Thursday, May 22, 2008

"Indy"?....uuuhh....yeah

Well.......

I'm still getting my thoughts together about "Indiana Jones". Too much to go into right now. Besides I've actually been kind of depressed today because of what I saw in this movie last night. I'll compose myself and get a review up here tomorrow.

Needless to say, I ended up returning the second set of tickets I purchased for Saturday night to the box office before I left the theater. That was depressing.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

"Indiana Jones", tonight, midnight!

It's here, can't wait, BRING IT ON!!!

The midnight show at The Arclight sold out within a few days of tickets going on sale a month ago. In fact a number of shows through Friday are now sold out.

Enjoy, everyone, and we'll compare notes after!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Crazy "Indy" links

As we approach the premiere, there are an obscene amount of cool new video interview links with the cast of "Indiana Jones" (Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, etc.) over at theraider.net. I was going to link a couple here but there's too many good ones. Click the link over in the right column and check 'em out!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Back to work with New Wave Entertainment!

Got a call last week from New Wave asking if I was available to work a gig running for three weeks. I of course said YES!!!

Yay!!! After 3 plus weeks of no work I'm definitely ready to get back in the game. A producer I worked with last year on the Original Series Star Trek Season One HD-DVD has requested me specifically and (here's the even cooler part) I'll be working on the DVD for Universal's big summer action pic, "Wanted", starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman.

AWESOME!!!

I start tomorrow, Monday, and the catch is I'll be working nights for the first week, switching to days after that for the remainder of the project. I go in at 6pm and leave at 2am. I'm usually up until 1am anyway so this shouldn't be a stretch, sleep schedule wise. Hopefully this will be the start of my summer workload and hopefully they'll have something else for me when this project ends.

BTW, while watching the new "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" DVD last Thursday I noticed the name of a DVD post house I hadn't heard of before. Blue Collar Productions worked on the boxed set for Indy and I immediately got in touch with them to find out whom I should forward my reel and resume to. Those are now in the mail and on there way. This is the best time to contact a new place since this is the beginning of a busy time for most post houses and I might have a better chance of getting in the door faster.

Good reviews for "Indy" after Cannes premiere

After last week's supposed reliable reviews (which turned out to be mostly bullshit), I was very glad to read today's crop of fairly good reviews following the Cannes world premiere.

Sure there were a few O.K. ones as well as a couple of duds. Some coming from sites that appeal more to the younger fanboys who weren't even alive when Indy grabbed The Ark out from under The Nazis 27 years ago. Time, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and Roger Ebert all gave "Crystal Skull" a lot of positive marks. And all said that if you're a big fan of the original films you're going to love this one, which is what I was at least hoping to hear.

Here's a link to the rottentomatoes.com Indy review page where you'll see brief two sentence blurbs from the full reviews you can click on to read. And yes there are a few mild spoilers in just about all of them. Nothing I wasn't aware of though.

Reading these has made me feel MUCH better after seeing that earlier internet trouncing.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

"Indiana Jones" in one week!

And here we are down to the final week before the premiere of "Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull".

There's been a few supposed reviews from a couple of so-called 'studio executives' somehow connected with aintitcoolnews.com who've stated the new movie is far from good. It's hard to make out whether these are legitimate, since the parties involved don't want to be named for fear of backlash from the studio.

Despite all of this, these reviews could be coming from a couple of fanboys between 17 and 25. You know, the kind that apparently don't have a pre-"Star Wars" prequels, pre-"Lord Of The Rings" appreciation for the type of look and feel Spielberg, Ford, and Lucas are trying to achieve. Something older fans of the original three films would absolutely get.

A few observations have been made that 'there's nothing new brought to the franchise...it plays quite a bit on the nostalgia of the earlier movies'. So is that really such a bad thing? No. Hey, I'm not looking for "Crystal Skull" to top anything that's come before it. If while watching this movie I feel like I did when I first saw "Raiders Of The Lost Ark", etc., then Spielberg and company have done their job extremely well in my opinion. And if there's more beyond that, fantastic! Icing on the cake. Which is why I know I'm gonna love it.

Example: Spielberg and his longtime cinematographer Janus Kaminski sat down and carefully watched all three original Indiana Jones movies, looking to capture and faithfully recreate Douglas Slocombe's style. He was the cinematographer who photographed all three of the previous films. This is just one of the many touches I know will bring added enjoyment to the new movie.

BTW, it's "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK"! Not "INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK"! Lucas, knock it the fuck off!!!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Two weeks to "Indiana Jones"!

The recent TV spots keep looking better and better! Not that I had any doubts. But could we have a little more of Karen Allen's Marion Ravenwood? She has one line in most of the trailer and TV spots she's featured in. I'm getting the impression we'll only be seeing her for the last half of the film. Most of her on set stills are in the jungles of South America.

The first 7 minutes of "Speed Racer"...yeah, it's THAT bad

Yahoo! Movies has just posted the first seven minutes of "Speed Racer". Pretty much more of the same. I was cringing through a good portion of it. But hey, if you eat "Spy Kids" for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you're gonna fucking love it! Also kind of comes across like "Dick Tracy" as well. A film that I DID enjoy.

Me? I am SO going to pass! Probably won't even catch it when it comes to cable.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

"Iron Man" game

I saw a cool demo for the PS2 "Iron Man" tie-in game at Comic-Con last year and have been really looking forward to the release last week. Just picked it up last Friday and all I have to say is...ME LIKE-Y!

It's really cool and follows parts of the movie storyline, as well as filling in some of the gaps regarding the development of the Iron Man suit. The action is great, allowing you large fields of combat to walk, run, or fly through. Still in the early part of the game, but it rocks!

Monday, May 5, 2008

My MINI: 1 year old today

One year ago today I went to the dealership to pick up my pride and joy on wheels. I gave her a pampered bath and polish this afternoon to celebrate. She gleamed happily in the late afternoon sun as I took to the road for a very late lunch, rocking to the MINI playlist I created on my iPod for that first rollout last May. I still prefer doing the washing myself but it does take quite a bit more time than going to an auto detailer. But hey if you're like me and want it done to perfection...what can I say, I just take pride in the care and feeding of my MINI.

This Thursday I have an appointment at Bob Smith MINI to get her first oil change (15,000 miles or one year; I just hit 12,500) as well as the brakes looked at since I've been having that warning light come on.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Surprise guests at "Iron Man" last night

O.K. so maybe they weren't that much of a surprise. I had a pretty good feeling that Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. would show up right before the midnight screening last night and...YES, THEY DID!

Normally one of the Arclight ushers would welcome everyone and give details about the movie they're about to see, etc. Instead we were given an introduction to Director Jon Favreau, who in turn intro'd Robert Downey, Jr. They were both met with a standing ovation and thunderous applause. Favreau said they wanted to be there for the midnight show to see the fans and say 'thanks'. Very cool, and a great capper to what would be an amazing ride on screen. My review is on the right.

However before "Iron Man" unspooled we were treated to a triple treat. The newest trailers for "The Incredible Hulk", "The Dark Knight", and "Indiana Jones" came at us one after the other to repeated cheers from the audience. God I love these midnight screenings!

Saturday night I'll be heading back to The Arclight to see the movie again. Because right now you can never have enough "Iron Man"!.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

"Iron Man", tonight, midnight...it's here!

Tonight's the night. Heading to The Arclight to see "Iron Man" at midnight. I'll be meeting up with a couple of guys I work with at Cannery Agency for a little late dinner and drinks before we all head into the theater.

The Arclight will have Iron Man's Mark III suit (final red and gold version) on display in the lobby, along with the Audi Tony Stark drives in the movie parked in the courtyard. Very cool.

Slept extra late this morning so I'd be fully awake tonight. The day has finally arrived, can't wait!