MOVIE MAGIC
Indiana Jones fans of course will be lining up this holiday weekend to catch the fourth installment of the franchise, given that it's been two decades since we saw the last Indy flick back in 1989. Regardless of the reviews, which have been lukewarm to positive, it'll be on the must-see list of even the most casual Indy fan. As the New York Times reminds us:
" “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is a movie for boomers of all ages, though you can bet the bank that plenty of tots will be tagging along with Mom and Dad, Granny and Gramps.
Like the 1981 blockbuster “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the first in a monster franchise that has spawned two previous movie sequels, a television series, comics, novels, video games and Disney theme-park attractions, this new one was directed by Steven Spielberg, cooked up and executive produced by George Lucas (with Kathleen Kennedy) and stars Harrison Ford as the archaeologist-adventurer-sexpot with the sardonic grin, rakish fedora and suggestive bull whip."
The movie apparently brings lots of old characters back, along with a sprinkling of some new faces:
"The bad guys this time are cold war Reds first seen poking around an American military base and led by Irina Spalko. A caricature given crude, playful life by Cate Blanchett, Irina owes more than a little to Rosa Klebb, the pint-size Soviet operative played by Lotte Lenya, who took on James Bond in “From Russia With Love.”
Dressed in gray coveralls, her hair bobbed and Slavic accent slipping and sliding as far south as Australia, Ms. Blanchett takes to her role with brio, snapping her black gloves and all but clicking her black boots like one of those cartoon Nazis that traipse through earlier Indy films. She’s pretty much a hoot, the life of an otherwise drearily familiar party. Among the other invited guests are Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Shia LaBeouf, who plays Mutt, the young sidekick onboard to bring in those viewers whose parents were still in grade school when the first movie hit. Karen Allen, who played Indy’s love interest in “Raiders,” is here too, with a megawatt smile and a bit of the old spunk."
But speaking of long-awaited sequels in movie mega-franchises, we all have a new Terminator movie to look forward to soon, as Gizmodo notes:
"Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins has started production in the New Mexico deserts, with Christian Bale and Sam Worthington on board to star in the film as John Connor and Marcus Wright, respectively...
"Terminator Salvation will be set in 2018 where John Connor is fighting Skynet to ensure the future he's destined for..."
""Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" marks the latest installment of the multi-billion dollar Terminator franchise and will be the first film in a new Terminator trilogy. The film is scheduled for a North American theatrical release May 22, 2009."
Hopefully, the second and third movies in that trilogy won't keep us waiting for a couple of decades.
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