So I’ve ordered a new projector. An Epson 1080UB, to replace my sturdy but tired Sanyo PLV-Z1. It seemed like it was time to upgrade to a system that was capable of 1080p/24, the better to fully exploit my system’s various high-def devices.
Not just the Blu-ray and HD DVD players, mind you. I was really hoping to catch at least one of the presidential debates in true HD, just to see how bad John McCain’s makeup looks. (That comb-over ain’t helping, either.)
I had a plan and everything. I was going to inaugurate the projector — after performing the proper calibrations, of course — with a screening of Paramount’s BD edition of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, which I never did manage to see in 35mm.
I tried, I really did, but between getting turned away from the Cannes premiere and coming back to a crammed summer schedule that segued with distressing speed into those merciless August TIFF press screenings, I never quite caught up to it.
So now I have the Blu-ray disc, and a plan to see it in the highest resolution available at home … but it remains just a plan. Though I ordered the projector over a week ago, and was assured that I’d have it early this week, that hasn’t quite worked out; my dealer told me yesterday that the unit was back-ordered, and won’t be shipping out until tomorrow at the earliest.
There’s still a slim chance that I’ll have it on Friday, but it’s more likely that I won’t get it until next Tuesday or even Wednesday, meaning I have to watch the movie in the Z1’s stepped-down (though still pretty good) presentation.
Anyway, in all of this negotiation, I’ve realized something: I’m awfully ambivalent about watching “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. Is there really going to be anything to say about the character, or the franchise, 19 years later? Is this going to be a polished Spielberg entertainment, or another empty Lucas attempt to squeeze a little more juice out of an aging brand?
Obviously, this is a question to which most of you already know the answer. But I’ve sort of gotten used to being the only guy who hasn’t seen the new “Indy” movie; it’s not a badge of honor or anything, more like a hole in my resume that I just haven’t corrected. And now that I have to watch the film, I’m not entirely sure that I want to. Part of me wants to leave the series as it was, a cherished treasure of the 1980s, with Indy and his dad riding off into the sunset at the end of “The Last Crusade”.
Can’t do that, of course. Gotta watch the new one eventually. Stupid professional obligations.
I envy you Norm. Ride it out for as long as you can. I mean, I enjoyed watching the new film with my 7-year-old who had never seen an Indy movie on the big screen — it’s perfectly good entertainment. But it was ultimately unnecessary, and that great ride into the sunset should have been the last image from the series.