No books or comics this week, but Diamond is listing the first volume of a Droids omnibus and the second of an Indiana Jones omnibus.
In the news: Harvey Korman, blu-ray, Star Tours
- People: Emmy-winning comedic actor Harvey Korman, who died on Thursday, is probably best known for his work on The Carol Burnett Show… But he also had a role in The Star Wars Holiday Special as the four-armed chef Gormaanda. Over at StarWars.com, Bonnie Burton pays tribute.
- Technology: Yahoo’s Ben Patterson ponders when Star Wars and Indiana Jones will make it to Blu-ray. He’s way more optimistic than I am, not that I even own a Blu-ray player.
- Disney: An article on ILMer Hayden Landis’ work on Indy IV confirms that a Star Tours makeover is underway. (via)
- Jediism: Time interviews Jedi Church co-founder Daniel Jones.
- Music: Nerdcore in The Guardian.
Wrapping up the weekend of Indy…
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has now been out for almost a week. To celebrate this event, I ate some crispy minty Indiana Jones M&Ms and drank some Indiana Jones Dr. Pepper yesterday. Now that the caffeine headache has gone away, here’s what I learned:
- 2nd biggest Memorial Day opening, with domestically $151 million (after Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) – and $311 million worldwide.
- JediNews.co.uk and Lightsabre.co.uk have a joint review.
- Scientific American plus a few articles that are tangential to archaeology and the kingdom of the crystal skull.
- Communists in St. Petersburg, Russia are protesting the portrayal of Soviets of that era. What next, Ukrainians protesting Cate Blanchett’s accent?
- Shia LeBeouf’s entrance a homage to Brando in The Wild One? Signs point to yes.
- Indiana Jones vs Carrie Bradshaw: this weekend – will it be Sex and the City.. or Snakes and the Lost City?
- and one of the shorter reviews: The Five Word Review
Staring into the Crystal Skull
Head on over to Livejournal for a great three-part analysis of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from screenwriter Todd Alcott. (via)
Communists peeved at Indiana Jones
Reuters is reporting that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the new Indiana Jones movie has annoyed members of Russia’s Communist Party.
“Our women don’t look like Nazis, but maybe Cate Blanchett was threatened by unemployment, so … she made this film,” says one. Adds another: “Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett (are) second-rate actors, serving as the running dogs of the CIA. We need to deprive these people of the right of entering the country.”
Honestly, you just can’t win these days when trying to pick cartoonish villains for your George Lucas movie.
Poll: What did you think of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?
Okay, so I promised to keep the Invincible poll up for two weeks. And I am! But now it has a friend, because the new Indiana Jones movie came out today! Vote below the cut, or on the sidebar… And yes, it will also be there for two weeks. Continue reading “Poll: What did you think of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?“
Counting down to Indiana Jones opening day…
The midnight showings are tomorrow night for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And with the release almost upon us, there’s a deluge of news articles covering the movie, the stars, the reviews, the crystal skulls, the merchandise, and pretty much anything else that can fit with Indiana Jones (Anyone see those NBA playoff/Indiana Jones commercials? what’s the connection there?)
Here’s some of the random news and commentary that’s fit to print:
- Harrison Ford helps Conservation International show how destruction of tropical rain forests can hurt us — using the analogy of getting his chest waxed.
- 10 random facts you may or may not know about Indiana Jones movies. Umm.. they need to do some fact checking of their own.
- Spielberg, Ford, Lucas, and LeBeouf get some comments in to the press – 5th Indy anyone?
- Ebert admits his love for Indy
- The Village Voice has an unfavorable review
- But the Providence Journal gives it 5 stars.
- Indiana Jones and the merchandising of obesity – on Salon.
- USA Today looks at George Lucas’ storytelling and father issues, and giving parental advice to Brangelina at Cannes.
- Just because Indy looks good in a fedora doesn’t mean that you will – and other movie fashion warnings from Wired’s Lore Sjöberg.
- Indiana Jones vs Spider-man
- Indiana Jones vs Jack Sparrow
- Indiana Jones vs the Internet (studio secrecy, etc.)
- The LA Times takes heat for putting a review of Indy on the front page.
- and thinking about why Raiders succeeded when Doom didn’t.
Indy rides again – to good reviews!
The official crop of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull reviews are growing, and so far, so good – 80% on Rotten Tomatoes!
J. W. Rinzler on The Making of Indiana Jones
Lightsabre conducts an interview with J. W. Rinzler, who wrote The Making of Indiana Jones, which covers all four films, and also talks about the joys of having to manage media books for not one but two movies coming out in a year (Crystal Skull and The Clone Wars).
George on (more) Indy sequels and The Clone Wars
Fox News caught up with George at Cannes and he says there’s a strong possibility for sequels. With, as many have been contemplating, Shia LeBeouf in the lead. Oh, George, you crazy diamond.
Next up, The Clone Wars and why it’s not being released by Fox:
“No one wanted it,” he told me. “Every studio rejected it, including Fox, and I’m very loyal to them. They have right of first refusal. Eventually I brought it to Warners. It’s the first time that three components of the studio have acted together. It’s very exciting.
…Every studio? Huh.