It feels really nostalgic everytime I hear the Chobits OP theme (Let me be with You by ROUND TABLE featuring Nino), here I have Chibits - a spinoff from the Chobits series released somewhere around 2004. Although it runs at around 6 minutes plus only, I enjoyed every single second of it. With the hyperactive Sumomo around, nothing will ever bore you. I would like to have this two little darling Persocoms with me, of course Chi also will be welcomed anytime. The story is pretty simple - Hideki goes off to college, left behind his wallet and Chi goes to deliver it to him. Sumomo rocketed to the sky with Kotoko to go after Chi when they noticed Chi left her undies at home. Browse the youtube clips below to see what really happens at the end. You just gonna love these two little brats :D

English dubbed

Screenshots

According to DownloadSquad, Iron is a privacy-enhanced version of Google's surprise entry into the browser market. Based on the same source code as the main trunk, the German-developed Iron removes some of Google's oversight from your browsing history by removing the unique tag used to identify each user, remove the functionality that reports usage back to Google, stops server error messages from being forwarded through Google, and removes both the crash reporting and automatic updating functionality.

What you're left with is a pared-down version of the increasingly popular Chrome browser for users who think that Google has had quite enough insight into their personal data, thank you very much.

Documentation on the project is somewhat sparse – and in German, to boot – but in theory, as the project only requires the removal of functionality and not addition, it should be relatively straightforward for the team at SRWare to keep Iron updated with security patches and bugfixes as they are provided by Google.

Whether you consider it fair play to take the functionality developed and offered freely by Google in exchange for just a teensy bit more of your personal data is between you and your conscience.

Are there any Chrome holdouts a bit more willing to give it a go now that Google's all-seeing eye has been blindfolded, or is it still a poor competitor in an increasingly strong marketplace? Share your thoughts over in the forums.

Read More...

oh and, if you know who makes wp's boots, pleassssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee let me know. I love them. Size 10 please. :)

as an avid & obsessed fan of GND (Girls Next Door), i was shocked, upset, and down right broken hearted when i heard the rumors of Holly leaving the mansion for a dirty ol' scumbag named Criss Angel.  well, rumors have  been denied and i couldn't be more overjoyed.  can't wait for that season 5!  also, apparently hef wants the girls to have their own spinoffs!!!  OMG?!?!?!!  a show solely dedicated to Ms. Madison!  i would be overjoyed.  and would bridget get her own DIY, martha stewert-esque show????  the possibilities are endless!

It was announced that Leisha Hailey ( as Alice, our favorite KCRW, comedy, hottie) will be the star of the new spin-off.  Really? Did they have to think very long about that?

Ilene Chaiken is, of course, set to pen the pilot episode.  Hopefully Betty won't be allowed anywhere near it...and maybe there should be an electrified fence involved.  Just a suggestion.

Leisha Hailey is a busy bee.  On top of starting a record label with her gf in Marfa,Texas in 2005 she also recently released a full length album with Camila Grey (her UH  HUH HER bandmate).

Plus she's a funny lady.

Here's the video for their first single off the full-length album.

That's right, it's time to throw all of those spelling rules you learned in grade school out the door and replace them with the spelling roolz yu lurnd in greyd skool. Thanks to a growing moovment mor and mor inglish speekurs are replaysing the tradishonal spellings of wurdz with onez that look more like the wurdz they're trying 2 say, compleetly ignoring the fact that most wurdz are mayd up of rootz that help peepul figger out what thoze wurdz meen.

The funetticks moovment was startid by late teevee honcho Aaron Spelling, who was frekwintly jokingly asked by his frendz too spell thingz for them. Fed up by peepul allwayz assooming he was as good as a dikshunnairy becaws of his last naym, Spelling began duhmanding scriptz for his hit shows yoos ownlee funetticks. This methud beecaym such a big hit with his yung acturz, many of hoom were unedjucated and didint know the diffrents anyway. When shows like "Dynasty" and "Beverly Hills 90210" cawt on with yooth awdiences, menny of the yung stars wood go 2 skools and preech abowt the valyoo of litterassy. Offen times menny of the mutteerials they yoosed too suppliment theyr tawk contaynd heeps of miss spellingz, but sinz Linda Evans, Ian Ziering and Gabrielle Carteris wurr more famous than Merriam-Webster's Dictionary in most hy skools, the kidz gravuhtaydid towurdz the noo spellingz and thus spelling funettickly cawt on.

When 90210 went off the air in 2000 there were not many young stars touring the high school circuit teaching the value of a good education. With English teachers back at the helm, the importance of word origins and roots re-emerged, turning the National Spelling Bee into a premiere sporting event on par with the Super Bowl. They even made a documentary on it. However, with the announcement of the spinoff show touting Spelling's fayvuhrit zip coad, spelling funettickly is wuntz more in vowg with tha kidz...and when the kidz are down with sumthing, it makes it mor frendly and trendy than ever.

Bom, o rumor da hora é que a Sony estaria planejando um spinoff dos filmes do Homem-Aranha. Isso mesmo, segundo o Hollywood Reporter, a idéia é a produção de um blockbuster centrado no anti-herói Venom. Segundo o informante, a Sony já teria até recebido um primeiro roteiro. Escrita por Jacob Estes, a história teria sido rejeitada pelo estúdio que agora procura um novo roteirista. Quanto ao protagonista, tudo indica que o estúdio não tem certeza se Topher Grace (o Venom de Homem-Aranha 3) seria o nome ideal para filme de verão deste porte.

Sou bastante contrário a execução do projeto. Tudo bem, por bastante tempo, após ter sido apresentado como vilão, Venom foi uma espécie de herói nos quadrinhos, mas não justifica um filme centrado nele. É um personagem sem grandes apelos e a probabilidade maior é que renda um filme com a qualidade dos efeitos visuais inversamente proporcional a qualidade do roteiro.

Paralelamente a isso, a Sony segue oficialmente dizendo que está pensando no Homem-Aranha 4. Os últimos rumores diziam que a primeira versão do roteiro já teria sido entregue as mãos dos altos executivos do estúdio. Quem vai ser o diretor ou se o elenco retorna permanece uma incógnita.

Se tudo acontecer diferente e o roteiro for bom, só digo uma coisa: go with it!

Molly was naturally good at Transfiguration, even though she hated it, and since Vanderbon liked to torture people she made Molly do all the demonstrations, and corrected little things about it, until Molly blew up at her, and was sent to the Headmistresses office.
As usual they all sat in the very back seats, which may be one of the reasons the professor was so adminant about them participating, but as far as Molly was concerned, Vanderbon was just an evil old hag with nothing better to ocupy her time with.
"Class, now, today we wil be turning mice into teacups." Banderbon started class, and Molly leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the desk. Smacking her gum at Merry as she passed out the mice to them. Merry rolled her eyes while Molly grinned.
Merry and Molly got along fine, Molly just loved to mess with the extremely prim Merry, it was how they'd interacted since they were five.
"Miss Weasley since you don't seem to be paying too much attention to the lesson, I'd like to see you turn your mouse into a cup." Vanderbon sneered at Molly.
Molly smirked at Vanderbon and flicked her wrist and muttered the spell under her breath, the cup turned into a pristine white teacup with gold detailing and a finely carved handle.
"Beat that." Molly muttered with a grin.
David and Sam tried hiding thier chuckles while Alex and Dillan stared at the teacup in shock.
"Well, it seems some of my teaching has actually sunk in, hasn't it Miss Weasley." Vanderbon seemed pleased with herself.
"Actually my mum taught me that this summer." Molly gave Vanderbon her most instigating grin.
"Out. Out. I want you and your no good, rotten, little followers out of my classroom right now!" Vanderbon seemed to snap, she was nearly foaming at the mouth.
Molly stood up and raised her hands, "Followers." She said and walked from the room, with four boy tailing her.
When they were in the hallway they all burst out laughing.
"Let's go visit Hagrid!" David suggested for their free time, Professor Vanderbon's class was their last class until lunch.
"May as well have some sunshine on your sentence day." Alex commented.
A unison groan came from all three of the 'troublemakers', as they pushed open the doors to the grounds. It was raining, which wasn't really that uncommon on hogwarts grounds.
They raced down the hill toward the small cottage on the grounds. The rest of the day passed by almost too quickly, and it was time for detention.
Alex and Dillion gave her a hug as she headed toward the dungeons, Sam and David had already headed to thiers.
When she got to the dungeon Zak was already there leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.

Zur Geschichte von Baby Vox komme ich später noch einmal zurück.
Baby Vox' Titelsong des zweiten Albums ist ein Cover des populären thailändischen Songs "I Believe" von Tata Young. Kennt hier wahrscheinlich auch keiner, aber dazu kann Salome sicherlich einiges noch schreiben, da sie die vor mir schon gehört hat. ;-)

Der Song wurde ein wenig aufgepeppt und entsprechend modernisiert. Sehr hörenswert, wie ich finde. Doch leider wird es Baby Vox nicht sehr leicht haben zwischen den ganzen anderen Girlgroups, die momentan wie Pilze aus dem Boden zu schießen scheinen. Dennoch wünsche ich ihnen viel Glück.

Nun kurz zur Geschichte von den 1997 gegründeten Baby Vox, die einer der erfolgreichsten Girlgroups in Korea war. War? Ja, weil es diese Gruppe in der Form nicht mehr gibt und Baby Vox Re.V eine Art Nachfolger ist. Die Musik lässt sich in Pop einordnen, wobei sich aber auch einige Einflüsse aus Latin, Hip Hop und Dance wiederfinden. Das Vox bei Baby Vox steht für Voice of Xpression. Leider war der Gruppe bei der ersten Single der Erfolg verwehrt. Als zu hart wurde der Sound bezeichnet, was gleich zu einer Neubesetzung in der Musikrichtung aber auch in der Besetzung führte. Mit neuem Lineup und Image startete Baby Vox 1999 dann mit "Come Come Baby" durch. Danach folgte eigentlich Hit auf Hit bis sich 2005 die Girlgroup auflöste. Die Gründe waren unterschiedlicher Natur, einige wollte eine Solokarriere beginnen, sich als Schauspielerin versuchen oder waren mit im Laufe der Jahre eingeschlagenen Richtung nicht mehr zufrieden.
Nach der Trennung der Band wurde mit Baby Vox Re.V sozusagen ein Spinoff ins Leben gerufen mit komplett neuen Leuten. Die Zeit wird zeigen, was wir noch von Baby Vox zu hören bekommen. Wir sind gespannt. ;-)

Euer Long

Hier Baby Vox' Comeback bei Music Core:

Hier der Comeback-Song von Baby Vox: I Believe
Einmal das Cover von Baby Vox und einmal das Original von Tata Young. 

According to afterellen.com, there is going to be a spin-off of The L Word after its 6th and final season wraps.  Creator, Ilene Chaiken has decided that the end of Season 6 will include an open-ended component that will be carried onto the internet. If Showtime moves forward with the spinoff, that online story will segue into the new television series. The spinoff has not yet been titled.

There are SO many ways this could go... and though I'm sure that 80% of viewers are hoping it is a Shane spinoff, I'm hoping for Alice.  Please, please, please.

Daniels wants to do an unrelated series with an Office-like tone and vision. But NBC wants a directly related Office spin-off, again with the same tone and vision as the American version of the original British series. "What NBC keeps arguing is that they want to cast Steve Carell in the first episode of the new show debuting after The Office on Super Bowl Sunday, and why would he show up if it's not related?" a source tells me. "But Daniels is a stubborn, stubborn guy. I bet Greg gets his way."

And he did. The legendary "Office spinoff" now turns out to be a star vehicle for Amy Poehler; instead of taking an Office character and making him or her the star, it'll be an Office-like show about a new character played by one of NBC's most valuable performers.

Can it really be true that NBC executives don't know how they could get Steve Carell into the pilot of this show? Have they not heard of the concept of The Crossover? There have been countless shows that weren't spinoffs yet benefited from a visit from a character from an established hit. ABC's TGIF shows routinely crossed over with each other. St. Elsewhere crossed over with Cheers even though St. Elsewhere only existed in a child's fantasy. The Flintstones met Samantha and Darrin from Bewitched. Even NBC's recent Knight Rider backdoor pilot crossed over with Las Vegas. All Michael Scott has to do is show up wherever the new show takes place, and say "I can't wait to hear about all the exciting, sexy adventures you're sure to have against this colorful backdrop." It's just not that complicated, guys.

Daniels is one of those producers who just seems to be really good at dealing with network executives. Maybe that's because his wife, Susanne (sister of Paul Lieberstein, one of Daniels' best writers) is herself a network executive, and he knows how their minds work. But people from both King of the Hill and The Office have talked about how Daniels is willing to take advice from network executives where it's warranted, while saving the battles for the issues that matter, like this one. His rewrite of King of the Hill after Mike Judge's first draft was an example of that; Fox brought him onto the project to address some of the issues they had with Judge's concept, and his rewrite alleviated Fox's concerns -- by, among other things, creating Cotton Hill to make Hank look more enlightened by comparison -- and yet the end result was a very quirky and unusual show that was about as far away from focus-grouped blandness as you can get.

Jag tror nog faktiskt att det här inte kommer att bli fullt lika bra som animen är, anledningen till det är att jag brukar inte gilla då dem gör manga av en serie som först gick upp som anime, om dem gör tvärtom så är det helt okey. Jag älskade animen Eureka Seven, men kunde bara inte hitta motivationen till att läsa mangan efter det att jag sett animen, jag har läst och äger två volymer, jag hoppas att jag någon dag ska ta mig för att läsa de andra, men det känns så svårt, då jag redan överväldigades så över animen, och jag tror att det kan bli något i samma stuk här.

Källa: ANN

Andra åsikter om Anime, Manga, Gundam 00, Spinoff, Serie, Eureka Seven, Tv

[Alan: ]Whatever happened to the Kaitlin spin-off where she was in boarding school?

I was about 17 episodes into the first season, and I was asked to go up into Rupert Murdoch's boardroom. Rupert wasn't there but all the head honchos at Fox were there, and I was asked, with a fair amount of pressure, to do another show. I was shown a schedule where, if I did this, "The O.C." would remain on Wednesdays at 9 and the new show would be on Tuesdays at 9 after "Idol." Who wouldn't want to do that? It wasn't wise of me to do that, I had plenty to learn about the TV business, but I said, "Okay, I don't want it to be a spin-off." I was worried about cannibalizing the show too soon, and spin-offs usually fail. Everyone signed off on that fact, I went off and worked on a pilot called "Athens." It was a big honor, it was going to keep "The O.C" behind "American Idol." Then I turned in the script and everyone said, "So how do we turn it into a spin-off?" It became a protracted battle not to make it a spin-off. Then I arrived at the upfronts to announce the new show and they said "The O.C." was moving to Thursdays, that was a perfect storm of its own. When it felt that was the only version of the pilot that was going to move forward was one I didn't believe in, I said, maybe as a compromise, we'd have discussions about a Kaitlin boarding school drama, and then Gail Berman went to Paramount, and those discussions ended.

How fitting, then, that I looked at this so recently, as now we've got the exact same situation with almost eerie comparisons to this earlier one. As it completes its first season, Gossip Girl is now being spun-off by its producers (Schwartz included, one presumes) as another hit series of books by the author of Gossip Girl is being optioned. And, interestingly, "The It Girl" series surrounds the character of Jenny Humphrey falling off the wagon at Constance Billard and being sent off to board school just as Kaitlin had once been destined under the scenario Schwartz described.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Humphrey is a self-esteem challenged outsider who struggles to fit in. In the books, a series of public embarrassments (such as appearing in a teen magazine wearing next to nothing) results in Humphrey having to either repeat ninth grade or find a new school. She elects to enter a boarding school and reinvents herself as a popular girl. Her story is told in a series of six "Gossip" spinoff novels called "The It Girl."

I don't think it is so simple, however, to spin-off this character- Kaitlin was a nothing in The O.C.'s first season, and Jenny was anything but in Gossip Girl's first frame. There are things about her character that are integral to Gossip Girl and might not be as expendable, and with no confirmed reports of them using Jenny's character in the spinoff I'd have to think that they'll figure this out as well.

I'm not a fan of Jenny's character, to be honest: Taylor Momsen has done admirable work in the role, but there is just something about her that annoys me, and I think I've figured it out. You see, Jenny acts like, well, a teenage girl.

And that's something that I, as a viewer, find annoying - yes, I'm aware it's a teen drama, but at the same time I think that her storylines are bound to be the whiniest, or the most misguided, or in some cases just plain shrill. I like her character well enough, but as someone who doesn't relate to her problems or understand her perspective it's kind of difficult for me to consider her on the same level as the other characters.

In some ways she is expendable - there's more than enough drama on the show without her, her relationship with Dan was severely downgraded in the second half of the season, her romantic storyline more weirded me out than interested me, and her father has more than enough issues to work out without dealing with a teenage daughter at the same time.

However, this is the perspective of a TV critic who isn't exactly in the show's core demographics. That core demographic of female teens is what the show is really worried about, and there's two arguments why they'd watch the show: as wish fulfilment for their own lives (I'll leave the analysis of the poor role modeling to someone else), or as their own gateway into seeing how these people work. In that sense, Jenny Humphrey is their avatar, the person that they can relate to as she walks into this world wide-eyed and desperate for attention.

To lose that from Gossip Girl seems misguided, especially when you consider how much work the show has done to place her smack dab in the middle of all of that trauma. Without her, there is no non-rich female characters outside of Vanessa, and I refuse to accept any situation wherein Vanessa is given more of a role to play. Jenny is really the only thing even close to the average viewer on the series, and I think you need that.

I'm sure some would argue that The O.C. didn't have one, and therefore Gossip Girl doesn't need one either, but the narrative frame of The O.C. was Ryan struggling to fit into this world - taking Ryan away from the show would have been awfully strange, and certainly FOX would have balked at Seth as a main protagonist. It was also a show that really stumbled into its best female leads, with Summer going from bit-part to main love interest and Taylor going from third season running joke to fourth season heroine. Gossip Girl, however, is built around these female characters, and taking one away would mean something to its core narrative.

So now they have a choice to make - either the producers are willing to take Jenny Humphrey out of the fold to follow the book series' storylines directly, or they create a new character who can follow the same path and eventually find their way into the spinoff series. The prior option is the safer bet, and will likely appeal most to the network (The CW has not committed any sort of interest to the series, although logic would see the struggling network dying for more chance to brand themselves based on the series' success). The latter, however, might be the best bet for the original series itself - losing Jenny might be a bit of a tough sell to the producers, although one has to presume that the Gossip Girl books lived on just fine without her, so perhaps it could be for the best.

But it would mean a change, and a fairly substantial one - Kaitlin leaving The O.C. (as she eventually did only to disappear for two seasons) for boarding school is of little impact, but Jenny leaving New York would change the way the show operates. I don't know if I'd miss her in particular, but I think that some viewers would certainly miss the point of view she provides, a certain innocence that Blair and Serena just can't provide after we've seen their illicit hookups.

Of course, the series might not even make it to air - there is a chance that The CW has no interest considering Gossip Girl's modest ratings success, and that the show could languish. In that instance, the show could be shopped around, and things could get even more interesting. For now, however, it's just an idea - but an idea with a lot of complications, and therefore a lot to think about as the development of the show (and Gossip Girl's second season) continues.

But if we see Jenny posing for a racy magazine shoot in her underwear, chances are it's goodbye for Ms. Humphrey.

But a couple weeks ago, Kristin Veitch at E! reminded us that whatever the spinoff turns out to be, it may not be what it was originally supposed to be:

I also know the initial plan was to bring in a new person... to Dunder Mifflin Scranton and then spin off that person, but because of the strike it didn't pan out.

That's a popular way of launching a spinoff, though I hadn't seen it done in a few years; the most recent one I'm aware of was on The Practice, where James Spader's Alan Shore was added to the cast in the final season, and that final season became basically a year-long backdoor pilot (or as I prefer to call it, "stealth pilot") for Boston Legal. It's sort of a bigger, more elaborate variation on the single-episode stealth pilot, when someone we never heard of before is introduced and we're asked to care about their wacky adventures; instead of doing that for one episode, you do it for a season, or part of a season, and get the audience to like this new character enough that we'll follow him or her to the spinoff. This way you get all the advantages of a spinoff without the problems of taking an established character off the show.

But that doesn't seem possible now for The Office, so we'll have to wait and see who and what the spinoff is about. A previous rumour had Ed Helms' Andy as the most likely star for a spinoff, which, given that he's the character who out-Michaels Michael Scott and given that he suddenly became prominent (upstaging Jim and Pam) near the end of the season finale, seems plausible, but who knows?

The new series debuting later this year, promising to be both sexy and addictive, already have a semi-devoted following. In particular, Stylista and 90210.

But after further examination, I think the latter is going to need a little more than original Beverly Hills alums Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth to keep its audience attention.

With Gossip Girl name dropping labels like Travota and outfitting its stars with avant-garde designers weekly, how can a show with a similar plot -- teens living in excess and backstabbing their friends when the situation presents itself -- survive with a bad wardrobe?

Not to mention, Stylista's head editrix Anne Slowly, will for certain be decked out in designer duds each episode if the YSL star necklace she wore in the show's teaser is any indication to how the rest of her outfits will look.

Don't get me wrong. I think a Jovovich-Hawk floral mini could compete with a Alice & Olivia shift any day. But how less interesting or intriguing will the catfights be in the 90210 mansions when its stars are wearing Forever21.

Maybe Patricia field could drop off a few Chanel skirts or Valentino handbags on her way to the GG lot?

Wer sich noch gut daran erinnern kann, wann er das letzte Mal mit kindlicher Begeisterung dem Kinostart eines Films entgegengefiebert, alle Vorberichte gierig verschlungen, dann mit zitternden Händen endlich die Eintrittskarte zum Abriss bereitgehalten hat und schließlich die letzten Meter zum Vorführsaal mit einem wilden Rudel Schmetterlingen im Bauch entlanggeeilt ist, um schnell noch den bestmöglichen Sitzplatz zu ergattern, bevor die Lichter ausgingen und der Projektor endlich, endlich zu rattern begann, der hat entweder ein lebhaftes Erinnerungsvermögen, das problemlos Erfahrungen wiederbeleben kann, die schon mehrere Jahrzehnte zurückliegen, oder aber er gehört zu jener fragwürdigen Spezies, der die Leinwand ein echtes Ersatzleben bietet. Mit dem großen Ereignischarakter ist es im Gegenwartskino nämlich leider nicht weit her. Der mediale Overkill von Werbekampagnen, die gerne mal die 200 Millionen-Dollar-Marke knacken, gibt sich zwar alle Mühe, selbst mittelmäßige Produktionen zu vermeintlichen Sensationen aufzublasen, den Adrenalinanteil beim Publikum können sie jedoch nur geringfügig ankurbeln, und das Zeitfenster zur DVD-Auswertung ist in den meisten Fällen ohnehin allerhöchstens nur noch ein Bullauge. Wer allerdings daraus schließen will, dass sich das Publikum und seine Bedürfnisse eben verändert hätten (und nicht etwa in erster Linie eine pappsatte Industrie schuld ist), der muss sich gehörig darüber wundern, wie groß die Sehnsucht nach Anachronismen werden kann, wenn nur das richtige Angebot da ist. Dass dazu eine altbewährte Formel und ein Filzhut schon ausreichen können, wer hätte das ernsthaft bezweifeln können? Welcome back, Dr. Jones, good to have you around again.

Nicht, dass die Rückkehr des Mannes, der sich selbst unter heißester Wüstensonne nicht von seiner Lederjacke trennt, ohne omnipräsenten Werbeaufwand vonstatten gegangen wäre – im Gegenteil natürlich (und zwar mit einem Budget von mindestens 150 Millionen US-Dollar). Den Sensationscharakter allerdings bringt die bloße Existenz des Films bereits ganz von selbst mit sich und reicht zurück bis in den peruanischen Dschungel von 1936 oder einen Nachtclub in Shanghai im Jahr zuvor. Wie auch immer man sich da entscheiden mag, spätestens beim Öffnen der Bundeslade jedenfalls war das Schicksal des unkonventionellen Archäologieprofessors mit krankhafter Schlangenphobie und ausgeprägtem Vaterkomplex (von dem damals allerdings noch niemand wusste) bereits besiegelt. So wie seine kreativen Wegbegleiter sich in der vielleicht berühmtesten Überblendung der Filmgeschichte das Paramount-Logo einfach mal schnell zueigen gemacht hatten, war Indiana Jones 1981 unumkehrbar in das kollektive Bewusstsein westlicher Popkultur eingetaucht.

Doch dabei ging es nicht um die bloße Figur alleine, sondern vielmehr um ein ganzes Stil- und Erzählkonzept mit klaren und unumstößlichen Koordinaten, von denen her sich der Wiedererkennungswert eines Phänomens definierte, das auch nach 27 Jahren ganz offensichtlich immer noch keinen einzigen Funken seiner Faszination eingebüßt hat. 1989 hatte Henry Jones jr. zwar bereits sein (vermeintlich) letztes Leinwandabenteuer bestanden, doch weder in den Köpfen und Träumen seiner Fans noch den Bilanzbüchern seiner Lizenznehmer war er tatsächlich für immer in den Sonnenuntergang geritten. In einer Flut aus Comics, Romanen, Videospielen, Themenparks und der endlosen Palette von Merchandising lebte das Prinzip Indy weiter und sorgte beständig dafür, auf keinen Fall in Vergessenheit zu geraten. Selbst das eher verhalten entgegengenommene TV-Spinoff „The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles“ mit ganzen drei Indy-Versionen in verschiedenen Altersstufen (und sogar einem winzigen Gastauftritt von Harrison Ford selber) konnte die Figur nicht entzaubern. Warum also sollte eine Rückkehr auf die große Leinwand fast zwei Jahrzehnte später etwas anderes sein als die logische Konsequenz aus echter Unkaputtbarkeit?

Für Lucasfilms und Paramount war dabei sicherlich vor allem die eine große Zahl ein ganz entscheidendes Argument: 1,2 Milliarden. So viele US-Dollar nämlich sollen „Raiders of the lost ark“, „Temple of doom“ und „Last Crusade“ angeblich bislang eingespielt haben, Lizenzrechte vermutlich nicht eingerechnet. Das ist eine Menge Holz (oder Papier), und so lag es eigentlich nur am Duett Lucas / Spielberg, das Prinzip Indiana Jones noch einmal dort auszuspielen, wo es ursprünglich hingehört – auf der großen Leinwand eben. Wie viele Storylines und Drehbuchversionen dabei entstanden sind, und wie viele Autoren verschlissen wurden, wissen wahrscheinlich nur die Buchhalter von der Skywalker Ranch. Der MacGuffin sei es gewesen, der Lucas über all die Jahre Kopfzerbrechen bereitet hätte, derjenige archäologische Plunder also (Bundeslade, Sankara Steine, heiliger Gral), der den Film zumindest auf der Oberfläche in Gang setzt. Nichts sei gut und groß genug gewesen, bis, tja, bis für Lucas die Erleuchtung in Gestalt eben jenes sagenumwobenen Kristallschädels kam, um den sich dann endlich eine echte Indy-Geschichte stricken ließ. Das mag man glauben oder auch nicht, die Erwartungshaltung schürt es aber allemal.

Mit dem unglaublichen Druck von 19 Jahren auf den Schultern also und einem Millionenpublikum, das die originalen drei Filme in- und auswendig kennt, genau weiß, wer, wie und was Indiana Jones ist, hat, darf und will, und das eine ebenso abstrakt-klare wie konkret-diffuse Vorstellung davon hat, wie die Rückkehr ihres Lieblingshelden auszusehen hat, und wie eben nicht, flimmerte schließlich am 18. Mai 2008 auf der ungemein werbewirksamen Plattform des 61. Filmfestivals von Cannes und begleitet von echter Vorabhysterie dasjenige zum ersten Mal über die Leinwand, worauf so viele so lange gewartet, und vor dem nicht wenige auch gehörige Angst hatten. Beunruhigendes gab es kurz zuvor bereits mit fragwürdiger Quellenlage im Netz zu lesen, und so war die Premierenpresse schon mal vorgewarnt. Ziemlich gemischt fielen demgemäss auch die ersten Reaktionen aus, und es war eingetreten, wofür Lucas bereits im Vorfeld aktive Schadensbegrenzung betrieben hatte: der Kritik gefiel sein Film nicht besonders. Zu bemüht, zu unoriginell, zu unzeitgemäß – so oder ähnlich war man sich weitestgehend einig, erst recht an der Croisette, wo Indy als alles überschattender Platzhirsch aufgetreten war, ohne überhaupt irgendetwas mit dem Wettbewerb selber zu tun zu haben. Das nahm man ihm selbstredend gerne übel.

Mit dem Film selber jedoch hat das alles herzlich wenig zu tun, und man würde einen entscheidenden Fehler begehen, ginge man davon aus, dass Indy 1981 von der professionellen Kritik merklich wärmer empfangen oder auch nur eines der vorherigen Sequels nicht gegen seine Vorgänger ausgespielt worden wäre (selten etwa wurde zum originalen „Raiders“ Unqualifizierteres gesagt als in jener legendären Kritik des damaligen Spiegel-Kulturchefs, die heute nur noch verständnisloses Kopfschütteln hervorrufen kann). Von einer Verbesserung der Bedingungen war also kaum auszugehen, und wie um alte Traditionen noch einmal aufleben zu lassen, war sich selbst der Archäologenverband nicht zu schade, dem Treiben des Mannes mit dem Faible für mythologisch vorbelastete Fundstücke allen Ernstes wieder einmal Rufschädigung vorzuwerfen – man kann es eben nicht allen recht machen. Und so waren es vor allem die Fans des Franchise, deren Zustimmung im Fokus der Macher lag. Die große Aufgabe des neuen Films müsste es schließlich sein, Tradition und Erneuerung unter einen (Fedora-) Hut zu bringen, und dabei dennoch nicht so zu tun, als sei die Filmgeschichte zwischenzeitlich stehen geblieben.

Vielleicht war es die klügste Entscheidung von allen, Indy etwas zu erlauben, was anderen Filmhelden im Normalfall eher den Hals brechen würde und deshalb meistens mehr oder weniger trickreich ausbleibt. Während der bekannteste Geheimagent seiner Majestät etwa alle paar Jahre einer Verjüngungskur unterzogen werden muss, um überleben zu können, ist Dr. Jones tatsächlich mit seinem Publikum gealtert – freilich ohne merkliche Anteile an Kondition und Schlagkraft einzubüßen (und das ganz ohne Martial Arts). Exakt 19 Jahre zeitliche Deckung erlaubt sich der Film, und so darf Harrison Ford zwar immer noch in derselben Montur, zugleich aber auch mit ehrenhaft ergrauter Mähne auftreten (wobei die Legende natürlich den Vortritt bekommt, und wohl deshalb die berühmte Silhouette das erste ist, was Indy als Indy identifiziert). Und weil Spielberg seit „Hook“ die ewige Kindheit gegen die Vaterschaft ausgetauscht und Lucas mittlerweile (für manchen Anhänger schmerzhaft) bewiesen hat, dass er den fiktionalen Generationswechsel für ein probates Mittel hält, um Altbewährtes fortzuführen, bekommt der (vermeintlich?) lebenslange Junggeselle Indy im Verlauf des Films tatsächlich einen unehelichen Sohn an die Seite gestellt. Die Funktion von Shia LaBeouf war zwar trotz akribischer Geheimniskrämerei frühzeitig, vielleicht aber auch ganz absichtlich durchgesickert, doch selbst der unbedarfte Zuschauer kann schon nach den ersten Minuten ohnehin ahnen, was da für ein Verhältnis vorliegt, wenn er Zeuge wird, wie Indy mit dem etwas ungestümen Mutt Williams (ein weiterer Beleg dafür, dass Lucas seine große Begabung für griffige Namen wirklich eingebüßt hat) mal im Wortgefecht liegt, mal eine gemeinsame Flucht auf dem Motorrad besteht (eine schöne Variante der umgekehrten Vater/Sohn-Konstellation aus „Last Crusade“). Und daran ändert sich auch solange nichts, bis es Gewissheit gibt und beide schließlich der Frau gegenüberstehen, die als einzige jemals ein ebenbürtiger Partner für den doch eher anti-emanzipatorischen Professor war: Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen, die wie die meisten Spielberg-Frauendarstellerinnen keine nennenswerte Karriere aufbauen konnte), Indys weibliches Gegenstück aus „Raiders“ und der Zeit davor. Dass Mutt als wilde Mischung aus Brando und Errol Flynn das ungewollte Ergebnis einer gemeinsamen Liebesnacht ist (vermutlich jener einzigen, die es jemals in einem Indy-Film gegeben hat), muss man erst mal verdauen – aber warum eigentlich nicht? Marion jedenfalls ist damit endlich auch im Spielberg-Universum angekommen, in dem Frauen bekanntlich und ausnahmslos nur dann akzeptabel sind, wenn sie als Mütter fungieren – vermutlich also auch ein rückwirkendes Zugeständnis von George Lucas an die in Genderfragen geordnete Weltsicht seines Partners.

Unabhängig von dieser zentralen Figurenkonstellation, die „Crystal Skull“ zum echten Familienfilm macht und dem Sohn über weite Strecken diejenigen Actionsequenzen zumutet, die früher der Vater selber abgeliefert hätte, ist der neue Film vor allem eine gutgelaunte Variationssammlung aller bewährten Indy-Ingredienzien rund um Skorpione und Schlangen, Treibsand und Tempelbauten, versteckte Geheimgänge und verdeckte Falltüren, wenn auch ohne die obligatorischen Nazis, dafür aber mit einer Abordnung nicht weniger allmachtbesessener Russen (an deren Spitze eine akzentsichere Cate Blanchett sichtliches Vergnügen am bösen Spiel zeigt), vor allem aber mit einem gehörigen Augenzwinkern angesichts auch der absurdesten Plotwendungen und der unübertrefflichen (oder ganz einfach: saugeilen) Coolness Harrison Fords, der endlich wieder dort ist, wo er hingehört (und so selbst das filmische Entsetzen von „Firewall“ vergessen lässt). Das ist alles nicht neu, aber das soll und darf es auch nicht. Indiana Jones ist Indiana Jones ist Indiana Jones, und damit die unendliche Variation eines fest abgesteckten Regelkanons, in dem man sich selbst nach zwei Jahrzehnten Funkstille jederzeit willkommen, geborgen und zuhause fühlen kann – und für 124 Minuten ein bisschen das Gefühl haben darf, dass die Indy-Filme vielleicht selber magische Artefakte sind, die es auf ganz unerklärliche Weise möglich machen, die Zeit doch tatsächlich für einen Augenblick zurückzudrehen.

Artikel © 2008 Thomas Lenz. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Filmplakat: Universal Pictures International Germany GmbH

As we predicted, Michael Steger, the actor cast to play the character of Navid Shirazi in the new Beverly Hills 90210 spinoff - set to air this September - is not of Iranian descent.  Steger is actually of Ecuadorian, Austrian, and Norwegian origin. It was probably really difficult for the producers and casting department to find a real Persian in Greater LA.

The original often explored issues facing teens in the 90s, so Popsquire has compiled a shot list of issues for the spinoff. Of course, they just happen to represent collisions between pop culture and law...

1. Drunk driving.
2. Statutory rape.
3. Gossip blogs.
4. Foreign adoptions.
5. The reality of reality tv.

This is just a short list. Please feel free to supplement as desired!