The Last Indiana Jones Soundtrack?!

When Revenge of the Sith came out, I reviewed (and perhaps overanalyzed) the soundtrack, which is John Williams's last Star Wars score. When Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out, I didn't really say anything about what is potentially Williams's last Indiana Jones score. That is about to change.

Williams's Crystal Skull score is probably the best example of the composer's use of his more modernistic approach towards adapting one of his most memorable themes. The tone of his Star Wars prequel scores sounded, at times, experimental, as if Williams was consciously looking for new sounds to use. But with Indy 4, Williams knew exactly what he wanted and went for it.

Another big difference is the Crystal Skull utilizes a lot of older themes from the original trilogy. "Spell of the Skull," "Warehouse Escape" (not on album), and "Journey to Peru" all contain direct quotes from Raiders of the Lost Ark. "The Snake Pit" also hints at the "Basket Game," while the "Jungle Chase" has some smatterings of the "Desert Chase" and perhaps even the tank scene from Last Crusade. This doesn't even cover the use of the Father Theme from Last Crusade, Marion's Theme, and of course the Raiders March.

In other words, there's a plethora of themes in use, not to mention the three new ones written for the movie. "The Adventures of Mutt" (which won a Grammy) is pure swashbuckling music from the 1930s with hints at the Raiders March. As far as I can remember, the theme is only used during two chase sequences. Spalko's Theme and the Crystal Skull's Theme both have a seductively evil sound to them. Spalko's and, to a lesser extent, the Russian motif are used throughout most of the film, but the Crystal Skull's theme dominates the later half of the score. There are many good variations of this theme that can be found on the album.

Which brings us to the biggest problem with the score: presentation. In the movie, the score is pretty much left alone with only a couple cuts and splices. The album, on the other hand, just doesn't have enough room to adequately represent the score. It truly needed to be released as a two disc set (much like ROTS needed to). The Incredible Hulk and Benjamin Button both had two disc releases, so why can't a bigwig like Williams get one? The album seems to favor the creepier aspects of the score focusing on the Crystal Skull theme. It's a shame that the "Jungle Chase" was edited as such, but the end credits are a lot tighter than ROTS.

Probably down the line we'll get the complete score on CD, maybe in time for Indy 5. Hearing this score, I wonder why Williams couldn't have done something similar with the Star Wars scores. The score: A+ The album: B

Blood Feud

The Name is...

James Bond may be lucky at cards, with the ladies, and against evil organizations, but he's never had much luck with merchandising. Just google James Bond figures, and you're not going find as much as you'd think there would be. So, if you're needing a 3-3/4" figure of Daniel Craig, here's what you could do:




Take the body of the recent movie version of Wolverine from Hasbro, pop his head off and replace it with the head of Craig's figure from Golden Compass. It fits pretty well, a little large but still works with the body. Then, arm your new 007 with any armament from a GI Joe figure. If you're really good with painting, you probably redo the shirt and pants to look more like something Craig wore in Casino Royale.

Sadly, this wasn't originally my idea. I read it off of a post on Cool Toy Review's forum. (I think) The poster didn't give any pictures so hopefully mine will give you an idea of what the final figure should look like.



Overall, it makes for a nice figure. Unfortunately, there's no 3-3/4" figure that I can think of that has a tuxedo body or a Sean Connery (or Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan) head. Pictured with the faux Bond is the most current mold of the Baroness from GI Joe. I would have poised him with the animated version of Lady Jaye, but I was too lazy to take off her awkward backpack.

A Time To Celebrate

But first, a little back story. My father and I are both fans of Hopalong Cassidy. He got into the show when he was a kid, and it was originally broadcasted. I was luckily enough to grow up with WBNX, a local television station that showed Westerns every Saturday afternoon, including Hopalong Cassidy.

Of late, my father has a re-kindling of his love of westerns, pursuing DVD releases of all the Hopalong shows, and we watch them all together, remembering back in the day when television was actually entertaining. Recently, I wrote a Hopalong short story for my father. It was he who suggested that he submitted it to Hoppy Talk, the official fanzine for Hopalong fans.

And you know what? They published it! They serialized the story into 3 parts. (Part three has not been released yet.) I know it's not much, and I certainly didn't get paid in any way, but maybe it's a sign, or at least a start of something...

Mother Soundtrack Review

Click on the picture to read my review of Mother soundtrack. Special thanks, as always, to Larry for posting it on his site, Godzilla Monster Music.