Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark. I even thought Temple of Doom was pretty good. The Last Crusade was closer to the caliber of Raiders, and will always be one of my favorite movies. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...well, it was kinda pretty good.

Now, I'm not trying to be harsh. It wasn't a terrible movie, and I may even watch it again one day. But, it's not up to Raiders standards.

I will admit it was kind of nice to see Harrison Ford back in the fedora. Yeah, he's getting a bit old for this stuff, but the nostalgia factor was in full force with this movie. And connecting it around to the first one by having Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) come back into his life was a great step as well.

Another great choice was Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams. My husband and I have been watching him since the days of Even Stevens. He's a good actor with great comedic timing, and his talents are not wasted here. There are rumors that they plan on continuing the Indy franchise with him taking over the lead role, a rumor Steven Spielberg flatly denies. I think it would work, as Shia has shown he can handle action movies with no problem what-so-ever, but I really hope they don't do that. This movie should be it since loose ends have been well wrapped up.

As movies go, I've seen better, but if you're an Indy fan, you have to see it.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse

This movie may have come out in 1948, but it is still so very relevant today. (Anyone who has ever gone through the pains of renovating or building a home can attest to that.) After all these years, this movie is still delightfully fun.

Cary Grant is, to me, one of the greatest actors of all time...especially when it comes to comedy. He is such the straight-man, struggling to deal with the "crazies" around him. In this movie, those crazies are his kids, his maid, his wife, his best friend and the myriad of workmen who come together to build...well, his dream house. Myrna Loy, another favorite of mine from The Thin Man movies, plays Blandings' wife, and as usual, she is clever as heck. Melvyn Douglas plays the ever-suffering best friend and adds a bit of narration. They all come together to make a delightfully funny movie. Add in the "subplot" about the ad campaign for Wham (a "canned pork product" which I assume is loosely based on Spam) and you cannot watch this movie without laughing.

I am not a fan of "bathroom" humor, and toady's movies seem to be filled with those types of jokes. It's nice to be able to grab a classic like this and laugh without being embarrassed.

Good Night, and Good Luck

I had such high hopes for this one. I'm not a huge George Clooney fan, but I like him well enough. And David Strathairn, who plays Edward R. Murrow, is a wonderful actor. As a person who thinks censorship and the like is basically a mortal sin, I feel Joseph McCarthy is one of the most despicable human beings to ever walk the Earth. So, I was looking forward to this movie; a look at how Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly brought down the fear monger that was McCarthy.

OK, I knew it wasn't going to be an action flick. I guess you could say it's more of a docudrama maybe. But, did it have to be so boring?!?! I just could not get into this movie. It was slow, dull and disappointing.

Maybe I'll try this one again later. I've picked up novels that I couldn't get through at first, then tried again later on and really liked them. So, I've made a deal with myself to give this one another try in a few months. Who knows....