So this will be my first thanksgiving stateside and therefore my first thanksgiving evarrr! Last year I was back in the UK for a bit so missed out on turkeys and such and most likely spent the day at Chiquitos asking Gibbo if he preffered the waitress over Tina (waitress!)

Although my schedule isn't going to be any different today I've tried to explain to a few people some of the holidays we have in England rather than thanksgiving, namely Bonfire Night. I could've explained it a little better- a day when we make a little man out of straw and burn him on a fire does sound sort of unbelieveable and similar to something straight out of The Wicker Man (which is even more like Eyam where they now burn a giant wooden rat). Remember remember the 5th of November and all that jazz.

Even though I don't quite know the tradition of thanksgiving I get to relax and have some lazy time off work which is pretty sweet considering I have to be up at 3am for work tomorrow. (I see no point in sleeping to be honest) Heck I didn't even know a 3am existed!

Speaking of new experiences I got to try a place called Cici's pizza with Vince and Raquel which people say is delicious. Now don't get me wrong, I like pizza but not in that quantity- it's the same premise as the pizza hut buffet in which you have your third slice and you feel terribly sick. It was at this point they tried to feed me macaroni and cheese pizza which didn't sit well with me and I didn't even eat it!

All turned out alright though, I didn't hurl and we got to meet up with the very loverly Alex at city walk to see Bond (although I swear the last time I saw that movie I saw Daniel Craig's arse... Where did it go?)

At any rate, wish me luck for tomorrow. I'll snap piccies.

Cheers!

No, I have no pictures of my laundry room, no amusing pictures of chocolate bars or anything similar to my previous high caliber posts I love to rant on about. Instead it's going to be mostly all talk.

With no work today and nothing big to be working on for University I'm deciding to take the time in writing a new entry- inspired partially by a 10am showing of 'Shaun of the Dead' on Comedy Central. Naturally that film is hiiiiiilarious as ever but why bother showing it that early on in the day? For a film that contains an incredible amount of gore and profanity it doesn't quite have the same effect edited... intact I don't recall seeing a single zombie. (exageration for dramatic purposes)

Its 3am in the funking morning, funking Sunday and I have to be at funking work in 3 funking hours!

However it did make me want a Cornetto!

Sticking with the same subject of tv I keep seeing adverts for High School Music 3 and they drive me insane- I could be watching period dramas then it suddenly breaks to an all dining and all dancing trailers

I recall very little singing and dancing at Tapton, very little.

The soundtrack page on iTunes scares me also. Can I not escape it? I bet Adam and Aaron are watching it as I type- their mouths quietly singing along to the same repetitive music whilst I sit here listening to Bob Marley.

Dont worry about a thing 'cause every little thing is gonna be alright

Despite not being back on my gold account I took the opportunity to download the new 360 update and create my avatar. Little Davie loves to play Sonic the hedgehog 2!

Ever since deciding to upgrade my Go Phone to my new iPhone (aptly named Deckard for geek reference) I've been waiting for a LiveJournal application so I can post no matter where I am. Alas! LiveJournal.app made it's wonderful return so now I can type with my mini keyboard no matter where I am. You lucky buggers!

I've even included a picture (despite it not being the format I would have liked) so if you do have the iPhone I highly reccommend it!

It's been a long time since I've had the chance to post but seeing as I started working on my final year of University stuff earlier this month I find it only fitting to start again (look at it as my return from summer break)

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

I’m not very good at writing review like material or essays or stuff like that and I’m sure Miss Cripps or Mrs Stevens could vouch for that back in secondary school however I’d like to write an honest review of the newest Indiana Jones movie.  Of the reviews I had glanced at before seeing the movie itself they seemed to be sitting on the edge; however none of the reviews said Crystal Skull was a bad movie- they only seemed to emphasise that it wasn’t quite the same feel as what it used to be and they’re true to some extent when they say that

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull has more of a comic book feel to it that is aptly suited to the late 50’s theme which was the era of modern media as well as an important decade for science fiction. We can all associate those giant ants, bugs and cheesy alien movies with the ‘American Graffiti’ greaser and milkshake diner lifestyle. Indy makes full use of this with its alien and Roswell storyline which is certainly familiar to Steven Spielberg and George Lucas (Spielberg doing such films and TV Shows suchas AI, Close Encounters, E.T., Taken and George being famous for the Star Wars movies) however for Indy this isn’t particularly a stretch too far as he has had to take on the occult in Temple, the divine in Crusade and the religious in Raiders (I mean... people got their faces melted off!)

Although we have seen Indy take on these unnatural powers in the past we’ve never seen him take on a modern society and it felt kind of weird. There was one particular shot where Jones was stood inside a perfect 50’s style house with bright coloured walls, really green grass, white fences and it didn’t seem right. I felt confused ever so slightly uncomfortable inside- a similar feeling I imagine I would get if I saw him in my kitchen trying to operate my toastie machine. I also couldn’t help noticing him wearing a really bright white casual t-shirt during one scene and it was the only moment in the quadrilogy I thought to myself ‘this is Harrison Ford, not Indiana Jones’.

Besides these two scenes there was nothing else that felt awkward about the time frame of the movie and as soon as I saw the diner brawl between the ‘greasers’ and the ‘preppy’ kids I felt a real rush as I knew I was watching something only Lucas and Spielberg could pull off. 

Despite critics claiming that Harrison is growing old (and there is no doubt he is) we all know he is an amazing actor and there was no fearing that he wouldn’t be able to pull off what he had 19 years ago- the puns and quips about his age they threw in were light hearted and nothing cheesy nor obvious however as his age sinks in we can understand if he’s not up for dragging himself under trucks or leaping from tanks. Sadly this took some of his limelight away and made him feel like the sidekick very briefly during some action sequences, a sort of role reversal to what we’re used to in Last Crusade with Sean Connery.

Raiders and Last Crusade are the better films of the original trilogy as they focus heavily on character development. In Raiders we’re introduced to the character and the story really focussed on something as simple as a box that kept changing hands- Last Crusade we got to see the father-son relationship between Indy and Henry Sr that lets us look deeper into the characters we have now grown to love. Temple on the other hand is Indy at his day job which is why I enjoy it just as much as the others, it shows him as an Archaeologist and an Adventurer with all sorts of action packed thrills and chases (and I get quite peeved when people say ‘it’s the worst one’). Crystal Skull is like Temple in the fact that is less focussed on character development (even less so than Temple of Doom) and more into moving the plot along. As a result it suffers in a lack of romantic interest between the Indy and Marion, not much of a connection between Indy and Mutt and not even any great detail of comradeship/betrayal between himself and Ray Winestone’s character. Cate Blanchett did shine however as the villainess ‘Spalko’ and I definitely think she’s up there with Belloq, Donovan and even that sly old Mola Ram!.

Whatever happened to that same suspense I still get when I watch Indy switch his bag of sand with that golden idol in Raiders? The film was in such a rush to move along that we didn’t get to experience the same development that separates the Indiana Jones films from other blockbuster mimics such as National Treasure. Indy just didn’t see as bothered about the crystal skull as he did with previous relics and usually saving the ones he loves means giving up fortune and glory but in this film it didn’t seem to have that same motivation.

My review may seem very critical but I promise I’m not trying to be. There is no doubt in my mind that I will see this movie again and again because I enjoyed it terribly. I know I’ll see it again at the cinema and I know I’ll be watching it in many years when I’m in one of my Indiana Jones moods (I can’t count the number of times I’ve watched the original movies on a whim). Although it may seem that I’ve listed some low points of the movie in this review I haven’t- I’ve only listed what’s different 19 years on. As a fan I felt such euphoria during the opening of the film, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen or how it was all going to turn out but as soon as those familiar notes began to play (kudos to John Williams) and the iconic silhouette appeared of the man with the hat I knew I was watching the same old.

The wonderful thing about George Lucas and Steven Spielberg is that they’ve not just managed to create 4 classic movies but they’ve managed to create this 1 wonderful character that everyone and anyone can recognise. This is not just another Indiana Jones movie but another one of Indiana Jones’s adventures. I have watched Jones grow up in his tv show, I have watched Indiana Jones knack off with all kinds of women whilst fighting Nazis and now I’ve seen a grey haired Indiana Jones continue to journey on- I think it’s fantastic. If this was a Batman or Bond movie we’d simply get a new actor and a new storyline every year or so. I’m glad that Indy’s story goes on and when he says he met Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution I’m glad I can say that indeed he did and that I got to see him one fine Sunday on BBC2 back in secondary school. As long as Harrison keeps wearing that hat I know I’ll keep watching  and as long as I keep watching I know that they’ll always be my favourite movies.