Indiana Jones, and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones are back, and it's my first premiere of the year. For the sake of this movie, I'll treat it as such. A movie by itself, and not compare it to the previous movies. That would be wrong in my eyes, people should go to this movie to see this, not to compare it to the predecessors. A lot of critics tend to do that, and that annoys me a fair bit. Rarely are the sequels better than the originals.

So, without further a do, here we go.

It starts off set in 1957, out in the desert, and Mr Jones is in a bit of a pickle after being captured by the Russian's, on American soil. They are looking for an artifact, and they want Indiana Jones to find it for them in a giant secretive warehouse. During this all, we get to meet the badguy (badgirl) Irina Spalko, played by Cate Blanchett. She plays a butch Russian, who is the leader of the operation. I had my reservations about her playing the more rough and tough role, and and accent to boot. And early in a few of the early scenes, it did feel a bit awkward. But it did not last long, and for the rest of the movie, she did first class job. Much better than I was expecting. She did the nutjob of a character great justice.

During the early scenes with Irina Spalko, we also meet Indiana Jones (or Henry Jones if you prefer) played by Harrison Ford. There were a few people saying he was too old, or too something else. Whatever, I didn't see what they saw (again, not comparing to the previous movies). It was still your traditional Harrison Ford, although with certainly a bit less agility and elegance, but as entertaining as ever. Simply, if you like Harrison Ford, you will like this movie. That's how good he is usually, and this is no different.

Later in the movie we will meet Mutt, or as you will later find out (But probably already know, thanks to the idiots who released this sorta big plot line before it was released), Indiana Jones son. He is played by Shia LaBeouf, who you will remember from last years Blockbuster, Transformers. A lot of people, including me thought that it would be his big break, and a big chance to make a name for himself. Turns out they were right, and as he shows in this movie, he is made of the right stuff. He really could have a strong career if he keeps this up. Although things are never that simple are they.

This movie is a colossus sized Adventure. Although weighing in at around 2 hours (so around the normal length for a quality movie), it was not long enough for me. I simply wanted more, I wouldn't of cared if they were sitting around sipping tea (well maybe a little), I just wanted to watch more. It was just so entertaining, and a joy to watch.

But unfortunately it was not all smooth sailing. There were a few things and moments in the movie that were just off. When you watch the movie, I am sure you will know I am talking about. For some people, they will just add to the story, for some it will detract from it. For me, it did detract from it. They were still enjoyable moments, but it was all to familiarly done too quickly, not thought through enough, and seemingly a bit out of place. There are also a few small parts which you may or may not notice where things where off, or where they did not care to explain them very much at all (which would not have taken much effort). But, there were more 'bad' parts than there should be, with such a talented team working on it. You could tell there was a great influence of Steven Spielberg just watching the movie, in most cases that is a good thing, but there where a few cases where I think they tried to out do themselves. I don't know who it was for sure, but whoever they were, I think they just tried to go too far at times, and made it worse. Would've been smarter to have tried to slow things down, rather than the information overload that occurred towards the end.

I thought I knew what to expect for this one, so I suppose I have to credit to them for creating some strange moments which I did not predict, or get close to predicting before the movie. Unfortunately, this one could really been great, and I thought they might have done it, but no.

It gets a 8.5, but really it should have been a 9.5 considering the immense skill involved with the movie, and the great legacy of Indiana Jones. All In all, it is a great movie, but I was only dissaponted, because Iknow it cou;ld've been better.

Not sure which movie will be next up for me, Caspian Prince won't premiere until 14th of June In New Zealand, and then it will be available nationwide on the 19th. Any suggestions about what you would like to see here would be greatly appreciated.

Iron Man

First movie up, it's what seems to be one of the hottest things around right now, Iron Man. I appreciate that a lot of people who want to read reviews, have not actually seen the movie. So, I will do my best in all of my reviews to make sure I reveal as little as possible about the actual plot, but to still give a good idea of how good the movie is, a whether you will like it.


Personally, I do think it is the hottest movie around. Robert Downey Jr. was very good in his role; I really thought he did a great job. Very convincing and believable as an actor should be, but he seemed to help bring that something extra to the movie. It is something that can really help to appeal to a wide audience, by not just being 'yeah, bash bang boom', but having a role that has depth and variation, which he has absolutely thrived in here. In the theatre, there was plenty of laughter, plenty of oohs and ahhs, and just enough quiet and tender moments spread out to keep viewers on their toes. The graphics for the film for great as you would expect from a big budget movie these days, so not a lot to say there (although I am certainly not a expert on Graphics).


The actual person can fall away into the shadow of the hero’s persona. But they did a very good job of not making too much of it about Iron Man (your traditional superhero movie where it's a clash of superpowers in big battles, which can get old quickly if not done right). The main base to the plot is very relevant to issues of today, and near all of it seemed possible/believable (made the movie feel realistic, not gimmicky or clichéd). One major reason this movie is being successful, and I think will continue to be, is that it felt like you were watching a great movie, not just a cool superhero movie. Possibly why Superman and Batman (although I expect the Dark Knight to make all the previous Batman movies to hang their heads in shame) thus far have not been a huge success awards wise (I think Spiderman is an example of superheroes done right, well, most of the time).


Gwyneth Paltrow I thought was near her best. She played her role with real class, and again really believable. I would not say it was an exciting role, but I would say that It was a vital role, and don't think anyone could have done it better than her. This would be the part where I say well done to whoever did the casting; I believe they were absolutely spot on with the actors and actresses in this film.


I have also got to give congratulations to John Favreau. Directing only his third movie (although an experienced actor), his 2 others being Elf (Starring Will Ferrell) and Zathura, this has got to shoot him right up the list of impressive new directors after his previous 2 did not really seem to make much of an impact.

Some of the credit also has to go to writers, as this was certainly a great story, and one I would not mind experiencing over an over again.


We start off with a very good movie, potentially one of the best for this year. I would recommend this movie to everyone. A true must see in my eyes.

A deserved 8.5/10 from me.





Next movie up will be the NZ premiere of Indiana Jones, and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That's tonight, so I'll post what it's like the next day.

Gavin DeGraw Review

The new self titled album from Gavin Degraw just hit the shelf’s around a fortnight ago, on May 6. I had high hopes for this one.

I really enjoyed his previous album Chariot, it was a good album, and it sounded like he had some real potential. Although Chariot wasn't quite as good of an overall album I was hoping (there were some great songs on there, and some that were ok at best).

So, now he has released his second studio album, and I love it! He still has is distinct sound, but it feels much more refined. I'm In Love With A Girl is the first single, and it is a sign of the real quality Gavin DeGraw has provided. There is a reason it has debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200. It's brilliant. His songs show some lovely variations and the album as a whole compliments itself. It is one of the albums where nearly every song you can sit back and listen to over and over. I think Chariot did have similar quality, but his self titled album has gone to a new level.

There are a lot of quality albums around right now, and this one is right up there. A great thing about his music is that it will appeal to so many people. No music appeals to everyone, but when it is this good to listen to, it's hard not to like it. My 2 favourite songs of the album would be 'She Holds A Key' and 'Untamed'.
I would recommend it to most people. If you've heard his Single I'm In Love With A girl, it's a taste of what you can expect.

It gets a 9/10, although there are a few high quality albums around, that would get a rating of 9. It's one of the ten best albums of this year so far in my opinion.

On another note, here's a shortlist of my favourite albums that are still doing well, but aren't quite so new. If you can't think of an album to buy, I would recommend any of these to you.

Spirit by Leona Lewis 9.5

Daughtry by Daughtry 9.5

Minutes to Midnight by Linkin Park 9

Riot! by Paramore 9

Blackout by Britney Spears 8.5

Jordin Sparks by Jordin Sparks 8.5

Good Girl Gone Bad by Rihanna 8.5

Exclusive by Chris Brown 8.5

Dreaming Out Loud by OneRepublic 8.5

Finding Beauty in Negative Places by Seether 8

Simple Plan by Simple Plan 8

Take a Bow, Rihanna

If you pay any attention to the Billboard Hot 100, you will know that a new song a rocketed to #1.








Rihanna's Take a Bow has knocked off Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love (spent a total of 4 weeks at #1), all the way from 53rd. It is the Second largest jump to the top in the charts history. A seriously big leap. It only just surpassed Kelly Clarksons Debut Single A Moment Like this, back on October 5 2002, which jumped from 52nd. The largest is Maroon 5's Makes Me Wonder only back in May 12 2007, all the way from 64. How long it will take to dislodge Rihanna this time? I'm sure you will remember her last #1, Umbrella.


Take a bow could be bigger.

Personally, I really like this song. Her vocals are again very good, as smooth as ever. The music compliments her very well in this song. Nothing worse than a song where the singer is fighting against the music for supremacy. To top it all off, the song itself is very good, and you can really hear that it was written by Ne-Yo.

It's Number 1, and I will be happy if it stays there for a while. A good example of when everything fits together just right.

Leona Lewis also has a song of the same name on her album Spirit, and it was my pick to be her 2nd single (obviously I was wrong). That would've been interesting (Likely would've been 2 Take a Bow's in the top 10), becuase I think Leona Lewis could have another big hit when/if she releases that song as a single. I'm sure Leona Lewis would break the top 10 easily with that song, not as easily as Rihanna's, but still with ease.

Take a Bow Written By Ne-Yo, Perfromed by Rihanna.
Off the Album Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded.
Release Date: The exact date will depend on where you live, but it should be avaliable in early June (June 4 is the earliest I have seen)
Lyrics Courtesy of Metrolyrics
Video Courtesy of YouTube