"...it's a satisfying shuffle of the deck of famous Spielbergian moments that have gone before in E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The first 20 minutes, especially, are a blast of old-timey pleasure, as Indy is reintroduced, Irina is unveiled, and the production team shows what the king of witty action can do when he floors it. In a great, dark joke, a lovingly re-created suburban tract straight out of E.T. turns out to be a Potemkin village of mannequins awaiting vaporization during an atom-bomb test."
Do yourself a favor and don't read too much about the movie -- the reviewers are having a hard time saying anything without spoilers.
EW gives it a B- -- EW is wrong. It's an A+. It delivered exactly what I hoped for and more, more, more. When any sort of artist is having a blast with a creation, it shows -- and Indy shines. It's a loving pastiche, perfect closure, and non-stop action.
The actors are terrific, especially Karen Allen. Middle-aged Marion doesn't try to hide her age. She revels in it. Normally, I hate romance, but Indy and Marion deliver just the right amount of fiery, unrequited lust. Cate Blanchett's S&M Stalinist will deliver lots of wet dreams and kinks to impressionable boys and naughty men, and Harrison Ford gives everyone hope for great AARP sex. A very pleasant surprise was Shia LeB, because I fully expected to loathe him. I may not know how to spell his last name, but I didn't hate him, either. Quite the opposite. Great casting.
Make sure not to suck down too much soda pop because there isn't a moment for a bathroom break. The movie careens and lunges, scratches and giggles, shoots and whips. It's big and cornball and wonderful.
Nature Unleashed: Volcano -- Spewing Tasty Cheese
Current mood: amused
Nature Unleashed: Volcano (2004) (V)[imdb.com] I saw this late last night on USA Channel and it's stark raving hysterical in the true Sci-Fi made-for-TV tradition. It rips mainly on Dante's Peak at first, but with some wonderfully awful supernatural hoo-ha added in. It circles back to volcanoes at the end, but in the middle is a meat loaf of delights -- so many movie ingredients I can't remember them off-hand. There was The Ring, for one. But the best is the big-ass Exorcist scene.
Even little Regan's restraints didn't catch on fire when she levitated off the bed!
The movie takes itself very seriously and uses the special effects you remember from bad 1970s and 1980s horror movies. It's perfect. But only if you like cheese.
ps Keep an eye on the priests when they're in background scenes. Snerkalicious!
DISHing Dirt
Current mood: overstimulated
Category: In need of noise to cover the noise. Movies, TV, Celebrities
So DISH is acting up, flashing nothing but "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life' over a black screen. It does this during Stargate SG-1 reruns, too. Must be a conspiracy.
Actually, it seems to do it most when the weather turns warm. Summer. I generally blame meteor showers, though calling them shooting stars would be more accurate in this case.
What I don't like about this is the silence. If the a/c wasn't blasting - we're having a short, intense heatwave - the backround noise would drive me insane. I mean, I can hear Ricky chewing each individual crunchy right now. And Damien is licking his, er, body. The freezer just dumped a fresh load of ice.
It's a madhouse! A madhouse! Wow. Black birds are singing in the dead of night. Wish they'd sing more and drown out the kibble-crunching kitty cat. .
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is a scream -- before the opening credits end, you're reeling from the non-stop gross jokes. If you're me, that's a good thing. If you don't like gross jokes, run away. Run swiftly and don't look back.
We went in knowing that equalling, let alone surpassing, the original White Castle would be nearly impossible, and by the time we came out, still giggling from a contact high with the movie, we thought that it was great fun but not quite up to the original.
But some hours later we're reglaing each other with, "I can't wait to see the ___________ scene again." We've named off at least a dozen, maybe two, must-see-again scenes already. And we liked the original more with successive viewings, so it's possible the sequel is just as good. It's certainly just as grossly hysterical. In fact, in that department, it outdoes itself.
And NPH. Talk about outdoing yourself. NPH is the very definition. Go Doogie!
In my years as a novelist, I've met several other Tamara Thornes. There's at least one other Tamara Thorne on MySpace. She's perfectly real and she's not me by any means. If you're looking for the photographer Tamara Thorne, she's the one you want.
Unless you're looking for the Tamara Thorne who sometimes provides spooky location shots for paranormal non-fiction books. That would most likely be me.
Tamara Thorne isn't a terribly common name, and it's interesting running into another one. But if I were a guy named Steve King, I bet I'd be really sick of it.
I got tired of waiting for Indiana Jones and half a dozen other movies lurking toward their premiers and traipsed into 10,000 BC a few weeks ago. We were hoping for cheesy goodness and cool f/x. The cheese wasn’t thick and melty enough and while the f/x killer ostriches were fun, it wasn’t what I expected of the guy who made Independence Day. (Though it was what I’d expect of the guy who also did Day After Tomorrow, a fact I chose to ignore.)
It tried to be realistic instead of outrageous and ended up being neither. It didn’t need more cowbell, but it sure could’ve used some Jurrasic porking in the dinosaur department. Some T Rex would’ve helped. Especially if one had eaten the Lindsay Lohan-esque female lead.
Duma Key. I made it last as long as I could, but finally finished reading the very last sentence. It's one of Stephen King's best novels, full of heart and some of the best scares that have ever shivered my spine.
Last weekend I had a great time at San Diego's sci-fi convention, Condor. It was terrific. Between panels, my collaborator (for some upcoming ghost non-fiction, as well as a novel) and I zipped over to Old Town to hang with the ghosts in Whaley House, etc., and to research every Mexican restaurant we could. We were more than successful.
obsequious
amused
adventurous
overstimulated
busy
