on my mind

so there are a couple things that i keep on thinking about and keep popping back in my mind. one of them is the indiana jones movie. im going to spoil some of it at the end of this post.  if you havnt seen it, you should probably just wait for it to come out on dvd.  either way, if you dont want it to be spoiled, that was your warning.

1. the new coldplay song 'viva la vida.' its a great song. it really is. one of those instant classics for me. right when i heard it, i enjoyed it. it has great lyrics. it has an orchestra which is always a classy touch. it give the song a fuller sound and fools you into thinking that these people listen to classical music. so its a great song, but i cant remember the last time i heard a song that got so stuck in my head. its amazing. and this isnt your typical you hear a pop song on the radio and it gets stuck in your head for the next 6 hours, like your typical spice girls song. this song has been in my head since the first time i heard it. which is completely terrible since its not some lame song like 'my humps' or 'california love.'  but literally days of it resonating in my head.  

2. a few weeks ago driving home from san francisco, nellie and i got into a heated discussion about female rock bands or female lead singers. she thinks that the greatest female performer/singer of all time in bjork with hillary duff coming in a close second; and that the best female band ever is 'swv' (sisters with voices). anyways, somehow in the conversation we started discussing rock bands with female lead singers and we brought up 'no doubt.' we couldnt think of many other bands that were bigger than 'no doubt.' which sounds and is kinda surprising. there are many other bands. the pretenders. dire straits. the go-go's. i mean, its definitely a debate, but it was just random realizing that 'no doubt' would have to be in the discussion.  think about it.  rock bands with female lead singers.  i might be totally off on this one.  but i think that if you think about it for a bit, youll realize, whether you like them or not, no doubt has to be in the discussion.  that first album was HUGE.  not that it really matters at all. as im writing this im getting kinda bored and realizing that this topic is really only interesting after you have been sitting in a car for hours and your brain and butt are going numb.

3. ok. indiana jones. heres the thing. it wasnt a bad movie. it wasnt like godzilla or hollywood homicide.  i didnt get out of it thinking that i wasted money and upset that i went. but it wasnt a good movie. it was completely neutral. just plain vanilla ice cream. ice cream is always good. you cant really ever get upset about ice cream. but you dont get too excited about it or go brag to people afterwards that you had vanilla ice cream and recommend that everyone go eat a tub right here and now. but the most upsetting part was that it wouldnt have been that hard to make it into a decent movie. i think my friend dave described it well when he said that it felt like everyone was mailing it in. and its true. i wonder if speilberg even wanted to direct it or if the studio just came to him and said that they would give him $30 million if he would do it knowing that they could just put a harrison ford corpse on the screen for an hour and half and throw in that it was done by speilberg that it would make at least $100 million. and it has. but speilberg is good. he's proven it. he doesnt need this movie. he probably has many other things he would rather do, but for the right price will do what the masses want. who wouldnt? but harrison ford. he hasnt been doing anything lately besides sitting around helping his girlfriend get skinnier. i dont know why he didnt care to put much more effort into it.

anyways, here are just some quick things that i think they could have improved or done without that would have easily made it into a good movie and not just an, 'eh, whatever' movie. 

the opening sequence: i know that most movies are filmed in a large warehouse/set somewhere in hollywood, but at least try and make it seem like you are 'on location' somewhere.  they mailed it in by saying, 'you know, we are currently standing in a large warehouse.  how about we start the movie with indiana in a large warehouse where he is looking for a box.  that way we wont have to do any set design.  plus, boxes are real easy to find.  they have them all over in alleys behind grocery stores.  we can just stamp them with us army words and phrases and fool people into thinking we are in an actual military warehouse.  oh that audience.  so foolish.'

the atomic bomb.  really?  why?  i know that all indiana jones movies have a 'fast' opening with lots of action.  but again, its like they couldnt come up with anything so they said, 'how about he sits in a fridge and escapes an atomic bomb?'  made no sense.  did nothing to further the movie.  wasnt really suspenseful.  plus he evaded an atomic bomb by hopping in a fridge!  come on.  

i said this in the earlier post, but the only redeeming or quality part of the movie was the initial interaction with harrison ford and shiloa imbuff.  they had great chemistry.  it was fun.  they were explaining the plot.  which was sort of strange and hard to follow later.  but they had a fun chase scene.  a good fight and it was well done and exciting.  by far the best part.  i honestly do hope that if there is a next indiana that shia takes over the lead role because he will put forth more effort and that harrison ford has more of a supporting role.  i think it could be good.

for some reason they go to peru (its really not explained well at all and youre not even sure whats going on there) and for whatever reason random monkey guys attack them and then they hit them with a shovel and the monkeymen leave forever and never return.  no idea where they came from or who they are or where they went.  you spend most of the time wondering what's going on and then they kill them and move on with the story.  really random and puzzling.  pretty stupid too and a weak effort at having some suspense or excitement.  

swinging in the trees with the monkeys.  really?  no really?  swinging with monkeys?  on vines.  from tree to tree until you catch up to the cars.  really?  someone wrote this into the script and then 20 other people approved it?  at no point did anyone think that by putting it in the movie you would lose half your audience?  swinging with monkeys.  really?  the problem with computer animation is that movies can do crap like this and get away with it.  before, the writers and directors would have been forced into using their brains and coming up with some sort of logical, conceivable way to have shia meet back up with everyone besides having him swing there with monkeys!  unbelievable.  and i know that indiana jones is sort of like james bond where he is kinda invincible so he can do otherwise unrealistic things, like being dragged on the ground from the back of a truck.  but swinging with monkeys?  a new low.  (this was the part that really lost nellie.  we saw the midnight showing which she really didnt want to see because she was tired.  i told her that it would be fun and that its things like this that she will fondly remember someday because we wont always be youthful and able to do midnight movies.  she didnt really buy the cheap sales pitch. either way, she came and really started laughing at this part and how ridiculous it was.  she then punched me in the throat as a reminder that she was bitter that i dragged her out of bed for such a quality flick).

but that was the tone of the movie.  not much thought.  mailing it in.  sorry dave for stealing your descriptive word.  but its true.  the waterfall?  come on.  again, a little effort would have made it a good movie.  im fine if they go off the first one.  its conceivable that they might survive.  but all they would have had to do is for someone to say something blatantly obvious like, 'hey, if we go off that next one, there are rocks at the bottom and we will die.  we better figure something out.  we dont want to die.'  and then for indiana to get out his whip, break off the doors of the car, and then they all use them like wakeboards or something and float to the side of the river.  i know thats bad.  but its better than just going off the giant waterfall and pretending they would live.  

anyways, im going off too much about this movie and its not necessary.  just lots of little things that could have made it good.  not trying hard.  like using the snake as a rope to help indiana out.  remember how indiana hates snakes?  so they have to use one somewhere.  its obligatory.  this is an easy way to do it.  everyone will laugh because it makes sense to use a snake as a rope.  plus, its funny.  remember, indiana doesnt like snakes.  he wont want to grab it.  my stomach hurts just thinking about it.  so brilliantly funny.  

well, at some point the movie ends with some lame message about how the sacred treasure is actually knowledge.  oooohhh.  deep.  the aliens didnt seek after killing us.  they just wanted knowledge.  knowledge was their treasure.  knowledge is power.  thanks.  i wish i would have know that before the movie because my treasure is money.  and i lost $20 bucks of it on this movie which didnt give me any knowledge, but if anything, just made me feel stupid that i spent money on a movie that knew i would spend money on it because it had indiana jones in the title.  dang.  fooled again.  hi nikki brown harris.  pre-ceptions rule.  tell your cousin.