Movies We Dig

They're digging in the right place? We take another look at the most famous archaeologist of all as we revisit the first three Indiana Jones movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Temple of Doom (1984) and The Last Crusade (1989). Joined by super special guest, author and archaeologist David West Reynolds, we look back on our own experiences with Indy, enormous impact on the public perception of archaeology and what these films, namely Raiders, gets remarkably correct about the field. You can follow David West Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram as well as through his work on projects with Lucasfilm, the Explorer's Club and his new kickstarter, Chasing Raiders.

In this episode we utilize our amazing artistic abilities to *checks notes* stop time(?) and discuss Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, a modern retelling/allegory of the Catilinarian Conspiracy that took place during the late Roman Republic. Here to help analyze this fever-dream of a film is Dr. Hannah Čulík-Baird, Associate Professor of Classics at UCLA, co-editor of Res Difficiles, and last but not least, a self proclaimed “unrepentant Adam Driver stan”. Join us in our attempt to make sense of a film that fights all attempts to do so. Is it bad? Probably. Is it brilliant? Probably not. Does the random QR code actually provide insightful information? We may never know. Be sure to read Hannah's insightful take on the film via her blog o pietas animi and follow her on social media under the handle @opietasanimi.

In this episode we learn that your hosts do not know how to behave themselves without an awesome guest to keep them in line! That being said, Colin, Elijah, and Christie delve into the latest iteration of Tomb Raider from the new Netflix animated series. It has a fully realized Lara, beautiful animation, and a plot that actually requires the heroine to intervene in order to save the world. Yet it feels a little too late for it to make the same impact as Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider. We unpack this, Netflix's unintelligible renewal method (this series was renewed for a second season), and weird franchises we'd all like talk drunkenly about one day. With a new month comes a new opportunity to help support the podcast! Please be sure to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts! And if you want to know about our upcoming plans and episode releases, be sure to follow us on all our social media platforms, which you can find here.

Your favorite Tomb Raider is back, and this time she taking a beating. With the help of archaeogaming specialist, Julie Levy, we take a look at the rebooted version of Lara Croft introduced in the 2010s. Considering the film is supposed to be based on the 2013 game, it is wild to see how drastically different the two mediums present Lara Croft's new origin story. Let's just say, we end up loving the game more than a film, even with its supernatural AND super-gorey elements. Will Lara ever put down her tomb raiding ways and become a real archaeologist? Probably not. But the franchise does allow us to consider the role myth-making plays in the field of archaeology, and it's problematic offshoot of pseudoarchaeology. Speaking of, if you want to learn more about #RealArchaeology, be sure to check out all the new archaeology-related content be shared this weekend at real-archaeology.com! The site brings together a collective of online creators whose goal is to collaborate in creating, promoting, and sharing entertaining and educational media with the wider public on the wonders of our shared history. Along with that, check out the Save Ancient Studies Alliance which likewise aims to break barriers to education about humanity’s diverse past in order to advance intercultural empathy, equity, and cooperation today.