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inulroIt's been a hectic few days, so I'm going to do this in separate installments. I'll start with The Good.
There's about 20 Netscrapes et al. out there where I've listed my favourite movie as some combination of Wings of Desire, The Lion in Winter and other stuff starring Peter O'Toole & Katherine Hepburn or with subtitles. However, if I'm truthful, the film that I've seen the most times in my life is Raiders of the Lost Ark.
While the rest of my generation was geeking out over Star Wars, I was watching Raiders a lot (I lost count at 5 at the age of 14). Indy was my hero - my dead languages and archaeology nerdiness goes back a long way (seriously, folks, the only reason I didn't go into archaeology is my less than positive relationship with the Great Outdoors). This movie got me through living in Saskatchewan and hating it till I discovered David Bowie.
Originally, I didn't get to see it at all. When it was first released, it had an "R" rating in Sask., which meant you couldn't get in if you were under 18 unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. My parents categorically would not take us to such films no matter how desperate we were.[1] In the rest of the world it had a "PG" rating. However, after it won lots of Oscars it came back again, re-rated as PG. I went the day it opened and was not disappointed. I'd already read the comic, a gazillion reviews, and the MAD magazine satire.
So when the Indiana Jones DVD box set came out, I had to buy it. Friday night we watched Raiders to see if it still rocks my world.
The verdict is: yes it does! I haven't seen it in years, so I'd forgotten some of the sequence of events, but it was definitely a "comfortable old friend" type situation. The only thing I noticed as an adult that I never did before was when Sallah is talking about the Germans hiring all the available diggers and says "it's like the age of the Pharoahs is back" in relation to slave labour.
Next weekend, I'll examine whether Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is as big a pile of poo as I remember. I may just have hated it because of how emotionally invested I was in the first one. Part of the reason I like "Raiders" so much is I liked the female lead, and was sorely disappointed when she didn't appear again. That, and the annoying kid. But maybe now I'll be able to judge it on its own merits. I still suspect it'll end up being an expensive coaster.
Pirates of the Caribbean is likely to occupy the space in my heart right next to Raiders - presence of Johnny Depp aside, they push all the same buttons.
[1] I didn't see Ghost Story till I was in my late 20s as a result.
There's about 20 Netscrapes et al. out there where I've listed my favourite movie as some combination of Wings of Desire, The Lion in Winter and other stuff starring Peter O'Toole & Katherine Hepburn or with subtitles. However, if I'm truthful, the film that I've seen the most times in my life is Raiders of the Lost Ark.
While the rest of my generation was geeking out over Star Wars, I was watching Raiders a lot (I lost count at 5 at the age of 14). Indy was my hero - my dead languages and archaeology nerdiness goes back a long way (seriously, folks, the only reason I didn't go into archaeology is my less than positive relationship with the Great Outdoors). This movie got me through living in Saskatchewan and hating it till I discovered David Bowie.
Originally, I didn't get to see it at all. When it was first released, it had an "R" rating in Sask., which meant you couldn't get in if you were under 18 unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. My parents categorically would not take us to such films no matter how desperate we were.[1] In the rest of the world it had a "PG" rating. However, after it won lots of Oscars it came back again, re-rated as PG. I went the day it opened and was not disappointed. I'd already read the comic, a gazillion reviews, and the MAD magazine satire.
So when the Indiana Jones DVD box set came out, I had to buy it. Friday night we watched Raiders to see if it still rocks my world.
The verdict is: yes it does! I haven't seen it in years, so I'd forgotten some of the sequence of events, but it was definitely a "comfortable old friend" type situation. The only thing I noticed as an adult that I never did before was when Sallah is talking about the Germans hiring all the available diggers and says "it's like the age of the Pharoahs is back" in relation to slave labour.
Next weekend, I'll examine whether Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is as big a pile of poo as I remember. I may just have hated it because of how emotionally invested I was in the first one. Part of the reason I like "Raiders" so much is I liked the female lead, and was sorely disappointed when she didn't appear again. That, and the annoying kid. But maybe now I'll be able to judge it on its own merits. I still suspect it'll end up being an expensive coaster.
Pirates of the Caribbean is likely to occupy the space in my heart right next to Raiders - presence of Johnny Depp aside, they push all the same buttons.
[1] I didn't see Ghost Story till I was in my late 20s as a result.
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Movie ratings
Date: 2003-12-15 11:41 am (UTC)"PG means Parental Guidance! It means there's something in the movie that I need to be concerned about! There might be a dirty joke in there, or something else inappropriate!"
As if hearing a dirty joke at the age of 12-13 was going to scar me for life.
I didn't see my first movie until I was 9, I think.
I also love "Raiders" and "Pirates" - I must own them both very soon, I think.
Re: Movie ratings
Date: 2003-12-15 01:11 pm (UTC)Also, I had my own paper route from the age of 11 as well as babysitting money the following year, so they only had so much control over what movies I saw, though I don't recall ever being forbidden to see a PG film.
Ironically, they censored the TV we watched like hell, yet rarely censored our reading material, even after I pointed out that we read lots of stuff they'd never let us near if it was on TV or in a movie. Because, like, reading's good for you. It's probably just as well they never took much interest in my reading material.
What chapped my ass about Raiders being an "R", is that I knew damn well that if I'd been able to get across the border to Manitoba, North Dakota or Alberta (or even somewhere you'd want to go), I would have been able to walk in by myself.
Re: Movie ratings
Date: 2003-12-15 01:35 pm (UTC)