To: Doctors Raymond Stantz and Egon Spengler

From: The Bottom of My Heart

Since the advent of the world wide web in my parents’ den in the mid-1990’s, I’ve found the internet good for two things: firstly, this, and secondly, staying current on news of a possible third GHOSTBUSTERS film. There was the GHOSTBUSTERS IN HELL treatment that languished despite a Ben Stiller attachment, then a long dry spell in which I went to college, then a decidedly not-half-assed videogame, and now, drumbeats are sounding again for a third film. Based on a treatment by you, Doctors Stantz and Spengler, (Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis,) the screenplay’s being written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, a couple of funny guys with funnier names. Once again, you’ve begun to stir the pot with plot tidbits and cast and crew commitments.

GHOSTBUSTERS 3, now made possible with revolutionary "cartoon finger addition technology"

But what I’m feeling right now isn’t called ‘excitement’ – partly because, Mr. Ramis, I just finished watching YEAR ONE, the recent would-be yukfest you directed and co-wrote with Eisenberg and Stupnitsky. It’s not just that this film isn’t funny. It’s inept. Countless gags fall flat due to poor editing, awful TV movie-quality photography, and worst of all, a Biblical disregard for plot and character. It’s hard to believe this is by the guy who made GROUNDHOG DAY… Mr. Aykroyd, your career of late seems defined by risk avoidance. Nearly all your feature roles have been supporting, and most of them have been of the same authority figure variety: from the President in MY FELLOW AMERICANS, to a Naval Captain in PEARL HARBOR, to a Fire Captain in I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY, to… the Vice President in WAR, INC. It’s obvious you’ve been the lead drum-beater on GB3, (check out this self-promotion-disguised-as-musing from last week,) but when the tidbits with which you tease us include the introduction of a hip, young band of Ghostbusters including Alyssa Milano, the only thing I can say is… Alyssa Milano. Uh. Wow. You promise? … Apparently, this is a “passing the torch” movie. But might I ask a favor, Dan? Can you just hold the torch? Just- just hold it right there. Don’t pass it. Everyone, please stop passing the torch. It’s your torch, you lit it, you hold it.

It’s been a rough-and-tumble stretch for children of eighties cinema. The harbingers of darkness were the STAR WARS prequels, made palatable only by… you know… that one part with Yoda flipping around, I guess… In 2007, the DIE HARD trilogy was given a worthless addendum that took place in an alternate universe where the word “motherfucker” was never invented – though I do remain grateful to LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD BUT DON’T SAY ‘F*CK’ IF YOU DO for softening the blow of May 2008, and the sodomizing of my most significant icon, Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. Yes it’s true, nothing’s sacred. But that’s about the only reason I can think of to bust any additional ghosts.

We came, we saw, we kicked His ass!

Of course, my apprehension over GB3, based on the recent work of its two prime movers, is flawed. The Spielberg entering the KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL was coming from MUNICH, a near-perfect film, helicopter sex montage and all. Who knew that Spielberg would be so out to lunch when returning to his greatest franchise? Perhaps Ramis could turn back the clock from YEAR ONE, to the quality of the original GHOSTBUSTERS… You know, with the help of Alyssa Milano. But let me say, if only to make up for the last DIE HARD, I seriously fucking doubt it.

What is it about these franchises that we feel the need to see what these characters would be doing twenty years on? The problem with that question is that it’s not we who need anything. It’s they, the filmmakers and stars. They have a full understanding of what they’re getting into by dusting off the fedora, recharging the proton pack, going back to the well – pick your epithet. They want to prove to themselves they’ve still got it, and they want points on the back end. (That is, a percentage of a film’s profit, as opposed to a lump sum up-front.) Say what you want about THE PHANTOM MENACE, the film wasn’t juvenile by miscalculation. George Lucas sought out a new market share – a fan base of the average age of ten – and he got what he wanted. By his own admission, his prequels weren’t made for anyone old enough to have seen the originals in theaters. The same can be said about Shia LaBeouf in CRYSTAL SKULL. If you can justify his inclusion, apart from drawing teens to a movie about a sixty-five year-old, please, speak.

The saddest action figure in all the world

Somebody’s youth is constantly being re-packaged for a youthier youth market. Known quantities sell to distributors before unknown, so sequels, remakes, re-imaginings and re-sequinvisionings hold the marketplace edge over original material. (Other Reagan-era properties set to re-appear soon include Conan, Axel Foley, Robocop and Johnny Five.) One day in a distant age, a future blogger will pen their own open letter imploring the powers that be not to compromise the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, or the ‘Twilight’ series – just as in the streets of ancient Athens, the original proto-blogger snootily announced that he refused to count ‘Oedipus at Colonus’ as part of the real Oedipus trilogy.

The first blogger, Epaphras (pictured right,) who called playwright Sophocles a "total sellout" circa 404 B.C.

Here and now, I’m just filling a role, as one whose childhood entertainment is currently on the chopping block – fodder for re-launch – a process that, due to the predictable appetites of movie makers and men, is perhaps inevitable. So, Ray, Egon, limber up, get out there, and have another go at GHOSTBUSTERS. Do it for yourselves – for cash – for kids. Just don’t do it for me.

Indie’s back and older than ever.

In 1957, Indiana Jones is thrust back in action, venturing into the jungles of South America in a race against Soviet agents to find the mystical Crystal Skull.

So my first question for this movie is why did they have to make this? Then as soon as I saw this movie I realized why, all just for the movie. I mean I know what Spielberg and Lucas were trying to do by making this the second highest grossing movie of 2008 but still at least make it worth all that money. All that $786 million that is.

There are many problems with this film so I’m just going to get right down to it. First of all what made all of the other Indy films great was the mixture of action and comedy. We barely get any of that. The action happens and I was satisfied with it but there wasn’t enough of it for an Indiana Jones film. Also the script is so dry that it makes the Sahara Desert look like Niagra Falls. There is no wit whatsoever and I never caught myself laughing, as I did in the previous ones.

What made the other Indy films great was that they barely ever relied on special effects, if any at all. There were so many computerized scenes that it totally took away the feeling of this way everything seemed so realistic.

Lastly, the main problem with this film is the story of aliens. That’s right people you heard me correct there are aliens in this film. This is so ludicrous to the Indy franchise that I can’t even speak. There never were any aliens and there never should be in the Indy franchise, and that’s final!!!!! This just made the story so much more confusing then I could have ever imagined.

However this film wasn’t so horrible, it did have some high points. I just liked the feeling of how Indy was back on the screen once again. The movie was kind of like a reunion tour from like The Eagles or Rolling Stones, they’re not as great as they used to be but it’s still cool to see them playing out there and sort of giving a tribute. This is Indiana Jones’ reunion tour and I just liked seeing that Indy is alive and well. Also despite Indy being an old fart Harrison Ford still does have his acting chops that made him and Indy famous before and I liked Shia Labeouf, pairing them two together was a nice passing of the torch moment at the end that i think all can enjoy.

Probably why I didn’t like this movie as much was because I was expecting more from Spielberg who has made some of the greatest movies I have ever seen (Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan). This is a very watered down version of all the Indy films and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this be the last of the Indy films. Still as much as I disliked it I still have to give it a in the middle rating since it’s always good to see one of the finest movie hero’s, Indiana Jones, back in work.

5/10=Rentall!!!

*Source: L’internaute & TuoiTreOnline

Tạp chí điện tử L’internaute (Pháp) vừa công bố bảng xếp hạng 50 nữ diễn viên điện ảnh đẹp nhất và thể hiện thành công những vai độc ác nhất. Dưới đây là 6 nữ diễn viên đầu tiên xếp theo vị thứ từ cao đến thấp.

Đứng đầu danh sách là Isabelle Adjani (Pháp). Có bố là người Algeria và mẹ là người Đức, Isabelle Adjani sở hữu một khuôn mặt búp bê và ánh mắt mê hồn có thể thu hút khán giả ngay từ cái nhìn đầu tiên. Trong phim Possession (1981) do Andrzej Zulawski đạo diễn, Isabelle Adjani diễn rất đạt cảnh cuồng loạn của nhân vật Anna trên xe điện ngầm của thành phố Berlin.

Các nữ diễn viên “đẹp và nguy hiểm” kế tiếp là…

Angelina Jolie, vai Olympias trong phim Alexander (2004);  Asia Argento, vai Violaine trong phim Les morsures de l’aube (2001);
Ava Gardner, vai Kitty Collins trong phim The killers (1946);
Cameron Diaz, vai Julie trong phim Vanilla sky (2001); Cate Blanchett vai Irina Spalko trong phim Indiana Jones và vương quốc sọ pha lê (2008)…

Index

Harrison Ford has confirmed that George Lucas, Steven Speilberg and himself are talking over the fifth Indiana Jones film. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, although got lukewarm reviews, made $785 million worldwide.

Lukas Eggen

Index

In an attempt to recapture some of its former magic, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull relies too heavily on recycled jokes and uninventive plotting with hopes that nostalgia alone will blind its audience to the film’s many faults. Much in the same way that the recent Star Wars films lacked an appreciation for the aging of their fans, this latest Indiana Jones movie gets stuck looking back and not forward.

I may be committing sacrilege here, but I wonder if the Indiana Jones franchise would have been better served had George Lucas not written this story and Steven Spielberg not directed this film. This isn’t a statement regarding the talent of these filmmakers, but more a reflection that they may be unable to see this character with fresh eyes. Yes, yes, I realize that serious attention was given to making this fourth film seamless with the foregoing three (including costuming, lighting, dialogue, etc.), but I wonder if this handcuffed the filmmakers instead of freeing them to attempt something wildly different. Of course, this would have likely angered the core fans, but think of all the new Indy fans it would have birthed had the film actually been good.

Concerning the film itself, I have little positive to say. The story makes little sense and lacks the suspense and intrigue of racing around the world for mysterious artifacts which is so well-captured in the earlier Indiana Jones films or the later National Treasure movies. The attempt to reproduce the humorous repartee between father and son from Indy 3 falls flat here with Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf. Mind you, LaBeouf does the best he can with what he’s given, but he like the rest of the cast can’t overcome the forced dialogue and one-dimensional writing of their characters.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull found great financial success at the box office, but I fear that this franchise is as good as dead in its current form (which may not necessarily be a bad thing). I would love to see a fifth Indiana Jones film that reinvigorates the franchise with more current ideas and filming techniques; yes, perhaps a little like the Young Indiana Jones series with a bit of the Bourne films thrown in. I am perfectly willing to bastardize a legendary film franchise if the result is far more entertaining and palatable than the bland and unoriginal fare served up in this latest Indiana Jones effort.

From TheHDRoom.com

Halo news has been percolating since Comic-Con where District 9 director Neill Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson opened up about their ill-fated attempt to bring Master Chief to the big screen in 2007.

In the other corner stands Stuart Beattie, a big Halo fan who penned a Halo script during the writers strike. With G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra behind the scribe, he’s begun shopping the script and already has a big catch eying the lure.

Check out Amazon Best Selling DVD's

IESB.net is reporting multiple industry sources have confirmed that Steven Spielberg is actively negotiating to develop Beattie’s script into a big tentpole film with a $100+ million budget.

Spielberg’s ties to Microsoft and Bill Gates were evidenced back in June when he appeared on stage at E3 to help introduce the world to full body motion gaming in Project Natal. His success with Transformers and legend status would be, you would think, what Halo rights owner Microsoft would be looking for in a film partner.

Beattie’s script, based on Eric Nyland’s prequel novel Fall of Reach, serves as an introduction for the Master Chief character who does not become the lone Spartan warrior until the film’s closing scenes. It sets up two additional Halo films which would conclude roughly based on the events in Halo 3.

Before you discount Beattie’s qualification for the job, keep in mind he has read every Halo comic and played through all the games. He knows the lore forward and backward.

If Spielberg lands a deal with Microsoft then a different fear arises. Will we get the Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven, or the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Transformers Steven? Big budget effects with Spielberg on board are a given, but in the case of Halo, millions of Xbox 360 Halo game owners are looking for something deeper than what Michael Bay brought to Transformers.

This story is obviously still developing but clearly the gears are in motion on a Halo movie again. Are you sad that Blomkamp and Jackson’s version isn’t being resurrected by someone else, or jazzed that Spielberg is now trying to get Beattie’s Halo off the ground?

…is being held to my head: Spud Bud is sad and moody and thirteen, and he demanded to know why I haven’t blogged anything for two days.  Tory Boy demanded to know if I’ve abandoned my calling.  He’s nineteen and bossy and fast asleep after having a hyssy fit at being dragged from his bed at 19:59 to watch his favourite programme (and Spud’s, Hub’s and mine), Top Gear, and then being pelted by cushions by his parents, who wanted him to stay awake long enough not to not sleep through tonight. The Hub demanded to know why I haven’t finished my book and bought him a new car yet.  Feeling the pressure, I’m here; but with nothing to say.

We have had a lovely week.  Cricket & Munch stayed with us, as I said, and we have walked all over Stockport.  Yesterday, we went to a local church fun day with free food, free candy floss and free activities, including Painting the Toast.  PtT involves putting food dye in milk; you paint a picture on dry bread and then toast it, then eat it with your eyes closed so that you don’t gag at how repulsive it looks.

It was a pleasant farewell to the children.  Munch decided she missed her parents terribly – ten minutes before Daddy arrived to collect them.  She celebrated her homecoming by throwing up in the car on the way home.  I think she peeped at her toast.

We had some family news that made Spud, in particular, really sad.  This family’s solution to sad situations is comedy movies, so we watched a couple, including Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I know it’s not technically a comedy but it’s so daft that it could be.  That helped Spud cheer up.  He’s sensitive anyway, but puberty is hanging around like the yobs on my corner, so any mood he experiences is multiplied by a factor of a number so great it makes an err symbol on my calculator.   Hence this late night post after he dragged me from my bed and onto his computer.

I think I’ve written enough to creep back to bed, so I’ll close.  Enjoy what’s left of your Sunday.

© Tilly Bud and The Laughing Housewife, 2009

Last night I watched “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, sorry but while I was entertained I was not impressed, this is the fourth Indy movie and its been a few years (19 or 20 I think) since the making of the last one. Now I don’t know whether I’m simply remembering the first three through extremely rosy glasses, whether times have just changed so much that we aren’t as easily entertained by escapist movie nonsense nowadays or whether this is just simply an inferior product but I don’t think its nearly as good as its predecessors.

It starred of course Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, don’t really believe we would accept anyone else in the role to be honest, he was good, he usually is, Karen Allen returned to her role from the original (Marion Ravenwood), Shia LaBeouf plays “Mutt” her son, John Hurt is “Professor OX Oxley”, Jim Broadbent makes an appearance as the Dean of the university, these are the goodies. Cate Blanchett is an unconvincing baddie, not very threatening, who has a host of “commie” henchmen doing her every bidding, Ray Winstone meanwhile is a character called “Mac” who it appears they couldn’t decide throughout the making of the film whether he was a goodie or a baddie.

LaBeouf was I thought damn poor in this, he was 2 dimensional and flat, not a likeable character played poorly in my opinion, Hurt was just wasted, all he had to do was act like an idiot and quote nonsensical lines for the most part, the Karen Allen part was more or less surplus to requirements, she only seemed there to make up the numbers. Blanchett meanwhile simply wasn’t frightening, I never once thought she was going to beat the good guys and Winstone’s character just changed sides too often, it was a little confusing deciding whether to like him or not although to be truthful his character wasn’t very likeable either.

Ok so the baddies in this are communists, we used to have Nazis’ as Indies enemies, I guess we did need a change but did they really need to reopen the cold war, and Indiana Jones with aliens, yes I know we got some guff in the end about them being inter dimensional beings but come on they were aliens, bit too X-Files like at times to be an Indy movie.

The stunts were even crazier and less believable than in the old movies (in which we somehow believed them, well kind of) and computer graphics made an only too obvious impact, various parts of the film like for instance the (unrealistic looking) scene with the swinging monkeys who for some strange reason decided to attack the baddies, the insane ant scene and Indy escaping a nuclear bomb explosion while hiding in a fridge in which he was thrown for miles away from the blast only to walk away were just too much, the script was also quite poor, well I thought so anyway.

So I guess I hated this movie then, well no, while I was disappointed by it (maybe I just expected too much) I was also, to a certain extent, entertained by it, it was fast paced and at times funny (sometimes when it wasn’t supposed to be I think), when you see it try not to compare it with the first three, it’ll come off worst, just put your brain into neutral and (completely) suspend any attempt at logical thought, oh and ignore the unlikeable characters and try not to expect too much of the script.

I’m probably the most unlikely Indiana Jones fan, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard Indy was going to come back to screen in a new film.

And finally I got to see this film and I was just…disappointed.

It seemed like a good plot. A crystal skull which gives the owner power to control nature and do unimaginable horrors. A kidnapped old friend, a mysterious young man, Russians and Cate Blanchett speaking in a Russian accent.

Dr. Jones, is tasked by a crazy Russian woman to help him find and return the ancient crystal skull to a lost Mayyan city. Along the way, Indy’s friend Dr. Oxley is kidnapped and has gone mad. Mutt Williams asks Indy to help him track Ox down. Marion Rookwood, from one of the previous films is also a part of the plot as Mutt’s mother. Indy solves puzzles and has a rollicking good time.

From the summary it sounds fantastic, but watching the film the magic was missing for me. Indy is now 65, cantankerous as ever, but not as fast on his feet. Although he can still outsmart the bad guys and has his sense of humour. I like getting closure on Indy, and I’m glad they made the film, but it just didn’t do it for me.

I thought the whole storyline with the Crystal Skull was not plausible, but I enjoyed the interactions between Indy and Mutt. And Indy and Marion.

All in all, if you’re an Indiana Jones fan, watch it to get closure but don’t expect the same magic as in the first 3 films.

3 out of 5 stars.

Random fact: The girl who punches Mutt in the diner scene is Sasha Spielberg, daughter of director Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw (Willie Scott).

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2 Disc Edition) [DVD] [2008]

Det er måske i virkeligheden gammelt nyt, men som Indy-fan må jeg også lige bringe en kommentar. Empire Online bragte d. 18 juni nyheden om at Frank Marshall (producer) bekræftede at en efterfølger til “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” er i post-production – det vil sige at de stadig taler om ideer til et manuskript.

Tidligere samme uge udtalte Bøffen (Shia LeBeouf – aka Mutt Williams) at “Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked the story on it, and I think they’re gearing it up” (Empire Online).

Som jeg tidligere har omtalt her på bloggen har både George Lucas og Steven Spielberg udtalt at en femte film ikke var umulig. Rygterne vil vide at der i 1980′erne faktisk var planlagt fem-seks film, hvilket efterlader os med mindst én manglende film. Harrison Ford har også udtrykt velvilje omkring en femte film – så længe det ikke bliver en animeret film.

Ja, så er der jo bare tilbage at vente. Jeg håber, jeg håber, jeg håber….

Oh yes, it’s coming! Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that is, the mega-summer-sensation film that’s aiming to become the biggest blockbuster of the year, and it’s is well on its way already, supposedly making over $60M already… on a Wednesday! So yeah, look for it to probably fly over the Wednesday-to-Sunday record of $152.5M owned by Spider-Man 2.

The great advertising campaign for this one, plus the fact that there’s no competition, plus the fact that everyone on earth wants to see it means that it will do terrific business, especially since this one, like many Michael Bay films, is critic-proof and reviews won’t damage it much. Word-of-mouth could possibly hurt it, but that won’t be seen until next weekend.

Plus another factor it has going for them is the increased starpower since the first one, Shia LaBeouf has gained starpower since the last one, and will look to become the first person ever to open three $300M+ grossers in consecutive years (2007 was the first Transformers, and 2008 was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Plus Megan Fox, who was an unknown the first time around now has a big fanbase of her own now due to her extreme hotness, so she will bring some crowd of her own this time.

With a $200M budget, look for this one to start off a nice run to make that money back, and I think a $90M weekend-gross could occur and about $170M over the five-day period. And that’s huge, right there.

Now the last time such a huge blockbuster came around was of course last year, with The Dark Knight, which went on to become the second highest-grossing film ever. However, when TDK opened, Mamma Mia! came in second with a real respectable gross. And this year around, the formula’s going to be the same, open up a female-appealing film against the boys-mainly action one.

That film this year is My Sister’s Keeper, based on Jodi Picoult’s best-selling novel, and starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin, however, this one isn’t fun and summery like Mamma Mia! in fact, it’s quite depressing seeing as how it deals with cancer, and won’t be such a big draw at a time when moviegoers want something more entertaining. So look for it to make $10-12M this weekend.

Last week’s champ, The Proposal, will probably fare well against the robots, since it’s main audience is female, and not many of those will be in line to see Optimus Prime, so a very respectable hold of $20M on its second frame may occur.

The Hangover and Up will fall a bit this weekend, look for them to make $18M and $16M this weekend respectively, getting their amazing grand totals to about $185M and $250M respectively.

The coolness of Indy flies back through the throttle in sequel LEGO mode including all new scene interpretations from “Raiders” on, base home grids with split screens, new level builds and optimum “Crystal Skull” references .

Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia, Eagle Eye) has just finished starring in two of the biggest franchines in film, Indiana Jones and Transformers.  And it looks like LaBeouf is headed for another go around in Indy’s universe. 
“Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked the story on it before I left and I think they’re gearing that up,” LaBeouf said. 

Last year, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made $786.6 million, second to only The Dark Knight. 

Do you want to see another Indiana Jones?

Lukas Eggen

{ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull }

{ Desperate Housewives & The Munsters old house }

I just found out that an A-Team movie is in the works, and I’m not real sure how I feel about it.  Get Smart…Transformers…GI Joe…Land of the Lost…when will it all stop?  Why is it that Hollywood feels the need to feed us these regurgitated characters/plots?  I know that a remake/sequel of any kind is the quickest way to make a buck because it has a built-in audience and people will turn out at the theater just to see what the studio has made out of it, but come on people, let’s be real for a minute.

Are we so afraid of change that we can’t handle new and exciting plot lines?  Are we so latched down to the “good old days” that we lack the distinguished taste of good cinema?  Yes, in a word.  Obviously!

I have to admit however that not all of Hollywood’s recent regurgitations have been complete cinematic abortions.  In fact, I quite enjoyed the new Indiana Jones.  Was it an example of great filmmaking?  Not so much.  Was it enjoyable to watch?  Absolutely!  Same traffic for Transformers.  The trailer for GI Joe makes me want to have a root canal though…  I’d love to see a live action version of ThunderCats though, that’d be spectacular!

But I digress.  Back to the A-Team movie.  Apparently, Joe Carnahan will be directing.  Who?  Joe Carnahan.  Who’s that?  No idea.  He has roughly eight movies filed under his name on Wikipedia, all of them complete failures.  So…good luck with that.

Anyway, news articles have touted Liam Neeson as being signed on for the role of Col. John “Hannibal” Smith.  Seriously?  Liam Neeson?  Back that thang up.  You’re telling me that a grade ‘A’ actor like LIAM FREAKING NEESON is going to be in this movie?  Hmm.  Maybe Joe Carnahan will be rich after all.

No word yet on who’s going to play Mr. T’s B.A. Baracus.  Why not just let Mr. T himself do it?  He’s not dead, right?  (quick Google…)  No, whew, no…he’s still alive.  And he’s only 57!!!

So….lots to look forward to….thanks Hollywood….

Jeff Nathanson, the scribe of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and the Rush Hour films has been hired to adapt “The Secret Life of Houdini:  The Making of America’s First Superhero”. 

The book implies that Houdini was a spy, was asked to advise Czar Nicholas II, and a enemy to spiritualists.  It also implies that Houdini’s death was a revenge act taken by those spiritualists.  Who would you like to see play Houdini?

Lukas Eggen