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This Week in Lumps
#37 [05/02 - 11/02]

· There aren’t many good things about getting older. In fact, sometimes it seems that the bad outweighs the good; people only send you letters saying you owe them money, and when you don’t owe anything to anyone someone will undoubtedly try selling you loans and mortgages instead. Every Monday, a handful of eager (or should that be naive) twenty-somethings of the world are probably settling into their first job, with their freshly purchased shirt and tie gleaming beneath the achingly bright office lighting, they are oblivious to the fact that many of them won’t ever stop working until the day they retire. With an ever decreasing bank balance, an expanding waistline, and most of the people you used to call friends either travelling across the globe, or living the life as a student; either way, having much more fun than you. To top off this gloomy paragraph from Hell, a quote more suited from the dry wrinkled lips of an OAP is apt:

“At least I have my memories”

Which, despite being the most depressing thing I’ve perhaps ever written here, is scarily close to the truth. Not just memories from the recent past; going to your first gig in a big city, or losing the big V with the (then) love of your life, but even memories from years gone by, the type that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. So, with that in mind, lets cheer ourselves up from the morose and bleak moments in life by reminiscing about the days where we could count how old we were on both hands.

Well, where better to start than this: Indiana Jones is coming back to our big screens in a new globe-trotting adventure, titled Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We haven’t seen Harrison Ford as Indy seen since 1989, where he starred in the third film of the franchise: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 19 years later, and he’s back in a film set in 1957: 19 years since we last saw him. Although little is known about the setup of the storyline, what is known is that Indy has settled into a quiet life of teaching before being thrust back into his old adventuring.

This movie was talked about a lot by myself during the first few entries of this blog, especially in week 2, where the Indiana Jones franchise was placed 7th in my top ten list of the best movie franchises, and also in week 3, where it was revealed that Sean Connery wasn’t reprising his role as Professor Henry Jones. This aside, the film does boast an impressive cast, including Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jim Broadbent, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and star of Transformers Shia LaBeouf.

In order to keep aesthetic continuity with the previous films, there will be minimal use of computer-generated imagery and more of a reliance on traditional stuntwork, and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski has adapted his style to that of Douglas Slocombe from the previous films. Joining him behind the cameras are producer Frank Marshall, whilst George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy are the executive producers.

Indy 4 is currently pencilled in for a worldwide release date of May 22nd. The trailer will be released this Valentines Day.

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· I mentioned in that lump the topic of powerful movie franchises, and coming very soon is a top ten of similar video game brands that own over the rest, which brings me neatly onto the next topic: one of the best (and most played) games I owned during my Sega Mega Drive days – Street Fighter. My jaw hit the flaw last week once I saw the newly released screenshots for the muchly anticipated Street Fighter IV, screens that look a million miles away from the original game. This follows on from a pre-rendered teaser trailer done in an arty calligraphic fashion showed Ryu fighting Ken in a moody setting. The game will be in 2.5D, and Capcom said that the trailer provides hints on what the gameplay will be like. While no details of the story have been revealed yet, it was revealed in the January issue of EGM that the game will take place in between Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III making it (storywise) a sequel to the former and a prequel to the latter. Included in the release of new screens are several featuring the mysterious Crimson Viper, who will of course be joining legends Sagat, Guile and Ryu. Surely a contender for the top three of powerful franchises, as long as you forget about the film.

Rumors of Street Fighter IV being in development were originally sparked back in July 2005 at the San Diego Comic Convention where a Street Fighter panel was held. Reps from Udon Comics and Capcom hinted at something being in the works. Details of the release are sketchy, though it is due to be sometime this year, to coincide with a new movie release this Autumn.

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· Next up on this trip down memory lane is (last years) news that a CGI animated ThunderCats movie is in the works. The reason why I’m returning to this story, not just because it’s from my youth (Not only did I have the bedsheets, I even had the wallpaper), but because I have recently been YouTubing some old episodes (featuring the classic characters Mumm-Ra, Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro and Cheetara) and It’s a joy to see again.

The films storyline will be an original creation written by Paul Sopocy, which will expand on the happenings of the original pilot episode ‘Exodus’. It was announced on October 9, 2007, that video game stalwart Jerry O’Flaherty will direct, whilst production will be from Paula Weinstein. Good news for fans is that O’Flaherty served as an art director on such best-selling video games as Gears of War, Unreal Tournament III, and the Command & Conquer series, although ThunderCats marks his first film directing role. According to reports, he has promised to keep the movie ‘true to its roots’ and that he is ‘listening to fan comments’.

One of my favourite sites ‘Film School Rejects’ covered a write up last year on 5 reasons why this film would work, including the timing of the product:

“…Thundercats will ride the coattails of the great comic-book- and 80s-cartoon-inspired movie wave, following in the footsteps of current releases like Transformers, as well as movies like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Sin City 2, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, and The Dark Knight, all set for released in 2008, as well as Spider-Man 4, Superman: Man of Steel and He-Man: Masters of the Universe, which are slated for release in 2009…”

“… [the movie] will be able not only to capitalize on its preexisting adult fan base, the result of the cartoon’s popularity with children of the 1980s, but will be able to do so without coming too close on the heels of other cinematic adaptations of comic books and cartoons while simultaneously benefiting from this preexisting trend.

Sadly, you have a bit longer to daydream about how epic this will be; Warner Brothers announced that ThunderCats is planned for a summer 2010 release. If you cant wait till then, you can read about the G.I. Joe film starting this week.

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That was the week in lumps, a week in which: The Verve and Kings of Leon join Jay Z as headliners of Glastonbury, whilst KISS, The Offspring, and Lostprophets are at Download, a PSP burnt a kids legs, Tom Jones insured his chest hair, a Pixie was spotted on the streets of Oxford, EMI are milking the Radiohead brand for all its worth, EBay is dropping the negative feedback to worldwide confusion, and the iPlayer is coming to Macs later this year.

A special mention to Godspeed You! Black Emperor, who called it a day this week. The one band I was hoping to one day see live (especially after seeing A Silver Mt. Zion a few years back). They will be sorely missed.

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