5 Fun Facts About Indiana Jones

1.  Harrison Ford’s iconic character wasn’t named after Indiana the state, but Indiana the dog — an Alaskan malamute producer George Lucas once owned (also the inspiration for Chewbacca). Lucas originally called him “Indiana Smith,” but Steven Spielberg hated the name, fearing it sounded “too hokey,” and the two settled on “Jones.” The filmmakers let audiences in on the joke at the end of ‘Last Crusade.’

2.  Ford was Spielberg’s first choice to play Indy, but not Lucas’, since he had already directed him in ‘Star Wars’ and ‘American Graffiti.’ So the role was offered to Tom Selleck, who accepted but had to then drop out due to conflicts with ‘Magnum P.I.’ Nick Nolte was also offered the role, but turned it down.

3.  During the filming of ‘Temple Of Doom,’ the crew played a practical joke on Ford that is the stuff of movie legend: As he was chained to a large stone, Barbra Streisand appeared in a leather dominatrix outfit and whipped him repeatedly, saying “That’s for ‘Hanover Street,’ the worst movie I ever saw.” Carrie Fisher then stepped in to protect him.

4.  Indy’s costume, style and accessories have several influences: George Lucas (the flight jacket), Humphrey Bogart in ‘The Treasure of Sierra Madre’ (the fedora), Zorro (the whip) and Charlton Heston in ‘Secret of the Incas’ (the costume and overall look). Of course his creators couldn’t help but poke fun at his style: “What are you supposed to be, a lion tamer?” Willie (Kate Capshaw) asks him in ‘Temple Of Doom.’

5.  Both Connery and Ford went pants-less during the shooting of the entire Zeppelin scene in ‘The Last Crusade,’ reportedly because it was filmed in a muggy studio and Connery didn’t want to sweat too much.

Weezer’s Pork and Beans Video

Watch the official video for “Pork and Beans” from Weezer staring some familiar YouTube faces.  The new Self-Titled “Red Album” is due out on June 3rd, 2008!

 

 

 

 

With more than 4 million views already, the video has been the website’s most popular since premiering there Friday. “We saw it shoot up to 500,000 (hits) in six hours,” says YouTube’s Michele Flannery.

 

More than two dozen YouTube stars appear, including Lauren Caitlin Upton (the beauty queen who flubbed a geography question), Judson Laipply (who showcased five decades of booty-shaking in Evolution of Dance), Chris Crocker (the weepy “Leave Britney Alone!” fan) and Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz (the Mentos-and-Diet Coke mixing scientists).

The song’s non-conformist message (“I’m ‘a do the things that I want to do/I ain’t got a thing to prove to you”) made video director Mathew Cullen think of YouTube.

 

“I was fascinated with this idea of having this video about being yourself,” he says, “and at the same time being an anthem about the creativity and individuality that’s expressed through the Internet.”

 

For the band, Cullen’s proposal “just clicked,” says drummer Pat Wilson. “This is an important part of modern culture that hadn’t been addressed.”

Cullen rounded up as many YouTube celebs as he could, convening them with the band at a Los Angeles hotel to make the video over four days.

 

“When I walked in there, I just started laughing,” says Laipply, whose Evolution has had more than 86 million hits since being posted in 2006. “It was more of a celebration of YouTube vs. a mockery.”

 

The video begins with the band in what appears to be the bedroom of guitarist Funtwo. Appearances follow by lip-syncing Numa Numa singer Gary Brolsma, the Dramatic Prairie Dog and the Afro Ninja (Mark Hicks).

 

Cullen liked the idea of giving those who were embarrassed on YouTube a shot at “redemption. It was important to me.”  Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo wrote the song — which appears on the album Weezer, out Tuesday — after label Geffen suggested that the collection lacked an obvious single.

 

The band knew the video was something special. “You can tell when the people behind the camera are smiling,” Wilson says. But the traffic for Pork & Beans “is just crazy.”

“We have completely blown the idea of people making a video like this again because there are no more famous people (left) on YouTube.”

 

 

Stephen Colbert’s Campaign In Marvel Comics

If you read Marvel comics, you may have noticed some hidden messages in recent issues: Images promoting Stephen Colbert’s presidential campaign have been popping up all over the Marvel universe.

Amazing Spider-Man, Secret Invasion, She-Hulk, X-Men: Legacy … These are just a few of the books that have included posters, T-shirts and other small shout-outs to Colbert. How long will this go on? Will a running mate be announced? Only time will tell, but you know the talk-show host must be basking in every minute of it.

Yes, America, it’s an election year. As the candidates duke it out in our existence, they’re also going toe-to-toe in the Marvel Universe! Ladies and gentlemen, that means Stephen Colbert’s candidacy for President is alive and well in the Marvel Universe.

On the Jan. 29 edition of “The Colbert Report,” Joe Quesada, Marvel’s Editor in Chief, informed Mr. Colbert of this development to the host’s obvious delight. 

Righteous Kill Trailer Starring Robert De Niro & Al Pacino

Academy Award winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) star as a pair of veteran New York City police detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer in the adrenaline fueled psychological thriller Righteous Kill, directed by Jon Avnet (Red Corner, Fried Green Tomatoes) and written by Russell Gewirtz (Inside Man). The cast also features hip-hop superstar Curtis Jackson (Get Rich or Die Tryin’). After 30 years as partners in the pressure cooker environment of the NYPD, highly decorated Detectives David Fisk and Thomas Cowan should be ready for retirement, but aren’t. Before they can hang up their badges, they are called in to investigate the murder of a notorious pimp, which appears to have ties to a case they solved years before. Like the original murder, the victim is a suspected criminal whose body is found accompanied by a four line poem justifying the killing. When additional crimes take place, it becomes clear the detectives are looking for a serial killer, one who targets criminals that have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system. His mission is to do what the cops can’t do on their own—take the culprits off the streets for good. The similarities between the recent killings and their earlier case raise a nagging question: Did they put the wrong man behind bars?   This film is due to be released September 12, 2008.