Indiana Jones returns in trailer form

In theaters Friday: Be Kind Rewind, Charlie Bartlett, Vantage Point
New on DVD: American Gangster, In the Valley of Elah, Lust, Caution , Margot at the Wedding, Michael Clayton

Yahoo Movies has the first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in theaters May 22. I still can’t believe they may have pulled it off. Sure this movie should have been made 10 years ago, but that silhouette of Indy picking his hat up from the ground gave me chills. My only reservations about a new Indy adventure are the addition of Shia LaBeouf and the actual plot. This trailer addresses neither of those concerns, and I hope Steven Spielberg isn’t trying to hide anything other than spoilers. LaBeouf is only seen briefly, and other than a crate labeled “Roswell,” the familiar warehouse setting from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark and some very Apocalypto-looking tough guys, this preview doesn’t give us much to go on in terms of what Dr. Jones is after and why. What it does show is that Harrison Ford still has the chops to make a fun Indiana Jones movie. Only three months to go…

So I rented Gone, Baby, Gone last weekend, and I have to say, despite a few quality performances, this kidnapping drama was a huge letdown. After all the hype I expected something special. Instead, I would have rather watched two hours of Law & Order: SVU than this. Portraying a wayward drug-addicted single mother whose daughter is taken, Amy Ryan deserves her Oscar nomination, but good luck beating Cate Blanchett on Sunday. The problem with the rest of the cast has to be first-time director Ben Affleck. He has Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Michelle Monaghan and Casey Affleck in his arsenal and he doesn’t coax a single memorable performance out of any of them. None are bad, but they could have been better. It seems Affleck spent more time ducking behind cars to capture street footage of real (and oblivious) Bostonians that he splices into the movie whenever he thinks the audience need a breather or the narrative calls for us to contemplate the humanity of it all.

Ultimately, Gone Baby Gone’s weird pacing and false leads sink this drama, a picture that needed a more interesting lead and one or two stand out scenes from old pros like Harris and Freeman who should know better, to really become a noteworthy piece of cinema.

It’s another exciting week at the video store. I’ll be renting Margot at the Wedding and American Gangster and checking in with reviews next week.