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More on Spielberg’s Paranormal Project

By Gregon

We reported a while back about rumours concerning Steven Spielberg’s involvement in a “Paranormal Facebook” – that is, a social networking website devoted to paranormal topics. In today’s news briefs, RPJ points at a fresh update on the state of the project:

The site will reportedly be called “Rising” or “The Rising” (our understanding is that they have acquired both .com domain names), and the logo above and animated logo below are at least preliminary versions of the final.

…The Rising will have original video content with a permanent host in addition to the social network where users can share stories and experiences, tapping into serious demand for this kind of thing.

Not sure whether to take this at face value, or whether it could all be a movie (or game) tie-in, or even possible an Alternative Reality Game (ARG). Guess we’ll see as time progresses (in the meantime, if Mr Spielberg needs a news guy for his new site, I could sure use some income for this gig…)

In other Spielberg-related news, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has opened, and reviews are pretty good (see Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB). Looks like it recaptures the vibe of the series well, which is no mean feat – I’ll have to check it out. (BTW, I just finished typesetting Filip Coppens’ article on the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull for Darklore Volume 2, and I’m sure you folks will really dig it)

Greg
Editor
Greg is the owner-editor of The Daily Grail, as well as the author of a number of books including Stop Worrying, There Probably is an Afterlife.
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4 Comments

  1. Spielberg’s private collection
    Spielberg has a private collection of alien implants and other artifacts, and I often wonder how connected he is (and dream of seeing Spielberg’s museum). The Rising is either marketing genius, sinister surveillance, or a convenient dumping ground for disinformation. I’ll be joining, and no guesses which side I’ll be on.

    Indy 4, which I absolutely loved by the way, is almost like a summary of Spielberg’s past work, specifically Close Encounters, ET, Poltergeist, Indiana Jones, War Of The Worlds… he’s a true auteur, with consistent themes of life, the universe, supernatural, parent/child relationships, etc, in most of his films. I’m writing a review which explores these thoughts, as well as 2012 and the Maya, UFO disclosure, and much more.

    Indy 4 is better than Last Crusade in my opinion, equal to Temple Of Doom, but second to Raiders simply because the original can never be replicated. Raiders is a film of its time — it’s like trying to relive the Flower Power of the ’60s. Nothing beats the first time you discover something, but Indy 4 has proven you can revisit those feelings. I wonder if people seeing Indy for the first time feel the same way we did when we saw Raiders over 25 years ago? Is the Generation X audience too cynical and jaded to relive the magic of childhood, which Spielberg captures so brilliantly? Not me — Indy 4 made me believe in magic again.

  2. A review of Indy. (Chance of Spoilers)
    I’ll leave the archaeological and esoteric errors to the professionals and summarize this movie in a single word: “rushed.”

    Crystal Skull hits the ground running and refuses to catch its breath for the next two hours. Before our eyes have even adjusted to the dark, people are getting killed, the silly physics of the Indy universe are raising eyebrows (or cheers, depending on the crowd), the references are flying as fast as the fists, Indy’s assumed his signature expression of grim panic, confusion is afoot and we’re off on Universal Studios Crystal Skull’s Wild Ride.

    Indiana “Babel Fish” Jones has somewhere he needs to be. Any and all obstacles have the most direct waste lain to them, any handy beat down or nearby detonation (no matter the blast radius) is recovered from immediately, he even passes up a chance to go to another dimension. An impervious superman has his priorities. And apparently he has a … date or something.

    Within the Indy universe, some very interesting characters and events crop up, but we can’t sit still long enough to enjoy any of it. In the meantime we’ve got a movie with the pacing and believability of National Treasure on tweek, ILM has polished away the familiar grit and texture (turning the faded parchment of the Jones world into a soft-lens gloss print), and somewhere around the tilting calendar I was sure Lara Croft was going to make a run-through cameo. (Maybe shoot Indy a wink and make him do that smirk.) I don’t enjoy having a character as interesting and qualified as Indy being whip-dragged into the “not worth your time” category by his artistically unhinged handlers.

    Nostalgic, reference-rife, run of the mill, “popcorn romp”… you be the judge. From where I’m sitting it was a chance for Lucas to indulge in his fetish for soiling his own legacies.

    So… it’s “fun” if you’re into that sort of thing. In fact “fun” is pretty much all it has going for it.
    But whatever milage it gets out of nostalgia isn’t enough for me to recommend this movie to anyone other than collectors of good ideas gone to waste.

  3. Possible spoiler at the end!
    Crystal Skulls is a fun movie. It is fun, and it is ridiculous, but it owns itself. It makes no apologies, it is true to itself (a rare quality in films these days,) and that is what makes it so great. It takes you over the edge and you’re either along for the ride or you’re not. Personally, I was more than willing. It is a breath of fresh air coming from a Hollywood that has become way too self-conscious. What’s wrong with fun? Fun is what it’s all about!

    The fast pace of the movie is absolutely necessary, or it would be ruined by over-analyzation. There isn’t even time to wonder what will happen next — it’s already happening, and it’s great!

    As an Indiana Jones fan, I was very pleased at its keeping continuity with the series. It isn’t disjointed at all. In fact, the Russians are awesome. Harrison Ford’s age wasn’t a problem for me either — they played it off perfectly.

    I think it has actually replaced Last Crusade as my personal favorite Indy movie. Maybe. In any case, it’s all summed up by my favorite line from any Indiana Jones movie:

    “What am I being accused of, besides surviving a nuclear blast?!” (Indy) YES!!!

  4. market experiment ?
    Spielberg is in the entertainment business. Perhaps he wants to experiment alternative ways of providing entertainment, separate from movies. The movie industry faces changes in how their content is delivered, both to movie theaters and customers.

    Also, in some recent interviews (well, 2 that I am aware of), he said that his job is to tell a story. So this could well be an alternative way to tell a story, with better input from the audience.

    —-
    if everything is under control, you are not going fast enough (Mario Andretti)

    it’s not how fast you go, it’s who gets there first

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