Hey guys! I know I’ve been quieter this summer, and I want to say I’ve been busy launching my own business or writing a full-length novel, but that would be inaccurate, I fear. This summer has been my movie-buff arc. That’s right: I’ve been catching up on all the movies in my life that people have recommended to me and I put off because… well, college or the lack of access to them. Now with streaming being the norm and no longer having the demand of school sucking my time and soul away, I can “rent” a movie to stream on youtube for three bucks and boom! Movie watched. Also I have one of those phone bundles that gives me access to Disney+ so that’s cool.
ANYWAYS, that’s the context for what I’m about to cover next. I’ve never seen the Indiana Jones movies. Not once. And I set out to fix that. So, here are a few scattered thoughts and ratings I have regarding this legendary set of films.
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark: 8/10
This was a delightful romp. It was also neat to see the many gags and bits that have become classic clichés in media due to this film, complete with the classic idol and bag of sand swap, the rolling ball of doom, and much, much more. Also the dude’s face melting off at the end had me in stitches. I don’t know what it was about it but it amused me to no end. My biggest qualm with this film, and most of them, really, was the irritating presence of the female leads. I get it, they’re classic damsels, but DANG I did get sick of the constant “INDYYYYYY” screech that especially plagues these first two films of the trilogy. A small gripe here though I cannot say the same for the second film.
2. The Temple of Doom: 2/10
Wow, did I want to like this film more than I actually did. But I didn’t. Shortround was really carrying here was Willie was probably my least favorite character in this entire set of movies. At first, I thought I might get some relief as Marian unfortunately grated on my last nerve but Willie showed me how much I should have been thankful for when it came to the female lead in the first film. And then there was the Cult stuff…
The charm that seemed to exist in the first film seemed to be replaced in Temple of Doom with an intense feeling of dragging and dread. I felt that far too much time was spent on the weird heart-ripping ritual and the sending of poor sods into the lava pit. There seemed to be a lot of aimless running around, random hypnotism, and drinking and eating nasty-looking liquids, whether it was from a human skull or a gorilla head. The highlight of this film was the mine cart chase. That’s it. That’s where one of the points that this film earned came from. Shortround was the other point. Overall, I have no desire to see this film again.
3. The Last Crusade: 9/10
I sharp rebound here. The Last Crusade was my favorite of the three. The female lead, while not being someone I was attached to, served a purpose and shrieked less by quite a considerable margin when compared to the likes of Marian and Willie. And look! We’re back to outsmarting Nazis! Thank goodness! I really do feel like this is where Indiana Jones is at its best.
Another point for the Knight who has stayed alive for hundreds of years just to give cryptic hints as to what Grail one should and shouldn’t choose. His presence was an overall positive. Indy’s Dad was also a fun addition, not only adding stakes for our main character but being a FOIL as well. Indiana, I was surprised to find, doesn’t do a lot of developing in these films. In fact, when thinking about it, he lacks much personality at all; however, what little I can recall of it can be sourced from this movie. I love the reveal of him stealing the Dog’s name for his own, as it gives us the impression that Indy is a dramatic History buff who wants to escape his father’s shadow. It could be argued that Indy doesn’t HAVE to have a deep dive on his character motivations and growth and such, and I would agree, as that is far from the purpose of these films. Little hints like this are still welcome in my opinion.
So there you have it! A brief but accurate synopsis of my thoughts on this classic trilogy. I wish I had more in-depth thoughts to share, but alas, I do not have much else to add except for the fact that I can see why these films became the iconic movies that they are viewed as now.
Aaaaah yes. Spring time! The time of new life, rejuvenation, aaaaaand FINALS. If you listen closely you can hear the college students screaming in the far distance. Lend them an ear and prayer if you don’t mind. We all need it at this point in the semester.
But, I am choosing to take a break from studying to announce the exciting news that I have been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award thanks to the lovely and brilliant Natalie over on The Texas Lass. She’s probably one of my longest running blog buddies so please check out her corner of the internet and maybe, I don’t know… HER NEWLY RELEASED BOOK Reciprocity!! Get it before it FLIES off the shelves and becomes an exclusive collectors item that is a remnant of writerly genius! Or something like that…ahem.
Getting back to the award! We must instill some rules here because the Wild West this blog is not.
The Rules:
Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
Thank the person who nominated you.
Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
Answer your nominator’s questions.
Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
Ask your nominees 11 questions.
Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.
Boom. First rule done. Gorgeous Award Banner displayed in all its glory.
As for rule #5, I’ve been sort of been MIA so many of my blogging friends are on hiatus so I shall see how many nominees I can manage. I promise I shall give it all and do my very best to find fitting award bearers. Now onto the fun part- the questions!
1. You’re stuck on a desert island with the main character of the last movie you watched. Are you two escaping, or inevitably getting eaten by crabs?
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was indeed the last full film I watched. And here is where we have to ask the complicated question of who the main character is. The story is pretty well divided between Aragorn and Frodo. One companion will almost certainly led to the death of us both via crabs and the other a much more suitable survival companion. Though it is probably safe to say that neither character would be too excited to be stuck with the likes of me in a ANY survival scenario. My body is built for fragility, pining, and writing snarky things about the world around me.
2. What was your main reason for starting a blog?
I’m not entirely sure. A mixture of things I think. The want to experiment with web design and produce something cool and pretty. Also wanting to foster a writing community. And, as Breanna Mentioned over on A Christian Kid’s Journal, just a dash of pride. All together and nice little cocktail of motivation.
3. What book absolutely deserves to be made into a movie?
The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas. Given that they wouldn’t be butchered.
These books really do have it all. Dragons. Magic Rocks. Wizards. Witches. More Magic Rocks. (They’re shiny too!!).
Another solid contender is The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carmen. A staple of my childhood as it involved talking animals and… *GASP* magic rocks!!!
Please don’t laugh. These books were 99% of my personality in middle school. Needless to say, I wasn’t the *most* popular at the time.
4. What movie will you always rewatch?
I am a rewatch queen. I’m a girl of comfort foods and comfort movies. I go through phases where I just want to rewatch one thing and that’s what I’m thinking of and watching every night for about a week. Popular picks of mine include Lord of the Rings (The Hobbit movies included. You have to start from the beginning, you heathen), Star Wars (Prequels included but Disney Sequels secluded. They don’t exist in my mind. There are no Disney Sequels on this blog), The Chronicles of Narnia, The How to train your Dragon movies, The Kung-fu Panda movies (The fourth excluded here), aaaand I could keep going. But those are the first ones that popped into my head so they must be important to me. nd yes, before you ask, I do the same thing with shows too (What’s better than binge watching Hogan’s Heroes and Rawhide when you’re sick?).
5. Do you wear socks with sandals? If so, what is wrong with you?
No…but maybe yes.
Not OUT of course. Socks and Scandals is a fashion crime punishable by 50 years in fashion Azkaban. But for 30 seconds when I need to go out and grab groceries and I have some snuggly lil socks on…. I’m not going to go to all the trouble to peel them off just for my pride, okay?
6. You can go back in time for fifteen minutes. Where are you going and why?
This is entirely a cliché but I’d go back and see my past self and tell her things were going to be alright. Specifically me from about a year and a half ago. That’s when I first made the big move to move out of my parents house and my situation was…let’s just say less than ideal. People from all parts of my life said it was going to be “alright”, but I think there was a part of me that was like, “Okay. But what if its not. What if I’m that 1/100 chance where everything just goes wrong.”
I often live with the fear that I am the outlier but in a bad way. Things work out for most people. Tragedies don’t seem to happen to most people. But what if I am not most people?
I think if I saw myself in one piece and happy, I would finally believe it.
7. Do you like to write while listening to music/ambience, or in blessed silence?
Ambience is all my little stressed brain can handle. Lyrics beg me to sing along and then all focus is lost. Rain sounds are fantastic but some good old tavern ambience never hurt anyone. I have a whole study playlist of soundtracks too that also work marvelously for me when writing.
ALSO. Video game Soundtracks.
Perfectly tailored to promote focus and mimic ambience all the same time.
8. If you could wish for any one thing and have it come true, what would it be?
Probably to be able to write for my career. Not just any writing though- DRIVEL. I want to be able to write self-indulgent drivel and somehow get paid for it. Tech writing would contribute too much to the world I’m afraid. I want to get paid for my Avatar the Last Airbender and DnD self insert fanfiction. Any takers?
9. Have you gotten into any new fandoms lately? What are they?
I do wish but alas, I haven’t had much time as of late to get invested in any media that requires me to sit for long periods of time. Between work and school, I am reduced to a brain dead zombie that only wants to scroll through Pinterest at the end of the day before crashing and sleeping for a less then the recommended amount of sleep a human should get. I love being an undergraduate.
10. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
I am always tired no matter the time of day.
This is the unfortunate truth of my college life currently but I do think that will change. My prime functioning hours are 9-5pm but I do love having the evening time to myself. That is MY time and no one can take it away from me. Except for maybe my night time job schedule. *goes to weep in the corner with my coffee*
11. Do you prefer animated or live-action films and shows?
Animated. Hands down. I just love the crazy sort of range of emotions you can portray in the animated medium that doesn’t look at all right in live action but then look too bland if you dumb it down (see disney remakes here.).
Then there’s the charm factor. There’s something inherently endearing about animation that transcends age and culture. Whether it’s the whimsical antics of Looney Tunes or the heartfelt journeys of Studio Ghibli, animated characters have a way of worming their way into our hearts and staying there long after the credits roll. Plus, who can resist the allure of a good old-fashioned dance number performed by a troupe of singing penguins?
And last but not least, let’s talk about nostalgia. For many of us, animation is more than just a form of entertainment; it’s a portal to our childhoods, a time when the world was full of wonder and anything seemed possible. Whether it’s revisiting the classics (The Incredibles? Ratatouille??? Cars 2????? Need I go on???) or discovering new favorites, animation has a way of transporting us back to simpler times, if only for a little while. Heck, sometimes I don’t even have to see the animation to feel the nostalgia punch- all it takes is the enormous, vibrating hum of the THX Logo as it blows the speakers out of any poor, unsuspecting television (Then comes the age old scramble to find the remote. Ah. The good ol days, amiright?).
Gosh, are we done already? Time for the nominees! I think I shall nominate a few blogs I follow regardless of whether or not they are aware of my existence. So, I nominate
Hey there! Aaaaand we’re still snowed in. But, on the bright side, that leaves me more time for blogging and writing and such. So here’s a little post about my favorite movies. It’s short and sweet because I limited myself to five movies (otherwise we’d probably be here for ages).
Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
This one takes the #1 spot being my entire childhood. The only thing I love more than Lord of the Rings & Tolkien quotes is Narnia & C.S. Lewis quotes. In summary, these two authors made my childhood as did the director of this movie. Though I must clarify, the disney version. There is a British version floating around out there with a…. smaller budget resulting in a slightly… different cinematic experience.
To summarize, this Disney Movie is my most favorite move. I love everything about it. Everyone felt perfectly cast, the music in phenomenal, the animal characters are loveable, Aslan is grand, and the redemptive story of Edmund holds so much weight.
A solid 10/10 movie. I still want to be Lucy when I grow up.
2. The Lord of the Rings Movies
And here is where I sing the Praises of Peter Jackson. He did what seemed impossible- condensed down the enormous works of Tolkien into three wonderful movies that tell a cohesive and developed story that I find myself continually coming back to.
I sort of cheated here as these are technically three movies but I couldn’t pick a favorite among them as they tell one continuous story and each one is masterfully done and has its own strengths in their own rights.
These movies probably have my favorite soundtrack ever, my favorite fight sequences, and some of my favorite characters. My only complaints are Frodo’s character felt a bit off compared to the book and the Frodo and Sam parts sometimes felt like they slogged on too long (or perhaps that was the intention as we were supposed to feel the weight of their looooong journey with them?).
Overall a 9.8457/10.
3. Aladdin
The best disney princess movie that is not actually about the disney princess. Not really. Robin Williams is perfectly cast, the song “A Whole New World” is iconic and probably will be for a very, very long time and rightly so.
9.7/10
4. Star Wars: The Original Trilogy
Yeah, I’m going to cheat again. This is technically three movies but again, just like with Star Wars, its hard to pick a favorite out of these movies (though if you forced me, I’d probably have to say “The Empire Strikes” back but I could easily change my mind at any time. The ranking is that close).
Another iconic and phenomenal soundtrack. Lovably corny CGI effects and all, I love this movie. The writing is amazing and the story so full of hope. I know its simple in structure. A typical good vs. evil struggle but when you pair that with the sci-fi elements that, until that point, had never really been implemented on a big screen (with some exceptions with Star Trek but that was a show and was so stylistically and tonally different, I don’t really see them as that similar).
I grew up watching these which unfortunately led me to having a really high bar as to the level of writing I accept in my Star Wars films so I’m not a huge Disnified Star Wars fan. But, regardless, these movies continue to have a place in my heart.
9.68/10
5. Toy Story
One of Pixar’s crowning glory movies. Sure, this movies animation hasn’t aged that well. Their character models for humans were lacking (Andy may or may not look like a crackhead) but it makes sense for the time period it was in and definitely set a precedent for future CGI Animated movies. Woody & Buzz are THE iconic duo.
9.5/10
And that concludes my list although I could rant about my childhood movies for much longer. Thanks for reading and see you readers later!
I’ve had quite a bit of time to think on this due to social distancing. Yay! So here we go if anyone cares. Maybe you can get a little inspiration for your own movie bucket list.
My Movie Bucket List~
1. The Mr Rogers movie
Mr Rogers is actually something I grew up on (I’m way to young) but but my mother did. And she, in turn, shared it with me. I’ve also listened to his biography audio book which made me love him even more.
2. Knives out.
A murder msyerty! Why not? I hear its wonderfully twisted. Sign me up!
3. Probably a couple of marvel movies.
Not exactly sure which ones. Ideally, I’d love to watch them in order but we’ll see. But whatever it is, I’d be starting from scratch.
4. The live action Disney movies (minus maybe the lion king because I just really have no desire. Literally looks like a National Geographic documentary)
5. The Harry Potter movies in order. (I’ve watched most of them but only as a kid/middle schooler so I’m sure stuff went over my head and I really want to appreciate the story now that I’m older)
6. Up
Because I wanna cry.
7. The fourth toy story.
This one is sort of killing me because I grew up one Toy Story. Hopefully it’ll come available at our library soon.
And Also because I wanna cry.
8. Frozen 2 if I get the chance, simply for curiosity’s sake.
9. And maybe the third how to train your dragon because I loved the first, was okay with the second, so I feel like I need to finish them.
10. And finally, the Disney Star Wars movies, also for curiosity’s sake due to that fact that I grew up watching the earlier ones.
11. Little Women, by the suggestion of a friend.
12. Inception
13. A Quiet Place
And That pretty much covers it. Keep in mind, this list isn’t in priority order. It’s a lot at this point, but hopefully someday I’ll finish it.
By the Brooke 