In Contention

Tag: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

  • Two things I like about ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’

    1) Cate Blanchett as Irina Spalko

    If only because it serves to remind us, after her criminally overlooked turn in “Bandits,” what an undervalued comedienne she is. (Don’t believe me about “Bandits?” Watch her first scene, where she’s getting down to Bonnie Tyler in the kitchen as she prepares a casserole, and ask yourself how many other actors could make so much out of so little scripted material.)

    Back to “Indy 4,” she’s the only actor in the whole cast who seems to have judged the right comic tone for her character. It may be bizarre, wigged-out camp, in her case, but that’s what the script tells her to do, and damn it if she doesn’t have fun channelling a thousand hokey “Ry-aw-shun” villainnesses from Hollywood’s B-movie back catalogue. After “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” she seems to have established a nice line in (not quite) saving po-faced, overboiled schlock with stylish, balls-out burlesque. And all this from an actor equally capable of rendering a character’s crucial moral decision with a simple, silent glance. (If you haven’t seen “Heaven,” do so.) Mr Foote recently made a good case for Sean Penn as the greatest actor of this generation; my vote would go to Blanchett.

    2) Um… uh… no, actually there was just one thing

    I side with Kris on this one. The film’s an utter wash.  

  • New poll

    In lieu of a decent talking point surrounding this year’s somewhat underwhelming Cannes fest, I thought I’d keep it simple this week and grab an assessment on this weekend’s blockbuster. Tell us where you stand in the new poll.

  • 10 things I hate about ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’

    1) Mac McHale
    In a long line of wonderful secondary characters — Sallah, Marcus Brody, Henry Jones Sr., Short Round — screenwriter David Koepp, and whoever might have made their mark on the screenplay prior, manages to crank out a pointless, unbelievably benign individual who sits in the stomach of the film like a glass of out-dated milk. It’s all the more painful that director Steven Spielberg chose Ray Winstone to portray McHale, forcing the audience to watch a truly great actor suffer under the burden of an under-written throwaway.

    2) The set pieces
    Spielberg is a natural with creating exciting, edge-of-your-seat action numbers, yet he lends a bloated effect to the film in his desire to take everything to 11. They appear to have been filmed at a theme park — and with terrible, seam-revealing CGI to boot! Speaking of which…

    3) The CGI
    A shame throughout, making the already clumsy action scenes all the more sore on the eyes. This is a breach of religion, if you ask me, especially when one considers Spielberg’s view on these tools throughout the series. Thank God for saviors like Christopher Nolan, who believe in the practicality of filmMAKING.

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  • Ouch

    I have lots of respect for the guys at indieWIRE, but they kinda deserve this.

    At least it’s funny. I love the caption under Kohn’s photo.

  • More than just an icon

    Though best known as the fedora-wearing, bull whip-cracking hero of the Indiana Jones films, Harrison Ford has forged a strong career as an actor, with an impressive filmography that has, in many quarters, gone sadly unnoticed.

    One of the downsides to being a movie star — or an actor best known for work in blockbusters, even — is that your skill as an actor is often unappreciated or ignored. In some cases with Ford, that is precisely what has happened. I remember the great Burt Lancaster stating what a great challenge the role of Indiana Jones was, and that it took a great actor to make it work. Lancaster, like Ford, had grown into a fine actor by then, but lest we forget he began his career in swashbuckling B-movies before evolving into the Oscar winner of “Elmer Gantry,” and his finest work, “Atlantic City.”

    I first took note of Ford as a true actor in a scary little role he had in the otherwise terrible film “Heroes.”  The actor portrayed a Vietnam vet who loved his time over there, and like buddy Henry Winkler, wanted to go back. Though he had just a few minutes of screen time, he was quietly terrifying, bringing to the part all that was frightening about that war. While the rest of the film was devoted to the mugging of Winkler, it was Ford who left the audience unsettled.

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  • More Indy reviews hit

    First, this item from Jeff Wells is a long, drawn out way of saying the film is just, well — okay. I wonder if this is going to be the norm, a lot of passable opinions but nothing really in the way of a rave.

    Next up, Todd McCarthy offers insight, I’d say a little too quickly after the screening for a publication of Variety’s stature. And Eric Kohn (Corrected — Apologies to Eugene Hernandez.) of indieWIRE actually live blogged the screening, which is quite silly and unfortunate, I’d say.

    By the way, having not seen one frame and likely irritated by that fact, David Poland takes a piss out of both publications, in addition to badgering the Times of London for its uber-early review. Just so I’m covering all the bases here.

  • First review of ‘Crystal Skull’ lands in the Sunday Times

    It seems John Harlow of the Times of London has managed a screening of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” at some point in the last week, sure to rub a number of self-perceived entitled journalists the wrong way. What’s more, he’s gone ahead with a full review, a totally positive assessment of the flick.

    Here’s a look:

    The good news for Ford fans is that Indy may be older and greyer, but there’s still a spark to his repartee, and he still gets the girl in the end (the girl in question being Marion Ravenwood, played by Karen Allen, who was the love interest in the first Indiana movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark).

    Whether Ford’s charm will be enough to earn the film the $400m it is estimated to need to recoup Paramount Pictures’ investment remains to be seen. However, a preview attended by The Sunday Times last week suggested that the internet gossips who have doubted the film’s drawing power may be proved wrong.

    And about “it” boy Shia LaBeouf:

    Much has been made in internet chatrooms about LaBeouf’s potential impact on the film, and fears that he is merely a sop to lure teen viewers. Yet LaBeouf, who made a striking impact against computerised villains in Transformers, matches Ford quip for quip and leather jacket for leather jacket.

    Rounding it out:

    The real pleasure for series fans may lie not so much in the madcap action, the carnivorous bugs and the familiar perils of quicksand, but the restored romance between Ford and Allen, and the fatherly relationship that develops between Ford and LaBeouf, who is clearly the new pretender to his whip.

    Indy treats Mutt with the same sarcastic disdain that his own father, played by Sean Connery, lavished on him during the Last Crusade. You can probably guess how it all works out.

  • Cannes arrivals: ‘Blindness’ set to bow

    Wow, that seemed to sneak up on us quickly. The 61st annual Cannes Film Festival kicks off today, with Fernando Meirelles’ hotly anticipated “Blindness” opening the proceedings tonight.

    Pete Hammond at The Envelope has a neat round-up of the Cannes arrivals, with an emphasis on the Oscar prospects of the American films in competition. (Although, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the world cinema lineup this year is equally, if not more, mouthwatering.)

    Hammond does take care to point out to the awards-watchers out there that Cannes glory and Oscar victory don’t often go hand in hand, however:

    This year, particularly with the talent involved, there is lots of speculation about Oscar potential for new Cannes entries from past academy nominees and winners like Fernando Meirelles, Atom Egoyan, Charlie Kaufman, Walter Salles, Steven Soderbergh, Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen and others, although the sad fact remains that since it won, no film other than “Marty” has gone on to win the best picture Oscar after also nabbing the Palme d’Or — and that was in 1955!

    Several Palme D’Or victors over the years, like “Friendly Persuasion,” “MASH,” “The Conversation,” “Taxi Driver,” “Apocalypse Now,” “All That Jazz,” “The Piano” and “Pulp Fiction” did go on to best picture nominations.

    Roman Polanski’s 2002 Cannes winner “The Pianist” probably came closest, taking the academy’s director, actor and screenplay awards before what we imagine had to be the narrowest of losses to “Chicago” in the big category.

    All true, of course, but still – it’s been a while since the Cannes slate featured this many Oscar darlings in the official competition. And they don’t come any more Academy-beloved than the venerable Clint Eastwood, whose “Changeling,” starring Angelina Jolie, is one of the Cannes titles generating the most buzz from the awards-geek set. I remain less excited about the film than others, but one cannot overestimate the amount of industry goodwill out there towards Eastwood (and indeed Jolie, whom many feel was unfairly snubbed by the Academy for “A Mighty Heart” – though I thought that was one of their smarter calls, personally.)

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  • Fans anxious for the ‘Dark’ — What about Dr. Jones?

    When I posted last week’s poll regarding most anticipated summer films, I had an inkling Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” would be a heavy favorite. I didn’t, however, expect it to claim nearly 75% of the readership’s votes. Impressive, indeed. (And you all know which direction I leaned on that one.) “Indy 4” and “Wall-E” were the only other competitors with numbers worth mentioning.

    With that assessment out of the way, and with “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” set to be the net big thing — both at Cannes and with a May 21 release approaching — I wonder what the general opinion is of this film’s actual existence. It’s been nearly two decades since Indy swung into theaters (ironically, along with a “Batman” installment and a Bond film still to come, like this year). I’ve had my reservations since the beginning, but at times, they are overridden by the strong desire fo rthis flick to kick major ass.

    So what say you? Is it a disaster waiting to happen or, perhaps, the redemption of George Lucas and his recent desire to tinker with cinematic antiquity? Tell is this week’s poll!

  • Indy screenings

    Well the press invite to next weekend’s all media screenings of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” landed yesterday afternoon. Four showings on Sunday starting at 10 in the morning. It seems like it’s been a while since there was one of these all day free-for-alls. When was the last time, “King Kong,” maybe? I don’t know — but the tragedy (well, a personal tragedy, in any case) is that I’ll be across the pond as of Tuesday. So I’ll be checking it out on opening day with everyone else.

  • Spielberg and blockbusters

    Can he do it? After becoming (in his own eyes) a serious filmmaker with “Schindler’s List,” “Amistad,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “A.I.” and “Munich,” is Steven Spielberg able to re-create the magic he almost always brought to his pure entertainment blockbusters?

    It takes a look at his journey as an artist to even attempt a reasoned understanding of such a question.

    On one hand, I argue that he was always a brilliant director, “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and “E.T.” all great examples of his artistry, yet he himself was never satisfied by the reaction to those films by the Academy. It is well documented that Spielberg coveted acceptance in the film community, seeing the Oscar for Best Director as the ultimate acceptance from Hollywood. Snubbed for “Jaws” in 1975, he behaved like a petulant child as live cameras caught it all on film, invited in to see his reaction when he was nominated…but — he wasn’t.

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  • The Indy scuttlebutt goes into high gear

    Leave it to Anne Thompson to diligently amass the rampant Indy IV speculation that has suddenly ejaculated all over the Web this week.

    And what a hairy bunch of links it is, everything from her and Todd McCarthy’s original break that the film would debut at Cannes, to McCarthy’s round-up of Cannes films in play, Jeffrey Wells’ scoop that the film would run over 140 minutes (WHY?!) to Vulture’s latest blast, which rounds up all the rumors circulating what might be a below-par effort.

    I remain, as I have been on this film from day one, completely and utterly terrified. I honestly, truly, 100% think that “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is going to be a turd, a stinker…an afterthought. Like the aftershocks of a bad dream where you’re kind of awake, kind of not, but praying the worst is behind you.

    There…I’ve said it. Do I base this on anything other than sheer gut feeling? Nope. Although I don’t think it needs to be said…again…that David Koepp is public enemy#1. My friend John Campea over at The Movie Blog continues to have hope. He tells me every time we broach the subject that, no matter the endgame, Indy IV is his #1 most anticipated film of the year and will remain that way. Fine, fair enough.

    But I’ve anticipated a lot of shit storms in my day. At the end of the day, I don’t think I could possibly cross enough fingers. Let’s hope “Iron Man” is phenomenal, and therefore, softens the blow as we wait, patiently, for “The Dark Knight.”

  • Most anticipated films of the summer

    The release of “Iron Man” is breathing down our necks, if you can believe it. And with it comes the 2008 summer movie season, which looks to be an overall kick-ass time at the cineplex.

    Usually I end up peppering in a few unexpected flicks in a summer list such as this, but beyond maybe David Mamet’s “Redbelt” and — I don’t know — “Son of Rambow,” there really just isn’t a lot of peripheral stuff that’s catching my eye. It’s all about the popcorn, baby!

    Additionally, I’ll be in London from the middle of May to the middle of July, so my summer movie perspective will be a little different this year.

    Anyway, I haven’t been this excited for the hot months since…well, last year. But we know how that turned out. 2008 goes above and beyond in the anticipation arena, however, so here’s a list of the films I find myself thinking about…constantly:

    1. “The Dark Knight” (July 18)
    2. “Iron Man” (May 2)
    3. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (May 22)
    4. “The Incredible Hulk” (June 12)
    5. “Pineapple Express” (August 8)
    6. “WALL•E” (June 27)
    7. “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” (May 16)
    8. “Hancock” (June 2)
    9. “Tropic Thunder” (August 15)
    10. “The Happening” (June 13)

  • OFF THE CARPET: 2008, a year in advance

    Another year, another set of wins…and another look ahead at what’s in store NEXT year.

    It’s never too late to take a long gander at what we might see dominating the film awards landscape in 365 days, and with that in mind, I’ve been doing my usual mulling over the possibilities for a few weeks to put together the sadly thorough examination of the 2008-09 award season that follows. Let’s get into it. There are some major considerations to take into account. right off the top.

    Like Leonardo DiCaprio, for instance, who is set to be the entertainer of the year. With performances in “Body of Lies” (Ridley Scott) and “Revolutionary Road” (Sam Mendes), DiCaprio is working with a duo of awards-proven talent this year. Perhaps that will work against him, much like it did in 2006, and no major Oscar success will come knocking. But we’ll wait until we see the performances. Each of them could be enticing.

    This year’s Best Picture Oscar victor Scott Rudin is back again, by the way, with “Revolutionary Road,” recently inherited by Paramount Vantage and probably one of the true “frontrunners” this far out that we could put our finger on. The only other film in Vantage’s arsenal is Edward Zwick’s “Defiance,” which could simply be a commercial success, but might find its way to multiple nods like “The Last Samurai” and “Blood Diamond” in recent years.

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