supposed repository for the Ten Commandments of biblical fame. He has to grab it before the Nazis do, for whoever holds the covenant will rule the world.

Enter Marion (Karen Allen) as his gutsy former lover turned partner, a woman who holds her own against killers, conspirators, and all things evil. A Princess Leia for the 1930s. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure | No Comments