Indy's Long Awaited Return

In the summer of 1981, Raiders of the Lost Ark took movie theaters across America by storm. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had delivered a roller coaster ride of an adventure movie, deeply inspired by the Saturday morning movie serials of the 1930s and 40s. With it's massive success at the box office there was no surprise that a sequel would soon follow and in 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was released and quickly disappointed fans of the first film. What Temple of Doom got wrong was a more slapstick style script with a muddled plotline too bizarre to follow, and the fate of any further sequels was in question. And then five years later in 1989, Spielberg and Lucas surprised us all by getting the film franchise back-on-track with what was then thought to be it's final episode. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had forgone the silliness of the Temple of Doom and brought back a more recognizable villain in the form of the Third Reich, who along with the addition of Sean Connery to it's cast made for a great movie adventure. So now, nineteen years later, Lucas and Spielberg have decided to squeeze another offering out of the franchise by releasing Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull this past Memorial Day weekend. It's a project that has been rumored and talked about for several years now, with everyone from Frank Darabont to M. Night Shyamalan taking a crack at the Crystal Skull script. In the end screenwriter David Koepp who worked previously on Spielberg's remake of War of the Worlds, won the task of writing the script based on Lucas' original story and what ends up on the screen is a literal mish-mash of all three previous films.
Harrison Ford reprised his role as Indiana Jones who now in his sixties moves a little slower than in previous adventures. Ford has great fun exploring the older Dr. Jones and the effect age has on his ability to go up against forces of evil, this time represented by the Russian Communist party of the 1950s. During the film's opening, the sound of Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" can be heard blasting over a car's radio, thus setting the film apart from it's earlier 1930s and 40s-themed films respectfully. When costar Shia LaBeouf shows up as a young 1950s greaser, his entrance is a complete homage to Marlon Brando's famed entrance in 1953's The Wild One. LaBeouf wears the exact same style hat, shirt and leather jacket as did Brando in the now iconic image from that decade. Spielberg has a lot of fun with the cold war of the fifties, following the opening chase at the Area 51 air force base, a humorous although unbelievable escape from an atomic bomb test in the Nevada desert soon follows. Shades of the silliness abound in the Temple of Doom film, make appearances throughout Crystal Skull, but never enough to completely destroy the adventure as some feel it did in that second sequel. Spielberg throws in some nice homage’s to the earlier films by paying tribute to both Connery's elder Jones character as well as the late Denholm Elliott's befuddled Marcus Brody. Even Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood, Indy's love interest from the first Raiders film, back this time to explain the existence of the Shia LeBeouf character! Allen has a few light scenes with Ford, but fails to capture the same feistiness she brought to the role back in 1981. It was nice to hear John Williams' Marion's Theme played once again although briefly in the film's score. At the heart of the film's story is the adventure brought about by the search for the Crystal Skull and it's relationship to an ancient culture that may have it's roots in other-worldly influences. And unlike the strong mythologies rooted in the first and third films, this muddled mess of an ancient Amazon culture somehow relating to inter-dimensional beings just doesn't payoff. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the strong influence of the Nazi's grasp for power by way of the Lost Ark of the Covenant or again in Last Crusade's search for the Holy Grail offered far-greater tension and believability to an already unbelievable genre.

Steven Spielberg Movies

Spaghetti Western Meets Martial Arts

In “The Forbidden Kingdom,” martial arts stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li come together for the first time onscreen in this latest offering from animator-turned-director, Rob Minkoff. In this mythical tale, an American teen obsessed with Hong Kong cinema travels back in time to ancient China on a quest to free an imprisoned king with the help of three martial arts warriors. The film is a visual feast for adolescent fans of martial arts and modern video games no doubt, but for older audiences, “Kingdom” will at times seem inspired by everything from “The Wizard of Oz” to Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West.” The film begins with an inventive opening title sequence where classic martial arts film posters are interwoven with the film’s credits. We then find Michael Angarano as JASON a young Boston teen rummaging through a Chinatown pawnshop run by it’s ancient caretaker, Old Hop. In what is an obvious set-up of an “Oz“-like wrap-around story soon becomes a moment reminiscent of the first few minutes of 1984’s “Gremlins.” During a street fight with local thugs, Jason is somehow transported back in time to ancient China. He soon hooks up with drunken warrior Lu Yan played with great charm by the now 54 year-old Jackie Chan. Chan’s character seems very much inspired by Jason Robards’ Cheyenne, the coffee drinking gunslinger in Leone’s 1968 “Once Upon a Time in the West.” Only Chan’s Lu Yan has an addiction to wine rather than java this time around. As Lu Yan and Jason travel they meet up with Golden Sparrow, a Pipa (Chinese guitar) playing warrior who fills in for Charles Bronson’s Harmonica from the aforementioned “Once Upon a Time in the West.” By the time they are joined by Jet Li’s Silent Monk character, the “Oz”-inspired journey begins. The warriors then set out to find the castle of the Jade Warlord (think Henry Fonda’s assassin gang leader Frank again inspired by “Once Upon a Time in the West”) in hopes of freeing the imprisoned Monkey-King also played by Li. If all of this sounds too much to handle in one film, it is; but thanks to the charm of most of it’s performers their journey is somewhat entertaining if not tolerable most of the time. Chan’s self-proclaimed admiration for Buster Keaton is on display here, as he easily handles the lighter moments as well as he does his martial arts skills. His English is the best of all the Asian actors onscreen, where as others have trouble delivering understandable dialogue. My suspicions of the Sergio Leone inspired spaghetti western aspects to the story were confirmed when even the musical score at times reflected the distant electric guitar motif made famous by Ennio Morricone in 68’s “Once Upon a Time in The West.” Maybe my affection for that classic 60s western shows my age a bit too much, for I’m sure to the younger audiences the comparisons to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “The Karate Kid” are more evident. But when preparing this review I soon discovered that the film’s screenwriter, John Fusco’s next project is a remake of the classic 1954 Japanese film, “The Seven Samurai.” How fitting! That film of course would later be re-made in 1960 as “The Magnificent Seven.” I guess all things mythical and adventurous stem from a few select ideas used time and time again. Whether it’s a journey to far off lands or warriors joining forces in noble quests, every generation seems to find something original about these time honored tales. But as in the case of “The Forbidden Kingdom”, the result is muddled at best.

Jackie Chan Movies

Jet Li Movies

Sergio Leone Movies

Charlton Heston's Ass

Charlton Heston who died last week at age 83 was a terrific actor. He won two Oscars, one for his title role in Ben Hur and one for his humanitarian work. In his cameo as the Player King in 1996's Hamlet he practically stole the film away from director & star Kenneth Branagh. Personally, I was always grateful for an interview Heston gave in 1985 following the death of his friend and colleague, Orson Welles. All of the accolades were pouring in for Welles the day after he died and naturally they turned to Heston for some thoughts on his legendary friend and costar. Heston, who never minced words pointed out how hypocritical certain modern-day director/producers were to be saying such wonderful things about Welles and his influence on them, when in truth they wouldn't go near the legendary director when he came looking for help. And Heston named names too! I won't be as brave as he. But it gave me a newfound respect for a man whose politics had started to turn me off. But mostly when I think of Charlton Heston I think of his sci-fi films of the 1970s. When I first saw Planet of the Apes (1968) as a boy, I was captivated by the film and became an instant fan of the sequels and TV series. One scene in the film has Heston, as stranded astronaut Taylor hauled into a court of apes and stripped naked before them. The close-up of Heston's derriere in cinemascope was just the sort of thing that made a young kid giggle uncontrollably. I soon forgot about it, but then a few years later while watching Heston in another sci-fi film, Soylent Green (1973), it happened again. This time it was through a glass shower door as Heston was nude with his young female costar. Okay, it wasn't as funny this time around, I was older of course and it was probably just a product of the times. This was the 1970s after all and films were getting edgier. Some years later I was watching Heston in a film on cable TV late at night called The Mountain Men. Heston made the film in 1980 when he was 56. There was a scene outside a tent where once again Heston's naked backside was focused upon. Now a teen it had finally dawned on me that this must be something intentional on the part of Heston. He's always been a physical actor and has showed off his chiseled features in many films throughout his career. I don't think it ever really interfered with his performances. Being an attractive man it certainly didn't hurt his appeal with female fans. For me I never really thought of it again until 1997, when I was in a packed movie theater watching The Devil's Advocate, starring Keanu Reeves. In one scene, Reeves and a female costar begin to make love on a hard wood floor. As they slowly undress, the camera pans down to reveal a huge panavision close-up of Keanu Reeves' ass. The audience shrieked in disgust. Even the women did. It was not flattering. All the memories of Heston's rump in so many films started to flood my memory. And it was then that I finally reached a shocking conclusion. Charlton Heston, even in his fifties had a better ass than Keanu Reeves!

Charlton Heston Movies