Beef Jergy

Because work has gotten away from me, be so kind as to use this post as your Fun Friday Moment.

Viral videos are those sometimes funny, often stupid but mostly both, videos that are send to you by a friend or family member. They normally come in the form of a email Fwd that has the subject “OMG This is soooooo funny!” This person forwards it to that person and next thing you know these people have become famous for embarrassing themselves.

Recently South Park paid homage to a small collection of these internet celebs in a pretty funny episode. A word of warning: the South Park clip has some NSFW language. (A great thing about them posting on the internet)

And then right on top of this, Weezer released their newest single. A very similar love is given to our favorite internet celebs.

Big nerd points to those that had previously seen every reference from both clips. You can trade these points in for a collectible statue of Darth Vader battling a Hobbit.

Sorry gang, lots going so I’ve been absent. Some I can talk about now some I can’t. So lets get to the first order of business.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

If the Star Wars prequels were more like this, we’d have been alright. Granted the movie was not perfect. But then again how rare is that? How often is a single film perfect much less a third sequel? I had basically said to myself that if I left the theater with a smile on my face then Spielberg did his job. And I did.

Its tough revisiting these childhood heroes. You were at a much different place in your life when you were first introduced to them. The world was a lot more mysterious. There were many things you were willing to believe as fact simply because you didn’t know any better. You get attached to these things at a time when it is so easy to become attached. And then the years pass and the reality of the world sets it. You become a bit more cynical and apprehensive about what the world has to offer. We all have things from our past that we hold in a higher regard that possibly we should. And that is a god thing. It brings us comfort and joy and reminds us of a time when we were much more innocent and a lot less grouchy.

Indiana Jones is one of those things from that childhood long ago. When I just had my basement finished and new big screen mounted on the wall, what was the first movie I watched from start to finish? Not Star Wars but Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Star Wars would have been tops ten years ago. But the ‘Special Editions’ and prequels have place a small dark spot on that trilogy of movies that turn me into an 8 year old again. When I see Hayden Christensen pop up at the end of Jedi, it rips me out of the spell I am put in watching Luke and the gang.

The Indy trilogy however is just as I remembered it when I saw it in the theater many years ago. And I like that. Its what is supposed to be great about films. The only differences should be in preserving the film so that many more generations can enjoy what you saw those times before. Even though they aren’t touching the old, there is tremendous pressure on Lucas and Spielberg by adding a new chapter to the series. It will forever be attached to the originals. Will it be the ‘black sheep’ of the family you keep locked in the attic and feed a bucket of fish heads every week? Or will it bring back those feelings again and be a movie you will revisit and show to your children along side the other great adventure flicks?

I’m glad to say in my opinion it fits in the later category. Like I said I don’t think it is perfect. And most all of the criticisms that I hear from people whose opinions I respect I agree with. But none of them kept me from enjoying the film. Last night I went to my favorite movie theater to see it a second time. I wasn’t feeling particularly good and planned on only seeing maybe half the film. Well I stayed for the whole thing and left again with that smile on my face.

Thats really all I have in me for right now. I have a ton of work piling up and the cold ain’t getting any better.

Another old friend from summers past returns this weekend when world-renown archaeologist, Indiana Jones, is thrust into another adventure. And I, for one, am excited. I can’t help it. Even in today’s world of dragging out character’s from my youth in an attempt to pull at the strings of nostalgia only to be somewhat disappointed (Phantom Menace?), I am STILL excited. I like everything about these movies. I love the characters, the settings, the story, the hint of the supernatural, EVERYTHING.

Everyone had their own thoughts on ranking the films. In general though it is widely accepted that Temple of Doom is the worst of the three. That is not to say that a lot of people hate Temple. On the contrary, it has a certain charm to it, plus it is an Indy film. The other night I did finally notice why perhaps *I* consider this to be the worst of the three.

In preparation of the 4th film, I have started rewatching the originals. I have absolutely nothing bad at all to say about Raiders. I love everything about it from start to finish. It has my favorite babe (Marian), my favorite object (The Ark) and my favorite villains (Toht and Belloq).

Then I got to Temple of Doom. I have to say the movie starts great. I love the opening sequence with Dr. Jones bargaining for the diamond with Lao Che.

Start at the 2:40 mark

It was then that things start to take a turn for the worse and mainly it deals with Willie. Everything out of her mouth seemed to be some lame attempt at forced comedy. as Lao would say “SIT DOWN!” The movie continues to bring in these ‘comedic’ moments throughout. Now I am not suggesting that these movie should be devoid of humor. There were plenty of laughs in Raiders. Its just that the comedy came from situations, not in people. And Kate Capshaw is not the least bit funny. Then pile on top of that funny man number 2. Short Round.

Let’s forget the fact that most of his humor came from the fact that he talked funny. But the fact that we had to team Indy with a kid. *sigh* Exactly.

But all of that aside, I think the thing that stuck out most to me was when the comedy actually got in the way of the story. All of the exposition in Raiders was uninterrupted. In this scene, Indy explains the legend of the Ark of the Covenant. By the end of this scene we know what it is, why the Nazis want it and why Indy must beat them to it. Its a wonderful scene with Indy and Marcus playing off one another in gleefully telling the two government agents the story the the lost Ark. Its made increasingly creepy by the wonderful John Williams score.

Note: This YouTube clip is a ‘re-imagining’ of Raiders done in parts like a serial and redone in black and white. A neat idea.

Now fast forward to Temple of Doom. Indy, Willie and Shorty and sitting down to dinner at Pankot Palace. Dr. Jones is in discussion with Prime Minister Chattar Lal and Captain Blumburtt. It is during this conversation that you learn of the mysterious Thugee Cult and what they were responsible for. The is a cult that did horrifying, unspeakable things. This conversation should bring shivers to your spine as you learn more about what this group did and the hold they had. However you can’t follow the damn conversation because they thought it would be funnier to cut every two seconds to Willie passing out, saying she is going to throw up and being all out obnoxious by seeing people eat snakes, bugs, monkey brains and eyeballs.

Its almost as if the story is second fiddle to the laughs. And I think this is mainly why this movie fails as a whole. Lucas always likes to put the blame on the McGuffin. For those that don’t know, McGuffin is a film term made famous by Hitchcock that describes the goal of our hero. The object he is searching for. He felt the Sankara Stones weren’t a solid enough object to hold the audiences attention. But I say, if the writing is solid enough to MAKE the audience care, then the hero could be looking for a pile of mystical dino turds! Just tell me why I should care.

It also has one of my least favorite plot devices which is turning the good guy ‘bad’ because he is under some sort of spell for a short period of time. LAME!

I think what makes it all the more distressing is that there is tremendous potential in this film for it to be great. I blame Lawrence Kasdan really. He is the screenwriter responsible for Raiders as well as Empire Strikes Back. I know if he weren’t busy writing the Big Chill, he would have fixed all my issues with Temple of Doom.

Mola Ram is a tremendous villain played by Bollywood vet Amrish Puri. He was so good I wish he had more to do. The mine cart chase, the suspension bridge and the opening sequence were all wonderful action pieces. And I actually was interested in hearing a legend I might not have been as familiar with.

All in all its still and Indy film and I still had fun. But I’m actually looking to get through this quickly so that I can get to Last Crusade. The third movie I feel still inserts a bit too much forced humor, but never at the cost of the story. And they make Sallah and Brody fools when there was no indication that they were fools in the first film. But the tone and feel are much more in line with Raiders and it ranks high in my opinion.

I’ll let you know what my thoughts on part 4 are when I see it. I hope we get more 1 and 3 and less 2. Only time will tell.

this movie does have Mrs. Jergy’s favorite part of all three:

I’m feeling rather musical today. Today I offer the first single off of the new Flight of the Conchords album. For those that haven’t caught them, they are a New Zealand comedy music duo. I know music and comedy tend to come off rather, ahem, cheesy. But these gents are both talented in both music and comedy. I suggest you rent the first season at your local video store to see what I mean.

Ladies love the feel of the wheel.

ha ha, uh

So gang summertime is rapidly approaching which means trips to the beach. The Baltimore Sun is running a beach section in the paper today. Check it out!

Check out Virginia Beach, the Outer Banks and Myrtle Beach articles especially. I can vouch for the writer. She’s good. :-)

Considering Mother’s Day is only in celebration of human mother’s I give you this. Its a collection of short films. Since I’m having a very hard time describing it, let me allow the Sundance Channel explain:

Green Porno is a series of very short films conceived, written and co-directed by and featuring Isabella Rossellini. Inspired by the amazing and often bizarre sexual practices of insects and other creatures, these 8 films are both comical and insightful studies of the curious ways a variety of earth’s tiny creatures ‘make love’.

They have made each film viewable on the Sundance Channel website. I’m not sure about marking this NSFW. I guess I better because I don’t know how you would explain it to anyone that walked it.

Well as you can see, its been a pretty slow week. Not a whole lot to report. So we roll into another Friday Fun Moment.

The Office is one of the more popular shows on the telly nowadays. I can’t watch it because I was exposed to the BBC version first. And now its like watching other actors play roles they shouldn’t be in. I respect the American version, but nothing makes me laugh like David, Gareth, Tim and the gang.

Here’s a double shot.

Check it out!

Because I love you all so much, here is a triple shot of Friday Fun to celebrate the arrival of May.

Ya know, there is no finer display of the talent this country has than cable access television. Simply the best.

First we have DANTE!!

I would go to church every Sunday if he was giving the sermon. Warning!! NSFW language. So if there are kiddies in the room or the boss is nearby, throw on some headphones. Sometimes the word of God can be vulgar.

Host John Kilduff is the king of multi-tasking. He has a show called Let’s Paint TV. Insanity rules on Let’s Paint TV.

The great thing about blogs is the sheer amount of them. You can find a blog that pretty much covers any topic you would like to read about (and some you wouldn’t). I find this one particularly brilliant if you collected little cards of your sports heroes when you were a kid.

The Ugly Baseball Card Blog