I spent much of this weekend avoiding the work/career/writing/etc. things I should have been doing in order to see a few movies (Hero, We Don’t Live Here Anymore, The Bourne Supremacy) and catch-up on my piles of newspapers and magazines. I remember being a much faster reader than I seem to be now. Whatever.
I finally got around to opening the 40 lb. behemoth that was the March Vanity Fair 2004 Hollywood Issue. Yeah, that’s how behind I was. (And, I still didn’t completely catch-up. Sigh.) I was fascinated by one story I had somehow completely missed: the three Mississippi kids who in the ’80s spent every summer producing a shot-by-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The video eventually got to Eli Roth and Harry Knowles and became this huge underground hit. That, combined with the Vanity Fair piece, encouraged Paramount to option the story for producer Scott Rudin to make a movie about these kids making their own movie version of their favorite movie. How awesomely meta is that.
More importantly, I’m dying to see this video. Supposedly it’s really great not because it perfectly matches Spielberg’s original film (at 100 minutes, it’s 15 minutes shorter and, oh yeah, they spent $8,000 versus $21-Million), but because the level of these kids’ fandom, dedication and heart is apparent in every shot. Additionally, the big scenes and effects are reportedly pretty incredible considering their vastly limited expertise and resources.
So here’s a call out to the citizens of the worldwideinterwebnet: if you know how I can get a copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation, please email me. Grazie.
Out of Focus 
I usually get to at least page through Vanity Fair every month but don’t remember that article, so I’ll be checking it out tomorrow. The concept of remaking your favorite film shot for shot sounds like fun. Although who really has time to do something like that? I think I’ll try it in my old age. If you find out how to see their adaptation, please let us know…
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