Indiana Jones

I loved it.

It was campy throughout … playing itself, if you will … with great music, photography, all the cliff-hanging (literally) suspense one has come to expect from Indiana Jones.

Paramount pulled off a difficult feat – playing to the older audience who loves Harrison Ford, playing him as it should be – an aging professor, still capable of heroic exploits, but a little older. As he’s looking at pictures on his desk of his father and a friend no longer with him, a fellow-faculty member says, “We’re at that point in time when life no longer gives us things, but takes them away.”

I wish I had said that.

But to play to a younger audience, Paramount teamed a young Mutt Williams (Shia LeBeouf) – you will find out who he really is – who’s a promise for another film. It’s a nice balance, and throw in Karen Allen who plays Marion Ravenwood, an old love interest, adding an interesting twist.

The bad guy, uh, girl (Cate Blanchett), is deliciously and mystically bad … the Russian soldiers are all wonderfully malevolent – a little political commentary on the crazy McCarthy era and the so-called “Red Scare” – then greed, double-crossing friends, combined with Area 51 aliens who visited South America 5 millennia ago – and, of course, the fedora and the bull whip - all the ingredients of a rip-roaring plot and delightfully entertaining film.

Great music, terrific special effects – a finely-tuned script well balanced between thoughtful commentary on aging and family and the comedic.

Great effort – thankfully, Paramount didn’t try to duplicate previous efforts, but building on the theme and feel, created a stand-alone feature.

By the way, in a large warehouse, following a car crash, you catch a brief glimpse of something hidden away a long time ago. Enough said? Enough said.

Go see it – you’ll love it!

Iron Man

Awesome!

Great music ... seamless special effects ... great acting ... and Robert Downey is perfect. As one commentator put it, a Johnny Depp irony ... although Downey has always had his own ironic style ... giving a stellar performance in this film.

Not to mention Jeff Bridges as the bad guy (surprise!) ... and Gwyneth Paltrow as the faithful assistant ... sort of a souped up Miss Moneypenny (James Bond).

A complicated story successfully told - the origin of Iron Man ... another Marvel comic character brought to the screen, with just the right touches of humor - watch for the robot extinguishing a fire ... and if you see it, stay through the credits ... stay all the way, until the screen goes dark ... sit tight and wait.

It was fun to see the crowds standing in line for this Paramount film ... the most exciting film of the year thus far, a year with too many disappointments, too many so-so films.

The film engages in some political commentary without being overbearing about the armament industry ... there are no easy answers, but a man of conscience can make a difference. Perhaps more to the point, there are those who will resist and seek to kill those who raise the hard questions of morality and legacy.

Enjoy the film, and remember ... stay past the credits.