Indiana Jones -- The Adventure Collection
... or any of the three special editions -- Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade

We're just over a week and a half away from seeing Harrison Ford run around as Indiana Jones for the first time in almost twenty years in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and hopefully not collapse in an arthritic fit. Of course, that means putting out a collection for Indy buffs to buy -- just in time for a late-night triple feature before the big release. However, unlike the Die Hard re-do, which stripped tons of extras away, and other releases that just fill up landfill space, there is a perk in this whole money-grab: aside from getting them as a collection, you can pick them up for the first time separately.

That's music to my ears, since I detest Temple of Doom, and would be happy not to see it again. Pick up one, pick up a few, or pick them all up in the Adventure Collection, which is just the three special editions in a fancy cardboard box. Each disc has a bunch of extras -- intros, interviews, special effects, storyboards, and more. Some is old footage, but there's lots of new bits as well -- including a look at Skull on the Last Crusade DVD.

Buy the Collection | Buy Raiders | Buy Doom | Buy Crusade

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the game where, in order to play, you need to really hate snakes. Hate 'em! Last week we asked you to write funny captions for a photo from Speed Racer, which hits theaters with a whole lotta color this weekend. Congrats to Anthony M. for painting a very bizarre, yet hilarious picture in our heads. (We still love ya BK!)

1. "Reasons To Burn Rubber (#5): Family-operated Burger King drive through. Fast. Hot. Creepy." -- Anthony M.

2. "Mario's Illegitimate Family..... (shhh, princess peach doesn't know)" -- Joshua B.

3. "Just keep your hands at 10 and 2, buckle your seatbelt, and are you sure you don't want to put some clothes on?" -- Nathan T.

See full image and all captions



This week, well, you may know this guy from somewhere. Can't place the face? Here, we'll help -- it starts with an 'Indiana' and ends with a 'Jones'. Put it together and you have one of this summer's most anticipated films -- not to mention we've been looking forward to this sequel for the past 20 years. But before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hits theaters on May 22, you're going to want to get reacquainted with an old friend -- and that's where we come in: The winners of our three favorite captions will take home one Indiana Jones The Adventure Collection DVD boxed set, which includes: Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom & The Last Crusade. That's it to the right; ain't it purty? (Click to enlarge.) In honor of our friend Indy, it's now time for you to start whippin' out those captions! Sound off below ...



Read the official rules for this contest

Paramount has released the remainder of the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull photos in anticipation of the film's May 22 release date (two weeks from today!). A few early (and negative) reviews can be found at the usual places, but I'm still holding out hope. I really think this is the sort of film you have to go in and just have fun with -- don't expect a masterpiece or an Oscar winner; expect to smile, laugh and cheer for a few old friends (and some new ones). Indiana Jones is truly an event film, so instead of rambling on about a plot you're already aware of and a cast you've seen mentioned a thousand times, we'd like to know what your plans are for seeing the film. Have you made them yet? Are you going with a group of friends on a particular day at a particular time? Will you wait to hear the buzz off the first weekend? Are you seeing it at all?

Check out all those new images in the gallery below, then tell us how you plan to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I had a very strange weekend, especially since I'm so used to hanging around here, listening to all you folks rant and rave about Batman, Iron Man and Indiana Jones. The weekend was strange in that everyone I spoke to offline named Sex and the City as the film they're most looking forward to this summer. Yes, Sex and the City: The Movie! Apparently, Oprah also did a show where she let her entire audience watch SATC: The Movie, but turned it off with 20 minutes left. (I don't know about you, but if Oprah pulled that "you can't watch the ending" sh*t on me, I'd switch it over to Rachael Ray full time!)

So then I sashayed my way over to Moviefone's Summer Movies poll, which asked readers to decide on a summer film they were anticipating the most. Know what won? Yup, Sex and the City. Crazy, right? I knew this TV show had a massive fanbase, but I, personally, hadn't heard a peep out of anyone who was actually looking forward to the movie. Is it that your usual SATC fanbase doesn't hang out online, perusing through movie news sites? Maybe they're out shopping or, ya know, living actual lives ... instead of geeking out over a new Dark Knight image on Cinematical? (By all means, continue to geek out -- I'm just trying to make sense of this whole SATC thing.)

It was briefly leaked online last week, but now the new official trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is online ... and you can watch it above or over on IndianaJones.com. This is the trailer that begins to explain the story; how, as per usual, Indy is off in search of some artifact (the crystal skull) which comes with a spooky-cool story (the person who has possession gains great powers), but there's an evil group (the Russians) who want to use said artifact to their advantage. Sound familiar?

But it's cool, because Indiana Jones is back. And Marion Ravenwood is back. And a whole new generation now gets a chance to enjoy one of my all-time favorite movie characters on the big screen for the first time. And, well, you got Steven Spielberg who, last I checked, makes some pretty good films. What's not to look forward to? In addition to this new trailer, you can check out two new TV spots for the film here and here -- both of which use a combo of footage we've seen previously, and there may even be some new stuff thrown in too.

With all this Iron Man talk, did you realize we're only a couple weeks away from Indy? May 22? C'mon! Am I the only one excited about this?

Who cares about mythical cities, ancient secrets, and unlimited power? As much as those things need to be there for the plot of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it's the man and the music that really counts. And of course, this new television spot for the film has both of those, but that's not all. There's Cate Blanchett's Agent Spalko, with a strategically placed black bar that is Hitleriffic, but the gem is in the slapping. There's nothing quite like seeing slaps in tune to Indie's classic theme, and for this spot, it's just like a Sissy-Boy Slap-Party.

This is a short television spot, so there's not much more to see, but luckily we don't have much longer to wait. After all this time, the film is almost here, itching to pop up in theaters on May 22. Harrison Ford, Karen Allen ... this is sure to be a fun blast from the past. Or at least, I hope!

Paramount has sent over a handful of new photos from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Above, you can see the adorable smile of Karen Allen, who's reprising the role of Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark for this film -- and I couldn't be happier about it. She was always my favorite Indy gal, and I'm itching to see what they've done with her character; how they've aged her, who she is, what she's been up to. I gather Indy won't find her throwing down shots in a remote bar in Nepal this time around. Can she still drink any man under the table? And, seeing as the Russians are the new enemies, will Marion get to go one on one with a big Russian and a bottle of vodka? Ya know, everyone talks about Indy and Mutt and the evil Spalko -- am I wrong for anticipating the return of Marion's character more than anything else? Check out the gallery below for the new images ...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters on May 22.

In a little over a week from now, Iron Man crashes into theaters -- signaling the official start of the summer movie season. I know we say this every year, but come September, we could be looking back at one of the greatest summer movie seasons in history -- with popular franchises like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Batman, Hellboy and The Chronicles of Narnia returning to the big screen. We're eagerly anticipating the arrival of new superheroes like Iron Man and Hancock, there's another adorable Pixar movie, an equally-as-adorable stoner flick from Judd Apatow and the revival of a very funny '60s television show on the big screen. What's not to love?

So in the spirit of sharing our love (or lust, depending on the lighting) for all things movie-related, we at Cinematical present our 10 most anticipated films of summer 2008. Our writers got together, looked things over, and, after sending the information through a magical robot (who talks like a black Robert Downey Jr.!), here's what we came up with. Click on any of the 10 photos below to get started ... and feel free to enjoy all the goodies we have on the other end. (Just leave the bag of Twizzlers for me, please).

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Why We Can't Wait to See It: Well, it's Indy. That alone is pretty much all you have to say, isn't it? Harrison Ford is back as Dr. Jones, and while some of the folks around for the ride are new (Cate Blanchett, Shia LeBouf and others), the return of Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood is reason enough for old-school fans to be excited.

Why It Might Do Well: Again, it's Indy -- and a long-anticipated return to the big screen for one of the most beloved movie franchises of modern times. Plus, the only big opener the week before is Prince Caspian -- which, while anticipated, probably won't pull people from the ticket lines opening week.

Why It Might Not Do Well: The question's less if it will do well than if it will be good; interviews have suggested that George Lucas has taken a heavy hand in the writing this time around -- which, frankly, hasn't been a good sign in recent years. Plus there's that disturbing gimmick in the trailer with Indy saying "I thought that was closer ..."; back in the day, Spielberg, Lucas and Ford would have let that go unsaid. ...

Fun Fact: Crystal Skull takes place 19 years after the events of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- the same amount of time it's been since we've seen Indy on-screen.

Trivia:


Answer Key

Take from this what you will, but Jeff Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere claims to have heard from a "guy who knows a guy on the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull team" that Ferris passed out at 31 flavors last night. Okay, actually, this person claims to have watched a cut of the new film and Wells is flying with a bunch of quotes this morning that he's not "100% comfortable running," but knows they'll bring in about 100% more traffic for his site. Among the non-spoilerish highlights:

• Crystal Skull is "the best of the Indy sequels." "Steven Spielberg's helming puts the imitators (The Mummy, National Treasure) to shame. There are many breakneck set pieces, with a protracted jungle chase being particularly memorable. As well as being evocative of the truck chase from the first movie."
• Harrison Ford "gives his best performance in the role, not only physically belying his age but layering in welcome poignancy. More than before, audiences will be rooting for Indy."
  
• "The film has the strongest supporting cast of the sequels."
• Apparently, the film also includes an "ending that any longtime diehard fan of the films could only dream about."

Really? Dream about? I can dream about a lot of things. Once again, we have no idea who this person is and whether or not they have an "agenda,", but here's hoping they're 100% right on the money. A few new photos from the film have also hit the internets (via Slashfilm via some foreign mag), so check those out in the gallery below. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives on May 22.

Star Wars

After waiting on a very long line for about an hour, I finally made my way into the IGN Theater for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones panel. The festivities had already gotten underway, and so the theater was packed, dark and hard to navigate. Additionally, I had walked in while they were screening footage for the upcoming video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which hits shelves in September. The footage looked great (from what I could tell), and I'm looking forward to a game that's set in between Episodes III and Episodes IV as there's so much room to play with there. For more on the game, check out StarWars.com.

From there, Steve Sansweet introduced two guys who had just graduated with a doctorate in Star Wars from New York University. It's funny, too, because right before their names were announced the guy next to me leaned over to his girlfriend and said, "Holy crap, I didn't know you could get a doctorate in Star Wars! Why didn't I do that!? Then Sansweet played their senior thesis: a documentary that, in reality, turned out to be the trailer for Robot Chicken's Star Wars episode. Of course, the two guys were Seth Green and Matt Senreich. They, in turn, talked about how that episode is arriving on DVD in July. This will include all sorts of stuff, like the deleted scene they screened featuring George Lucas on a therapist's couch complaining about how other people messed up Star Wars when Lucas let them play in that world (ie: Robot Chicken). Funny stuff.

With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull due out on May 22, George Lucas wants everyone to know that it's "just a movie." I did think the unused tagline "This will be the greatest piece of visual material your eyes will ever witness" was just a tad too much. Instead, I like "George Lucas says 'it's just a movie'" a whole lot better. USA Today sat down with The Lucas to talk about the hype surrounding this fourth installment, and how similar hype (with regards to those newer Star Wars flicks) has hurt the way fans have viewed the films in the past.

He says, "When you do a movie like this, a sequel that's very, very anticipated, people anticipate ultimately that it's going to be the Second Coming. And it's not. It's just a movie. Just like the other movies. You probably have fond memories of the other movies. But if you went back and looked at them, they might not hold up the same way your memory holds up." Really? Sure, I'll give you Speed 2: Cruise Control, but Raiders of the Lost Ark holds up quite well, IMO. He continues, "We came back to do (Indy) because we wanted to have fun. It's not going to make much money for us in the end. We all have some money. ... It would make a lot of money if you weren't rich. But we're not doing it for the money."

I absolutely love the line ... "it would make a lot of money if you weren't rich." Yeah, thanks George for reminding us that half a billion dollars (or more, probably) is, like, the equivalent of a couple nickels and dimes for you. Indiana Jones and the Quest for More Money No One Needs arrives in theaters on May 22.

p.s. Is it just me, or is anyone else dying to spot Lucas wearing a "Don't Believe the Hype" t-shirt?

While it would certainly appear that we're not going to get a new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer this week, we have been given a new featurette starring that kid who smokes where he shouldn't, Shia LaBeouf (who plays some dude named Mutt in the film). You can check it out over on the film's official website, and what we basically have are a bunch of snippets of Shia in action, with voiceover from the actor. There's Shia riding a motorcycle with Harrison Ford, there's Shia practicing his sword fighting and there's Shia fooling around with a switchblade.

An interesting note about that switchblade, as brought up by Shia in the featurette: They didn't have time to bring someone on set to teach him how to use it, so he taught himself and became kinda addicted to the thing. He calls it his "Tetris" -- named, of course, after the highly-addictive Nintendo game. Not much in the way of actual footage here, save for a bit from that motorcycle chase. Am I the only one itching to see that scene already? The first images we saw from this set were of this chase scene, and they keep teasing the damn thing over ... and over ... and over again. For almost a year now!

Keep a look out for the new Indy trailer, which should hit at some point before the film is released (in glorious widget form!). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters on May 22.

Looks like we'll be getting another Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer as soon as this week, as The Hollywood Reporter tells us Paramount plans to debut the preview through a newly-created widget they hope will be passed around the internet like a virtual joint. Originally, their story claimed the trailer would hit this week, but they've since updated the story, saying, "While Paramount plans to launch the widget this week, the studio declined to state when the new trailer will debut."

Apparently, this widget will be used for a number of Paramount promotional material (roughly 10 videos total, including stuff for The Love Guru), as the studio attempts to benefit from blogs like this one who'd like to give their readers a chance to watch right away rather than click off to somewhere else. It's a smart move -- one that will probably cut down on the amount of YouTubed trailers embedded on various sites -- which is something the studios are probably itching to do. A contest will also launch along with this new trailer; one that will give two fans a chance to attend the Indiana Jones world premiere, as well as become red-carpet correspondents. Winners will be chosen based on whomever distributes their Skull widgets the most.

Stay tuned to Cinematical, because as soon as this new trailer hits, we'll have it for you right here. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters on May 22.