The TV Addict 

Editor’s Note: Our Top 10 Anticipated Summer Movies was actually written in April, but posted late due to theTVaddict’s unfortunate addiction to TV!

Honorable Mentions: THE HAPPENING, THE INCREDIBLE HULK,

Guilty Pleasures: MAMMA MIA!, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING PANTS 2, THE ACCIDENTAL HUSBAND , WANTED, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR

10. GET SMART (June 20th)
I’ll concede that there’s a pretty substantial chance that GET SMART might not end up being very good. The thing is I grew up loving the TV show (when I lived in Germany the only English-language channel we got was one that played older shows like “Bewitched,” “I Dream of Jennie,” etc), and Steve Carell is ideally suited for the role – both in terms of appearance and humor. I also never cease to enjoy watching The Rock poking fun at himself, nor seeing Anne Hathaway get increasingly more attractive and diverse with her roles.

9. STEP BROTHERS (July 25th)
The interactions between Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in TALLEDGA NIGHTS were the highlight of the film for me, and the notion of pitting them together as boy-men stepbrothers is nothing short of comedic gold. I mean, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much during a trailer. The “Did we just become best friends?!” line cracks me up every time. It’s good too to see that Will Ferrell is taking a role that is also ideally suited for his brand of humor (and isn’t making fun of a sport/career).

8. TROPIC THUNDER (August 15th)
Robert Downey Jr. playing an over-the-top method actor playing an African American solider? That’s all I pretty much need right there. But sure, having Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte and a handful of cameos doesn’t hurt either, nor does the film’s motivation to spoof war films like APOCALYPSE NOW and the way they attempted to immerse their actors in the war experience.

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It’s pretty common knowledge in my circles that I have no love for George Lucas. In fact, in my crappier modes I have been known to call him a “money-grubbing Ewok.” A loving moniker I’ve given him based on my admittedly outlandish theory that he modeled the look of the Ewoks after himself (seriously, do a side by side comparison, you’ll see what I’m talking about). However, if ever there was an argument that could convince me he isn’t some superficial capitalistic, cash-cow milking, creativity stifling, fan-disregarding, brand-name draining filmmaking force, it would be John’s incredibly well thought out and written piece over at The Movie Blog.

Though I think perhaps John overestimates Lucas latent level of talent - dormant or not - there’s no denying that AMERICAN GRAFFITI and the first two STAR WARS demonstrated Lucas has got “it” somewhere in him, it’s just an “it” that has not - as John points out - been capitalized on since, largely because Lucas can’t seem to pull himself away from his franchises. It’s a great insight, and the author goes on to offer some helpful advice on how Lucas can break out of his creative rut. Definitely worth checking out, if for no other reason than a surprisingly dead-on allusion to LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS.

You’re probably wondering at this point what could possibly be written about the ending and MacGuffin of CRYSTAL SKULL that hasn’t been covered already. It sucked. You know. Well, I thought I’d put down pen to paper (well, not quite) a more serious consideration of why they’re no good, and address/counter what some of the defenses of it have been.

Needless to say, if you haven’t seen the film yet there are SPOILERS (!!!) ahead.

First off, I think we need to get clear who is really at fault here. A lot of people seem to be assigning Steven Spielberg the blame, largely because it obviously elicits his many other alien-based films, most notably CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. Though Spielberg’s hands are far from clean (the prairie dogs and vine-swinging Mutt had his fingerprints all over it), George Lucas is 100% accountable. I highly doubt that even the small percentage of blindly loyal people who always emerge when their great master is criticized can dispute that at this point. Just look up any interview with Spielberg, Ford, and Lucas in the last while, and you’ll find the aliens were not only Lucas’ concoction, but that neither Spielberg nor Ford were thrilled about it. Not to be deterred, Lucas nobly pulled rank and said: “[Spielberg and Ford] wanted to go off on some other tangent. I said, ‘I’m not going to do that. I’m going to stick with [my idea] no matter what, so we either do this or we don’t. That’s it.’”

The internet also seems to offer scattered defenses of the ending, and the general alien theme. So let’s move on to address those.

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This weekend, theTVaddict did something that some may find surprising. He turned off his TV, stepped out of his TV cave and decided to get some much needed fresh air saw a movie.

Yet after thoroughly enjoying INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL, I’ve had three sleepless nights pondering one INDIANA inaccuracy. How on earth can Henry Jones [Sean Connery] be dead? When we last saw him — in the now inaccurately titled INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE — did Indy Jr. not save his life from a life-threatening gunshot wound by giving him a drink from the Cup of Christ. The very cup that was said to grant eternal life?

I imagine a lot of you will be checking out the new INDIANA JONES film over the weekend, and I’d love to hear what you think. So please feel free to post your thoughts/impressions and likes/dislikes below.

In the first ten minutes of INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, I was worried. Harrison Ford didn’t seem like Indy. He was dressed like him, he looked like him, but after he gets pulled out of a trunk his lines and interactions seemed forced, stilted and awkward. They were hollow with the significant gap between what his delivery was and what it should have been. It’s as if Ford was doing his best Indy impression rather than just being Indy again. It didn’t bode well for the film as a whole.

Thankfully though as the minutes go by, and the main plot started revving up, we’re treated to a legitimate (if not complete, but more on that later) INDIANA JONES experience. After all, that’s what we’re looking for when we watch an Indy movie. An experience. One that sweeps us up along with the adventure, where when things really get going we’re right there in the thick of it with our hero. It’s why we go to the movies. It’s also why it’s easier to overlook CRYSTAL SKULL’s flaws, of which there are a few (some minor, some major). It’s not a perfect film, nor is it one that surpasses any of its predecessors, but it’s an INDIANA JONES film, one that’s exciting and adventurous, and that’s more than I could have hoped for.

That’s never more apparent than in the deliriously staged action-sequences, including a great motorcycle chase earlier in the film, and an intense jungle sequence in the film that is quintessential INDIANA JONES in the way the stakes increasingly get raised, and one perilous situation dominoes into the next. It’s also apparent in the puzzle solving, map following, and tomb raiding/studying sequences, which are unfortunately loaded down by David Koepp’s somewhat clunky and exposition heavy script, but still contain the thrill that wells up in us and Indy (so lovingly conveyed again by Ford) as he gradually solves his way to the goal. All of that proves that Steven Spielberg still knows how to direct the crap out of an action/adventure film, and his decision to not shoot in non-digital, gives CRYSTAL SKULL a wonderful look, even if it’s sometimes interrupted by much more CGI than we were led to believe would be in the film. But that’s the price of working in Hollywood and Georce Lucas these days, and it remains largely and thankfully pretty unobtrusive.

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Given that we’re only a few days away from when all of non-press people get a chance to finally see INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, we’re naturally being bombarded with a never-ending amount of info about the film. Cinematical is actually officially making it Indy week with a variety of really neat features (highlighting old trailers, international posters, etc.) Definitely worth checking out.

Seeing as the film premiered at Cannes and has already had some press-screenings, reviews for the film are starting to pour in. Generally reviews seemed to be mixed. Though in an odd turn of events, the majority of the major critics seem to like, while more reviewers from online communities seem to not. Regardless, if you want an overview of things, both Entertainment Weekly and /Film have conveniently compiled the main points of all the reviews out there so far. As for my thoughts on the reviews so far, I’m not entirely surprised. Part of me always worried that things might not turn out so great, but honestly, I’ve reduced my expectations now so that as long as it’s a fun little summer romp I’ll be happy. It’s never going to match the other INDY films (and a fair amount of reviews have noted that this installment just doesn’t feel like the other films), but it might prove to be an exciting action adventure nonetheless.

Finally, if you’re wondering what the brilliant George Lucas’ thoughts are for the future of the franchise, it turns out he already has an idea. Apparently he has the notion “to make Shia [LeBeouf]the lead character next time and have Harrison [Ford]come back like Sean Connery did in the last movie. I can see it working out.” Given that this is the man who at some point saw Jar Jar Binks “working out,” I’m going to go ahead and call this a stupid idea. Especially because I don’t think anyone wants to see Indiana Jones reduced to a side-kick, or see a side-kick get his own spin-off. I was fine with a fourth installment of the series, but I think this should be it. Lucas has a bad tendency of milking his franchises for whatever they’re worth, and though that may do fine for STAR WARS, I think INDIANA JONES should be well enough left alone after this. (Source: “2″ Fox News)

So what are your guys’ thoughts on the reviews so far? What about a potential spin-off, new direction for the franchise? Good idea, or bad idea?

For those of you coming late to the party or those who just need a reminder, today is the last day to enter the content to win the new INDIANA JONES box set. You can check out further details here.

Dear Mr. Lucas,

With INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL coming closer, I know this plea might be a little bit late given that production is done and all, but I feel I need to get it off my chest regardless.

You better not have screwed this up.

Though I enjoyed the original STAR WARS trilogy, I loved the INDIANA JONES films. I’ve seen RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE something like over 100 times combined. To me they are not just films, but experiences, ones that turned me into a little child again, full of excitement and dumbfounded awe as I watched. It’s a feeling that seeing the first teaser trailer for INDY 4 gave me again as the Indy theme swelled up as I watched his silhouette appear. I felt drunk on sheer anticipation and excitement.

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In celebration of the release of INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, theREELaddict is excited to be able to give away two copies of the upcoming INDIANA JONES: THE ADVENTURE COLLECTION box set (compliments of Paramount Home Entertainment), which features new editions of all three films.

To enter the contest, simply answer the following question in the comments below.

Question: What is your favorite INDY movie?

The deadline is midnight of Monday, May 12th, so check your emails Tuesday morning to see if you are a winner. Good luck!