Indy IV Score Samples on Amazon

Greetings Indyfans!

30-second samples of the tracks on the score for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull showed up on Amazon.com recently.
Do Beware of SPOILERS in reading the track titles. I know, I know - if it's on published material, is it really still a "spoiler"? I say "no", but as this is the first Indy movie anyone's had in almost 20 years, some of the fan community on the web has become uptight about this kind of thing.

I like what little I can hear so far. A little of it reminds me of Williams' work on the Star Wars prequel scores, work I personally enjoyed (in some ways more than the movies themselves.)

I really dig that part of "The Map Room" theme from Raiders shows up in the track called "The Spell of the Skull" and "Marion's Theme" also makes an appearance on this CD in the last cue (if not elsewhere that we can't hear yet!)

Marchin' into March

Wow, where do the hours, days, and weeks go?

How did we get to March already? Whatever the cause of this rapidly increasing passage of time, I will be out on business travel almost all of this coming week inspecting properties in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

In lieu of reading any new posts from me, I offer up a fantastic YouTube page by "Aldabarran", a mysterious Brit with impeccable film score taste: Aldabarran's videos

Here you will find 30+ popular film score he has generously uploaded to the Interweb, many of which are hard sought by collectors and score enthusiasts. I've been listening to this guy's selections almost all week and loving all the new playlists I've made for a bunch of them.

Highlights include The Goonies, Temple of Doom, The 'Burbs (the recently released Varese Sarabande version), Big trouble In Little China, Gremlins, The Fog, Ghostbusters (Varese Sarabande version), Alien/Aliens, and all three Back to The Future films.

Go ahead and indulge already!

I'll see you the week of 3/10.

2/15/08: I "<3" Indiana Jones!

Yes, it's official.* We finally get the first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at 12:01am the day after Valentine's Day. Head over to CHUD for more details and to see the "Valentine" they swiped from somebody on the Amphibatron message boards. I wonder what movie it will show in front of in February? Spiderwick Chronicles?

Also, be sure to check out the new video on the official site for a behind the scenes look at Indy's house.

* Ok, it's still technically rumor as the Official Site has made no mention of it and the only "confirmation" comes from an entertainment tabloid show, but I'm getting my hopes up anyway.

KOTCS poster arrives!

Let me tease you here with your first glimpse of the brand new teaser poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Friggin sweet.

Head over here to checkout and download the full version.

New Indy action figure

There's a link over at The Raider.net with a photo of the new 7-inch Indy action figure being done by Gentle Giant. According to the source, it may only be sold in the Disney theme parks. But it looks great and comes with some cool acessories, including a fertility idol, sword (from ToD) and, what appears to be the Grail Diary.

Music to Live By: Temple of Doom

As long as we're on the topic of Indiana Jones today, I thought I'd take a minute to impart my thoughts on a recent addition to my CD collection: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

This is an album I've been after for years and when I finally got ahold of one a month ago, I was ecstatic. I was a bit anxious in acquiring this CD; first, because of its typically high price tag ($40+) and secondly because I had read a number of comments from mildly disappointed film score aficionados who felt it didn't adequately live up to John Williams' other Indy scores.

Being a devoted Indy score and film fan, as well as a John Williams appreciative (I don't yet aspire to be a score completionist, but admire those who are), I felt picking this title up for less than $30 was a no-brainer. Even if it found only a luke-warm reception in my heart, I could burn a copy and re-sell it for at least what I paid, if not more. But I haven't even come remotely close to considering that since I listened to it because it's a fun CD.

The CD's 40-minute playing time is the shortest of all the Indy movie scores so far (the 19-track extended Raiders CD is 70-some minutes; Last Crusade with 13 tracks is 58 minutes). And this one feels the shortest. But that's mostly because it moves so quickly. Most of the cues are action pieces, or at least action-oriented.

So, let me give you a blow-by-blow of the tracks:

The disc kicks off with the "Anything Goes" opening sequence from the film and plunges right into the "Fast Streets of Shanghai" which follows it shortly in the film. Some of the tracks that follow are a bit out of chronological order when compared to the film, but it's not terribly disorienting, even for guys like me who like a score to be an orchestral guide through the film's themes and memorable moments.

"Nocturnal Activities" recounts the musical cues during the romantic "stand-off" between Willie and Dr. Jones, culminating in the thugee attack on the good doctor. "Short Round's Theme", which follows, is the cue Temple of Doom aficionados will recognize from the elephant trek to Pankot Palace.

The next cue, "Children in Chains" is the scene where Indy stumbles upon the cadre of chained children digging for Shankara Stones and is summarily captured by Thugees.

Track 6 is "Slalom on Mt. Humol", the name of which describes it pretty well. Why this isn't track #3, I have no idea. (Note: this trek reminds me of the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland because a recognizable portion is used in that ride. In fact, there are a number of cues from the Temple of Doom score used in that ride and finding them throughout listenign to this CD was a treasure of pleasure. I "claim" that term right here and now, by the way.) I love this track because it makes me want to do exactly what is happening in the movie - do a high-speed, perilous sled ride.

The next track, "Temple of Doom" is everybody's favorite thugee chant, which builds to quite a nice "heart-wrenching" crescendo. Be sure to grab a nice chianti when listening to this one.

"Bug Tunnel and Death Trap" ToD fans will recognize from the sequence Willie is called upon to conquer her fears of the dead, the dark, and things that go "crunch" under the feet to save Indy and Shorty from impending impalement. Another one I really like because of the tensions and urgency conveyed throughout this cue.

"Slave Children's Crusade" is the fight cue in the quarry near the end of the movie that leads into famous "The Mine Car Chase". Both of these tracks are fun and are as uptempo as they seem while watching these scenes in the movie. To me these two scenes always seemed the counterparts to the Airplane Fight and Truck Chase sequences in Raiders. Which probably just sets them up unfairly to seem weaker when compared. Those two scenes in Raiders are two of my all-time favorite movie scenes, favorite action scenes, and I'd argue that the Truck Chase is one of the very best action sequences of all-time in all of cinema; one whose score compliments it to a "T".

So, comparing the music cues for these scenes is a bit unfair because they just don't seem as inspired by adventure as the others. However, these tracks are still fun and sound great. The Mine Car Chase is fast-paced, but just doesn't pack the orchestral "wallop" the Truck Chase does. But that's not a criticism of Williams' work as much as it probably is of the filmmaking. Anyone who doesn't mind the music in the actual film is still going to really enjoy all these tracks.

The last cue on the disc is "Finale and End Credits", which picks up in the movie exactly where one would think - the end when Indy and Willie are about to kiss and Short Round annoyingly covers his face and I want to smack him. He just went through a hellish thugee debacle and he can't "bare" to see his surrogate dad/best friend kiss a woman. Come on Speielberg, dammnit.

I've seen people who feel that the Indy scores must be ranked in order of greatness, but I don't think it's a fair assessment for anyone else reading this review to do such a thing. Every individual likes and dislikes certain things about any given object and film scores speak to people in exactly the same ways. So, I'll just tell you what I liked about this CD and what would have improved the experience for me:

Liked:

• Completing my trilogy of Indy scores!
• Anything Goes, Slalom on Mt. Humol, Nocturnal Activities, Bug Tunnel & Death Trap - these are probably my favorites cues on this one
• A John Williams score that reminds me of his other work from this period (Empire/Jedi, ET, Raider/Last Crusade)
• Cover art

Coulda been better:

• Release this in English! - Because this is only available via Japanese import, I can't read any of the extensive liner notes.
• Give us an extended version like the one done for Raiders in 1995. At only 40 minutes, it feels like there's certainly some music missing.

INDIANA JONES IV TITLE!!

It has been announced...and be sure to inhale deeply before you say it aloud.

Not exactly the "Pharaoh's Crown", huh JettL93?

For the non-believers (that have Flash!), check out the announcement on the official site or on Ain't It Cool.

Unlike some of the immediate reaction by raving fanboys/girls, I don't have any real distaste for the title. Fanboys/girls are apt tp have sudden, violent reactions, so nobody should be surprised. Least of all Lucas, who has experienced this phenomenon every two years since 1998.

The title has that pulpy, serial feel to it, which makes it fit in fine with "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Temple of Doom", and "Last Crusade". Personally, I almost wonder if it wouldn't have been appropriate just to call this film "Indiana Jones" and leave it at that. But using my previous arguement, that wouldn't fit in as nicely with the other three, would it?

DCA gets a facelift and SUPER Indiana Jones Adventure

Hi kids!
Disney's California Adventure (DCA) is finally going to get its $1.2 BILLION makeover, starting in 2008. Can you imagine, not even ten years old and already getting a facelift? (If you've been there, though, you know it's in dire need.) And before the decade is through, Disneyland's ailing Tomorrowland and several other attractions will also be getting some renovations. The rumor is that in addition to a Star Tours 2.0 (featuring new destinations!), Lucasfilm and Disney are working together on creating a bigger, better Indiana Jones Adventure ride over in Adventureland. By the looks of it, they're trying to recapture the spirit of what the original attraction was intended to be - TWO rides intersecting with each other AND the existing Jungle Cruise.

Read about all the plans on MiceAge.

There's an interesting article from last year detailing what the original plans for the Indy ride were, complete with artwork and site plans showing how the two Indy rides and the Jungle Cruise would have intertwined.

Behold: what Indy might look like at Disneyland one day.

Hasbro's Indy IV toys at San Diego Comic Con

Sorry, this post was on-hold for a few days by accident.

Check'em out!

There's a close up of the "mini heroes" 2-packs here, some of which weren't in the Comic Con display. Interestingly, the Marion Ravenwood mini figure isn't in any of these sets.

Another look at the five 3 3/4 inch figures Hasbro will have. I hope they make a melting-face Toht, too!

Possible Indy IV titles?? And Other Indy Info...

Well, the mysterious "JettL93" has been at it again on the AintItCool.com talkbacks. In the last day or two he/she has divulged:
**HIGHLIGHT TEXT FOR SPOILERS**

• Is the final script a rehash of older scripts? "besides a few key action sequences that where lifted (because) they were just to cool to ignore, the script is entirly different from the earlier drafts. and most of the leaked info was false or fan fic, including city of the gods, that title was never in the running, lucas has held onto it for possible use in a videogame."


• When can we expect a trailer? (One) teaser in the november before, a trailer in feb or march and a third trailer a month or so before the film is relesed...expect paramount to launch a huge online campaign with the official site (similar to what the dark night did with "i believe in harvet dent too")


• What movie will the trailer be attached to? (contains Title SPOILER) "Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf when it hit theatres this november...the teaser will not show a lot but will probabaly run in the range of a 1:45 to 2 mins, and you will see shots of the characters and certain action, the title "indiana jones and the Pharoah's crown" will also be revealed." Lucas has hinted that he would like to do 3 trailers, gradually showing more and more of the plot.


• And what about that title? "crown of the pharoh could possibly be the title instead of the pharoh's crown, george also had dynasty of the pharoahs as one of his suggested titles... if its not pharoah's crown, it will be a titlle (sic) that is very similar to it."


• What's the plot going to be? "The basic plot outline is (and I’m paraphrasing) the pharaoh’s crown was a crown that contained a large crystal (shaped like a skull) it held the power of the gods. Thousands of years ago a Egyptian tyrant stole the crown and tried to use its power to rule the world, the gods angry at this, unleashed a huge earthquake during which the crystal was separated from the crown and both were thought destroyed. However it turns out the crystal part of the crown was actually found 50 years ago (around 1910) by none other then Abner Ravenwood and has been stored by the Americans in the "raiders warehouse". Of course when the Russians discover the crown part they learn that the American’s have the crystal skull, they attempt to steal it and affix it to the crown to use the power to end the cold war and take over the world. The Americans are aware somebody has discovered the crown, since the crystal has been acting strangely, and causing weird things to be happening over area 51 (which the media has blamed on alien invasions) the American’s wanting the crown’s power to themselves decide to steal the crown from the Russians. However when Abner Ravenwood (john hurt) learns of this he is forced to come out of “hiding” and track down Indy (using shia) and convince him to find both pieces before the Americans and Russians do and destroy them both."

**END SPOILERS**
Now, be sure to take all the above with a high-blood pressure inducing amount of salt. "Jett" seems genuine enough, but I'm just cycnical enough to believe there's always someone out there willing to create an elaborate hoax with a mild-mannered demeanor.

Or, perhaps, this is an intentional "leak" by the Indy IV production to start building positive buzz early. This kind of internet "marketing" and PR has become increasingly popular and has really started to make a blip on the radar with some companies.

"Jett" says "more stuff will start to leak, i just have the advantage of being very close to the producer and able to get my hands on almost any info i want", which makes him/her even more intriguing.

Will we ever know who "Jett" really is?

Is this the boy who's got all the Indy info? (somehow, I doubt it)

Wanna see some photos from Indy IV?

A flurry of photographic activity has been happening in New Haven, Connecticut this week now that filming for Indy IV has gotten underway there.

Check out any of the below sites for pictures that appear to be Indy piggybacking a ride on the back of Shia" (Abner "Mutt" Ravenwood) motorcycle. Can you tell which are them and which are their stunt doubles?

http://www.dlisted.com/node/11958

http://tinyurl.com/2pdmln


http://tinyurl.com/37s5eh

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18532611&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7576&rfi=6

Indy IV Plot Details?

I know I've been sort of on a kick lately with all the Indy IV stuff, but, well, Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all-time favorite film. And with Indy's production kicking off late last week, the flurry of news is to be expected.

That said, a mysterious individual with some alleged Indy plot details popped up on Ain'tItCool's latest Indy IV talkback yesterday and today. He has the handle "JettL93" and seemed un-arrogantly confident in "clarifying" some of the rumors flying around the upcoming Indy sequel. I'm not saying this is George Lucas' son, Jett, who was born in 1993, but it's certainly an interesting coincidence.

Stranger things have happened on AICN talkbacks before. Last November Syl Stallone himself visited the site to read reactions to Rocky Balboa news and later participated in numerous Q&A rounds with talkbackers.

And several months ago a talkbacker going by the name "Walter B" outted himself as Bruce Willis on Die Hard 4.0 talkbacks and engaged in Q&A's through the talkback for several days.


*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

Among "Jett's" Indy IV comments are...

Dinosaurs rumored to be in the film: "there is ... a scene involving a dino dig and indy looking for another artifact when he runs into some baddies, and theres a chase through the dig site...they are not live dinos.."

Stan Winston is creating "creatures" for this film: "Remember indy 4 is going to deal with the supernatural aspects of the 50's, but it won't just be out there, it will use science and history to explian the pasranormal aspetcs (sic) of the film."

Shia is Indy and Marion's son: "Shia is not (Indy's) real kid...he's marian ravenwoods kid, but indy is sort of a father figure to him"

So, is this info legit? Is this just some talkbacker with an unusually inordinate amount of reserved non-know-it-all attitude that wants to look like they know what they're talking about? Who can say. Either way, there's a heck of a lot of fun in all the speculation.

PRODUCTION FOOTAGE! - More Indy IV News

IndianaJones.com has posted the first of what will surely be many more behind the scene production shorts. This one, from the first day of filming (rumored to be somewhere in New Mexico) seems to confirm a few minor clues we've heard about the "military base in the desert" setting for the opening sequence. As well as what appears to be a car full of teenagers (Indy Jr's "greaser" friends??) racing along the open highway.

Indy is back! FOR REAL!!

Take a peek at who's back in the fedora!

Yes, folks, Indiana Jones IV officially started filming earlier this week and on Thursday June 21, 2007, Mr. Spielberg himself snapped this picture of something that hasn't been seen in over over 18 years.

Although I'm skeptical of a few things associated with this production coughShiaLaBirthcough, seeing Harrison Ford in his famous fedora again has really got me pretty excited. Sure Spielberg is likely just trying to atone for the hand he had in destroying the movie of 80's toy phenomenon Transformers (TINO!) with this Indiana Jones pic, but I have to say right now, it's working.

Check out IndianaJones.com for updates on the production of the yet (unofficially) named Indy sequel (though rumors stemming from Frank Darabont's old draft are that it will be called "Indiana Jones and the City of Gods").

Read more production rumors at The Raider.net