Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I’ve heard a few negative reviews of the “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull“, so I wasn’t particularly rushing to see it.  I have the box set DVD collection of all previous Indy films and I’ve seen them a few times by now – they are good, but the age shows.  I like them, but you can’t call me a fan yet.  With that, I went to the movies today.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the film.  It was in exactly the same style as previous ones, but a bit refreshed.  I think it feels exactly like the other ones felt back when they were just released.  However if this film was shown 20 years ago, it would have blown the minds of a much wider audience.

In short, the film has everything it should have had – Spielberg’s directing, Ford’s acting, tonnes of action, a quest for something cool, much greater scale than anybody can imagine, and a few jokes here and there.  Good value for money and not a time waster.

One thing that I particularly liked, how it was done for the PG-13 rating.  There is a lot of action and a lot of people get killed in a lot of different ways, but there is no focus on that.  There is not much blood or suffering.  The scariest of the dead bodies are in bones, all over catacombs full of treasure – something you can’t take away from an adventure movie.  Family-friendly and kids-recommended.

Overall, quality entertainment.  8 out of 10.

Brazil

Sometimes I surprise myself by the kind of movies I find accidentally. “Brazil” is one of those highly recommended classics that I’ve never heard about before.

Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Genres: Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan, Kim Greist, Jim Broadbent, Barbara Hicks, Charles McKeown, Derrick O’Connor, Kathryn Pogson, Bryan Pringle
IMDB raintg: 8.0
My rating: 8.0 [rate 8.0]

This film came just in time. I was about to get pissed off with all the crap that I watching recently – cliche copies of copies of copies that as predictable as Formula 1 for the last few years. And suddenly I get across this movie, which came out twenty years ago, is included in IMDB’s Top 250 movies of all times (#199), has Robert De Niro in it, and is one I’ve never heard anything about.

The movie is very original. The story, the setups, the costumes – everything. But the feeling of deja vu wasn’t leaving me from start until the end of the film. The story felt a lot like something based on George Orwell’s “1984” spiced up with lots of satire from Monty Python and mixed with personalities from World War II movies.

A very small investigation confirmed my deja vu feeling. The director of the film – Terry Gilliam – is a part of Monty Python gang. He has written, directed, and acted in a number of Monty Python flicks. He has also done a number of other well-known movies, especially in sci-fi area. One of those well-known films is “Twelve Monkeys“.

Interesting story twists, good character development, great acting and lots of amazing special effects make this film into a real masterpiece.

Resume: highly recommended.