Okay, so I just finished watching a "borrowed" copy of Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. I was a little at odds with the movie. Had it been a stand-alone film not associated with the Indiana Jones series, I would be panning the shit out of it right now. For merit sake, I'm going to say it was watchable and semi-entertaining. Definetely not the best one, but better than some of the shit I've seen this year. Is my opinion swayed by the history of the character? You bet you ass it is; but I'll bet a lot of people gave it a little undeserved credit, too. What I really took away from it was an undying need to watch one of the original three films...but which one??

I haven't watched an Indiana Jones movies in close to six years now. I watched the shit out of them as a kid, but kind of forgot about them for a bit. Fads come and go, but very few movies in the past decade or so have had the same effect on me that those did. I did enjoy the staple film series: Star Wars, Back To The Future, yadda yadda yadda. None have made me as happy to watch, though, as the Indiana Jones films. There's something about them that I find intoxicatingly entertaining. You must know what its like to get a film stuck in your head from time to time. The only remedy is to watch it. But, back to my dilemma: which one do I watch?

Long story short, I eventually settled on Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, my favorite one of the series. It's been widely discussed on fan sites as being the weakest of the three movies (clearly before Crystal Skull hit the theatres), but to me it was always the stand-out. Maybe you don't agree, but for my money nothing beats the second installment of the series. It had so much cool shit happening in it. Life-raft racing down a mountain side, the dude who pulls out your heart while chanting "Kali-Ma", monkey brain stew, the spiked room full of bugs, the rope bridge scene, Short Round, the opening shoot-out, and, last but not least, that kick-ass mine cart chase.  What could be better than that?

So I watched it, bringing back a flood of memories from when I was a kid. It's amazing what you can recall when given the right catalyst. I was surprised to find that I could still narrate along with the dialogue through most of the movie. It was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon, and restored my love of Indiana after the less-than-stellar Crystal Skull incident. I'm already planning on watching the others later this evening, kind of a childhood reunion with my subconcious. I wonder how much of those I'll remember as well.

Anyone else agree with me that Temple Of Doom was the greatest in the series? If not, which one did you like better? (None of you smarty-farties better say Crystal Skull, because I know you're lying your ass off!!) Any memories of when you used to watch the films? Or, which film series was better? Maybe you didn't even like the Indiana Jones movies...although I don't know how anyone could possibly hate such a fantastic character as Dr. Jones.

Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory.

-The Big Bad