Monday, August 24, 2009

Inception, Indy and Ideas on Avatar (Why couldn't it start with an "I"?)






OK, don’t ask me why but I felt the need to jump in with a few things here. Just a few quick random thoughts on a few quick random things.

INCEPTION: I just watched this trailer again (I saw it for the first time in front of INGLORIOUS BASTERDS which I’ll be reviewing at some point in the not too distant future) and while I have no clue what this movie is about this has instantly shot to the top of my MUST SEE list. A sci-fi film by the almost unparalleled Christopher Nola starring Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine. There is no doubt in my mind this movie will knock me and everyone else that sees it on their asses!

AVATAR: The trailer that’s out there is just a small sampling of what we got to see at Con but hopefully now you get the idea why this has melted the eye sockets of everyone who has seen footage from it.

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINDGOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL: In the next few days I’m going to post my thoughts on the movie that could’ve and should’ve been made but until then I felt the need to say something. I just watched this film again because I’m working on something and I wanted to check this film out for inspiration / advice on what not to do and I’ve got to admit something. I liked this film WAY more the second time around. I must confess I only saw this movie once when it first hit theatres and I haven’t revisited it since because of how disappointed I was. I’m not sure what happened but I found myself genuinely entertained by the film a second time around and I’d like to encourage everyone else that felt burnt by it to maybe give it a second chance. Don’t get me wrong there’s still plenty of flaws and stuff that shouldn’t have been (I’ll get into that in my other post) but watching it the second time around it honestly felt like an Indiana Jones movie, not a “movie with Indiana Jones in it” like a lot of people, myself included accused it of being. There’s no doubt that it doesn’t hold a candle to the first 3 but up until now the only reason I owned it is because I’m a completeist geek and well I had to round out my collection. After tonight I think I might actually watch it again. Sure I won’t pop it in as regularly as the others but for some strange reason I think the movie worked better for me on the small screen than it did in the theatre. Now I know that’s a problem for any movie that has Indiana Jones in the title, but I think maybe expectations, bitterness towards George Lucas and lots of other factors played into my take on this film the first time around. I could be totally wrong and maybe my meds haven’t kicked in but color me surprised. I’m sort of curious if anyone else has had this reaction.

3 comments:

Megan said...

All I can say is that nothing would posess me to watch Indy 4 again. In my opinion if you can't make it a good view on the big screen or the first viewing then it's a failure for any film. Building and becomming cooler on the second viewing is fine, but you have to be good on the first watch.

Adam said...

I liked Indy 4 the first time around and, in a rare move for me, actually wanted to go see it again in the theater. I didn't, but finding a movie with theatrical repeat value is pretty uncommon for me. Did it really need to be made? Nope. Is it as good as it could have been? Nope. Did I have a lot of fun with it? Oh yeah!

I disagree that something has to be really good on the first viewing in order to be worthwhile. For example, I've seen Annie Hall twice. The first time I saw it, I was in a relationship and didn't really get what was so great about the film. The second time I saw it, I'd been through the break-up of that relationship and the film struck home in a big way. If I'd disregarded it and never watched it again, I would have missed out on that experience.

Anonymous said...

I honestly thought National Treasure and The Mummy Returns were better made than Indy 4. I'm scared as to what the fifth will be about.