Running commentaries that you listen to while you watch the movie.

Articles tagged ‘Indiana.Jones’

Commentary: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

2011.Apr.18 | by in Entertainment | , , | 0 comments

Indy’s back for the third and final time! (Unless you count the fourth film.) Join me as I examine the way the third film returns to familiar territory in welcome ways… and then kind of wears out its welcome by the end. I explore the father-son theme, the shift from Jewish to Indian to Christian to, um, alien religion and the way the tone has shifted from a little too dark to a little too light. Overall, I love the film, tho, and never take to bashing it.

IJ Last Crusade commentary [ 2:05:35 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (607)

Commentary: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

2010.Jan.16 | by in Entertainment | , , | 0 comments

Indy is back… uhh… pre-back… back earlier… whatever—in a prequel adventure set one year earlier in Asia, land of mystery and peril! (Before it became the land of cheap toys and tech support.) I compare it to the first and third movies and try to ignore the fourth. I discuss my surprising affection for both Short Round and Willie. I marvel at Lucas and Spielberg’s ability to get child torture into a teen adventure film. (The secret: have a child do the torturing!)

I deconstruct the episodic nature of the film and reveal the dullness of the middle part where they’re just trudging thru jungle, playing cards, and getting slightly scared by animals. I discuss the problem of stacking all the action at the end, which of course is related. And I point out which characters are actually of no real value.

Temple of Doom commentary [ 1:57:57 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (414)

Commentary: Raiders of the Lost Ark

2008.Sep.1 | by in Entertainment | , , | 0 comments

Harrison Ford breathes life into another icon when he picks up the whip and fedora offered by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Lawrence Kasdan. I talk about the film’s origins and episodic nature, call it “nearly perfect,” and point out its various imperfections. I ponder the nature of the triple villain and the character arc that Indy travels. I compare it to romantic comedies and serials of the 1930s and ’40s, and to the other Indiana Jones films. I say 1935 a couple of times when I mean 1936. I say Martin Scorsese directed Tucker when I mean Francis Ford Coppola. And I squeeze in a reference to Yakima Canutt.

s i d e b a r