Indie's back!

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (starring Harrison Ford, Shia LaBoeuf, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winston, Karen Allen, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent)

With the lack of anything decent coming out of America at the moment movie wise (in my opinion), it was a relief to see an old familiar face return in the form of Indiana Jones. With a gap of 18 years since The Last Crusade, you would only think that Harrison Ford has aged a snippet of that but he is in fact almost 65 - a pensioner! Most women would say that they'd still 'give him one' though, none more so than my friend Elena, who along with Suk and I, went and saw the movie this afternoon. Best place to be when the weather has been so shitty; it's been blustery and wet all day, more like March than the end of May.

It's hard to beat the original 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and I don't think they've managed it with the fourth one. They had hardly any big effects or computer generated graphics back in 1981 but for me, that's the beauty of it. A simple plot, good action and a bit of light-heartedness in between is all you need. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fulfilled the latter two but the storyline was over-complicated and some of the effects were too OTT. I liked all singing all dancing effects once upon a time, but now I prefer the down to earth, believable and deeper/emotional type films, with or without subtitles. Don't get me wrong, I still think the Crystal Skull was a good film, and there was plenty of the traditional Indie-style dark tunnels, cobwebs and old antiquities but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. There's far too much hype these days. However, there was one particularly funny moment in the film which involved Indie, quick sand and a snake - you'd have to see it to see what I mean. It was great to see Karen Allen back as well.

After the flick, we all went to The Golshan Indian restaurant to warm up and get outta the rain. It was very yummy (thanks Al - I suggested it because I know you love it there), and it was a big hit with Elena & Suk too.

The rest of the evening, I've just chilled out and watched Britain's Got Talent and caught up with Eastenders. It's not been a bad bank holiday weekend despite the weather. I visited my Nan on Saturday who's not been well again and frankly she just doesn't enjoy living anymore. Sunday saw a couple of hours of sunshine so I managed a bit a reading out in the garden. In the evening, we had a houseful for dinner: my Mum and Dad, Chris, Sandy and the two kids, Dave and Tina (despite being separated) and the three kids. There was a bit of flapping in the kitchen at the last minute but everything turned out okay. Anyway, it's back to work tomorrow and not another bank holiday until August, when it'll probably rain again.