Swinging in at #1...

Ok, it's no surprize that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came in at #1 this weekend. The movie ended up taking in over $311 million worldwide, giving it the second biggest Memorial Day opening box office ever (with #1 being held by the 3rd Pirates of the Carribean movie.) It also raked in enough to come in #5 in the list of the biggest 5-day weekend draws.

The major question, of course, is how the movie will do next weekend. Though there aren't any real blockbusters coming up at the end of May, the widely mixed reviews that the latest Indiana Jones movie has been getting might cut severely into it's second-week draw. Folks seeking action might migrate to the thriller The Strangers, while others may choose the Sex and the City movie instead of Indy. You can still expect them to be making money by the bucketful, but there's a decent chance that there may not be as many buckets as the filmmakers originally were anticipating.

The other big sequel so far this summer, Prince Caspian, did well over the Memorial Day weekend and pulled in at #2. Iron Man, the first blockbuster of the summer, held strong at #3 and looks to be making its presence known in the top 10 for a least a few more weeks.

He's back...

So Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is now playing. Some are reporting it to be the most amazing movie ever, based primarily on the fact that it's an Indiana Jones movie. Others are reporting it as being ridiculous in places, having an uninspired score, using unneeded CGI too often, etc. I haven't seen it yet, though I definitely plan to... I just don't really think that it's going to be as good as the films that came before. Hopefully, I'll be proven wrong. *smiles*

In other film news, veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss is going to be playing Dick Cheney in the Oliver Stone-directed film W. The film, as you might imagine, follows the rise to the White House of George W. Bush, though given Stone's political views and open criticisms of Bush it remains to be seen exactly how much of a liberal skew the movie is going to have.

Indiana Jones and the OH GOD WHY?!?

Seems that the Hollywood trend of making everything into a never-ending series has potentially claimed another casualty. According to George Lucas, he and Steven Spielberg have "left the door open" for a 5th Indiana Jones movie if Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull does well. For those who aren't keeping track, the new Indy flick is one of the 3 "must see" movies of the summer... anticipation is as high if not higher for it than Iron Man or The Dark Knight.

"But wasn't the new movie supposed to be the last one? " you might ask. "Isn't Harrison Ford getting a bit too old to believably continue to play Indiana Jones? " you might ask. Never fear, there's a plan in place... seems that Indiana Jones won't actually be the star of the movie after all. Instead, you'll be able to follow the adventures of Mutt Williams, Shia Labeouf's character in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Don't worry, though... Ford will have a cameo as Indy.

Normally I try to maintain a "wait and see" perspective when it comes to movies, but this possibility really gets under my skin. Spielberg seems to have an obsession with Shia Labeouf, and if the whole point of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is just to set up Shia with another starring franchise (to go along with Transformers) then I've pretty much lost all faith in the director who used to be Steven Spielberg.

Now I'm just waiting for ET2, starring Shia LaBeouf as ET's new best friend.

Friday rolls 'round again...

Well, it's Friday... and that means new movies. The 3rd blockbuster of the summer season hit theatres today, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I haven't had a chance to see it yet, but I've been hearing generally positive reviews of it thus far. A lot of people seem to be quite surprised at how well the adaptation went, as they're saying they like the movie but hated the book (or at the very least, it was their least favorite of the Narnia series.) Though there seems to be a trailer at the beginning for something called "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" or something like that... at least one theatre apparently greeted that trailer with boos from the audience.

Next week, of course, is the movie that a lot of folks have been waiting for... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I'm excited about it, but I'm trying not to get TOO excited lest I be disappointed with the final result. Given his recent Shia Lebeauf obsession, I'm not entirely convinced that Spielberg didn't just create Shia's character as a way to get him in the movie. The part of me that loved Indy in the 80's wants it to be amazing, but the part of me that weeps when I think of the Spielberg-produced Shia-starrer Transformers: A Michael Bay Film is worried that it's going to disappoint a lot of people.

Ah, well. I've already seen Iron Man, so my summer's set.

After Indy, there's still a number of movies you might want to check out this summer: Postal (yes, it's a Uwe Boll film, but I know a lot of folks are actually curious about it), War Inc., Sex and the City, Kung Fu Panda, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, The Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, The Love Guru, WALL-E, Wanted, Hancock, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, The Dark Knight, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor... and a lot more movies between now and the end of August that I just didn't have time to write out.