3DD!3

Indy at the movie theater is an unforgettable experience. I readily admit immediately and without torture that I didn’t like a lot of things about The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I think the Tarzan-like Shia and the monkeys bothered me the most), but Spielberg is simply too good a director to spoil the return of the legend. The 50s stylization absorbed me totally without problem and I was expecting to see the Indy senior, so there was no reason to be disappointed. Plus, Shia LaBeouf brings a breath of fresh air into the Jones universe and his character easily won me over. And the spectacular finale in the room with..., you know what I mean, really got to me. The fourth Indiana Jones is no better or worse than the original trilogy, it’s just a lot different. A slightly low 5.

Robert Downey Jr. is a dude. Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. I couldn’t imagine anybody else in this role. His charisma and wisecracks give the picture style and, without him, Iron Man would be half-assed and definitely a lot less entertaining. Favreau takes the entire movie in the right direction (no wonder, because it was him who got Downey involved in the project), not so serious, slightly fateful and also true to the comic book. The action scenes from ILM also worked really well, even though the battle sequence was Stark’s escape from captivity, which involved a minimum of special effects. Personally, for me Iron Man has greater magic than my former favorite Spider-Man, and that’s saying something. P.S.: The post-credits scene with the allusion to the Avengers is magical.

I didn’t get to see the end of this (I hope it all worked out ok). The bus arrived at its destination and I had to get off. Paul Bettany’s acting was a little weird and Harrison Ford wasn’t especially impressive (and he looks dumb with that laptop). Otherwise, this is a pretty standard thriller.

At the beginning it drags on slowly and the only thing that looked any good is the surrounding jungle and Bruce Willis in camouflage kit holding a machine gun. The African jungle seemed to be asleep all the time. Where are the snakes, the spiders and other critters that could make this group’s journey a little more unpleasant? Take a look at Rescue Dawn and you’ll see what I mean. It’s all so artificial. Tears of the Sun tries to touch us with humanity and good deeds by hard guys who until now behaved like robots. And the only thing that Fuqua gave to this movie are lens filters, amazing views of African nature and a solid action ending which digs this picture up from the gray average. 3

Sickly sweet, but nicely delivered. Mark Ruffalo is simply good at playing romantic guys and Reese Witherspoon was fine as the ghost. And the sun-drenched of San Francisco is simply indescribable.

It's almost the same as the first installment but the larger than life finale simply forces me to give it an extra star. I just love golden cities. I just love golden cities. Plus, for the first time in a long while, Cage is finally in a pretty good movie, and if you take National Treasure as an appetizer for the fourth Indiana Jones (the new trailer is great, by the way) you'll spend quite a pleasant two hours with it.

I've missed this movie on TV a few times, and I'm glad I was finally able to see it. I should thank ‘Blesk’ newspaper for the free DVD edition. Spy Game is an otherwise top-notch spy thriller with an excellent acting duo in the lead roles. Redford shows he's still a wisecracking dude in his old age, and Brad Pitt shows again that he looks like he's Redford's son. Plus, Tony Scott's playful camerawork gives the movie an incredibly appealing look. I was most impressed by the roof interview scene (the FUJIFILM sign) and that’s why today’s lesson in the director’s diary reads: "If you want to film an interview in a high quality and dynamic way, film it from a helicopter." ;-)

At times perfect, at times a little too wacky for my taste. I was very surprised by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who plays really lifelike, as did Seann William Scott.

A romantic movie with fairly unusual storytelling. It isn’t very often that you get to hear philosophizing about life and the real meaning of love. Plus, Sean Biggerstaff’s acting is amazing and sucks you into a story where time stands still.

King's original is not one of his very best and I would say it's a pretty mediocre novel. The best thing about the novel are its characters, and they weren’t cast well in the movie. Honorable exceptions to this include the excellent Ron Perlman in the role of Collie, who overshadows everyone and his departure is strongly felt in the second half. Tom Skerritt is also cast quite well (although I already had Kris Kristofferson's face in mind) and Cynthia and Mary were also very good choices. Mick Garris basically made what I expected him to make: a normal retelling of the book with some of the scenes cut out. In terms of TV movies, it's better than average, but if you're deciding between the book or the movie, choose the book.