One of the best summer pastimes is heading to the local air conditioned theatre to watch the latest Hollywood production. Movies are a great way to sit back, relax and be transformed into a new world while you let your cares escape you.
Movies have been broadcast in one way or another since the early 1900s. Before TV people would go to the local theatre to catch the latest news coverage and the happenings around the world and as technology advances I hope movies never go out of style.
The Cannes film festival has handed out their big awards and the stars have all walked down the red carpets for another year. One of the biggest movies to come out of the festival was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Some reports from the festival said that it is ‘immune’ from critics. Some critics said that it was not the best and they should have left well enough alone. Well, whatever the critics said or will say the movie opened on May 22 and its weekend gross was $126 million. The Ponoka Capitol Theatre even had a special midnight showing on Wednesday for the die hard fans. I was tempted to go to the late night showing but honestly I have never seen any of the Indy movies. Yes, shocking as I have come to learn this week from many friends who can’t believe this. However, I must note that the first Indiana Jones movie the Raiders of the Lost Ark, debuted in 1981, the year before I was born. The next was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was released in 1984, I was two years old and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released in 1989. Now, there are plenty of great movies that I have enjoyed that were made before I was born such as The Sound of Music, Ben-Hur, To Kill A Mockingbird and on and on. The thing for me is I don’t know what the big deal is about Indy. To me it just seems like it is another action packed movie for the guys with high paced music and fighting. Although, when the new Star-Wars movies came out I had not seen any of those movies either, after sitting through all of them and watching the new ones in the theatre with the big sound I still didn’t see what the big deal was about it. The nice thing about having a lot of guy friends is I didn’t have to go see Indy with my fiancée and it was a boy’s night out. Either way I’m sure now, I will have to watch some of the older movies or go see this one in the theatre but with Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf I know I will not be disappointed.
The big summer blockbuster that I am anxiously waiting for is Sex and The City. The HBO TV show aired from 1998 to 2004. I never watched it on HBO and started watching the syndicated version on TBS and other stations. The show itself maybe a little racy and I would not say it is for everyone. But it shows four independent women setting their own path in life, working hard to achieve their goals and doing it all in high fashion and high heels in New York City.
In preparation for the movie I have re-watched the entire series, which I own, and watched the trailers many times. As I watch the trailer I almost cry, as the biggest love story may finally be resolved at the altar. I don’t think for me, like some Indy fans, I can be disappointed with this movie and I hope it will live up to my expectations.
Movies are a great form of entertainment. It’s interesting to note that these two movies are both the recycling of an old idea. With Indy, it is the fourth in the series and with Sex and the City it is from a TV show. With the millions of people who flock to cinemas each year it is remarkable that the movie moguls can get away with serving up these old ideas. Either way the guys that I have spoke to have enjoyed Indy and I won’t complain when I am in line this weekend to see Sex and the City.