Beneath The Outer Shell

as a child, at the innocent age of 5, i remember seeing a movie that forever changed my life. Raiders of the Lost Ark. i was hooked after the initial sequence where Indiana Jones is running from a huge boulder while cradling a gold idol. my parents took my brother and i to that movie well over 5 times...and believe it or not, i remember it being sold out at the crappy theatre down the street every time...we had to wait in line for what seemed like an eternity...dealing with seconds which seemed like hours, and minutes which seemed like days...all just to watch a movie i had already seen enough to recite every Indiana Jones line in the film (no shit)...plus, as the anticipation for the film we were waiting on built stronger and stronger, we had to deal with the teenage jerks who would cut in line at the last minute and nab the last few seats for the next showing. man, this was when movies felt like real life to me...they felt like an extended amusement park ride, and i was immediately in love with escaping reality through films. being 5, i clearly remember not quite understanding how Han Solo and Indiana Jones could look so much alike, but be different people. i was SO confused! how can someone be two different people??? ahhh, yes...what i wouldn't do to be 5 again and still think that way :)

the picture above was taken by Stephen Spielberg last thursday at the beginning of production for the 4th Indiana Jones film (untitled at this point). it's hard to believe it's been 18 years since the 3rd Indiana Jones film...i mean it was the "Last Crusade", but Spielberg and Lucas should have known better. i guess better late than never.

just to put a few more things into perspective on the time frame...remember, it was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1989) which is behind the reasoning of the current PG-13 rating (this rating was created right after Temple of Doom because when Mola Ram tore the hearts out of his victims before slowly dropping the awake bodies into a firey lava pit, parents freaked because the movie was rated PG...hence the beginning of PG-13).

back to the photo, i was stoked when i saw it because Harrison Ford doesn't look like a man who is 64 years old...even though the new film will not try and hide the fact that Indiana Jones is an old man, it's refreshing to know that he still looks like good old Indiana Jones. i was a little worried, and now that Sean Connery has said "no thanks" to reprising his role as Indiana's father, i'm still a little worried. BUT, it is Spielberg and Lucas working together again...and those two just don't get things wrong when they work as a team as they have for the first 3 films.

i think i'll go find my official Indiana Jones hat, 10 foot long leather whip, and shoulder strapped knapsack and play around in the nearest wooded area here...wait, on the other hand, i better not...if i saw me dressed like that playing in the woods around here, i would call the police and grab a shotgun. damn. kids have it made.

what i wouldn't do to be 5 again :)