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The ending of a film can be a strange thing. I used to live with a friend who always had a problem with films that he deemed to finish with a contrived happy ending, so much so that even if the previous two hours had been fantastic, a few seconds later and it could all be ruined for him (the end of L.A. Confidential had him in a fit of rage).

It was something I never really understood properly until I watched The Departed and witnessed Scorsese so drastically undermine the whole point of the film by changing the ending from the original source Infernal Affairs to one that I couldn’t accept the film on any level.

This a very rare incident for me, especially when I confess that up until a few years ago I refused to accept how bad The Phantom Menace is as a film, as my love for movies and especially sequels to those I grew up with can blindside any critical faculties I have. I find myself defending their flaws as one would defend a family member from outside criticism. And so to Indy IV.

It’s likely that as I’ve decided to let the majority of the review base itself more on the issues raised by the special features, that at some point the ending will be spoilt, so I suggest until you’ve seen the film not to read any further.

After seeing Crystal Skull at the cinema and having been so incredibly excited about the prospect of seeing more Indy on the big screen, I came out like so many people I talked to, feeling underwhelmed. The one thing that has been agreed by everyone I know is that the ending was too much, nobody wanted the George Lucas ‘money shot’ and moreover everyone instinctively knew that it was his influence that had detracted from what should and could have been a more intimate denouement.

Looking back to the previous Indy films I by far prefer the conclusion of The Last Crusade, where the outcome for everyone rested merely on picking the right cup. Crystal Skull has more in common with the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark, being more effects driven, but lacks the threat of the first film, while simultaneously ruining the rest of the film’s attempts to avoid using a lot of CGI where possible. The worst thing is that on one of the featurettes Spielberg admits that it was his idea to shoot the scene with the crystal bodies morphing into one flesh covered being, a moment that I really wish didn’t exist. Thankfully it didn’t speak like Jar Jar so the option is there to close your eyes and pretend it never happened.

Strangely, I had no issue with other parts of the film that people moaned about, from the fridge escape to the monkeys, as they all seemed in keeping with the over the top sense of fun that has always been part of the Jones franchise, but that ending was just one step too far.

A second viewing of Crystal Skull was actually a lot more enjoyable, as with the level of expectation dropped it enabled me to enjoy the simple pleasure of watching Harrison Ford do what he does best and notice more of the references to his other adventures throughout the film,. The high point of which came again for me when I heard him utter the line “I’ve got a bad feeling about this”, a moment of such incredible geek joy that I cheered a second time out loud.

Tags: cinema, conclusion, critical faculties, crystal skull, denouement, family member, george lucas, indy films, infernal affairs, l a confidential, last crusade, money shot, original source, phantom menace, rage, raiders of the lost ark, scorsese, sequels, special features, strange thing

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The year is 1957, the height of the Cold War. As the latest Indiana Jones adventure opens, Indy and his long time sidekick Mac (Ray Winstone) have barely escaped a close scrape with nefarious Soviet agents on a remote airfield. Now, Professor Jones has returned home to Marshall College only to find things have gone from bad to worse. His close friend and dean of the college explains that Indy’s recent activities have made him the object of suspicion, and that the government has put pressure on the university to fire him.

On his way out of town, Indiana meets rebellious young Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), who carries both a grudge and a proposition for the adventurous archaeologist: If he’ll help Mutt on a mission with deeply personal stakes, Indy could very well make one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in history the Crystal Skull of Akator, a legendary object of fascination, superstition and fear.

Indy and Mutt must find a way to evade the ruthless Soviets, follow an impenetrable trail of mystery, grapple with enemies and friends of questionable motives, and, above all, stop the powerful Crystal Skull from falling into the deadliest of hands.

18 years after Indie rode off into the sunset following his last crusade, the intrepid archaeologist returns. Despite the film’s mixed reviews when it was released theatrically, ”Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull” remains a joyously old fashioned piece of escapism, assuredly crafted by Spielberg and beautifully acted.

It’s Ford whose age-old sense of cynical heroism that remains the centre of the franchise, and his performance is what defines this film. I recall attending the premiere of Raiders, and there is little doubt that the wonder of the original as seen in theatres over two decades ago, can never be repeated and never was even in the second and third films, but David Koepp’s script is still sharp enough to consistently capture the essence of Indy and the style of action film we rarely see in today’s Hollywood.

Much has been made of the film’s sci-fi elements, without realising that George Lucas’ intention, in updating the franchise to 1957, was to satirize America’s preoccupation with the Red Menace of the time, which was often cinematically explored in B-grade sci-fi. ”Crystal Skull” is simply a B-grade sci fi adventure, cloaked in the escapism of an Indy adventure. Thus we have Russian baddies and a touch of sci-fi, which mirror the period in which Skull is set. Cate Blanchett excels as the principal Russian baddie, and fans of Raiders will love an ageless and feisty Karen Allen, who returns as the indefatigable Marion Ravenwood.

While one could have done without too much of the CGI and over-abundance of visual effects, strip all the excesses away, and ”Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull” works as pure entertainment, enhanced by John Williams’ iconic score and Harrison ford who still delivers a character that suits him like no other. For nostalgia fans of a classic trilogy, Crystal Skull delivers.

The 1080p video resolution of this Blu Ray is exemplary, containing, clear images, beautifully razor sharp, enhancing details throughout every frame of the film. The famed jungle chase sequence is exquisite with tones and colour resolution perfectly contrasted. This is even more evidenced by the Doomstown sequence, in which Indie finds himself in a mock replica of 1950s suburbia being used as a nuclear testing site.

The colour saturation here is quite stunning, each colour as richly detailed as the next. The film’s geographical diversity, from the opening New Mexican desert, to the jungles of Peru [shot in Hawaii] to the darkness of a cemetery, are all crisp, clean and visually more striking than even the theatrical cut. In short, ”Crystal Skull” looks astonishing on Blu Ray.

As stunning as it looks, in TrueHD audio, ”Crystal Skull” sounds as good as it looks and then some, from the clean sound of the dialogue, to the realism of bullets flying and every sound effect imaginable, you haven’t really experienced Crystal Skull until hearing it, almost for the first time. I looked closely at the jungle chase sequence in particular, and was blown away by the details of the audio track. The monkeys, the sounds of the jeeps, none of which were overshadowed by the clarity of the dialogue. Crank up your sound system and listen to the auditory details of the TrueHD audio.

Tags: action film, archaeological finds, archaeologist, crystal skull, david koepp, enemies and friends, fascination, grudge, indiana jones adventure, last crusade, marshall college, mutt, professor jones, ray winstone, scrape, shia labeouf, soviet agents, soviets, superstition and fear

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A little more rugged and world-weary but still as handsome as when we were first introduced to him in The Raiders of the Lost Ark, Professor Henry “Indiana” Jones is back in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now a card-carrying member of the AARP, things run a little more slowly and the over the hill jokes are a must. I was hoping that the film would capture the magic of the previous three, but alas, it did not.

indy.jpgMutt finds Indy on his way to London and tells him that Professor Oxley (John Hurt), a former classmate of Indy’s and friend of Mutt’s family, has gone missing down in South America on his search for a crystal skull. Mutt’s mom is down there and told her if she was in trouble to find Indy to help. Intrigued, Indy and Mutt venture down to Peru to find the two.

A college town chase scene ensues, followed later by a fun romp/chase through the jungles (reminiscent of the Endor speeder bike scene from Return of the Jedi). These are the elements most like the old Indy films.

While everyone, even myself, anticipated another Indiana Jones film after Last Crusade, I’m wondering now if the franchise was better left alone. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was, by far, my favorite film – with a far better story and a chemistry between Ford and Sean Connery that far surpasses the chemistry between Ford and LaBeouf.

It’s still a great popcorn flick, but so far Iron Man is the tops of my list of 2008 summer movies.

Tags: bike scene, cate, chase scene, classmate, crystal skull, endor, ford, franchise, henry indiana, hill jokes, indiana jones, indiana jones and the last crusade, indy, indy films, iron man, jungles, last crusade, mutt, oxley, popcorn flick, professor henry, raiders of the lost ark, return of the jedi, romp, sean connery, way to london

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Indy’s back after a 19 year break and not much has changed. Indiana Jones first came to the screen in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark and then returned in 1984 for The Temple of Doom, and finally The Last Crusade in 1989. Last time Indy was on the screen, he was in the 1930’s and they have kept time and date by replacing the 30’s setting with a 50’s setting on this fourth Indiana Jones installment.

Harrison Ford returns as Indy. He’s a little bit older, but still the same old Indy and Ford delivers. Much was discussed about his age, but he fits right back into the role beautifully. Karen Allen, who played Marion Ravenwood in Raiders is back as a former love of Indy who now has a son, Mutt Williams, played by Shia LeBeouf. Many were concerned with the casting of Shia, but he holds his own sharing screen time with the legend Harrison Ford. Adding to newcomer Shia, is the main villain played by Cate Blanchett. Cate is an excellent actress and plays a Russian villain extremely well. Overall, wonderful new casting adds to the already solid original cast that returned.

The fourth Indy flick involves the Russian KGB kidnapping Jones to enlist his services in finding a cargo crate with mysterious contents. Indy eventually escapes only to get tangled back up with the Russians later on, when it is revealed that Indy’s old friend has been captured by them over a powerful artifact, the Crystal Skull. Indy sets out to free his friend and reveal the mystery of the Crystal Skull.

To avoid spoilers on the movie, I’ve been and will be relatively vague in this review. One of the main plot points that isn’t really a secret is that Mutt(LeBeouf) is actually Indy’s son. This particular plot elements really brings the movie up as Shia and Harrison have a on screen chemistry reminiscent of the chemistry between Harrison and Sean Connery who played his father in The Last Crusade. I always enjoyed the emotional and funny connections made between father and son in the Last Crusade and it is a welcome addition to the new flick.

The only thing better would have been to have Sean Connery in there as well, but Mr. Connery turned down the opportunity to reprise his role as he doesn’t want to come out of retirement. Luckily, they brought back Karen Allen who is absolutely marvelous reprising the role of Marion Ravenwood. From the moment she is introduced, the movie feels complete. Indy and Marion back on screen together is magic in itself, especially if you are a fan of the first Indy flick, which is the best one.

Overall, the story is great. It feels like it could have been better, but they did such a great job making the script play older to fit in with the previous Indiana Jones movies, while also updating enough to play to modern audiences that a few dragging points and interesting story choices don’t ruin it for me. Coupled with a great story and wonderful actors/actresses, the only thing left is a great director and who better than Steven Spielburg. Spielburg did such a great job with the first three Indiana Jones movies that I’m so glad that he choose to return for the 4th. It wouldn’t quite be Indiana Jones without the trademarked Spielburg directing style and flare. He really shows his knack for action and adventure thrills in this flick. From exciting chases, gun play, and killer ants, Spielburg films them all with the utmost care to detail and thrills.

There are so many wonderful action sequences and thrills that Indy keeps your attention on the screen. The movie is literally jam packed with great moments, lines, and nostalgia. If you have watched any of the previous Indiana Jones movies and liked/loved them, you’ll most likely like/love this new flick. If you didn’t like the original films, then we don’t talk to you. If you haven’t seen the originals, don’t cheat yourself! Go watch the originals in the order they were released and then go see Crystal Skull. I don’t remember what Indiana Jones film I saw first. I remember in my later years that I watched the whole trilogy at once, but I’m sure I had seen some of not all of them before that.

Either way, my favorite of the series, including the Crystal Skull, is the classic first one, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Coming in second is The Last Crusade, with Crystal Skull popping in right underneath the Last Crusade, almost tying it. The Temple of Doom comes in just slightly underneath them all. I stick Crystal Skull so close to The Last Crusade because it’s hard for me to choose which one I like better. There is a definite first place and last place winner, but the two other flicks just float in between. Now to say that The Temple of Doom is my least favorite of the Jones Trilogy is still quite a compliment. I rate the Jones Trilogy pretty high and that includes the extremely good Temple of Doom. It’s just when you have four excellent films fighting for your favorite spot, one has to come last even if it is a marvelous film.

The new installment of Indiana Jones is a don’t miss event. This is a great film throughout and is well worth the price of admission. This is a wonderful new film and it’s a grand experience hanging out with some old friends and seeing what they have been up to over the past 19 years, only to find out, they are still doing what they love and causing trouble.

Tags: action sequences, actress, cate, cate blanchett, crystal skull, father and son, ford, harrison ford, indiana jones, indy, job, karen allen, last crusade, marion ravenwood, mutt, original cast, plot elements, plot points, price of admission, raiders of the lost ark, russian kgb, screen chemistry, screen time, sean connery, shia lebeouf, temple of doom, time and date, welcome addition

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“Crystal Skull” even dusts off the Russians, so severely under- exploited in recent years, as the bad guys. Up against them, Indiana Jones is once again played by Harrison Ford, who is now 65 but looks a lot like he did at 55 or 46, which is how old he was when he made “Last Crusade.” He has one of those Robert Mitchum faces that doesn’t age, it only frowns more.

He and his sidekick Mac McHale (Ray Winstone) are taken by the cool, contemptuous Soviet uber-villainess Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) to a cavernous warehouse to seek out a crate he saw there years ago. The contents of the crate are hyper- magnetic (lord, I love this stuff) and betray themselves when Indy throws a handful of gunpowder into the air.

In ways too labyrinthine to describe, the crate leads Indy, Mac, Irina and the Russians far up the Amazon. Along the way they’ve gathered Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy’s girlfriend from the first film, and a young biker named Mutt Williams (Shia LeBeouf), who is always combing his ducktail haircut. They also acquire Professor Oxley (John Hurt), elderly colleague from the University of Chicago, whose function is to read all the necessary languages, know all the necessary background, and explain everything.

What happens in South America is explained by the need to create (1) sensational chase sequences, and (2) awe-inspiring spectacles. We get such sights as two dueling Jeep-like vehicles racing down parallel roads. Not many of the audience members will be as logical as I am, and wonder who went to the trouble of building parallell roads in a rain forest.

Most of the major characters eventually find themselves at the wheels of both vehicles; they leap or are thrown from one to another, and the vehicles occasionally leap right over one another. And that Irina, she’s something. Her Russian backups are mostly just atmosphere, useful for pointing their rifles at Indy, but she can fight shoot, fence, drive, leap and kick, and keep on all night.

Tags: amazon, audience members, cate, cate blanchett, chase sequences, crystal skull, ducktail haircut, dusts, ford, gunpowder, harrison ford, indiana jones, indy, irina, karen allen, last crusade, mac mchale, marion ravenwood, mutt, necessary background, necessary languages, oxley, parallel roads, rain forest, ray winstone, robert mitchum, shia lebeouf, ups

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Indiana Jones received louder applause going in than he did coming out.

His latest adventure, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” earned a respectful though far from glowing — reception Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival, avoiding the sort of thrashing the event’s harsh critics gave to “The Da Vinci Code” two years ago.

Yet Indy’s fourth big-screen romp is not likely to go down as one of the most memorable. Some viewers at its first press screening loved it, some called it slick and enjoyable though formulaic, some said it was not worth the 19-year wait since Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford made the last film.

“They should have left well enough alone,” said J. Sperling Reich, who writes for FilmStew.com. “It really looked like they were going through the motions. It really looked like no one had their heart in it.”

Alain Spira of French magazine Paris Match found “Crystal Skull” a perfectly acceptable “Indiana Jones” tale, a sentiment echoed by the solid applause the movie received as the final credits rolled.

“It’s good. It’s a product that is polished, industrial, we’re not getting ripped off in terms of quality,” Spira said. “You know what you’re going to see, you see what you get, and when you leave you’re happy.”

The applause was louder at the outset, though. Fans at the early afternoon showing, which preceded the film’s glitzy formal premiere with cast and crew Sunday night, cheered and clapped wildly at an announcement that the screening was about to start. Some even hummed the Indiana Jones fanfare as the lights went down.

The applause at the end was more subdued.

Cast and crew were unconcerned about how critics might dissect the film.

“I’m not afraid at all. I expect to have the whip turned on me,” Ford told reporters after the screening. “It’s not unusual for something that is popular to be disdained by some people, and I fully expect it.

But, he said: “I work for the people who pay to get in. They are my customers, and my focus is on providing the best experience I can for those people.”

The filmmakers kept the movie shrouded in secrecy, skipping the rounds of press screenings often held for big studio movies and going for a big blowout at Cannes.

Spielberg said he and his collaborators decided “that the fair thing to do and the fun thing to do would be to view it where the entire world is come together every year at this wonderful festival, and we thought that was the best place to introduce Indiana Jones to you again after 19 years.”

The film received none of the derisive laughter or catcalls that mounted near the end of the first press screening for “Da Vinci Code.”

There were a few titters from the “Crystal Skull” crowd early on over co-star Cate Blanchett’s thick, Boris-and-Natasha accent as a Soviet operative racing against Indy to find an artifact of immeasurable power. The rather corny romantic ending also drew a chuckle or two.

In between, the film packed a fair amount of action, though some viewers found the middle portion dull. Conchita Casanovas, of Spain’s RNE radio, said she was “bored to death.”

The new movie hurls archaeologist Jones into the Cold War in 1957. He survives a nuclear blast in the desert in typically creative fashion and is reunited with “Raiders” flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen).

As speculated, the film has an alien connection, though far more subdued than the “Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men From Mars” story Lucas once envisioned.

There are melancholy nods to Sean Connery, who played Indy’s dad in 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” but declined to return for the new movie, and the late Denholm Elliott, Indy’s college dean in two of the previous movies.

And the film reveals the relationship between Indy and his new sidekick, an angry young motorcycle rebel played by Shia LaBeouf.

As with “Da Vinci Code,” which went on to gross $758 million worldwide, “Crystal Skull” is so hotly anticipated that it will be virtually immune from critics’ opinions. The film is expected to put up blockbuster box-office numbers when it opens globally Thursday.

“The movie was absolutely effective enough to score with audiences everywhere,” said Anne Thompson, deputy editor of Hollywood trade paper Variety. “This played way better than ‘Da Vinci Code.’ No one was gunning for it. They were excited going in, hooting for it in a positive way.”

Dozens of fans prowled outside the Palais, the Cannes headquarters, holding signs saying they needed tickets for “Crystal Skull.”

Amelia Sims, a 19-year-old University of Georgia student studying abroad, held a sign reading “I (heart) Indy.” She managed to get a pass to the press screening and loved the movie.

“I guess I’ve been waiting 19 years for this,” Sims said. “You could say I’ve been waiting my whole life.”

But Christian Monggaard, who is reviewing “Crystal Skull” for Danish newspaper Information, said he grew up with the “Indiana Jones” films and came away from this one disappointed, finding the climax an “overblown special-effects extravaganza.”

Tags: applause, archaeologist, cannes, cannes film festival, cast and crew, cate, cate blanchett, crystal skull, da vinci code, early afternoon, fanfare, filmmakers, ford, french magazine, george lucas, going through the motions, harrison ford, harsh critics, hollywood, indiana jones, indiana jones and the last crusade, indy, karen allen, last crusade, last film, marion ravenwood, outset, romp, sean connery, shia labeouf, signs, sperling, spielberg, spira, steven spielberg, whip

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In the final scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, released in 1989, Steven Spielberg has his iconic bullwhip-wielding, snake-hating archaeologist and all the major characters literally ride off into the sunset. “I had no doubts that the curtain was lowering on the series,” recalls the director. Neither did Harrison Ford.

The new instalment also brings back Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Dr Jones’s object of desire in the first film in the series. New to the cast is the Transformers star Shia LaBeouf, as a leather-jacketed sidekick with a not so accidental resemblance to Marlon Brando in The Wild One.

Then, of course, there is Ford – in Spielberg’s view the secret weapon that allowed the series to become so popular. “I remember the day they sent the costume home to see where we would have to adjust and change sizes,” recalls Ford. “I had not worn it for 18 years, but when I put it on it felt like a glove. And I felt immediately ready to go.”

Ford, 65, is not a method actor or someone who enjoys intellectualising his work. He loves his 800-acre ranch in Wyoming. He loves to fly his private fleet of aeroplanes. And throughout his career he has not tried to hide his distaste for the ritual of meeting with the press.

It makes the actor uncomfortable. He also avoids all mention of his private life, including his relationship with the actress Calista Flockhart. When I met him recently in Beverly Hills a few days before his departure for this week’s Cannes International Film Festival, where Crystal Skull will be presented on Sunday, he allows himself some glimpses of introspection, something he does not do often in public.

Tags: acre ranch, actress, archaeologist, bullwhip, calista flockhart, cannes, cannes international film festival, cate, crystal skull, distaste, dr jones, ford, harrison ford, indiana jones, indiana jones and the last crusade, instalment, karen allen, last crusade, marion ravenwood, marlon brando, method actor, object of desire, private fleet, secret weapon, shia labeouf, spielberg, steven spielberg, whip, wild one

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Thanks to the long lead time for big-screen productions, the
2008 film schedule will go on largely uninterrupted despite the
writers strike.
With a solid range of prospects, the 2008 lineup offers plenty
of intriguing questions.
Can Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones still throw a punch? Is Harry
Potter looking ahead to the senior prom now that he’s in his
next-to-last year at Hogwarts? Will Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto
live long and prosper as the Trek world’s new Kirk and Spock?
And just what have perpetually lovelorn writer Carrie Bradshaw
and her gal pals been up to since Sex and the City went
off the air in 2004?
Sarah Jessica Parker, who reprises the role in New Line Cinema’s
upcoming big-screen adaptation of Sex and the City, is not
at liberty to say.
“I was given a pill by New Line, and it erased my short-term
memory. They took away my script,” said Parker, who rejoins
castmates Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon.
Coyness over plot points is an epidemic this time of year as
stars and filmmakers look ahead to their big releases. In the age
of internet spoilers, everyone wants to keep as much as they can
secret so fans don’t go into the theatre already quoting the
script.
Continuing the story of Bruce Wayne after Batman
Begins, director Christopher Nolan bluntly said “you’ll need
to see the movie” if you want to know what Christian Bale’s
tragedy-torn superhero is up to.
Nolan does offer an answer to the obvious question: Why doesn’t
the latest Batman movie have the word “Batman” in the title?
“In doing a continuation of the story, we didn’t want to give
the impression that it’s just going to be the standard-issue
sequel,” Nolan said of The Dark Knight, due out the US
this northern summer from Warner Bros. “We wanted this to be the
definitive take on who the Dark Knight is and what that represents
and what the meaning of that appellation is.”
The sequel does make good on the tease at the end of Batman
Begins, which set up Bale’s first encounter with his ultimate
nemesis. Heath Ledger plays the Joker, and Nolan promised an
utterly different take from Jack Nicholson’s in 1989’s
Batman.
“The corrupted clown face is built into the icon of the Joker,
but we gave a Francis Bacon spin to it. This corruption, this decay
in the texture of the look itself. It’s grubby. You can almost
imagine what he smells like,” Nolan said.
Fan imaginations have run wild over Paramount’s Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first film
about Ford’s archaeologist-adventurer in 19 years.
Set in 1957, Crystal Skull pits Indy against the Soviets, whose
number includes Cate Blanchett, Ford confirmed. Beyond that, Ford’s
not leaking plot details, including whether new co-star Shia
LaBeouf is Indy’s son or whether Ford shares any romantic moments
with Blanchett.
“They remain true to their characters. There’s a certain tension
between the two, but not a sexual energy,” Ford said cryptically of
his and Blanchett’s characters.
Ford also kept quiet on how Indy reunites with Karen Allen’s
character.
“It’s great to have Karen back,” Ford said. “I can’t really tell
you much, though. It’s a little too early to be saying much more
than what’s already been said, and I don’t want to be the one to
unwrap the Christmas present.”
While it remains a mystery if Ford gets to play LaBeouf’s dad in
the new movie, Indy himself is not reunited with his own father.
Ford was disappointed that Sean Connery, who played Henry Jones Sr
in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, decided not to reprise the
role.
The 65-year-old Ford had a joke worthy of Indy about that: “As I
told Sean, I’m getting old enough to play my own father, so we
don’t need him, anymore.”
Along with Indy, Batman and Carrie, Hollywood offers plenty of
other familiar names this year.
TV’s favourite alien hunters, Mulder and Scully, return for 20th
Century Fox’s as-yet-untitled second X-Files movie, with
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reunited with series creator
Chris Carter, who’s directing.
C S Lewis’ sibling heroes are back in Disney’s The
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, with The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe director Andrew Adamson running the
show again and Liam Neeson reprising the voice of talking lion
Aslan.
Daniel Craig has his second outing as 007 in Sony’s
still-untitled James Bond adventure, with Judi Dench returning as
spymaster M and Jeffrey Wright reprising his role as CIA colleague
Felix Leiter.
Agent Maxwell Smart, who started as a Bond spoof on 1960s TV,
comes to the big-screen in the Warner Bros action comedy Get
Smart, with Steve Carell in the title role, Dwayne Johnson as
a superstar operative and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99.
Minus Rachel Weisz, his co-star in the first two Mummy movies,
Brendan Fraser has another go at fighting a resurrected dead guy,
this time an ancient Chinese ruler (Jet Li), in The Mummy: Tomb
of the Dragon Emperor. Frasier also stars in Journey, a 3-D
take on Jules Verne’s sci-fi classic Journey to the Centre of
the Earth.
And Star Trek revisits its roots, with Pine taking over
William Shatner’s role as bold Enterprise Capt James Kirk and
Quinto stepping in as Leonard Nimoy’s Vulcan science officer Spock.
The Paramount film is directed by Lost creator J J
Abrams.
Along with such action and visual-effects spectacles come an
intriguing range of dramatic stories.
Brad Pitt reunites with Babel co-star Blanchett for
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on an F Scott
Fitzgerald story about a man who ages backward from old age toward
infancy.
Director Baz Luhrmann reteams with Moulin Rouge star
Nicole Kidman for Australia, co-starring Hugh Jackman in a
tale of a cattle drive down under amid a bombing by Japanese forces
during World War II.
In another World War II saga, Spike Lee directs Miracle at
St Anna, the story of four Americans (Derek Luke, Michael
Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller) who are part of an
all-black division fighting in Italy at a time when segregation
remained the standard.
“You had the dilemma of these soldiers who really had to battle
on two fronts. They were fighting for their country in a foreign
land, and at the same time, in many parts of the United States,
they were still considered second-class citizens,” Lee said. “This
offers a really rich character study of Negro soldiers going
through that conflict. They want to fight for their country, but
they have to ask: Is this really worth it when I could go back to
Alabama and be lynched?”
Other big 2008 titles: Starship Dave, with Eddie Murphy
playing an entire space craft in a sci-fi comedy about a group of
tiny aliens seeking haven on Earth inside a vessel disguised as a
human; Wall-E, the latest from the animation masters at
Pixar (The Incredibles, Ratatouille), about a
robot left to tend the planet after humanity has left; Speed Racer,
starring Emile Hirsch in a live-action update of the TV cartoon
show, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, creators of The
Matrix flicks; The Incredible Hulk, with Edward
Norton the latest incarnation of the scientist with a really angry
alter ego; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,
featuring Daniel Radcliffe and pals in the second-to-last adventure
of the boy wizard; Leatherheads, a 1920s football comedy
directed by and starring George Clooney alongside Renee Zellweger
and John Krasinski; and The Spiderwick Chronicles, a
fantasy based on the children’s books about a mum (Mary-Louise
Parker) and her kids who move into the magical house owned by an
eccentric relation.
Parker was not into fantasy as a child, but Spiderwick
Chronicles allowed her to branch out into the family
genre.
“I did read Narnia, but I was more of a Little
House on the Prairie person. I’m not really a fan of things
flying around, but I always wanted to do a children’s movie, and
this seemed like sort of an atypical fantasy-type thing,” Parker
said. “The children, they weren’t archetypes. They were very unique
and they had some complexity to them. And the mother did, too. She
wasn’t just the perfect mother who was always struggling. She loses
her temper.”
Also coming this year: He’s Just Not That Into You, a
romantic comedy that casts Ben Affleck alongside two Jennifers -
Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Connelly, along with Scarlett
Johansson and Drew Barrymore; Mamma Mia!, featuring Meryl
Streep, Pierce Brosnan and the songs of ABBA in an adaptation of
the stage musical; You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, a comedy
with Adam Sandler as an Israeli commando who fakes his death so he
can become a New York City hairdresser; Step Brothers,
with Will Ferrell and John C Reilly as middle-aged slackers who
suddenly become kin by marriage; Dr Seuss’ Horton Hears a
Who, an animated version of the children’s classic featuring
the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell; Iron Man, with
Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow in a big-screen version of the
comic-book hero; and Madagascar: The Crate Escape, an
animated sequel reteaming the voice cast of Ben Stiller, Chris
Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith as zoo animals in the
wild.
Pinkett Smith’s husband, Will Smith, returns to the big
box-office date he has owned in the past, starring with Charlize
Theron in the Fourth of July release Hancock, the story of
an alcoholic superhero that he promises will range from crazy
comedy to sober drama to visual spectacle.
AP

Tags: archaeologist, brad pitt, brother, cate, cate blanchett, crystal skull, filmmakers, ford, harrison ford, hero, hollywood, hugh jackman, indiana jones, indiana jones and the last crusade, indy, iron man, karen allen, last crusade, liar, nicole kidman, pace, plot points, robert downey, robert downey jr, sean connery, soviets

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• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• ‘Indiana Jones’ debut survives Cannes critics
• Weak plot lets film down
• The best in the arts this spring
• Movie Review Indiana Jones
• The best in film this spring
• Shia and higher

Thanks to the long lead time for big-screen productions, the
2008 film schedule will go on largely uninterrupted despite the
writers strike.
With a solid range of prospects, the 2008 lineup offers plenty
of intriguing questions.
Can Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones still throw a punch? Is Harry
Potter looking ahead to the senior prom now that he’s in his
next-to-last year at Hogwarts? Will Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto
live long and prosper as the Trek world’s new Kirk and Spock?
And just what have perpetually lovelorn writer Carrie Bradshaw
and her gal pals been up to since Sex and the City went
off the air in 2004?
Sarah Jessica Parker, who reprises the role in New Line Cinema’s
upcoming big-screen adaptation of Sex and the City, is not
at liberty to say.
“I was given a pill by New Line, and it erased my short-term
memory. They took away my script,” said Parker, who rejoins
castmates Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon.
Coyness over plot points is an epidemic this time of year as
stars and filmmakers look ahead to their big releases. In the age
of internet spoilers, everyone wants to keep as much as they can
secret so fans don’t go into the theatre already quoting the
script.
Continuing the story of Bruce Wayne after Batman
Begins, director Christopher Nolan bluntly said “you’ll need
to see the movie” if you want to know what Christian Bale’s
tragedy-torn superhero is up to.
Nolan does offer an answer to the obvious question: Why doesn’t
the latest Batman movie have the word “Batman” in the title?
“In doing a continuation of the story, we didn’t want to give
the impression that it’s just going to be the standard-issue
sequel,” Nolan said of The Dark Knight, due out the US
this northern summer from Warner Bros. “We wanted this to be the
definitive take on who the Dark Knight is and what that represents
and what the meaning of that appellation is.”
The sequel does make good on the tease at the end of Batman
Begins, which set up Bale’s first encounter with his ultimate
nemesis. Heath Ledger plays the Joker, and Nolan promised an
utterly different take from Jack Nicholson’s in 1989’s
Batman.
“The corrupted clown face is built into the icon of the Joker,
but we gave a Francis Bacon spin to it. This corruption, this decay
in the texture of the look itself. It’s grubby. You can almost
imagine what he smells like,” Nolan said.
Fan imaginations have run wild over Paramount’s Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first film
about Ford’s archaeologist-adventurer in 19 years.
Set in 1957, Crystal Skull pits Indy against the Soviets, whose
number includes Cate Blanchett, Ford confirmed. Beyond that, Ford’s
not leaking plot details, including whether new co-star Shia
LaBeouf is Indy’s son or whether Ford shares any romantic moments
with Blanchett.
“They remain true to their characters. There’s a certain tension
between the two, but not a sexual energy,” Ford said cryptically of
his and Blanchett’s characters.
Ford also kept quiet on how Indy reunites with Karen Allen’s
character.
“It’s great to have Karen back,” Ford said. “I can’t really tell
you much, though. It’s a little too early to be saying much more
than what’s already been said, and I don’t want to be the one to
unwrap the Christmas present.”
While it remains a mystery if Ford gets to play LaBeouf’s dad in
the new movie, Indy himself is not reunited with his own father.
Ford was disappointed that Sean Connery, who played Henry Jones Sr
in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, decided not to reprise the
role.
The 65-year-old Ford had a joke worthy of Indy about that: “As I
told Sean, I’m getting old enough to play my own father, so we
don’t need him, anymore.”
Along with Indy, Batman and Carrie, Hollywood offers plenty of
other familiar names this year.
TV’s favourite alien hunters, Mulder and Scully, return for 20th
Century Fox’s as-yet-untitled second X-Files movie, with
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reunited with series creator
Chris Carter, who’s directing.
C S Lewis’ sibling heroes are back in Disney’s The
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, with The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe director Andrew Adamson running the
show again and Liam Neeson reprising the voice of talking lion
Aslan.
Daniel Craig has his second outing as 007 in Sony’s
still-untitled James Bond adventure, with Judi Dench returning as
spymaster M and Jeffrey Wright reprising his role as CIA colleague
Felix Leiter.
Agent Maxwell Smart, who started as a Bond spoof on 1960s TV,
comes to the big-screen in the Warner Bros action comedy Get
Smart, with Steve Carell in the title role, Dwayne Johnson as
a superstar operative and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99.
Minus Rachel Weisz, his co-star in the first two Mummy movies,
Brendan Fraser has another go at fighting a resurrected dead guy,
this time an ancient Chinese ruler (Jet Li), in The Mummy: Tomb
of the Dragon Emperor. Frasier also stars in Journey, a 3-D
take on Jules Verne’s sci-fi classic Journey to the Centre of
the Earth.
And Star Trek revisits its roots, with Pine taking over
William Shatner’s role as bold Enterprise Capt James Kirk and
Quinto stepping in as Leonard Nimoy’s Vulcan science officer Spock.
The Paramount film is directed by Lost creator J J
Abrams.
Along with such action and visual-effects spectacles come an
intriguing range of dramatic stories.
Brad Pitt reunites with Babel co-star Blanchett for
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on an F Scott
Fitzgerald story about a man who ages backward from old age toward
infancy.
Director Baz Luhrmann reteams with Moulin Rouge star
Nicole Kidman for Australia, co-starring Hugh Jackman in a
tale of a cattle drive down under amid a bombing by Japanese forces
during World War II.
In another World War II saga, Spike Lee directs Miracle at
St Anna, the story of four Americans (Derek Luke, Michael
Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller) who are part of an
all-black division fighting in Italy at a time when segregation
remained the standard.
“You had the dilemma of these soldiers who really had to battle
on two fronts. They were fighting for their country in a foreign
land, and at the same time, in many parts of the United States,
they were still considered second-class citizens,” Lee said. “This
offers a really rich character study of Negro soldiers going
through that conflict. They want to fight for their country, but
they have to ask: Is this really worth it when I could go back to
Alabama and be lynched?”
Other big 2008 titles: Starship Dave, with Eddie Murphy
playing an entire space craft in a sci-fi comedy about a group of
tiny aliens seeking haven on Earth inside a vessel disguised as a
human; Wall-E, the latest from the animation masters at
Pixar (The Incredibles, Ratatouille), about a
robot left to tend the planet after humanity has left; Speed Racer,
starring Emile Hirsch in a live-action update of the TV cartoon
show, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, creators of The
Matrix flicks; The Incredible Hulk, with Edward
Norton the latest incarnation of the scientist with a really angry
alter ego; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,
featuring Daniel Radcliffe and pals in the second-to-last adventure
of the boy wizard; Leatherheads, a 1920s football comedy
directed by and starring George Clooney alongside Renee Zellweger
and John Krasinski; and The Spiderwick Chronicles, a
fantasy based on the children’s books about a mum (Mary-Louise
Parker) and her kids who move into the magical house owned by an
eccentric relation.
Parker was not into fantasy as a child, but Spiderwick
Chronicles allowed her to branch out into the family
genre.
“I did read Narnia, but I was more of a Little
House on the Prairie person. I’m not really a fan of things
flying around, but I always wanted to do a children’s movie, and
this seemed like sort of an atypical fantasy-type thing,” Parker
said. “The children, they weren’t archetypes. They were very unique
and they had some complexity to them. And the mother did, too. She
wasn’t just the perfect mother who was always struggling. She loses
her temper.”
Also coming this year: He’s Just Not That Into You, a
romantic comedy that casts Ben Affleck alongside two Jennifers -
Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Connelly, along with Scarlett
Johansson and Drew Barrymore; Mamma Mia!, featuring Meryl
Streep, Pierce Brosnan and the songs of ABBA in an adaptation of
the stage musical; You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, a comedy
with Adam Sandler as an Israeli commando who fakes his death so he
can become a New York City hairdresser; Step Brothers,
with Will Ferrell and John C Reilly as middle-aged slackers who
suddenly become kin by marriage; Dr Seuss’ Horton Hears a
Who, an animated version of the children’s classic featuring
the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell; Iron Man, with
Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow in a big-screen version of the
comic-book hero; and Madagascar: The Crate Escape, an
animated sequel reteaming the voice cast of Ben Stiller, Chris
Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith as zoo animals in the
wild.
Pinkett Smith’s husband, Will Smith, returns to the big
box-office date he has owned in the past, starring with Charlize
Theron in the Fourth of July release Hancock, the story of
an alcoholic superhero that he promises will range from crazy
comedy to sober drama to visual spectacle.
AP

Tags: archaeologist, brad pitt, brother, cate, cate blanchett, crystal skull, filmmakers, ford, harrison ford, hero, hollywood, hugh jackman, indiana jones, indiana jones and the last crusade, indy, iron man, karen allen, last crusade, liar, nicole kidman, pace, plot points, robert downey, robert downey jr, sean connery, soviets

Related posts

• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• ‘Indiana Jones’ debut survives Cannes critics
• Weak plot lets film down
• The best in the arts this spring
• Movie Review Indiana Jones
• The best in film this spring
• Shia and higher

Thanks to the long lead time for big-screen productions, the
2008 film schedule will go on largely uninterrupted despite the
writers strike.
With a solid range of prospects, the 2008 lineup offers plenty
of intriguing questions.
Can Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones still throw a punch? Is Harry
Potter looking ahead to the senior prom now that he’s in his
next-to-last year at Hogwarts? Will Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto
live long and prosper as the Trek world’s new Kirk and Spock?
And just what have perpetually lovelorn writer Carrie Bradshaw
and her gal pals been up to since Sex and the City went
off the air in 2004?
Sarah Jessica Parker, who reprises the role in New Line Cinema’s
upcoming big-screen adaptation of Sex and the City, is not
at liberty to say.
“I was given a pill by New Line, and it erased my short-term
memory. They took away my script,” said Parker, who rejoins
castmates Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon.
Coyness over plot points is an epidemic this time of year as
stars and filmmakers look ahead to their big releases. In the age
of internet spoilers, everyone wants to keep as much as they can
secret so fans don’t go into the theatre already quoting the
script.
Continuing the story of Bruce Wayne after Batman
Begins, director Christopher Nolan bluntly said “you’ll need
to see the movie” if you want to know what Christian Bale’s
tragedy-torn superhero is up to.
Nolan does offer an answer to the obvious question: Why doesn’t
the latest Batman movie have the word “Batman” in the title?
“In doing a continuation of the story, we didn’t want to give
the impression that it’s just going to be the standard-issue
sequel,” Nolan said of The Dark Knight, due out the US
this northern summer from Warner Bros. “We wanted this to be the
definitive take on who the Dark Knight is and what that represents
and what the meaning of that appellation is.”
The sequel does make good on the tease at the end of Batman
Begins, which set up Bale’s first encounter with his ultimate
nemesis. Heath Ledger plays the Joker, and Nolan promised an
utterly different take from Jack Nicholson’s in 1989’s
Batman.
“The corrupted clown face is built into the icon of the Joker,
but we gave a Francis Bacon spin to it. This corruption, this decay
in the texture of the look itself. It’s grubby. You can almost
imagine what he smells like,” Nolan said.
Fan imaginations have run wild over Paramount’s Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first film
about Ford’s archaeologist-adventurer in 19 years.
Set in 1957, Crystal Skull pits Indy against the Soviets, whose
number includes Cate Blanchett, Ford confirmed. Beyond that, Ford’s
not leaking plot details, including whether new co-star Shia
LaBeouf is Indy’s son or whether Ford shares any romantic moments
with Blanchett.
“They remain true to their characters. There’s a certain tension
between the two, but not a sexual energy,” Ford said cryptically of
his and Blanchett’s characters.
Ford also kept quiet on how Indy reunites with Karen Allen’s
character.
“It’s great to have Karen back,” Ford said. “I can’t really tell
you much, though. It’s a little too early to be saying much more
than what’s already been said, and I don’t want to be the one to
unwrap the Christmas present.”
While it remains a mystery if Ford gets to play LaBeouf’s dad in
the new movie, Indy himself is not reunited with his own father.
Ford was disappointed that Sean Connery, who played Henry Jones Sr
in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, decided not to reprise the
role.
The 65-year-old Ford had a joke worthy of Indy about that: “As I
told Sean, I’m getting old enough to play my own father, so we
don’t need him, anymore.”
Along with Indy, Batman and Carrie, Hollywood offers plenty of
other familiar names this year.
TV’s favourite alien hunters, Mulder and Scully, return for 20th
Century Fox’s as-yet-untitled second X-Files movie, with
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reunited with series creator
Chris Carter, who’s directing.
C S Lewis’ sibling heroes are back in Disney’s The
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, with The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe director Andrew Adamson running the
show again and Liam Neeson reprising the voice of talking lion
Aslan.
Daniel Craig has his second outing as 007 in Sony’s
still-untitled James Bond adventure, with Judi Dench returning as
spymaster M and Jeffrey Wright reprising his role as CIA colleague
Felix Leiter.
Agent Maxwell Smart, who started as a Bond spoof on 1960s TV,
comes to the big-screen in the Warner Bros action comedy Get
Smart, with Steve Carell in the title role, Dwayne Johnson as
a superstar operative and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99.
Minus Rachel Weisz, his co-star in the first two Mummy movies,
Brendan Fraser has another go at fighting a resurrected dead guy,
this time an ancient Chinese ruler (Jet Li), in The Mummy: Tomb
of the Dragon Emperor. Frasier also stars in Journey, a 3-D
take on Jules Verne’s sci-fi classic Journey to the Centre of
the Earth.
And Star Trek revisits its roots, with Pine taking over
William Shatner’s role as bold Enterprise Capt James Kirk and
Quinto stepping in as Leonard Nimoy’s Vulcan science officer Spock.
The Paramount film is directed by Lost creator J J
Abrams.
Along with such action and visual-effects spectacles come an
intriguing range of dramatic stories.
Brad Pitt reunites with Babel co-star Blanchett for
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on an F Scott
Fitzgerald story about a man who ages backward from old age toward
infancy.
Director Baz Luhrmann reteams with Moulin Rouge star
Nicole Kidman for Australia, co-starring Hugh Jackman in a
tale of a cattle drive down under amid a bombing by Japanese forces
during World War II.
In another World War II saga, Spike Lee directs Miracle at
St Anna, the story of four Americans (Derek Luke, Michael
Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller) who are part of an
all-black division fighting in Italy at a time when segregation
remained the standard.
“You had the dilemma of these soldiers who really had to battle
on two fronts. They were fighting for their country in a foreign
land, and at the same time, in many parts of the United States,
they were still considered second-class citizens,” Lee said. “This
offers a really rich character study of Negro soldiers going
through that conflict. They want to fight for their country, but
they have to ask: Is this really worth it when I could go back to
Alabama and be lynched?”
Other big 2008 titles: Starship Dave, with Eddie Murphy
playing an entire space craft in a sci-fi comedy about a group of
tiny aliens seeking haven on Earth inside a vessel disguised as a
human; Wall-E, the latest from the animation masters at
Pixar (The Incredibles, Ratatouille), about a
robot left to tend the planet after humanity has left; Speed Racer,
starring Emile Hirsch in a live-action update of the TV cartoon
show, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, creators of The
Matrix flicks; The Incredible Hulk, with Edward
Norton the latest incarnation of the scientist with a really angry
alter ego; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,
featuring Daniel Radcliffe and pals in the second-to-last adventure
of the boy wizard; Leatherheads, a 1920s football comedy
directed by and starring George Clooney alongside Renee Zellweger
and John Krasinski; and The Spiderwick Chronicles, a
fantasy based on the children’s books about a mum (Mary-Louise
Parker) and her kids who move into the magical house owned by an
eccentric relation.
Parker was not into fantasy as a child, but Spiderwick
Chronicles allowed her to branch out into the family
genre.
“I did read Narnia, but I was more of a Little
House on the Prairie person. I’m not really a fan of things
flying around, but I always wanted to do a children’s movie, and
this seemed like sort of an atypical fantasy-type thing,” Parker
said. “The children, they weren’t archetypes. They were very unique
and they had some complexity to them. And the mother did, too. She
wasn’t just the perfect mother who was always struggling. She loses
her temper.”
Also coming this year: He’s Just Not That Into You, a
romantic comedy that casts Ben Affleck alongside two Jennifers -
Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Connelly, along with Scarlett
Johansson and Drew Barrymore; Mamma Mia!, featuring Meryl
Streep, Pierce Brosnan and the songs of ABBA in an adaptation of
the stage musical; You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, a comedy
with Adam Sandler as an Israeli commando who fakes his death so he
can become a New York City hairdresser; Step Brothers,
with Will Ferrell and John C Reilly as middle-aged slackers who
suddenly become kin by marriage; Dr Seuss’ Horton Hears a
Who, an animated version of the children’s classic featuring
the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell; Iron Man, with
Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow in a big-screen version of the
comic-book hero; and Madagascar: The Crate Escape, an
animated sequel reteaming the voice cast of Ben Stiller, Chris
Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith as zoo animals in the
wild.
Pinkett Smith’s husband, Will Smith, returns to the big
box-office date he has owned in the past, starring with Charlize
Theron in the Fourth of July release Hancock, the story of
an alcoholic superhero that he promises will range from crazy
comedy to sober drama to visual spectacle.
AP

Tags: archaeologist, brad pitt, brother, cate, cate blanchett, crystal skull, filmmakers, ford, harrison ford, hero, hollywood, hugh jackman, indiana jones, indiana jones and the last crusade, indy, iron man, karen allen, last crusade, liar, nicole kidman, pace, plot points, robert downey, robert downey jr, sean connery, soviets

Related posts

• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• Indy, Bond, Trek, Batman: Movies coming in 2008
• ‘Indiana Jones’ debut survives Cannes critics
• Weak plot lets film down
• The best in the arts this spring
• Movie Review Indiana Jones
• The best in film this spring
• Shia and higher