RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

1936.  Archaeologist/adventurer/professor Indiana Jones is deep in a Peruvian jungle exploring  an ancient, booby trap filled temple in search of a golden idol.  He retrieves it, but it's stolen by rival archaeologist Belloq.  Back at school he's interviewed by two Army intelligence agents who inform him that the Nazis are in Egypt searching for the lost Ark of the Covenant because they believe it can be used as a mighty weapon.  Indy sets off to beat them to it.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is awesome!  That's all there is to it.  The pace is rocket fast, the story is well-written and engaging, the action scenes are so badass you can barely believe your eyes, it's funny, it's sad and you're constantly wondering how Indy is gonna get out of the latest jam he's in, but yet he always does in a mostly believable fashion...as far as adventure movies go.  Best of all though is the character of Indiana Jones himself.  He's the perfect adventure movie hero.  He's worldly, rugged as fuck, sensitive, extremely smart and his decisions are logical.  You're never once yelling at the TV "Why the fuck would you do that?!"  I also really like the fact that he's pretty believable and not invincible like say James Bond.

Highly recommended.  One of my favorite movies ever and even after dozens of viewings I still love every minute of it.

Part 2 (prequel) - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Part 3 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Part 4 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

HOTEL AMERICA (1981)

After she nearly runs him over with her car, Helene (Catherine Deneuve) hooks up with total loser Gilles (Patrick Dewaere).  Right from the start this relationship is doomed, but yet for whatever reason they keep plugging away at it even though Gilles has the maturity level of an infant.  He's constantly pouting and throwing temper tantrums.  And when he's not doing that he's either storming off or getting drunk.  This dude is a total mess!  At one point he's shit faced and she's driving him home so he throws their house keys out the car window then tries to wreck the car while saying "We should get married."  What the fuck is wrong with this guy?!  Oh, yeah he's also extremely jealous of her last boyfriend...who died in a swimming accident!  Also, his best friend is an unemployed musician who goes around stealing calculators, begging for money and acting like a total creep to everybody including Gilles' younger sister.

Deneuve is beautiful as always, but I just couldn't get over what an asshole Gilles was.  I guess that's the point of the film, but it's too frustrating to be enjoyable.  Here this guy hooks up with a beautiful woman and he gets so butthurt over the fact that she still has a place in her heart for her dead ex that he sticks out his bottom lip and lays in bed for days(!!!) not eating and when she tries to be nice to him he jumps up and starts slapping her around!  What the fuck?

Technically, HOTEL AMERICA looks fine and the acting is good, but it's just not my cup of tea.  Maybe you'll enjoy watching these two cold, disconnected lovers more than I did.