Indy Returns! According to CNN.com, a deal in "imminent" for a fourth
Indiana Jones film, and the screenplay will not be written by M. Night Shyamalan. Don't get me wrong, I liked The Sixth Sense, I just don't think he's the right guy to pen an Indiana Jones movie. I think Frank Darabont is an excellent choice. Rumor has it Kate Capshaw and Karen Allen will return with cameo roles, but no mention of poor Short Round. Speaking of Short Round, a quick search of the IMDB reveals that Ke Huy-Quan , now known as Jonathan Ke Quan was a stunt rigger for The X-Men. Apparently he didn't actually fall of the edge of the Earth after Head of the Class.
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  The Wilhelm Scream Just when I though I knew everything there was to know about Star Wars. Issue #61 of the Homing Beacon lists several easter eggs in Episode II. While none of the easter eggs was a surprise I learned something new. Ever notice there is a certain scream that can be heard in every George Lucas movie? I've noticed it for years, but never really thought about it. I figured it was just a stock sound effect that was used frequently. It turns out that this is a scream originally recorded in 1951 for the film "Distant Drums," and is a personal signature of sorts for Sound Designer Ben Burtt. The scream is known as the "Wilhelm scream" after one of the characters who uttered it in a subsequent film. The list of films containing the scream runs that gamut from "Them" to "Spiderman." If you never noticed it before, you can listen to it here. It will sound familiar.  ¶ 10:06 PM 1 Comments

  America's Army (I gave them six years of my life and all I got was this lousy t-shirt, er, video game.) I just signed up to receive the CD of America's Army, the new free game for the PC developed by, you guessed it, the U.S. Army. There are two parts to the game. One is a strategy role playing game, and the second appears to be a first person shooter. Frankly I'm surprised it took them so long to do something like this. I already gave the Army six years, so it's not going to work as far as recruiting me, but very clever, nonetheless. I just wonder if I am going to get recruiting spam...
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  Wired Top 20 Sci-Fi Films of All Time Wired has come up with a list of the Top 20 Sci-Fi Films of All Time. I'm still contemplating what I think of this list, but I really have a tough time with any list which places an Ethan Hawke film above Star Wars. They even place Jurassic Park a notch above it on the list. Blasphemy!



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  Jumping the Shark It seems appropriate in this week of series finales of shows which have long since lost their cultural relevancy, that I link to a site dedicated to jumping the shark. For the uninitiated, the expression refers to Fonzie literally jumping over a shark on Happy Days, a moment that will live in television infamy forever. Jumptheshark.com lists all of the "very special" moments when our favorite shows went bad, including two shows which were once favorites of mine, the X-Files and Ally McBeal, both of which should have made a graceful exit at least a season ago, but instead lingered painfully on, until absolutely no one was watching. Matt Groening, are you listening?



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  Attack of the Clones Well, I've seen it, and all I can say is Yoda rocks! I want to keep this blog spoiler free for the sane people who didn't feel the obsessive need to get up before work and see the movie on opening day, but I'll just say it's no Empire, but it's no Phantom Menace either. I wasn't able to see it in a digital projection theatre, so I can't comment on that yet, but I hope to make the trek to the Ziegfeld in the next couple of weeks. Anyone out there seen both the digital and non-digital versions?



Apparently Star Wars fans in Quebec are still waiting. Theatres there are not happy with the requirements 20th Century Fox imposes in order to show the film. Bummer.





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