RoneBreak Contributor: pnaglee

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On DVD and Blu-Ray Tomorrow: Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull

I will first say that I am a huge Indiana Jones fan. I am also a huge movie fan. I’ve seen a great deal of good and bad films to know the difference between the two. When Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was announced, I was one of the first ones to know about it. This movie has been in “development hell” for 15 years off and on. The basic drafts of the stories were there, however Lucas and Spielberg could not agree on a script until David Koepp finally wrote the one they wanted. Harrison Ford said for years that of all the characters he has played, he would love an opportunity to revisit this one, but he wouldn’t do it unless they all agreed on a script and they began production by 2008.

The reason that all this matters is because Hollywood goes through cycles and this was not part of that Hollywood bandwagon. The bandwagon is apparent with movies like Rocky Balboa, Rambo 4, and Die Hard 4. These movies were not “in the making” for 15 years, and it is obvious by watching them. There are a few things to take into consideration when watching this movie.

Many people grew up watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and the Last Crusade. These movies all came out in the 80’s; 1981, 1984, and 1989 respectively. These movies, like many others were not rated by you at the time watching them, because you grew up with them. When you were younger you looked at them the way they were supposed to be looked at: a good time and an escape from reality. These movies also changed/invented the adventure genre as we know it. I have heard many critics of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull question the movie by calling it unrealistic and too far fetched.

My answer to that is as follows: Read more

Burn After Reading (2008)

The dark humor of the Coen Brothers is back. After finding moderate success with Blood Simple and Raising Arizona, then mainstream success with Fargo and O’ Brother Where Art Thou?, the Coen Brothers know how to make good movies. They have had a miss-step here and there along the way, i.e. The LadyKillers and The Man Who Wasn’t There, but continue to impress after last year’s excellent No County For Old Men with their latest, Burn After Reading.

This is a very interesting film. Like Fargo, it is hard to classify this one. It’s not really a drama, not really a dark comedy all the way through. I’d say it’s a mixture of both, and very entertaining to watch.

This film follows the story of 6 main different characters, all involved and intertwined within each others life, however none really knowing exactly how. Since this story is so convoluted, a brief synopsis will suffice to prevent any major spoilers: A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent(John Malkovich) ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees(Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt) who attempt to sell it. Read more

A Look at October: Upcoming Releases and Thoughts

Oscar season is upon us.  What does that mean?  It means that studios have been saving the best for the last quarter of the year, as prime voting and consideration for Academy Awards is thrust upon us.  This means great box office numbers and generally leads to great movies.  October is really the first month of this, and November and December will bring in more contenders for the coveted awards.  This month we’ve got some films that look promising, especially one…. Read more

Miracle At St. Anna

This movie should have been named Lost in Translation. Ahh Spike…What have you done? First you blast Clint Eastwood for not having enough black actors in Flags of Our Fathers or Letters From Iwo Jima to promote your film, then you release this. This film is a mess. It starts out very strongly, then jumps from here to there with way too many different then hard-to-follow story lines. His overall intention is good, and should be praised for that. The scope of the movie is grand and there is an important tribute and story to tell here, but not this way. Really, Spike you should fire your editor. At 2 hours and 40 minutes, this film is unnecessarily long and rambles in so many parts, it really gets hard to follow. Read more