They're Digging in the Wrong Place!

About the only thing interesting to happen at the MTV VMA show was Shia LaBeouf announcing the title of the new Indiana Jones movie.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

Some people have been poo-pooing it, but I don't think they realize how much time and effort George Lucas puts into titles. He pulls at his neck when he thinks which is why it has that flappy look to it under that thin veil of beard. Lucas went through hundreds of titles before settling on the one I mentioned earlier (I'm too tired to re-type it.)

Forging a title is the grueling hard labor of creativity. It can make or break your project. In 2001, Second City Theatricals produced a brilliantly funny show written by Jeff Richmond and Michael Thomas called Hamlet - the Musical! A year later, they took it to Off Broadway. Jeff and Mike, well aware at how over-used "...the Musical!" had become (it was not so when they first developed the project) changed the name to Melancholy Baby. It closed after a month.

Just to show you how difficult a task it was for George Lucas to come up with a catchy title for Indy's fourth outing, my Hollywood spies were able to pull from Lucas' trash can the final titles that filled out his top ten choices.

They are...

10) Indiana Jones and the Revenge of the Tenure-track Archaeologists

9) Indiana Jones and the Attack of Some Guys Cloned to Look Like Indiana Jones (They're called stunt men)

8) Indiana Jones and Spring Break - Cancun!

7) Indiana Jones and Thank God Karen Allen Took A Fiber Arts Class

6) Indiana Jones and the Cul-de-sac of Doom

5) Indiana Jones and the Battle for Endor

4) Indiana Jones and the Return of the Snakes - Lots of 'em!

3) Indiana Jones and the Third Reich Strikes Back

2) Indiana Jones and the Guy Too Old To Play Him

The obvious number one choice in comparison...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

(I copied and pasted it. I think this title gave me carpel tunnel syndrome.)

Photo from IndianaJones.com


THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY

Yesterday, I asked...

"German TV talk show host Eva Herman has lost her job because of her praise for what?"

40% chose "Tom Cruise and Scientology"
- Nope. I'd say more, but I don't want to be sued by a closeted gay super star and his faux religion.

30% thought it might be "Hitler's mustache"
- Nope. Even current day Germany realizes how damn handsome that stache was.

10% said "George Bush and the Iraq War"
- No. She did praise them, but they didn't take her seriously.

20% got it right with "The Third Reich's family values"

According to the BBC, talk show host Eva Herman was fired after confirming she said "values like the family, children and motherhood, which were promoted in the Third Reich too, were later scrapped by the 68ers". 68ers refers to the radicalism that swept the West in the 1960s (I guess they mean us hippies). I don't really see what the problem is here. The family that slays Jews together, stays true together.