Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[flippyshark]

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, did any of you, way back in elementary school, learn a song about Senor Don Gato? (Oh, Senor Don Gato was a cat, on a high red roof Don Gato sat, he was there to read a letter - meow meow meow, where the reading light was better - meow meow meow) Well, chances are some of you are now humming the tune. Anyhow, my point is, this very tune shows up in Spirit of the Beehive, played on a guitar, no singing. I'm going to guess it's a traditional Spanish melody, and the silly Don Gato lyrics were added by elementary music textbook publishers. but it means that at a particularly lyrical moment in the film, I was singing to myself - "Oh Don Gato jumped so happily, he fell off the roof and broke his knee, broke his bones and all his whiskers - meow meow meow, and his little solar plexus - meow meow meow, Ay Caramba cried Don Gato." I've got to guess this was not what the filmmaker had in mind.

[Not Afraid]

We started watching the Indy films last night in preparation for Indy 4 (or whatever the name is). I just adore that first film. I'm in love with the sets and settings. Maybe tonight will be film #2.

[Gemini Cricket]

Raiders of the Lost Ark is by far my favorite of the three. It seemed to be much more gritty looking than the others. A lot of it seemed to be shot on location. The other two, I don't know. They seemed to be shot on a lot of sound stages and the lighting was brighter. Can't really explain it but the first one looked more real. If that makes any sense.

[innerSpaceman]

And it was brilliantly plotted and scripted and directed and acted while the other ones were comparatively lame in every such department. Especially the scripts, which were clearly of sequel quality.


I watched Temple of Doom over the weekend, because mousepod says it's an homage to Gunga Din. Sure, I've always appreciated some of the elements ... they are serial chapter fun ... but they are assembled into a piece of crap.


There's only two minutes of actual plot ... where Indy is taken over by the Evil Twin spell / potion. The rest of the movie is moving from room-to-room inside Pankot Palace and having a set-piece occur in each room, with a thrill ride rollercoaster in a great room, and a cool swinging bridge bit in the back-yard. It's a theme park experience, and not a movie.

Yes, and as GC points out, the lighting and cinematography are all bright and crystal clear, so it looks 100% soundstage (which it is), and totally fake (which is fitting).


The Children-Are-The-Real-Stars sentimentality was pure anti-Raiders sickeningness. Kate Capshaw was supposed to be an annoying ditzy blonde, but she annoyed the hell out of anyone who saw the movie, and everyone wanted her to die. When people razz Indy for saving the girl, that's not a good sign.


The jeuvenilization of the humor in the 2nd movie is pure George Lucas M.O. Gak. I want to be ill.

There are great little parts. Short Round is a great little character. The movie completely sucks.


The third movie was better only in that it didn't completely suck. I was relieved. But it's almost unwatchable today. It's a pale shadow of Raiders of the Lost Ark ... which is still emminently watchable 27 years later, and I daresay will remain so forever.


It's a fantastic classic, one of my favorite movies of all time. I saw it 80 times in theaters during its unbelievable 18 months in initial release.

Find a movie nowadays that's in release for over 18 weeks. Most don't last 18 days.


It's my love of the first movie that has me lining up for all the sequels. I love Indiana Jones, and enjoy at least parts and bits of all the movies. At least the new one still stars Harrison Ford, so it's got a leg up over the cautionary tale of the horrid Star Wars "prequels" also released decades after the originals.

But George Lucas is still involved, and Spielberg has some horrible instincts that he can succomb to. The chances of this movie sucking are very high, but I remain retardedly optimistic and very excited.


I just don't know why.

[Gemini Cricket]

My biggest gripe with Last Crusade was how Sallah and whatshisface (Denholm Elliott's character) were both downgraded to stupid sidekicks. Yikes. And the film had the worst looking greenscreen blimp ever in it. AND the female lead was completely unlikable. Yeah, even Willie Scott was likable compared to her.

[Not Afraid]

It's been so long since I've seen these films that I forget what they were like. I don't think I've ever watching them all in a row.

[Alex]

I was contemplating watching all of them in preparation (I think I watched Ark when we bought the box set and then I never got around to the other two) but when we moved all of the DVDs ended up jumbled up in a drawer of the entertainment center and I can't find the energy to actually paw through them to find a specific movie.

But I have five days to find the energy.

[Tom]

Don't forget that LSPE and I are screening the first three this Sunday for the general LoT public. Don't everyone go watching them on your own when you can watch them with fellow swanksters.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by Tom

Don't everyone go watching them on your own when you can watch them with fellow swanksters.

I have been avoiding them for this very reason. And I didn't so much watch Temple of Doom as have it on in the background.

I spent the entire week constructing a FrankenBox to ship my Giant Raiders of the Lost Ark 3-D Promotional Display in. The lucky ebay winner bid $25 over my asking price of $1,500. I'm giving the Good-Reputation Seller a cut, ebay takes a cut, shipping and insurance will be more than I asked the buyer for, and I'm going to tip the participants of the photo shoot. I'll net maybe $1,200.

Sigh. The day the sale went thru, I get a notice from the IRS saying they changed my income tax return, and I now owe them $1,200. I hate the way the universe works, but am amazed nonetheless.

Anyway, it took the wind of my FrankenBox construction sails. To keep me in the mood, I had the John Williams Raiders soundtrack playing in the background while I built it .... for 3 nights. For the final session, I couldn't stand that anymore ... and put the DVD of Temple of Doom on in the background.


But I swear I barely watched it. And that's good news for Tom and Heidi's upcoming marathon. The bad news is, I can barely bear to watch it. I hate that movie with such a passion, but if I'm allowed to laugh at it, I won't go out to the lobby for 20 cigarettes while it's playing.


What time does the marathon start? Are you going to have mousepod-style intermissions lasting hours? If so, how many days are you alloting for the Indiana Jones trilogy??





oh, maybe this entire line of tangent should be moved over to the Indy thread.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

What time does the marathon start? Are you going to have mousepod-style intermissions lasting hours? If so, how many days are you alloting for the Indiana Jones trilogy??

We haven't set a starting time yet. We were thinking of perhaps starting about noonish, but we have no other commitments that day, so if attendees desire something different, they need only speak (or type).

And I don't think we will have Mousepod-style intermissions. Among other reasons, we don't have as many things to entertain you with between movies. But maybe we'll try to pull up a couple of musical numbers, and we can have quick sing-a-longs during the intermissions.