Blade Runner

There have been so many versions of Blade Runner throughout the years, that it’s hard to accept that the Final Cut is the final cut. I’ve seen so many of them it’s also hard to keep them straight in my head. What I can and will say about the Final Cut is that like all of the other cuts, it points out that Blade Runner is simply one of the best crafted films ever made.

That and I really want to steal Ridley Scott’s lighting to use in one of my own films. I was struck this viewing with how stunningly beautiful Blade Runner visually is. It’s no wonder this film has been an inspiration for so many filmmakers.

Star Wars: A New Hope

Everyone's Favorite
Originally uploaded by Kiel Bryant

The whim came over me yesterday to watch Star Wars, not just any Star Wars but the version of A New Hope from my childhood – you know the one where the blur at the bottom of Luke’s landspeeder was created by putting vaseline on the camera lens. As much as I appreciate Lucas’s desire to “complete” the things he did in the original trilogy, I must say that I don’t think they needed it. The original Star Wars movies have always been perfect in my opinion and to this day the special effect completely hold up with things being produced by effects studios that have almost 30 years on Lucas and his garage effects.

The first and foremost thing that is right with the original edition – Han shoots first! I’m sorry, Greedo doesn’t shoot at Han who then fires back, or they both shoot at the same time – Han is the badass that knows he has to shoot first or die first, and that is the PERFECT set up for his character versus the rest of the more sheltered main characters in the film. Luke is naive, Leia is powerless and Han gets the job done.

I must also say that the prequels must be ignored to truly enjoy the original trilogy. If you actually think about metichlorines, whiny little Anakin, the old republic, or the way Revenge of the Sith ended, you will sit puzzling at how nothing actually fits together. And I’m sorry, the force is so much cooler when you don’t know it’s little organisms in your blood and body that control it. I could have lived without that knowledge – all I needed to know was that it “surrounds us” and I was cool.

Star Wars is the corner stone of the entire franchise, and I have to say that in the filmography of George Lucas it is his best directorial effort. One major element of this is the cast he chose; Lucas put a great deal of emphasis on casting, and wanting to make sure that his main characters had chemistry – he actually did group auditions for the three leads and I have to say that paid off.

Director & Writer: George Lucas
Luke Skywaler: Mark Hamill
Han Solo: Harrison Ford
Princess Leia: Carrie Fisher
Obi-Wan: Alec Guinness
Darth Vader: James Earl Jones

Obi-Wan: Your father's light saber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times...before the Empire.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

indy3
Originally uploaded by wachamuvi

It’s been nineteen years since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released to theatres. Nineteen years for fans to hope that maybe, someday they’d get to see the everyman hero named Indy crack his whip in a new adventure again. Last night at 12:01 a.m. the wait ended and fans are going to be divided directly down the line.

I cannot say that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a bad movie. It is well shot by Janusz Kaminski (although it looks vastly different than any of the previous films), there are numerous iconic images that strike of what makes Spielberg the king of Hollywood, the action sequences are fun, and Indy does get out of tight situations by the combination of brains and brawn that we have come to expect from the character.

This being said, my problem with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is that the movie takes us to a place where I don’t think Indy belongs. I have no problem with the Cold War instead of the Nazi’s trying to take over the world, but aliens are stretching it. Indy himself doesn’t even seem to do much in the “detective” work that we’re so used to seeing him do; he follows an old friends instructions and this old friend turns out to be bat crazy then they just kind of jaunt together wherever old crazy tells them to go.

All of the Indiana Jones films harken back to the over-the-top action adventure movies of the golden era of cinema, but Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade still managed to create realistic characters, realistic (yet fanciful) adventures and amazing action – yet Kingdom of the Crystal Skull seems to have finally walked just over the line where an homage to old action movies becomes a literal translation of old action movies. And this time we get old sci-fi movies as well, and I tell you I don’t think Doctor Jones can pull off sci-fi.

I won’t post any spoilers here as I know that this movie is going to be seen by almost everyone I know this weekend, but I will stress that you need to go into the movie knowing that this is not the Indiana Jones you remember, this is an Indiana Jones movie made for a new generation of kids who don’t want to think about what they are watching.

This is my final opinion: I waited nineteen years for a sequel to a movie that really didn’t need a sequel, I know that they had fun making it, but I would have waited another year or two for a movie that felt more like an Indiana Jones movie, not a movie that feels like another movie that happens to have the Indiana Jones characters in it.

I think far too many movies are being made nowadays because they are “fun” movies to watch. What happened to the days where my “fun” movies to watch were also smart?

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: David Koepp
Indiana Jones: Harrison Ford
Marion Ravenwood: Karen Allen
Mutt: Shia LaBeouf
Mac: Ray winstone
Irina Spalko: Cate Blanchett

Indiana Jones: Put your hands down will you, you're embarrassing us.