August 2023

By: Renee Riendeau / Movie Revelations
Moviegoers didn’t rush to the theater in
significant numbers to see Harrison Ford’s
final “Indiana Jones,
Dial of Destiny” film. I attended the movie
on the third day of release and there were
only a handful of people joining me in the
audience.
The film cost $250 million but only grossed
$60 million from the 4,600 movie theaters in
North America. There was also $70 million
from international showings in 52 markets.
So, this flick enjoyed a $130 million global
opening. The figures, however, failed to meet
box office expectations.
This time machine film was mostly filmed
in Morocco. It included a chase through the
city of German criminals following Jones and
his sidekick and goddaughter, Helena (Phoebe
Waller- Bridge).
They were all attempting to capture the time
machine for their own benefit in changing history. Some scenes were
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Indiana Jones - Dial of Destiny
English Teacher Agony & Ecstacy
By: Jane Dow / Mutterings & Musings
My favorite student sat slumped in his desk,
soundly sleeping. He was a pathetic kid with
abusive, druggy parents.
But somehow he managed to come to
school where, at least, he was safe. I didn’t
want to wake him, but I was concerned the
principal might walk in and see him sleeping.
The only thing I could think of doing was
moving my fake Ficus tree in front of him,
so he would be sort of hidden. This was the
thought process of a first year English teacher.
I loved high school in the 60s. Although I
was a mediocre B student, I excelled at English
and goofing off. Therefore, when it came time
to decide my future, I chose the only obvious
option: English Teacher!
In hindsight, the attributes of a successful English teacher should
involve more than the ability to write a sexy 5-paragrph essay. Also,
my stand-up comedy routine in Trig class didn’t prepare me for the
hordes of Walking Dead freshmen who tried to devour me in Remedial
Reading.
In other words, during my first year of teaching, I was completely
blind-sided when it came to classroom discipline.
August 2023
exciting, dangerous, and breath taking.
One of the most captivating was when the young star, (Ethann
Isidore) jumped in an empty plane and flew it to rescue Jones and
Helena who had been captured by the
Germans. Another “wow” scene is when Jones
and Helena jumped out of plane together.
This “Dial for Destiny” is the 5 th installment
of the Spielberg/George Lucas adventure series
which began in 1981. The movie was directed
by James Mangold who took over for Spielberg.
The current script calls for an older
archaeologist as Dr. Jones is retiring from his
university teaching position. (Interestingly,
Ford announced this will be his last time
playing this character).
I can’t remember if or when I saw a previous
Indian Jones film, but my movie rating is 8
out of 10. It appears viewers are not interested
anymore in an 80 year old hero, even if it is
Harrison Ford.
Renee Riendeau is the movie reviewer for The Vegas Voice. Renee can
be reached at rriendeau@aol.com and is anxious to hear from you.
How did I combat this pedagogical shortcoming? Fun! I put my
theatre background to good use.
During the unit on Romeo and Juliet, we hurled Shakespearean
insults at one another (“Thou are a boil, a plague sore! “).
When we studied British Lit., each student
delivered a monologue dressed up as a British
writer. I came as Queen Victoria to preside over
the affair.
During an Edgar Allen Poe unit, students
brought one of his short stories to life by
concocting a “Bag Full of Poe”--decorated
bags filled with key objects from one of his
stories. You can imagine what “The Premature
Burial” bags contained. Vincent Price would
have died from fright--or disgust.
Over the years, I attended many workshops
on Classroom Management. However, my Vice
Principal Tim gave me the wisest advice: “Jane, if you say you’re going
to kill ‘em, you’ve got to kill ‘em.” I understood what he meant. Don’t
make empty threats.
I miss those simpler, teen-filled years.
Jane taught high school English and theatre for 30 years. She
now spends her time being a Toastmaster, enjoying the endless
entertainment options in our town, attending Pilates classes and
spoiling her rescue, Mandy.