Oklahoman interns NewsOK.com Blogging Community

Because He’s allowed this to be made:

What the heck.

I hope Toby Keith isn’t reading this, or he might put a boot in my…

—Richard Hall, NewsOK.com intern

One of the best scenes from a “Batman” film ever. Enjoy.

—Richard Hall, NewsOK.com intern

In 24 hours I will be sitting in my comfortable reclining auditorium chair at Warren Theaters in Moore, anxiously awaiting “The Dark Knight.” Where will you be at 12:01 a.m. Friday? I hope it’s someplace memorable.

—Richard Hall, NewsOK.com intern

This might seem petty and it might seem sarcastic, but the following bit of information is the worst news I’ve had all summer.

Rumors are Rob Cohen is planning to remake “The Monster Squad.” This is bad for several reasons:

1) Cohen was the executive producer of the original “The Monster Squad,” and if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

2) Cohen’s most current resume includes films like “The Fast and the Furious,” “xXx” and “Stealth.” Shudder.

3) “The Monster Squad” is one of the greatest children adventure movies of all time. I will stand by that statement 130,000 percent. It’s”The Goonies” mixed with a horror theme. Excellent.

4) Remakes are never as good as the originals.

“The Monster Squad” is one of my favorite movies of all time. It was released in 1987 and tells the story of a motley crew of kids that have to battle the forces of horror movie evil. The kids find ways to battle the Wolfman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula himself. Holy cow, awesome!

I was about 4 or so when my folks began getting me into films. You know, the Disney and Pooh Bear types. Then one day, while with my dad at the local video rental store, I stumbled across “The Monster Squad” in all its VHS glory. A little scared at first, I picked it up, looked at the neat and (then) terrifying pictures, and decided I had to see it. I fell immediately in love. Of course, I was 4, and 4 year olds don’t typically have taste. But aside from being infatuated with “Star Wars,” I think this was the first time in my childhood life when I made a supreme decision, and it has stuck with me all these years.

That trip back to my abode with “The Monster Squad” in hand was the first of many. I am not lying when I tell you my dad rented the film for me at least three times a month, for a very long stretch of time. Keep in mind, this was way back when rentals - new releases or not - were for one, maybe two, days. Weekends were a blast, and I began quoting the film, and also pretended to be an honorary member of the Squad.

But then I began growing up, and my love for films grew. I own a copy of “The Monster Squad” on VHS, and it doesn’t work anymore. And for the longest time I yearned to watch it again, but I could never find a copy close to home, and once high school hit, I no longer had a VHS player.

And it was several years ago that I began Googling about the film, and I found there were quite a few online petitions to get “The Monster Squad” released on DVD. And almost one year ago to the day, on July 24, 2007, the prayers were answered. While on my way to work, I stopped by Wal-Mart and grabbed my copy. I was the happiest man alive that day, because it brought back so many memories. Looking at the now not-so-scary photos on the DVD cover, I remembered holding my dad’s hand while perusing the video rental store. I remembered wearing myself out with laughter because the Squad finally settled the debate: Wolfman, does indeed, have nards. I remembered being a kid.

There aren’t many times that happens these days.

So while the title of this post is a bit sarcastic, I will admit a huge chunk of me would be disappointed if “The Monster Squad” is remade. It’s a cult classic, a childhood favorite and an all-around great movie. It’s fun, inventive and comical. It’s memorable. It’s “The Monster Squad.”

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, please do.

And please, Mr. Cohen - don’t deface a good thing.

-Richard Hall, NewsOK.com intern

Doesn’t contain spoilers of any kind, but if you’d rather not see the opening scene, then ignore this post.

—Richard Hall, NewsOK.com intern

Check out what Guillermo del Toro calls the brother to “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

“The Devil’s Backbone” is a haunting, haunting film. It shares a lot with “Pan’s Labyrinth,” but definitely stands on its own two feet. It was released before “Pan’s Labyrinth” and had a limited United States distribution. You can find it on DVD fairly easy.

Del Toro wrote it while he was in college, and it took him about 16 years to see his vision come to life. Besides 1993’s “Cronos,” “The Devil’s Backbone” was del Toro’s first recent gripping cinematic experience, being released in 2001.

In a way, giving a synopsis of the film in less than 500 words is tough, but I’ll do my best:

The film follows Carlos who lives in an orphanage in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. In the orphanage’s courtyard sits an undetonated bomb, and a child named Santi died during the attack. Carlos is given Santi’s old bed, and from the moment Carlos arrives he begins seeing and experiencing odd things. Soon, Santi’s ghost reveals itself to Carlos, and Carlos learns the truth surrounding Santi’s death. Though a war surrounds the school, a war also brews inside its walls as Carlos seeks to avenge Santi.

The Mexican poster:

The American DVD cover:

A screenshot from the film:

—Richard Hall, NewsOK.com intern

—Richard Hall, NewsOK.com intern

I promise I have not fallen into a dark hole and disappeared from the blog. OK, maybe I have, just kidding.

Last week, was crazy. Lots of projects to complete. Check out the interactive map that I spent more than three full days on. http://newsok.com/golf/coursesmap/. And yes the main illustration is something that I created! It’s a great piece. It was a part of the golf know its.

Wall-e, comes out June 27. For most of today, I have been working on the Weekend Look page, which looks pretty awesome so far and the main theme is about Wall-e. So check out the Weekend Look on Friday.

This week’s project is “Gas Getaways” which is run in the newspaper on July 2, along with a web piece. It’s seems to be a pretty interesting project!

So it’s almost hard to believe that my internship is halfway over. It has been such a great experience. The even scarier thing is less than 6 months from now I will graduate from Ball State University. For now it’s just another Monday here in Oklahoma.

Quote for today
“True interactivity is not about clicking on icons or downloading files, it’s about encouraging communication.”
—Ed Scholssberg, 2002

Jennifer Adams, graphic designer

Today, I spent a significant portion of the day outside in the 100-degree heat, working on a golf story for the sports section. Naturally, between thoughts of birdies, bogies and putting strokes, my mind wandered to a topic we all think about this time of year: Antarctica.

This week, in continuing his trend of covering men in extreme situations, famed German director Werner Herzog (left) releases “Encounters at the End of the World,” a documentary about the 1,100 people who live in Antarctica at McMurdo Station – the headquarters of the National Science Foundation.

I couldn’t be more excited. In the last three years, Herzog has released “Grizzly Man” (2005), a documentary about Grizzly Bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell who – along with his girlfriend - was eaten by a grizzly bear in 2003; and “Rescue Dawn” (2007) a movie chronicling the true story of Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale), a US pilot who escaped from a Laos prison camp during the Vietnam War and who endured unimaginable horrors before being rescued.

Herzog has an incredible knack for telling these kinds of extreme stories. Even in the most horrid circumstances, he’s always able to find humor and optimism, and he consistently blends the right amounts of drama, suspense, humor and poignancy to create affecting, engrossing and enjoyable films. Early reviews of “Encounters at the End of the World” say his new film is no different: Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly called it the best film he’s seen this year.

So if anyone wants to go see a movie involving cute penguins, majestic mountains and funny, intelligent people roaming around one of the most beautiful, undisturbed and mysterious places left on Earth, please let me know.

Jason Singer, Sports Intern

I’m a big fan of the “Indiana Jones” series, so when I walked out of the theater, head hanging low, after watching “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” I knew something was wrong — and it wasn’t me.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have teamed together for years now, bringing moviegoers something more than the average film. When the duo gets something right, it translates into one heck of an experience. When they get something wrong, however… Well, let’s just say a fury of emotions and thoughts course through me. When I found myself thinking, “How much longer of this?” while watching “Crystal Skull,” I knew my dynamic duo had failed me. Worst yet, they duped me into thinking they were still capable of making movie magic.

Maybe they still are — maybe there will be fifth installment of the “Indiana Jones” series that will force me to eat my words. I hope that happens, really. However, if “Crystal Skull” is even one ounce of an indication of what Spielberg and Lucas have left in them, then count me out.

Be warned: there be spoilers ahead.

I’ll make it simple: “Crystal Skull” diluted not only the trilogy before it, but the character of Indiana Jones. Jones, as everyone knows, is a passionate archaeologist and someone who fights for the preservation of lost cultures’ hidden treasures. So when it was revealed, via the film, that aliens had their hands in the construction of nearly every great ancient civilization, I realized Lucas made Jones a pointless character. What is Jones to do now? How is he to reflect on his life? Like Lucas’ great move in “Star Wars: Episode I,” with one scene, he single-handedly took all the mysticism and fantasy out of the “Indiana Jones” series. In “Star Wars” there was the scientific explanation of the Force (anyone remember midichlorians?), and now it’s alien beings in the Indy films.

But before making my final judgment call, I sat and I thought. I saw the film opening weekend, and here I am today finally making my mind up on it: What a sham. And I know: If Jones can have adventures that lead him to magical religious artifacts, why can’t aliens be a possibility? Answer: That’s not what Indy is about. It would be like giving a Jedi a katana*, or setting “American Graffiti” in the future. It would change everything.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is to the original trilogy what “Episode I” was to its original trilogy — a very disappointing execution. In fact, I’d be much happier with “Crystal Skull” if it had nothing to do with Indiana Jones.

What about Spielberg? He just should have known better, plain and simple. He should have read the story and laughed, like I laughed during some parts of “Crystal Skull.” If anything, Spielberg should have thrown the director’s chair out the window when he came to the part where Jones survives an atomic bomb by crawling inside a refrigerator. And if that wasn’t enough, when Shia LaBeouf’s character, in all his Tarzan-lke fashion, swung through the trees with a couple dozen monkeys.

Harrison Ford’s reasoning for reprising his role is simple: He needs the credibility as Hollywood’s leader for being in the most highest-grossing films of all time. Plus, he and Samuel L. Jackson have a standing bet on who ends their career with that distinct honor (Jackson’s appearance in “Iron Man” brings him one step closer). Oh, and Ford is senile, obviously.

If you haven’t seen “Crystal Skull” yet, and you’ve made it through this wall of text, then good — keep it that way. But if you’re the kind of person who likes gawking at a train wreck…

—Richard Hall, online editor intern for NewsOK.com

*Anyone who follows “Star Wars” literature — the books, comics, etc. — know in the Old Republic days, the founders of the Jedi Order used swords, only because they lacked the technology to create lightsabers. Think of it like bows and arrows when compared to automatic assault rifles — you work with what you can. But if Lucas were to make “Episode VII,” and he gave Jedi swords, it’d be a crazy, crazy move because everyone is used to, and loves, the lightsaber.