While I’m thrilled to see this, I am genuinely shocked by the availability of a trio of Ministry songs for play in Rock Band 2.  Three relatively recent tracks: Lies Lies Lies, The Great Satan, and Cuz U R Next from the Rio Grande Blood album and the Wicked Lake Soundtrack respectively, are available from the Rock Band store today for the XBox360 and May 28th for the Playstation 3.  I’m really looking forward to pretending to play these songs.

I didn’t really think about it until this weekend, but on some level I actively avoided seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  After hearing so many people come away disappointed when it was released last year, I clearly let that affect my efforts to see it.  It’s not like it’s something I’d run out to see, but I think I would have checked it out before this weekend if I was really unaffected.

After watching, I can find nothing wrong with this movie.  It fits well stylistically with the previous chapters.  It acknowledges what came before and broke new ground.  Nothing is any more far fetched or unbelievable than a Nazi melting smoke monster.  Shia Labeouf was annoying, but I think you could have the same reaction to Short Round.  Honestly, if you liked any of the Indiana Jones movies you should like this.  My only complaint, no monkey assassin.

Raiders is a classic. It’s a great movie even if it drags a little during the end of the Cairo segment. On Saturday night, the Ritz at the Bourse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania presented Raiders on the big screen as part of their classic Midnight Movie Madness series.

It was the first time I had ever seen Raiders on a large screen and was definitely a worthwhile experience. The giant boulder seemed gianterer. On the big screen, the face meltings oozed of cheesy deliciousness. The film’s serial roots shown through far more clearly than I remember from my old VHS experiences especially during the brilliant opening scene.

By the way, I’m pretty sure we’re going to find out next year that the climax of Raiders takes place on a Lost-related island due to the white smoke monster that erupts from the Ark.

And what was with the obsession with bad lightning effects in the early 80s? In Raiders they use it as the Nazi’s die on the island. Earlier today I happened to catch the ending of the original Terminator and laughed out loud at the unnecessary lightning effect they used as the T-800 was crushed, it’s metal fingers wrapped tightly around Sarah Conner’s throat.

Anyway, Raiders is just full of classic iconic moment, plus lots of Nazi’s get killed. What else could you ask for in a popcorn flick?

The two downsides to the experience include the fact that some members of the crowd were apparently confused and thought they were watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Their annoying need to try to interact with the film and make everyone us all laugh fell flat repeatedly or resulted in just slight nervous laughter of embarrassment.

And secondly, the battle to stay awake during the film just hammered home the fact that I’m f-ing old now.

Despite the at times aggravating crowd, I’d be willing to give the Ritz the benefit of the doubt and try another one of these midnight movies. Upcoming showings include Ghostbusters, the Dark Crystal, Rushmore, and the Goonies. For more information or tickets see:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=81677822236&ref=nf

Angie and I picked up the revamped PunchOut!! for Wii on Tuesday, and I’ve finally had an opportunity to try it out.  It’s fun, but after playing the Wii Sports Boxing for so long I think the controls leave a lot to be desired.  Punches require button presses, and there’s a turn based component to the timing that I don’t care for.  Granted, this makes the gameplay more like the original, but it seems like a real limitation to me. One extra that might help keep my interest is the fact that the Wii Fit balance board can be added to the mix for dodging and ducking (as well as dipping, diving and dodging).  This has proven very difficult to effectively utilize so far, but that has everything to do with my ineptness.

I’m sure I’ll be saying “sayonara” to Piston Hondo soon enough.  That’s Japanese for goodbye.

I liked it a lot better when it was called Dude, Where’s My Car?

Actually that’s not really true, but for me I couldn’t get that thought out of my head while watching the Hangover, except it lacks Dude’s weird Sci-Fi twist. A lot of the jokes recall other comedies beyond Dude including the Chris Farley classic Tommy Boy but it is still a funny movie with a fun cast. I think it’s worth seeing if you have a high tolerance for male nudity.

It’s also weird seeing Heather Graham in a movie in a theater. It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve done that…