Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Jonathan Ke Quan

Link to trailer on youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOwWfns4qqw

In Shanghai, China, a deal between archeologist adventurer Indiana Jones (Ford) and crime boss Lao Che is not going as planned. When a shootout suddenly erupts, Indy makes a daring escape, taking nightclub singer Willie Scott (Capshaw) and his sidekick Short Round (Quan) with him. Unknown to them, they board a plane belonging to the crime boss they had just outrun. On flight, the group wake to a now pilotless plane on a crash course over the Himalayas. The trio cheat death by using an inflatable raft that safely takes them down the slopes and into a raging river. The river current leads them to a desolate village in northern India, where the poor villagers believe Indy to be the savior they had prayed for, who will retrieve the sacred stone that had been stolen from their shrine and bring back life to their village.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a action adventure film by director Steven Spielberg and was produced by George Lucas, who also co-wrote the overall story line. The film is the second installment in the Indiana Jones film franchise and is a prequel to the successful first film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The film was criticized for the brutal violance and horrific imagery it presents and was also the subject of controversy for the way it depicted Indian culture and Hinduism.

Harrison Ford returns to his role as Indiana Jones, with the support of actress Kate Capshaw and child actor Jonathan Ke Quan, who play the roles of club singer Willie Scott and Indy’s 11-year-old Chinese sidekick Short Round respectively.

It’s no secret that Spielberg probably sees this film as one of the “Not so proud of” projects in his filmmaking career. You can’t blame him, the film did stir a bit of negative controversy during its time for being too violent and for portraying Indian culture in the wrong sense. I may be wrong, but i’m sure a kid or two may have lost sleep because of the horrific and nightmarish images they had seen in what they thought was a fun filled family movie titled Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. “Temple of Doom” should have been the clear sign to just leave the kids at home on movie night.

So what are we talking about here? In a nutshell, inside the Temple of Doom; People are fed chilled monkey brains, eyball soup, and beetles, the place is run by a demonic cult, people are sacrificed and offered to a whirlpool of molten lava, hearts are ripped straight out of your chest, children are slapped, whipped, and forced to mine as slaves… well it was that, plus a lot of India’s population were probably like “That is not Indian culture, you portray our gods falsely, we do not do that in our country,”  that got people talking. I guess it was only right the director take initiative on censorship a little more seriously and suggest slapping a PG-13 mark on every other torturous film that came after this. Either that or we can blame a lot of people back then for overreacting to this film.

Fun ranting aside, I hardly remember the film being this brutal. I’ve always remembered the Indiana Jones series to be a happy go lucky fun adventure. For what it is though, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is one enjoyable and entertaining film, but definitely not as good as the first installment that came before it. The controversy that surrounds it is actually an interesting enough reason to go see this. Maybe its just me, but I find entertainment in how darkly comic, edgy, and adventurous this actually is all at the same time without losing the whole Indiana Jones theme and feel. Spielberg’s directing is genius.

Just like the first film, it’s the huge sets accompanied by the large number of extras in costume, all the convincingly simple special effects, the storytelling, likable characters, high adrenaline action, and just the simplicity of it all that make this an excellent film.

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Fast and Furious 6 (2013)

Directed by: Justin Lin

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker,

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson,  and Luke Evans

Link to trailer on youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_puVuHoR6o

Agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) seeks the help of fugitives Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and former FBI agent Brian O’Conner (Walker), and their crew of highly skilled professional criminals and race car drivers, in trying to catch a wanted man, Owen Shaw (Evans), who they have been chasing cross country to no avail. Shaw is wanted for pulling off sophisticated international heists together with his crew of skilled wheel men, a crime similar to that of Toretto’s crew. If Dom and Brian can help Hobbs capture Shaw, it might mean they could come out of hiding and get to live life as family again.

Fast and Furious 6 is a action film directed by Justin Lin, who had previously directed the last three films in the series (Tokyo Drift (2006), Fast and Furious (2009), and Fast Five (2011)). The film kicks off where it had last left off, continuing the story line from Fast Five.

Reprising their roles for this sixth installment are actors Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, with support from Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Sung Kang, Jordana Brewster, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Making their first appearance for the franchise is MMA fighter and actress Gina Carano and actor Luke Evans, who plays the main villain in the film. Also on cast and making a surprising return is actress Michelle Rodriguez.

Okay now. So the whole F and F crew is back for somemore high speed chase sequences and more manly beatdowns and pistol shootouts. At this point, having had six installments to the series, its already obvious that the franchise has pulled away from the whole street racing theme and has established itself more in the lines of a heist film of sorts. Think Ocean’s Eleven with cars, a skilled team, impossible heist, you get the picture. It pretty much just shows how much the series has grown. Yes, the whole heist has been a back drop of earlier installments in the series, but the last two installments of the series have clearly put more significance to the intricate planning of the heists rather than building up story lines concerning the street racing scene. One thing that is still evident though and will always be, are the gorgeous cars, beautiful women, muscled men, nicely choreographed high speed chase scenes, and the skilled driving involved, which is this films winning formula that always adds up to one very action packed and entertaining film.

It’s surprising how this film manages to keep topping itself one film after the other. Must be the variety of beautiful rides with every installment of the series, or the different characters and villains who keep getting introduced. Dwayne Johnson has been a good addition to the last film and is still part of this film. Luke Evans and Gina Carano are a great addition to the cast as well, and Michelle Rodriguez back from the dead was an odd surprise as well.

The Fast and the Furious series has always successfully reinvented itself to come off as fresh, and that’s why it’s such an entertaining film series.

On that note, one thing you won’t want to miss here is the surprise after credits ending.

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Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman

Link to trailer on youtube.com:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg-KoFP1guw

After maneuvering through a booby trapped Peruvian temple in order to retrieve an ancient artifact, archeologist Indiana Jones (Ford) is forced to surrender the golden statue he had just risk life and limb for and in the process make a daring escape from the indigenous tribe that surrounds him. Back in the United States, Indy is approached the US government, who want him to find and retrieve a biblical artifact of myth, the famed Ark of the Covenant, before the Nazi’s get their hands on it.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is a adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by George Lucas. It is the very first film in the Indiana Jones film franchise which stars actor Harrison Ford. The film was the highest grossing film the yearn of its release, and the film had received several Academy Award nominations, but mostly took home the top awards for its overall production. Steven Spielberg also won the Golden Globe for Best Director that year.

Okay, so it’s Indiana Jones month for 3WMJ, after having just received a 4-disc box set of the film series. I’m pretty sure i have seen the first three films, but that was way back when i was a brainless child who didn’t appreciate Indiana Jones for its brilliance, plus i have completely forgotten what each film is all about. I haven’t seen the fourth film as well, so this should be an interesting series to prioritize and view this month. I am obviously kicking off the marathon with Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first film of the series which is arguably the most popular installment of the series.

With big names like Steven Spielberg at the helm, George Lucas backing the film production, and an awesome talent in a then young Harrison Ford playing the films lead role, it’s unlikely this film would lack in awesomeness.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is memorable not only because of its whip-lashing lead, Indiana Jones, but because of it being one of the first truly innovative adventure films to be released (at least for me it is). The film is memorable for a lot of things. The opening sequence for one is truly an iconic piece of captured film and is probably the most timely image of the whole franchise. Yes, i am talking about the golden statue and  boulder chase scene. What i am also trying to point out here is that from the get go, Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark captures your imagination, and just when you thought nothing could top that boulder dash opening, we get several more intriguing Indy adventures that follow throughout the years.

The overall film production is pretty eye catching, with large sets, lots of costumed extras, and huge high adrenaline explosions and special effects, which is also always accompanied by the well known catchy musical score. The film is also known for the interesting characters and villains. Indy is always known to have a different sidekick in each of the four films and in this film it is the beautiful Marion Ravenwood, Indy’s former lover, played by actress Karen Allen. The dialogue is witty and often humorous, the action is simple yet death defying, and the fact that everything else just looks too easy and simple is amazingly too damn entertaining to fall asleep too.

This is the film that i would dub as the film that started the whole “Puzzling Adventure” theme in film. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is a timeless classic and a must see.

So go see it!

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I did this simple game awhile back for for fun on FB and was wondering if it would get the same reception here on 3rdworldmoviejunkie.

Let’s give it a try.

RULES OF THE GAME:

• GUESS which film the FAMOUS MOVIE LINE is from.
• This is a GROUP EFFORT game.
• Each user can only ANSWER ONCE / COMMENT ONCE, as to keep the game running and not have some smart ass end the whole game in one comment.
• The group scores IMAGINARY POINTS for every correct answer placed in the comment box.
• Bonus points if you can NAME THE CHARACTER and ACTOR who played the role.
• Example Answer:

           #1 - Elf, Buddy the Elf, Will Ferrell

• NO using GOOGLE, IMDB, or ANY OTHER SEARCH ENGINE to find the answers (Let’s be honest you cheaters).
• The game ends when ALL NUMBERS have been CORRECTLY ANSWERED, and all correct answers will be posted after.
• Like, Subscribe, and Share. Lets get this out there.
• Read More to START.

Read More

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Directed by: Shane Black

Starring:

Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pierce,

Don Cheadle, and Ben Kingsley

Link to trailer on youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CzoSeClcw0

After the catastrophic events that transpired in New York City while fighting alongside the Avengers, it’s back to the drawing board for billionaire playboy Tony Stark (Downey), who is trying to perfect his latest and most effective Iron Man suit yet. While keeping himself preoccupied, the nation is under serious threat. A series of mysterious bombings by a terrorist known as the Mandarin (Kingsley), has intelligence authorities baffled and unable to retaliate. When Stark decides to get personal with the terrorist, he issues a televised threat and challenges the Mandarin, who responds by ordering a massive air strike on Tony Stark’s home in an attempt to destroy everything, including the Iron Man.

Iron Man 3 is a superhero film directed by Shane Black, who also co-wrote the films screenplay together with Drew Pearce. The film is the third film installment in the Iron Man film franchise and the seventh installment in connection with several other Marvel Universe films that will eventually build up to The Avengers series of film.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. returns to his role of Tony Stark, with actress Gwyneth Paltrow and actor Don Cheadle also reprising their roles as Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, respectively. Actors Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley make their debut in the series as villains Aldrich Killian and Mandarin.

The Iron Man film franchise is probably the most impressive of the Marvel Studios released films. The series has been consistent in it being darkly comical, action packed, and just non-stop high-adrenaline entertainment. Robert Downey Jr. again proves that he is spot for the role of Tony Stark and that the actor doesn’t have to do much or be in the middle of all the action in order to make this film great. Whether dawning the Iron Man suit and locking horns with hostiles, or just being locked up in a dusty garage with an annoying kid, Downey’s presence makes this film great and entertaining. The addition of an underrated talent in actor Guy Pearce, who plays the films main villain is brilliant, and Ben Kingsley, well Kingsley is just as always awesome on screen.

The story line is very well written and is probably the best one of the series. The few comedic twists were a bit of a throw off, but was not at all damaging to the film. If anything, it was actually that “slap in the face” humor that you know you had coming. With that in mind, it’s funny how after waiting for the end credits to role out, that surprise clip gives you the same feeling.

There is plenty to love in Iron Man 3. This is definitely hands down the best installment in the series yet, and a great first release following The Avengers film as well. With several more Marvel films to the build up of the Avengers sequel, there is plenty more Marvel superhero madness to look forward to.

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