Indiana Jones and the Middle of the Road

I saw the new Indy movie...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of ** whew... take a breath** the Crystal Skull. That's a mouthful. Who comes up with these titles?

Some background - The first movie of the franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark (note... no 'Indiana Jones and the' in the title), may well be at THE top of my all time favourite movies list... if I had such a list. The next two, while I don't think are quite as good, stayed true to the spirit of the genre and the character. This one... not so much.

Why? Hard to put my finger on it. The previous movies (especially Raiders) struck the right balance of pulp, b-movie, action, comedy, and slap-dashedness (add anything else you can think of to the list). The action sequences were perfectly interspersed with witty, tongue-firmly-in-cheek dialogue, so that you wouldn't get a crease in your butt from the edge of your seat... Maybe they were formulaic, but it was a formula that worked.

I think Kingdom missed the mark. Basically... it was too clean. Too 'polished'? I know... It sounds weird. Maybe all the CG did it. Maybe the subject matter (sorry, no spoilers). I know that the changes they made in the Indy character... I didn't like those at all. Yeah, yeah... he's supposed to be older and all that crap... I still don't buy it. Not in an archetype like Indiana Jones, especially one that draws on an established pulp tradition.

Honestly... the writing wasn't all that hot either. Most of the time, the wry wit that Indy is supposed to spout... fell right on its face. Barely a chuckle. The action sequences... TOO over-the-top. There's a fine line between suspension of disbelief and suspension of brain activity.

I think they (writers, producer, director) may have fallen into the trap of trying to please today's audience too much and of sticking to what made the Indy franchise too little. I know... some of you are saying... 'Today's audience rules! Who else should they make movies for, idiot?'

I say F&%$ today's audience. 85% of people are mediocre... Doesn't mean you cater to them. If you do that you end up with a country/planet run by the mediocre, for the medio... Oh... right.

What it comes down to is... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom...etc... is a thoroughly OK movie. Only I was expecting something more than just OK.

Tubin'

Ahhhh... What a wonderful way to waste time. For those of you who are into 'extreme' sports, or at least watching them.

Bah! Extreme. Whoever tagged that term should be shot into deep space with no life-support. Ruined a perfectly good word.

Anyway... some very cool stuff to watch at http://tubeguide.tv/. Easily seachable.... even more easily addictive. Sigh. Just what I need another excuse. Now I'm wasting time watching people doing stuff that I should be doing instead of wasting time watching people doing stuff I should be doing. Um... Well, you know what I mean -- Wow... That sentence could have kept right on going! Like looking into two mirrors facing each other. I think I may be at the nexus of the universe...

Don't know how often I'll be able to hit the surf this season. I've taken a pretty rigid stance when it comes to the oil industry/car industry/ pollution thing. That means getting to a surf spot is going to be nigh impossible without causing some psychic turmoil... unless I walk or something. Being this high and mighty is a real pain in the ass, But if you want to 'lord it' over everyone else, you've got to make some sacrifices ;)

Sigh... I can't wait until I turn into that hermit/mountain-man/ recluse living off the land in the wilderness. Then I won't have to worry about all this...

Runnin' Away Won't Save Ya!!!!

Getting restless!!! Looks like a long bike trek may be around the corner.

Frustration on the job-front, the writing-front, the life-front ;)... Well, they've conspired to give me a serious case of itchy-feet. No, not fungal. Maybe it's more a case of itchy-mind. Anyway... I'm sort of half-seriously, kind of into planning a partial cross-the-country jaunt... on a bike... alone... yeah, that's what I said, too.

Actually, this has been in the works for... Wait. Saying 'in the works' makes it sound like I've been 'planning' this for years. Anyone who knows me knows that's crap. More likely, if I do this at all, it will be a seat-of-the-pants, barely-survive, kind of endeavor. What I meant to say is that myself and a friend of mine used to tell each other that 'one day we should/would do this thing'. This was back when I was heavily into training and the outdoors. It didn't seem as daunting. What's a few thousand kilometers?

What it is, is crazy. Considering the shape of my bike and the shape of me, there should be no considering... Well, when has that ever stopped me? Turns out Mike (the afore-mentioned friend), lives in BC... Hmmm... sounds like a destination. How convenient.

Montreal to BC... Somewhere around 4000km's I think. I figure I can do that in a month. Yeah. I said that with a straight face. What of it?

Anyway, this is still pie-in-the-sky stuff, but don't be too surprised if one of these days I update from somewhere where I don't know where I am.