All I Would Need Is A Whip

Why does it feel like I’ve been gone for 19 years?

It’s only been a week.

But now that I’m back from some adventures of my own, like visiting some out-of-town friends and catching a couple screenings at the New York Asian Film Festival (still going on through July 6th, check it out!), let’s get back to business with some real adventure in part 3 of our Italian Rip Offs of Indiana Jones series, the third and final film in Antonio Margheriti’s unofficial Indy-esque trilogy (I guess you could consider it his “last crusade”, ha ha ha! And what makes that already bad joke even worse is that Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade wasn’t even made yet; not for another four whole years!), Jungle Raiders.

NYAFF 2008

The 2008 New York Asian Film Festival is almost upon us (it starts this coming weekend!), so I wanted to do my part, albeit small, in getting the word out and advising anyone reading this who is in the area (or anyone with an interest in Asian film and the ability to travel) to check it out.

The folks who put this festival together always do a wonderful job of selecting a multitude of films (and it keeps getting bigger every year!) that represent a wide variety of countries and genres, from gritty, blood-soaked Hong Kong action/crime to sweet and silly Korean romantic comedies and absolutely everything in between, which of course always includes a healthy dose of that special blend of genre-bending Japanese horror/sci-fi/action/comedy/who-knows-what-else insanity that has become such a crowd favorite.

Over the years I’ve seen them show both eagerly anticipated, highly buzzed-about movies that have gone on to become cult classics (stuff like Versus, Ichi the Killer, Ju-On, etc.), as well as some truly rare stuff that has unfortunately faded into obscurity (or maybe not unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, seeing as some of us around here celebrate obscurity), like the Filipino Spider Man rip off Gagamboy, which was such a treat to see in what was probably the only U.S. screening ever (and we all know that there’s nothing better than getting to see a totally bizarre movie that you might never have another chance to see in a theater with an audience consisting of your fellow cinematically adventurous brethren!).

Most importantly, no matter what I’ve seen them show, I’ve always had fun.

So head on over to the festival website, pick out some interesting sounding stuff, buy tickets, go out and enjoy yourselves at the movies, and support a festival dedicated to bringing some of the most innovative and wildly entertaining films the world has to offer to U.S. shores for our eager fanboy consumption.

I Got Out Of The Kitchen

Considering that for the last few days it’s been about as hot as an Amazonian jungle (or an ancient, underground temple filled with molten hot lava for that matter) in the office where I keep my computer here at RS headquarters, I’ve barely even wanted to take five minutes to check my email, let alone sit in this sweltering hellhole and format the review that will be part two of our Italian Rip Offs of Indiana Jones series.

Thankfully, we got an air conditioner up and running last night (finally!), which is making things a little more bearable, at least enough for me to get the ball rolling again (was that another bad Indiana Jones joke?)

That’s right my friends, the adventure is far from over. There are plenty more action-packed, danger-filled, international quests for hidden treasure to come.

So grab your machete, strap on your trusty whip, and fill up a couple bags with sand (you know, to put in place of any priceless relics that may be resting on weight sensitive pillars set to trigger lethal traps), as we head off on the second leg of our cinematic voyage, in search of the Ark of the Sun God.

Spaghetti Adventure?

As we all knew it would, Indiana Jones fever has taken the country by storm. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull raked in an estimated $101 million on its opening weekend, making it the second largest Memorial Day release and the third largest opening of all time. It was only #2 at the box office this past weekend (behind Sex and the City!), but that still puts its total gross so far at a whopping $216 million.

On top of that, you can’t go anywhere right now without that familiar cascading logo showing up, whether on the seemingly endless sea of merchandise currently lining store shelves, or as some kind of contest or other corporate tie-in (I saw that there is even a toy whip now that makes realistic cracking sounds and plays the IJ theme when you swing it around. I must have one!).

I’m sure most of you have hopefully had a chance to see it by now and probably have a very strong opinion on the film one way or the other, which seems to be the norm. The verdict seems pretty mixed, with some people already hoping for yet another sequel (but then again, some people just always want another sequel) and others already crying foul and predicting another Star Wars prequel-like fiasco. I’ll spare you my personal opinions on the matter, because that’s not what this post is about.

But either way, the people have spoken and what they said was, “We obviously love Indiana Jones!”

Well, not to be outdone, I figured I’d better get in on the Indy bandwagon, too.

So, just in case you simply can’t get enough world traveling, temple raiding, treasure hunting summertime action-adventure, I’m proud to present to you Radiation Sickness’ very first special feature/review series:

But before you continue on, as a small aside, I’d just like to point out that as this is my first big feature article, there may be a few bugs with it, so please bear with me as I get it all worked out. This started out as one massive article (which is why it’s been taking a while and you haven’t heard much from me otherwise), but I decided, based on ease of reading and navigation, to break it up into sections. So hopefully, if all works out as planned, the article will initially only be accessible through this link (which leads to the introduction), but as the reviews go up one by one, you will be able to choose to read each one individually or the entire feature as a whole.