Review: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Well, the new one has had its premiere in Cannes so I thought I'd give the first one a watch. Introduce myself to the whole Indiana Jones thing. It's good for someone who studies pop culture to actually acquaint myself with some of it.

The most interesting thing about the movie for me though, watching it 27 years after it's been released was that I felt that I had watched it all before - everything seemed so familiar. My theory is that the entire movie has been parodied and referenced by so many different people that you could actually reconstruct the entire movie from them. The first place you'll start would be The Simpsons and then you'll move on.

The movie itself was great - everything you could want from an action film really. And what most action films have been aspiring to do since. I'll have to grab a copy of the second and watch it as soon as I can me thinks.

8.5/10

Some Quick Film Reviews

Seen a bunch of films over the last couple of weeks. So without wasting any more time...

Thelma & Louise (1991, Ridley Scott)
I now finally understand that Simpsons episode where Marge meets Ruth Powers. This is one of those movies that everyone has seemed to have seen except for me... but not anymore! The film itself was really enjoyable. 8/10

Strictly Ballroom (1992, Baz Luhrmann)
I saw Moulin Rouge! about a month ago which introduced me to the exorbitant Baz Luhrmann. The amazing thing is how effortlessly he pulls it off. This film is certainly a charmer. 8/10

A Mighty Wind (2003, Christopher Guest)
Back in first year I randomly got the poster for this film to liven up the hallway in my hall of residence. There was something about those cheery faces that I felt would unsettle everyone else on the floor. I'm a huge fan of the previous movies (Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman, etc...) and this one was nice while not quite living up to those ones. 7.5/10

THX 1138 (1971, George Lucas)
I've never been a big fan of these totalitarian visions of the future movies. They all seem too 1984ish. A good one though. 7/10

Pret-A-Porter (1994, Robert Altman)
This is the eighth Altman film I've seen and this one just felt like Altman going through the paces. It was him applying all those techniques he's known for but for what? It was funny, had some interesting characters and worked. Maybe I'm just experiencing some Altman burnout - seven of those Altman films I saw this year. 7/10