In this episode:

• special guest Dennis in CA,
• the upcoming movie Toy Story 3 (2010),
• the most recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO,
• Republicans and evolution,
• Jesus and tall tales,
• watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) at Sunshine Cinema in NYC (picture)
• various James Bond actors,
• Sean Connery,
• Dennis’s review of Watchmen (2009),
• the superhero movie fad,
• Superman,
• Paul McCartney and The Fireman,
• MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice (concert promo pic),
• old stupid styles (Z. Cavaricci, I.O.U., Hypercolor, and sweatpants with the legs pulled up),
• the upcoming movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009),
• the upcoming movie Thor (2011),
• Will Smith as Captain America,
• Jake “The Snake” Roberts trapping The Ultimate Warrior in a room full of snakes,
• the Metal Gear series of video games,
• The Fountain (2006) starring Hugh Jackman,
• The Prestige (2006) starring Christian Bale,
• and Dennis’s encounter with George Lucas at the Game Developers Conference in 2008.

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73 minute MP3 file – 33.4 MB (right-click to save)

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In this episode:

• Alex Rodriguez vs. Babe Ruth,
• steroids,
• Hulk Hogan,
• TNA wrestler “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal,
• a video of “Macho Man” Randy Savage crying,
• PSE&G’s upcoming GreenFest 2009 featuring Ed Begley Jr. and Bill Nye,
• the upcoming video game Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings,
• watching The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) at the historic Loew’s Jersey Theater in Jersey City, NJ,
• photos from the James Bond night at Loew’s,
• Roman Polanski vs. Woody Allen vs. Michael Jackson vs. Jerry Lee Lewis,
• Eliza Dushku and the Paunch luck,
• actor Dennis Haysbert,
• and another Saturday Night Live skit about blind NY governor David Paterson.

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32 minute MP3 file – 14.7 MB (right-click to save)

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икони

In this episode:

• watching Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) at the historic Loew’s Jersey Theater in Jersey City, NJ,
• our movie review and comparison to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008),
• Scott C. Clements’s thoughts about the Indiana Jones movies,
• William Shatner’s new TV show Shatner’s Raw Nerve on The Biography Channel,
• horrible Sylvester Stallone movies,
• The Christmas Shoes (2002) starring Rob Lowe and Kimberly Williams-Paisley,
• inflatable Christmas lawn decorations,
• Snowglobe (2007) starring Christina Milian,
• Tim Allen’s Christmas movies,
• Amish electric fireplaces,
• Roc starring Charles S. Dutton,
• David Fincher’s filmography,
• Heavy Metal (1981) starring John Candy and Eugene Levy,
• the upcoming Ghostbusters: The Video Game,
• repairing dead hard drives,
• Dumb Tattoo Club,
• Tina Turner wearing a ridiculous outfit,
• and Sarah Palin’s 2009 calendar.

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60 minute MP3 file – 27.5 MB (right-click to save)

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In this episode:

• customers killing a Wal-mart employee in Valley Stream, NY,
• Greg adding pictures to previous episodes,
• a video of Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones,
• recent photos of “Macho Man” Randy Savage,
• a get-rich-quick scheme (the Old-Timers Wrestling League),
• Ironhide and Ratchet Transformers custom heads by Best Toys,
• good free antivirus programs (AVG, Avast!, and Avira AntiVir),
• The Morton Downey Jr. Show,
• our trip to the children’s TV show Steampipe Alley hosted by Mario Cantone,
• The Cover Girls,
• The Magic Garden on DVD,
• the Mellotron,
• 1970s progressive rock music,
• “Carnival of Light” by The Beatles,
• and Paul McCartney making fun of Michael Jackson.

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40 minute MP3 file – 18.4 MB (right-click to save)

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In this episode:

• Ron Howard’s Call To Action video on Funny or Die featuring Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler,
• Stephen Baldwin challenging Barack Obama to a boxing match,
• the pointlessness of student government,
• wearing costumes to the October NAVA meeting at the Digital Press video game store in Clifton, NJ (www.digitpress.com),
• Greg trying to buy a Crosley Keepsake USB record player from Craig’s List,
• Greg trying to buy an Indiana Jones costume,
• crowded Halloween stores,
• 16 rpm records,
• pole vaulting in dreams,
• receiving Sega video games from Juan in Missouri,
• Sega’s obsession with Michael Jackson,
• our review of the ColecoVision, the Atari 5200, and the Atari 7800,
• the upcoming Pac-Man Collection for the ColecoVision (www.opcodegames.com),
• a customer looking for an Osama bin Laden costume,
• Michael Bay, Mike Tyson, and Jerry Seinfeld looking stupid,
• our movie review of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008) starring Michael Cera,
• and our movie review of Religulous (2008) starring Bill Maher.

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57 minute MP3 file – 26.2 MB (right-click to save)

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In this episode:

• a celebrity death (Paul Newman, thanks to www.deadoraliveinfo.com),
• Westerns,
• Jack Tramiel,
• Spaceballs: The Animated Series on G4,
• Comcast’s video web site Fancast (www.fancast.com),
• Jason Priestly on the new 90210,
• MacGyver,
• Sam Donaldson vs. Sam the Eagle,
• listeners Paul and Juan in Missouri,
• a listener’s podcast (www.sparetimeradio.com by Wayne),
• Tom Brokaw’s voice,
• John McCain’s robotic arms,
• Chuck Norris,
• the upcoming movie Indiana Jones 5,
• WILDsound FALL Feature Screenplay Contest finalist Scott C. Clements (scarletavenger.blogspot.com),
• Charles in Charge season 2 on DVD,
• Who Made the Potatoe Salad? (2006) starring Jaleel White,
• and The Wonder Years and Saturday Supercade never being released on DVD.

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38 minute MP3 file – 17.5 MB (right-click to save)

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In this episode:

• another trip to the Digital Press video game store in Clifton, NJ (www.digitpress.com),
• meeting James Rolfe (the Angry Video Game Nerd) and trying to get him on the show,
• the Nostalgia Critic,
• celebrity deaths (Mel Ferrer, Bo Diddley, Harvey Korman, Jim McKay, Tim Russert, and George Carlin, thanks to www.deadoraliveinfo.com),
• What Ever Happened To? (Jim J. Bullock),
• a psycho in Union Square Park claiming NASA is going to blow up Jupiter on 7/7/08,
• Project Lucifer,
• a Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling update,
• Sean Connery’s memoirs,
• Kung Fu Panda (2008) starring Jack Black,
• You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008) starring Adam Sandler,
• Kevin Nealon’s horrible acting,
• Dana Carvey’s new HBO comedy special Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies,
• Mike Myers,
• the upcoming movie Disaster Movie (2008),
• Frank Darabont’s Indiana Jones and the City of Gods script,
• the new Apple iPhone 3G and disposable gadgets,
• The Kid from Brooklyn on Last Comic Standing (www.thekidfrombrooklyn.com),
• Rob’s trip to California,
• Los Angeles vs. New York City,
• celebrity sightings (Lisa Bonet, Neil Patrick Harris, and Ryan Reynolds),
• and our listener Joe from Belleville, NJ.

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As we mentioned in episode 104, we were interested to see what filmmaker and Paunch Stevenson Show guest Scott C. Clements thought about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He wrote to us:

“Regarding Indiana Jones 4, to be honest, I was so disappointed in it, it’s hard for me to even think about it. It was quite a bummer for me.

I remember when I was interviewed on your show, I expressed how skeptical I was about Indy 4 because I had lost faith in George Lucas and I was wary of Harrison Ford’s age and the 1950s setting.

As reports came in about Steven Spielberg’s attempts to refrain from the Lucas school of film making by sticking with old school action techniques instead of relying heavily on computer graphics, I started to think the project could actually be good. Also, the publicity photos of Harrison Ford and Karen Allen were incredibly flattering and the 1950s setting started to appeal to me because of its roots in George Lucas’s early work, American Graffiti.

However, my hope turned to dread as I sat through the movie. My biggest problem was with the villains. The didn’t do anything particularly horrible, so it was difficult for me to fear them. It took a second viewing to even figure out that they wanted to rule America with the crystal skull’s mind control powers. If I don’t fear the villain, there isn’t much drama. For example, when Nazi henchman Toht is about to burn Marion’s face off with a red hot poker in Raiders of the Lost Ark, my adrenaline starts pumping like crazy. He’s going to disfigure her, for God’s sake! Same when the Thugee priest, Mola Ram, from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom rips the heart out of a poor villager and laughs with glee as the man’s heart ignites into a ball of flames in his hand! This is one sick bastard and I’m terrified just thinking of what he’ll do to our heroes if he gets his hands on them.

This sort of danger was lacking a bit from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which was why that was the weakest film for me…until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Cate Blanchett and her Russian henchman did little to make me take them seriously as a threat to Indy or the world. Cate had a rapier, but she didn’t stab or torture anyone with it so it was a pointless prop, in a character building sense. I have a strong suspicion that Lucas and Spielberg felt they had to play down the villainy of the Russians for political correctness’s sake. We all know the Russians were no Nazis. The Nazis were undeniably evil, so it was quite fitting for Indy to bash the living heck out of them in his previous adventures. But, he did little of that in this film, which really took away from the grittiness a true action film needs. Instead, this played as a mostly comedic Jones family reunion special. Put most simply, this “action” film had no spine.

And don’t even get me started on the fact that Indy almost never used his whip or gun! That was absurd! I also hated the lame comedy, including the ridiculously cartoonish-looking CGI gophers and pompadour-sporting monkeys. And what was with the friggin’ fridge scene? LAME!!!

I could go on and on bashing this piece of garbage; I am shocked that the critics have been so kind to it. I think they expect so little from Lucasfilm these days, that they’ve just thrown their hands up in surrender and said, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Spielberg and Lucas have become too diplomatic in their old age. They’ve lost the rebellious edge they had in their younger years. I really think they should leave the action blockbusters up to the next generation. Movies like Pirates of the Caribbean (Gore Verbinski) and Spider-Man (Sam Raimi) leave Indy 4 and the Star Wars prequels in the dust. It’s a sign of the changing of the guard.”

- Scott C. Clements
scarletavenger.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your review, Scott! Even though we enjoyed the movie, we know a lot of fans didn’t.

We’d like to know how our other listeners feel about the movie, too. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

In this episode:

• our review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008),
• its rewatchability,
• Harrison Ford’s age,
• Karen Allen,
• ridiculously picky fans,
• the use of computer graphics and humor,
• the alien at the end,
• the 1950s setting,
• Shia LaBeouf swinging from vines,
• women waiting in line to see Sex and the City (2008),
• the Star Wars prequels,
• directors reediting their movies,
• Hayden Christensen’s horrible acting,
• ideas for the next Indiana Jones movie,
• the upcoming movies Death Wish (2009) and Rambo V (2009) both starring Sylvester Stallone,
• wondering what Scott C. Clements thinks about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,
• Lauren’s review,
• summer movies she’s looking forward to (Sex and the City, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Tropic Thunder, The Dark Knight, Step Brothers, Hamlet 2, etc.),
• Charlotte Rae,
• and What Ever Happened To? (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze, Jr.).

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Greg and I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull together in NYC this afternoon. Here are some pictures:

Flickr – AMC Loews 19th St. East, NYC 5/30/08

Did we love it? Did we hate it? Listen to our review in episode 104, which will be online Monday, June 2!