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What do film critics know? My take on Indiana Jones
(June 16, 2008) -- George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have never disappointed me. I even enjoyed Lucas' so-called dud, Howard the Duck (as executive producer in 1986) and Spielberg's supposedly big-screen disappointment, 1941 (as director in 1979). I thought both films were imaginative and hilarious.
So, despite the usual pre-release rhetoric from some newspaper and magazine film critics, it does not surprise me in the least that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had a domestic gross of over $250 million after three weeks on the silver screen. I suppose Indy fans know best -- which makes me wonder why newspapers and magazines need film critics who pan most blockbuster movies and alienate the readership.
I read one newspaper piece in which the "critic" wrote that the latest in the adventure sagas was the worst in the four-film series.
Tsk. Tsk.
Although I rate Raiders of the Lost Ark as the best of the four, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would be No. 2, followed by The Last Crusade and then The Temple of Doom -- the latter being a darker and moodier Indiana Jones film.
Personally, I think film critics do a disservice to the millions of readers who become theater-goers because they want to be entertained -- and not buried in some actionless, yet brutal, and boring plotline, such as There Will Be Blood, an Academy Awards nomination for best picture and a best actor Oscar nod for Daniel Day-Lewis. Most critics, of course, loved it. If I had had a vote, I would've voted for Matt Damon and The Bourne Ultimatum in both categories. But, I didn't have a vote.
Getting back to Lucas and Spielberg ... I rate them alongside my favorite director, Stanley Kubrick, who passed away in March 1999. When I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey in a Pittsburg, Pa., wide-screen theater in 1968, I was hooked on Kubrick's story-telling. Thanks to Betamax, I went back and watched his pre-Odyssey films -- Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita and Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
I was astounded by A Clockwork Orange and The Shining; loved the period piece, though long and drawn out, Barry Lyndon; and had nightmares for years afterwards after viewing Full Metal Jacket, which took me back to my basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina and brought to vivid life what my U.S. Army friends had described to me. As for Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick's last film), I'm one of the few who understood the torment felt by Tom Cruise's character.
Lucas can stand tall for his Star Wars films, but don't forget his involvement in THX 1138, American Graffiti and Willow. (I admit that I have not seen Tucker: The Man and His Dream.)
Spielberg's name will always be etched in moviedom. In my book, The Minority Report is No. 1, followed by Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, War of the Worlds, Empire of the Sun, E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial and Jaws. I enjoyed the CGI wonders of Jurassic Park and the comedic seriousness in The Terminal; and, though underestandably long, I followed along faithfully in AI, the film Kubrick wanted to make before his untimely death and the film, I feel, Spielberg did as a tribute to Kubrick. (I admit that I have not seen Schindler's List, Amistad, Hook or Munich.
I'm not going to omit The Color Purple from my Spielberg list. I just saved it for last. Filmed mostly in Anson County, A Color Purplewould rank among my Top Five Spielberg films.
Kubrick, Lucas and Spielberg. What would movie-watching be without them.
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