Whip it good: Indiana Jones marathon this Saturday

Would you like to pretend "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" never happened?

It's easy to do this Saturday during a fedora triple-feature at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre because it ends with everyone's favorite action-archeologist riding off into the sunset in 1989, back when Shia LaBeouf was just a three-year-old tyke.

The Indiana Jones marathon is part of 9th Annual Festival of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction, an event with  a programming schedule more lively than its name. There's also a "Star Trek" double-feature on Sunday (the Leonard Nimoy-directed "Star Trek III: In Search of Spock" from 1984 and Nicholas Meyer's underrated "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" from 1991) and an outstanding "ghostly romance" night on Aug. 27 (with Joseph Cotten in the forlorn gem "Portrait of Jennie" from 1948 and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's classic "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" from a year earlier). There's also a John Carpenter night ("The Thing" from 1982 and one of my favorite guilty pleasures, "They Live" from 1988, with the best alley-fight scene ever) on Aug. 29 and more, such as an Aug. 28 visit by actress Diane Baker as two of her 1960 films are screened.

As for Indy, this Saturday night the adventure begins at 6 with the pretty-much perfect "Raiders of the Lost Ark" from that grand year of 1981, followed by the darker and less-than-perfect "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and, finally, the sunnier and (to my mind) more satisfying "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

For fun here's a nifty fan-made trailer for "Raiders," which shows how well the film ages when framed for today's sensibilities...

To buy tickets for any shows at the festival, go to the American Cinematheque page at Fandango and for more programming information go the festival website. The Egyptian Theatre is at 6712 Hollywood Blvd. and the phone number is (323) 466-3456.

-- Geoff Boucher

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'Indiana Jones,' past and present

EXCLUSIVE

Is "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which hits stores today on DVD and Blu-ray, the final adventure for the wise-cracking (and whip-cracking) archaeologist? It sure seemed like it when the movie arrived in theaters in May but then earlier this month a surprisingly enthused Harrison Ford told us that George Lucas is "in think mode" on a suitable story for a fifth Indy film. That's not sitting well with everyone; there's a vocal percentage of fans who think the 21st century revisitation of the great screen hero tainted the earlier glory days of the franchise. I have to wonder if director Steven Spielberg, who certainly has plenty of other projects awaiting him, is really in the mood to take on another Indy project after the backlash this time around, which got pretty personal and malicious, especially during a recent "South Park" spoof. Only time will tell ...

To mark the release today of "Crystal Skull," we bring you two fairly rare movie-set images, one old and one new. Above, a photo shot during an early scene in the classic 1981 film that started it all, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." That chap in the tan coat standing between the camera and the "stunt" Indy is Douglas Slocombe, the film's acclaimed director of photography, whose other credits included "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and one of my personal favorites, "The Lion in Winter." Slocombe, the story goes, never used a light meter on the set of "Raiders," preferring to trust his own eye instead. It was a good instinct: The Brit picked up his third Oscar nomination for his work on the action classic.

The photo below is from last year during the making of "Crystal Skull" and shows Ford, enjoying a cool drink and light moment with Spielberg. In the background there, wearing the white shirt and blue jeans, is Janusz Kaminski, the director of photography for "Crystal Skull" and a two-time Oscar winner (he won for Spielberg's two World War II masterpieces, "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List"). Leave it to two cinematographers to know where to stand when a camera catches a bit of history ... 

   

Thanks to John Singh at Lucasfilm for finding these two great images and sharing them with the Hero Complex. Both photos are property of Lucasfilm, all rights reserved, and they are used here with the company's permission. To learn about all the extras included on Paramount Home Entertainment's DVD and Blu-ray of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," check out the official Indiana Jones website.

-- Geoff Boucher

'South Park' whips up on 'Indiana Jones,' George Lucas and Steven Spielberg

Everyone's head is still spinning from "South Park" last night.

If you missed it, basically Trey Parker and Matt Stone are of the opinion that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg raped the once-glorious "Indiana Jones" franchise with the fourth film released this past summer.

So guess how the two gleeful firebrands metaphorically presented that point of view on last night's new episode? Yep, that's right, "South Park" put those two iconic filmmakers and their archaeologist hero into a reenactment of the most disurbing scene from "Deliverance."

Todd Martens at Show Tracker has the ugly details and some screen grabs from the episode. I'm taking the high road but not posting them here (but, obviously, I'm also taking the low road by putting in a link).

-- Geoff Boucher

RELATED

Harrison Ford tells Hero Complex that George Lucas is in "think mode" on a fifth "Indy" film

Harrison Ford says George Lucas in 'think mode' on another 'Indiana Jones' film

Harrison Ford said Friday that momentum is building for a fifth movie in the "Indiana Jones"  franchise and that George Lucas is already cooking up a suitable plot for a heroic senior citizen with a penchant for whips and fedoras.

"It's crazy but great," the 66-year-old Ford said. "George is in think mode right now."

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" grossed $318 million in the U.S. alone and $770 million worldwide and is expected to be powerhouse seller on DVD and Blu-Ray when it arrives in stores Oct. 14. It was a film that many people in Hollywood assumed would never be made considering the difficulty in finding the right time and the right script to reunite Ford, Lucas and franchise director Steven Spielberg after the 1989 hit "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

Now, though, the latest success and the fact that the franchise's old machinery was revived has Ford thinking a fifth movie is not only a viable idea, but an attractive one.

"It's automatic, really, we did well with the last one and with that having done well and been a positive experience, it's not surprising that some people want to do it again," Ford said.

I asked Ford who specifically is stirring up the idea of another revival, whether it was Lucas, Spielberg or the star himself? "Really, it comes from the ethos, from the ether. It's natural. It's a way of nature, of course, success breed opportunities ... also we don't stay as closely in contact as have in the last year, that's part of it." 

George Lucas reduced to a 'wheezy great uncle'?

Patrick Goldstein, the Los Angeles Times columnist and blogger, heard that George Lucas might do another Indiana Jones film and just the notion of that triggered a major rant by the veteran journalist. Patrick has been writing for the Calendar section of The Times since 1979 and it's painfully clear that he has lost a lot of the admiration he once had for the young wizard of the 1970s film scene:

Every time I read a new interview with Lucas, my heart sinks. Once a bold, experimental filmmaker overflowing with great ideas, he's been transformed into your wheezy great uncle, boring you with the same dreary old yarns about his youthful exploits.

He goes on later in the post:

These days Lucas sounds like a museum curator, fussing with dusty memorabilia. It's time he challenged himself. In the interview, he called personal filmmaking an "expensive hobby." I disagree. It's a craft and a rare, wonderful skill. Lucas has always been as much of an inventor as a filmmaker. If he has any inspiration left, he shouldn't waste it on exploiting something old when he could put it to use dreaming up something new.

And that's the friendly part of the blog post, which you can read in its entirety here.

It's easy to understand Goldstein's irritation but I also know there is still a vast audience that adores the universes that Lucas has created. They simply can't get enough. For me, "Star Wars" was a huge moment in my childhood but, like other people my age, I have mixed feelings about the filmmaker ever since, well, those furry Ewoks showed up in "Return of the Jedi."

I'm going to see "The Clone Wars" next week and I'll be blogging about my take on the first animated installment in the theatrical "Star Wars" saga. I myself would rather Lucas pick up the story after the death of Darth Vader, but he's made it pretty clear that he won't be doing that. You can find my interview with the filmmaker on that topic right here.

And what about another Indy film?