Monday, February 18, 2008

I Am Old

My wife, kids and I are all fans of the Indiana Jones films (someday I'll tell you about our bathroom decor), and we all agree that our first look at the online trailer left us pretty happy and eager for May 22. Happy? "Giddy" is more like it. Harrison Ford still cuts a credible figure with the hat and whip, and we're impressed with the look and tone glimpsed in the preview. However, the point of this post isn't to give a bit of much-needed publicity to Mr. Lucas and Mr. Spielberg's obscure little art-house film.
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The point of this post is that I'm old. We were talking about the trailer when one of my girls said, "This'll be our first chance to see Indiana Jones on the big screen!"
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My wife's and my reactions were identical: "What do you mean? Surely that can't be true. Never once seen an Indiana Jones movie in a theater? How is that possible? How could you even become an Indy fan without seeing it as God intended? You obviously forgot!" Even after we spent a few minutes working out the timeline, we couldn't quite comprehend how our kids had reached adulthood only seeing videotapes of Indiana Jones on television.
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Here's how. My twins are nearly 20, born in 1988. The last Indiana Jones movie--which I clearly remember seeing as a full-grown mature adult--came out in 1989. QED.
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Today we all went to the movie theater to see "The Spiderwick Chronicles" (not bad), which was preceded by the same Indiana Jones trailer we'd huddled around my monitor to watch two days before. The first time my kids have seen Indiana Jones on the big screen.
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I was thrilled for them. And a little wistful for myself.
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This movie better be good....

6 comments:

Joseph Brudlos said...

... Oh no..

I see a lot of the same sort of scenes and locations from the first 3 only done "better"

I have a horrible feeling it's been "lucasized" Just like the new Star Wars films..

:(

ronnie said...

No, no, no... you're lookin' at this all bass-ackwards!

This story doesn't prove how old you are. It proves how young your daughters are.

And if you are a man with such young daughters, it stands to reason you must be a spring chicken yourself.

(See how I made the transition to governmental doublespeak so quickly and easily?)

ronnie

Brian Fies said...

Joseph, I understand and share your fear. But I have some faith in Spielberg, who's reportedly taking pains to respect the integrity of the original cinematography, writing, characterization, etc. He and Ford have talked about how Indiana Jones isn't a CGI superhero. They've been saying the right things that at least tell me they're aware of the expectations and challenge. Whether they follow through, we'll see.... Also, we're not talking about Citizen Kane here. It's supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek action-adventure romp; if I get a good one, I'll be happy.

Ronnie, bless you.

Anonymous said...

i agree with ronnie....this has zip to do with YOUR age. i haven't seen this movie in a theater, either, and it's not cuz i'm, er, young. (mad, hysterical laughter)

Mike Lynch said...

Waiting the 3 years between KHAN and SEARCH for SPOCK (or, its ancillary, EMPIRE and JEDI) is something that no one now has to do.

I remember a column that Peter David wrote in CBG about showing the video of EMPIRE to his daughter. She wanted to see "the conclusion" so bad that instead of making her wait, he popped in the JEDI tape very quickly.

I don't expect much from the new INDY movie, but I'd love to be wrong. And like all of the movies, I'll see it in the theatre, with a tub of corn and a soda -- all "Best Value" size.

Anonymous said...

I doubt it will be as good as the first movie (which was the best one), but I'm still looking forward to it. I had SUCH a major crush on Harrison Ford in the 80s...

He looks a bit long in the tooth these days...but of course, I ain't no spring chicken anymore either.

And is that Shia LaBeouf I see in the trailer? Mmmmmm....he's a cutie. Which is sad that I say that. I could be his mother, I'm sure.