What Can I Say? Indy's Back!

The danger inherent in any sequel made decades after the original film(s) is obvious. Part IV's are not known to be succesful. Movie stars tend to give up action roles as they get older. This movie could have been quite a disappointment.

Yet, it wasn't. In fact, it was the second movie in the last twelve months to meet the above criteria and not suck (the other one being Live Free or Die Hard, the first film reviewed in this space).

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is everything you want from a summer popcorn movie, in full Spielberg style. And Harrison Ford is not too old, and Shia LaBeouf is not lame, and it is good to have Karen Allen back.

One thing I did miss, was the feeling of endless different locations and dire situations. This aspect of the previous installments (especially the first) definitely delivered bang for your buck. You walk out of the theater thinking, "Wow! That was really a lot of movie!" This movie had a similar running time, but it felt shorter, because it just didn't seem to take very much time to get to the place they ultimately needed to be. It felt like, "They were here, then they went there, then they came to this place." Boom.

That being said, it had chase scenes, sword fights, death defying waterfall plunges, poison darts, terrifying entomological adversaries, all against fantastic backdrops, from the American desert to the South American jungle. Oh yeah, and it also had INDIANA JONES!

Seriously, Indiana Jones, as created and executed by Messrs Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford, is one of the greatest action/adventure heroes of all time. (For GenXers, dare I say, the greatest?) And Lucas and Spielberg give him plenty of things to do. Plenty of impossible situations, plenty of fights, plenty of one-liners. And Harrison Ford pulls it off. If you were willing to suspend disbelief for young Indy, you should be able to suspend it for 60s Indy, because Harrison Ford himself proves that it's possible to age that well.

In addition, the stunts and action are everything you could hope for in a movie bearing the Indiana Jones name. Let me just say: swordfight between two people standing up in the back of two Jeeps driving at top speeds side by side through the jungle. If that doesn't get you revved up, this isn't your type of movie.

But what of the supporting cast? Well, Cate Blanchette is sufficiently cold and evil and badass as the Soviet villain. Mr LaBeouf is actually quite engaging as the young, arrrogant, but still badass sidekick. John Hurt turns in a fine performance as the old, wise professor. And Karen Allen brings back the chemistry missing since the first film.

Some will question the underlying mythology, but I accepted it as the MacGuffin, albeit without quite the payoff provided by the Ark of the Covenant. Really, not so left-field when we consider other notable projects from Spielberg and Lucas. (Vagueness intentional, I don't wanna spoil...)

I know I've been gushing, but the fact is, if you like Indiana Jones, you'll like this movie. No, it's not the magical ride the first one was, all those years ago. But it is as good a sequel after a 19 year break that you could want. You like Indy? Go see it!

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

If you were alive in the 90s and even remotely interested in rock music outside the mainstream, you've either heard SM, or you've heard artists who were influenced by him. As leader and frontman for the band Pavement, Stephen Malkmus introduced ideas that would influence a generation of aspiring college radio rockers. From his quirky melodies and bizarre, loopy lyrics to the non-equal-tempered tunings, and the bursts of lovely, crunchy noise, Pavement were like the Beatles of the 90s indie-rock scene.

When the breakup news came after their fifth album, much concern was had by all. "This can't be happening", we said, with our heads in our hands. As it turned out, our fears were without merit.

Not to disparage any of the other musicians from Pavement, but it turns out SM is the kind of singer-songwriter who takes his style and feel with him, regardless of the other musicians playing with him. This is not to take away from the Jicks either, I'm simply saying Pavement fans have enjoyed an organic development of music through the two bands.

With the release of his fourth album with the Jicks under his belt, he brought his show to the WOW Hall in Eugene Wednesday night.

First the bad news. Even during Pavement days, old songs were poorly represented in their set. The older the album, the fewer songs from it they played, but I can deal with that. The bigger problem was that they would be the same from tour to tour. If you want to focus on your new stuff, fine. But if you're only going to play one song from your first album, at least re-learn a different one for the next tour.

Having seen SM with the Jicks for the second year in a row, I sadly report that this is still his MO. Last year we got "Jo-Jo's Jacket", this year we got "Jo-Jo's Jacket". Compounding the problem is that we didn't even really get anything new. While he may have had an new album out, the fact is those songs were done a long time ago... long enough to have played them on the last tour.

But enough of that. Let's talk about the good things (which far outweigh my complaint).

First of all, the band. Janet Weiss, drummer for Sleater-Kinney, joined the band last year, and she is a welcome addition. Powerful and energetic, her distinct style gives the band more edge and dynamics than it had previously. Joanna Bolme laid down solid bass lines, chatted with the crowd, and generally was a lot more pleasant to look at than Pavement's Mark Ibold. Both women provided back-up vocals, which added a nice, distinctly Jicks texture. Mike Clark on second guitar and keyboards filled in spaces and added power.

This band is more likely to go off on improvisational flights than Pavement, although they still remain grounded in the songs. SM has never gotten over his shyness on stage, facing Mr Clark more than the audience and letting his hair obscure his eyes. But you'd never know it by listening. His signature guitar style and vocal delivery were in evidence as always.

I already mentioned the lack of surprise in the set list proper, but that changed during the encore. I don't know if we got a little something extra due to Oregon being his adopted home state or if he was just in the mood to go nuts, but they played a hefty five songs, including "Jenny and the Ess-Dog" from the first album (which mitigates somewhat my forgoing complaint), as well as two covers.

The first cover (and first song of the encore) was "Remedy", by the Black Crowes. This one was obviously rehearsed and planned, and it rocked. A couple more new songs, and then it seemed like it was over, but then SM goes and talks to his band mates, and voila! An unrehearsed, unplanned "Jenny and the Ess-Dog". Bonus!

After this, both the audience and the band were looking to SM to see what the plan was. SM goes to Ms Bolme, teaches her a riff, and then they launch into... "Godzilla", by Blue Oyster Cult. I'm not even kidding, that was cool.

Overall, it was a great show, because it's a great band with a great singer/songwriter/leader. But as a standout show, only the encore saved it.