Indiana Jones and Crystal Skull DVD Review

Well, I finally saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I had read several reviews of it when it had first come out in theaters, but I never got around to seeing it. That was until it came out, of course, on DVD this past Tuesday, and it was only until last night that I finally watched it. Now, you know, I bought the 2-disc special edition, because I really wanted those extra bonus features. It seems more and more these days they (Hollywood) like to skimp (or forgo entirely) on the bonus materials. I guess their saving it all for Blu-Ray, or something, trying to get us “hold outs” to switch to the more expensive format. However, Kingdom (as I’ll call it) comes with two extremely cool bonus featurettes on the regular edition. The 2-disc version, instead of a “behind the scenes” documentary like on the first disc, comes with an extensive “making of/filming of” featurette, as well as some other nifty items like a playable Xbox 360 demo of the latest Indiana Jones game. You just pop it into the 360, and there’s your demo

Now, as for the movie: What did I think of it? To be honest, I thought it was a very good film, but it still can’t hold a candle to the original trilogy. Basically, you could almost look at Kingdom as a tribute to the other three films in the series. Plus, it ties up some loose ends. Those loose ends being where did Indy go after his adventures, and did he ever have a lasting relationship with a woman? Also, what happened to his friends, his family? Brody? Marion Ravenwood? Sallah? Well, it’s all answered here.

The one thing you’ll note this time round (as mentioned in the extras) is Indy’s unceremonious entry. Having been pulled out of a trunk he arrives in (where else?) the very warehouse where (presumably) the Ark was taken in the first film. In fact, the Ark does make a cameo appearance. However, a lot of the characters from the previous movies also show up as cameos in, for example, photographs spread about Indy’s living room and office. Though, Brody actually gets himself a bronze statue on the grounds of Yale, I mean Marshall College.

Marion is actually in the movie, of course, as Indy’s ex-fiancee. Then, there’s Mutt, who it actually turns out is Indy and Marion’s son (though, Indy has no idea until Marion shows up). I don’t want to give too much away. But, what I will say, is that Kingdom’s storyline is similar to the other films in that it involves a military power wanting a powerful artifact, and who are willing to stop at nothing to get it. Naturally, Jones is their key to finding said artifact and is, of course, also their ultimate undoing.

Kingdom takes place in 1957, so Nazis were out of the question. However, it was easy enough to replace them with the Red Menace. Yes, Russians. The commies want the Crystal Skull. Specifically, Dr. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) wants it, and wants Jones to lead her to the fabled lost city of El Dorado where the Skull will unlock its ultimate power.

Spalko, well, is one tough cookie. She has the power to read minds, possibly. She wears a saber and knows how to use it! Cate Blanchett, with her hair dyed black and cut short, is nearly unrecognizable. Oh, and somehow she manages to pull off the Russian-uniform look in a sexy way–probably because it was a form-fitting thing. Anyway.

I would say Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull definitely contains a mix of elements from the first three films. In some ways it reminds me of Raiders of the Lost Ark, then in others Temple of Doom, and yet in others The Last Crusade. Overall, Kingdom is a fun movie, but it doesn’t invoke the “I want to rewatch that again and again” goodness that the original trilogy does. Though, with that said, I’m sure if you watch it a few times it’ll grow on you.

If you’re a hardcore Indy fan, by all means you should look into buying either the 2-disc special edition or the Blu-Ray versions. But, if you just want to buy the movie to watch it, I’d recommend the plain old single-disc DVD release. Besides, it too has two excellent bonus featurettes with it as well.

AC/DC’s Black Ice, Latest Album Review

AC/DC is definitely back. Ever since Black Ice was announced last year, I was definitely looking forward to it, and now, after having just checked out every track on VH1’s website (yes, I’ll get to that in a second), I can say it is, of course, awesome. But, the question some are probably asking themselves, is it any different? Is it revolutionary for AC/DC? Well, yes and no.

It’s not a major departure, no, but there are some tracks on there that are, well, different for these Austrailian rockers. In fact, I’ll even go so far as to say a few of the songs I’m about to mention will wow any AC/DC fan. First, while Rock N’ Roll Train (the albums first single) is a decent song, it isn’t anything too different. The true surprises are (4) Anything Goes, (10) Stormy May Day, (12) Money Made, (13) Rock N’ Roll Dream.

Sure, the tried and true AC/DC technique of catchy, foot-stomping, head-banging rhythms and Angus’ kamkazie guitar-playing is here. Really, the biggest change you’ll note is Brian Johnson’s singing (yes, he’s really singing on here). Anything Goes, for example, has a very (believe it or not) melodic tone on both singing and guitar. It almost could be, I guess, thought of as a–I hate saying this–a Pop track. But, it’s one rocking Pop track! Some parts of it even remind me of–dare I say it?–of something Led Zeppelin might would have done. Just incredible!

Then, oh yes, there’s Stormy May Day. And, very surprising indeed, is Angus playing slide guitar. Yep. Slide! And it’s fricking awesome, too. Also, lyrically (and the way it’s sung) it reminds me, again, of Led Zeppelin. Next is Money Made that has one of the catchiest choruses I’ve ever heard (”Work, Work, Money Made”–you know it). You’ll be wanting to shout that out for the rest of the day. Oh and, again, Brian Johnson shines here, too. His vocal range is greater than you’d think. The same goes for his vocals on Rock N’ Roll Dream. Also, the guitar is notable on this track. While not revolutionary, it has a lot of depth as far as where its composition and structure are concerned.

All in all, Black Ice is what I expected and much, much more. I think the biggest departure on this album (besides some of its sound) is its marketing. Firstly, it’s going to be (in the United States) released exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores (I believe that’s for the first few months). Then, AC/DC’s website has been constantly updated. Lastly, the album was leaked, and instead of just making that a negative, VH1 has been allowed to have the entirety of Black Ice on their website (that is until the album’s actual launch on Monday).

But, anyway you look at it, the Thunder From Downunder is back! And that’s cool with me.

Life Lesson: Never Forget Meat In Car

I had an interesting thing happen to me: I somehow had forgotten two packs of turkey meat in my car. For three days the things were left to fester in my trunk. You see, on Thursday I had gone to grocery shopping. To understand how this could have happened, well, you have to know how much junk is crammed into my trunk currently. There are painter’s dropclothes. Trash bags filled with old newspapers that I keep meaning to throw in the recycle bit at work but keep forgetting to.

Anyway. The bag containing the meat had gotten hidden beneath one of the dropclothes; again, I need to get rid of these (they belong a friend, but I keep forgetting to give them back to him, and he’s not in a big hurry to get them back anytime soon). I didn’t see the packages of meat and had assumed that I had already put them into the freezer in the garage. Well, I hadn’t. Also, I had wondered where my receipt had gone to, because I had wanted to look at something on it.

Yesterday, I walked out to my car, got in, and said, “What the hell is that smell?” I couldn’t quite pin it down, but it smelt like some God-awful mix of ammonia and manure. Then, for some reason, I thought about the meat. I said, “Don’t tell me.” The smell was coming from the trunk, of course. So I popped it and moved the dropclothes around and found the bag containing the turkey meat.

Damn it stunk! And it had only been in there for, about, three days at most. Needless to say I was pissed. That’s $8! gone. The only thing I could do was throw the meat away. I left in the bag, didn’t even look at it, and put it into a trash bag, putting it into another trash bag. Worse, I had to leave it in the garage over night, because the dump was closed by then. Needless to say, today it was even worse; the smell was just awful. If that’s what decaying bodies smell like…Damn I don’t know how anybody can handle that.

Now, I know what the Mythbusters were talking about after having done urban myth about of a body rotting away for a few months in a corvette. Man that stench had to have been something from the ninth level of hell! Anyway. Lesson learned.

Latest Amazon Order: Music DVDs

It’s amazing how much I just realized that I probably couldn’t live if music didn’t exist. This I’ve always felt to be true, of course. Though writing is what I’m good at, I do think I have the soul of a musician. Because, when I have a tune going through my head, I feel so much more empowered; almost as if it somehow gives me courage. I know, weird thing to say, but it’s true. Anyway. Let me get to the point of this post.

My latest order from Amazon–inspired after having listened and watch Rush In Rio all the way through (which is one of the best concert sets I’ve ever seen)–was a bunch of music DVDs. Most coveted of which was the 2-disc Crossroads 2007 set. Crossroads is a deal that Eric Clapton puts on, I believe, every year that is mainly (but not all) blues artists. Of course, in this case “blues” is a loose description, because its more like a celebration of all music–music dealing with the guitar, that is.

I had heard a lot of good things about the 2007 Crossroads concerts in particular. First, there’s Jeff Beck (who’s skill at the guitar is nearly indescribable) and Tal Wilkenfeld (who is just simply fricking awesome; girl power never looked so awesome as this young twenty-something lady jamming on the bass and playing it better than many who’ve been playing it for decades). Then, there’s Vince Gill, who you’re left scratching your head until he gets up there and rips up the guitar with two awesome, awesome songs. If you’ve never heard of him, it might be because he’s mainly a country guy, but he can play some blues-rock that will leave you speechless. Another one of my favorites on the DVD is Robert Cray whose soulful singing and expert blues guitar-playing lightens, well, the soul.

However, there are two moments during Crossroads which make you both smile and appreciate music and the kinship musicians share amongst each other. First of which is when B. B. King comes out on stage and speaks his praises for Eric Clapton, and the best part is you can see on Clapton’s face how humbled he is by the experience; and how much of a friendship there really is between two of the best guitarists of all time; two men who inspired a generation of young men and women around the world to pick up the guitar. We wouldn’t have guitar gods without them!

The second moment that really tears up the eyes is when, yes, Willie Nelson leaves the stage after having played two of his most famous songs. As a rule, country music doesn’t really do much for me, but here, when Willie is singing “On the Road Again” with Sheryl Crow, it’s simply magical. And the fans cheer like mad after it’s all over with.

Now, the other DVDs I got were Toronto Rocks (which highlights the big benefits concert held in Toronto after the SARS epedemic), ZZ Top Live in Texas, and Heart: Alive From Seattle. Again, I had heard good things about these concerts. The main reason I had bought Toronto Rocks was because of the performances of Rush, AC/DC, and the Rolling Stones. Sadly, while the songs shown here are all great, there’s only two from each band, though the Stones have about five I believe, as they were the headliners.

There were some great moments, though, here. AC/DC, yes, were their typical high-powered, frenzied heavy rockin’ selves. But, when Angus and Malcolm Young get on stage with the Stones, things get, well, interesting. As Mick struts across the stage belting out the words to B. B. King’s Rock Me Baby and Keith Richards strums out the chords, Angus is right there with him. There’s a certain chemistry between everyone, and it’s just a cool moment.

Yet, there were two other moments that were equally as fun to see. When Rush walks up onto the stage, they’re surprised to bump into Keith Richards. And Neil Pert of Rush you can see is visibly stunned. He shakes Keith’s hand and looks like he’s not quite sure what to say. Later, like he said, to him these were people he had looked up to for so many years but had never really met, and then they’re they are! In fact, before going into Spirit of Radio, Rush jams out a bit on Paint It Black.

Lastly, on the behind the scenes of the Toronto Rocks DVD set, there’s a tour of some of the back stage area and a group photo op that takes place. You can sense a kinship between everybody as they line up to get into the picture. Right in the middle are the Young brothers and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (the rest of the Stones) and Rush. Plus, all the show’s other artists. After the photo shoot, everybody mingles amongst each other.

Really, the only thing a fault the Toronto Rocks DVD for is that there are so few songs on it, which probably has something to do with time constraints and the effects of the artists each being on a different record label, I’d imagine.

I’ve yet to watch the ZZ Top and Heart DVDs. But, I’ll get around to it. Thank God for music!

Sarah Connor Chronicles Awesomeness

The week before last, when Chuck’s second season premiered, I had missed the latest Terminator episode from that Monday. Well, (thank God for the Web!) through the magic of webisodes, I was able to get caught up. You see, I’m still antiquated, as I don’t yet have a DVR of any kind; I keep meaning to call Charter for theirs, but that’s always fun. Oh, and my DVD recorder is on the fritz, too. So, I just have to plan things out.

However, after having just finished watching “Goodbye to All That“, I think I should have watched it instead of Chuck that night. Don’t get me wrong, Chuck was a fun diversion, but damn! this Sarah Connor episode was amazing! And I don’t usually say that about television shows. But, it was…

“Goodbye to All That” was one of the best things I’ve seen on television in a long time. What made it so good? The story. And the acting was simply excellent. Period. Mr. Green (who plays John’s uncle) delivered so much depth to his character. It was like he got inside some untapped emotions to give Derek Reese more life and animation than we’ve seen before. The scenes where he reflects back to the war after Judgment Day were some of the best. Also, when he busted the recruit down at the school–I think that was probably the best scene, in fact. He was really into it, then.

Yet, to be honest, everybody was switched on. I thoroughly enjoyed Lena Heady’s performance as well. She’s still that smoking hot mom Anyway. Overall, the direction of this Terminator episode was spot on. I only hope that it gets better from here, as, while not terrible, the show (until now) has seemed sort of stagnate.

Dumb and Dumber?

I don’t usually talk about politics. However, this presidential race doesn’t excite nor inspire me. Both candidates just don’t seem to know what they’re doing. I think either way it might be George W. all over again, and we just can’t afford that right now. Why do we have dumb and dumber up there? Okay. So, it’s probably not fair to say Obama is “dumb”. He probably really is a smart man, but how much experience does he have exactly? On the other end of the scale we have McCain, a man who was once involved in scandal and who believes in the Bush’s policies. Ugh!

With the credit crisis that just happened, mainly because of the government’s inattention, we simply cannot have an inexperienced president running the country. Also, McCain, while experienced, does not strike me as a leader. Send in the Delta Force, that’s who we need! Right. My point is we need somebody with true leadership skills and experience.

Our choices right now are the opposite of each other. Obama is a strong leader, I think. Whereas McCabe (barring his beliefs) is an experienced man. But, we need both of those qualities in the next president. That’s the problem! Where’s Nader when you need him?

Sanctuary…My Thoughts

When I first heard about Sanctuary I didn’t really get too excited. Sure, Amanda Tapping is the leading lady, which, I suppose, should count for something. I mean, she’s a decent enough actress and I liked her when she was on SG-1 and Atlantis, but with that said, I felt like it’d just be more of the same. However, I decided to still give the show a chance.

Now, not having been privy to its first web-run-only season, I didn’t even have a clue as to what the show was about. So, I watched some of the behind-the-scenes and cast interview material available on Scifi’s website. And, I’ll admit, it kind of all had me looking forward to the Friday-night premiere. Was I disappointed?

Well, let’s put it this way, Sanctuary did not break any new ground. The characters, including Tapping’s, were all, to me, very much cookie cutter, though the producers claim otherwise. Yes, it’s true it’s not another cop or lawyer or doctors show, but it’s nothing new, or really all that special. To be honest, there just didn’t seem to be enough substance.

Dr. Helen Magnus, for example, is 150 years-old, but it never comes up as to how she’s that age and still looks, well, in her mid-thirties. And, how the heck is it that she had a child by Jack the Ripper? It’s like Sanctuary is trying to be a bit of Doctor Who and a bit of the X-Files. I don’t know. The jury to me is still out on this series, but I’m not very confident it’s going to stay around.

Drunk Pumpkins

This is what happens after a night of Halloween fun:

Yeah, I think they had just a few too many beers. Somebody at work sent this to me, and I know I got a laugh out of it, so I figured I’d just share it. I know I’d never have thought of this is a million years!