(5/24/2008) I like...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - As a child, my brother swore that he was Indiana Jones. Donning an old leather jacket and the official Indiana Jones whip he forced my mother to purchase for him (much to my dismay) when we visited Disney’s MGM studios one summer, he’d run around the house humming the famous theme music (dun da dun dun…dun da dun) and whipping everything in site. He’d whip the couch, pretending it was an evil Nazi trying to steal the ark, even though his seven year old mind had no clue what a Nazi was. His costume, however, was not complete without the hat. Like an actor getting into character, as soon as he slipped on that old worn out fedora my grandfather gave him, he was no longer my brother. He was Indy. And he had to save the day. Growing up with the films, I knew i'd love the new one no matter how cheesy the plot or how old the actor. And, you know what, I did. Sure, the premise was weird and no way as cool as the search for the ark (still my favorite), but it was fun. Ridiculously fun. Indy was endearing and the throwbacks to the previous films were exciting. The action was heart pumping and the one liners were classic. Wait for the scene where Indy and Marion talk about past relationships--you may make an audible "aww" as I did. I even liked the kid! And whether Indy looks like this or this, he'll always be dreamy to me.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - I love F. Scott Fitzgerald, I really do. The Great Gatsby made me want to be a writer. So when I heard that they were making his short story into a film (directed by Fincher of all people), I was excited. Really excited. Last night I finally saw the trailer (seen here in Spanish, the english one for some reason is not available online yet). No joke, it looks phenomenal. Seriously amazing. About a baby born old and slowly ages backwards, the story is interesting and the film seems to portrays it wonderfully. If you've never read the story, grab the audio book here for free. Oh, and the song playing during the trailer? It took me all night to figure out how I knew it. I could hum it, I could sing it, but I couldn't place it. Finally, I realized that Jason and I performed Rolla to it during Pow Wow, our school's slightly politically incorrect homecoming celebration. Pretty neat, right? Listen to the actual song (which is beautiful) here by a band called Bond. (The video is terrible, I know, but it's the best I could find.)

Swinging Mademoiselle - Last week I was sent the album Swinging Mademoiselle, Volume 2, a compilation of famous songs from the sixties covered by French artists. It's the most amazingly fun album i've listened to in a while! It's poppy, it's French. I love it. My favorite is hands down Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher (These Boots Were Made For Walking). Who cares if I don't know French, I can still sing along, right?

Weezer - Good news for all you long time Weezer fans...they have a new song and music video out! I don't want to jinx the new album, Red, but..so far, so good. The song is catchy, reminding me of their first (and, subjectively, best) album, Blue. It has the poppy fun feel of "Buddy Holly" or "In the Garage." And the music video is hilarious, featuring some of the well known youtube "celebrities". So check it out here and listen to more songs from their upcoming album here. In true Weezer fashion, they're putting out one of their best songs from the CD as a single first, so admittedly the other songs are a bit disappointing. But not as disappointing as River's new look. Mustache? Really? Go back to looking like this, please.

Last, if you haven't yet, go vote for the Blogger's Choice Awards! Some amazing blogs have been nominated, such as Your Beard is Good over here, Surviving Myself over here, The Larissa Monologues over here, No Ordinary Rollercoaster over here, and A Geek in Anything but Pink over here. So go! Vote! And check out their blogs!