The latest issue of the UK film magazine Empire features a list of the 50 Biggest Belly laughs Ever in film. And Indiana Jones has made it into the list with the Cairo Swordsman scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. This scene is number 38 of the 50!! Here's what Empire magazine wrote about this scene:

Raiders of the Lost Ark
As Indy (Ford) races through a busy Cairo market, the bustling crowd parts to reveal a sneering swordsman (Richards) spinning his blade. With the briefest flash of surprise, Indy wearily draws his pistol, shoots the swordsman and turns casually away. The offhand brutality offended some - including George Lucas - but the gag is so perfectly, erm, executed that audiences are floored.

This 50 Biggest Belly laughs Ever feature can be found in the November 2003 edition of Empire (issue 173) that is on sale now.

Thanks to Canyon at The Raven for letting us know.

StarWars.com announced that the latest issue of Star Wars Insider, the official magazine of the Star Wars Fan Club, features a special sneak preview of The Adventures of Indiana Jones - The Complete DVD Movie Collection. ILM Veteran and master model maker Lorne Peterson waxes nostalgic about Indiana Jones special effects. And Harrison Ford talks about playing heroes, handling the paparazzi and returning as Indiana Jones.

Click here for more information on the (special collectibles) issue of Star Wars Insider #71. This issue ships to Fan Club members on Sept. 26 and will be available on newsstands in early October.

Thanks to Ulrich Decoster from Sithclan.net for letting us know.

I have received an email from Paul Ens - the webmaster of the official Indiana Jones site - with the news that a completely new indianajones.com has been launched yesterday. The new site has been brought in to Lucas Online, a division of Lucasfilm.
Paul Ens said that unlike previous incarnations they plan to give Indy the attention he deserves with new DVDs, a new movie (hopefully coming soon), and other interesting developments in the works. The launch of the new indianajones.com is just a starting point... Lucas Online have big plans for the next few years.

The new Indiana Jones site looks amazingly adventurous. Couldn't look better! And the new content includes Making of articles and other background information, a poll, a new scrapbook, and also a wonderful "Welcome to the new IndianaJones.com" text that you can read by clicking here.

Many thanks to Paul Ens and everybody else working on the new indianajones.com site!

On Saturday, September 27 2003 the Dutch Star Wars Fan Club presents in association with eBay.nl the Echo Base Charity Con 2003. All proceeds of this event will be donated to the Dutch branch of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a foundation that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.

Although being a Star Wars convention, Indy fans might be interested in the appearance of Peter Diamond, who worked on Raiders of the Lost Ark as a stunt arranger as well as a stunt performer, and also can be seen as a German soldier in that film.

A large number of cast- and crew members of the five Star Wars films will travel to The Netherlands, amongst which two absolute legends in Star Wars history: two-time Oscar nominated producer Gary Kurtz (producer of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back) and Saturn Award winning director Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back, and other blockbusters such as Bond-film Never Say Never Again and Robocop 2). Mr. Kershner has never attended such an event before making this a world premiere!

Besides these very special guests, the following people will also be attending Echo Base Charity Con 2003:

• Paul Blake (Greedo in Star Wars)
• Rusty Goffe (various roles in Star Wars)
• John Hollis (Lobot in The Empire Strikes Back)
• Kenneth Colley (Admiral Piett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi)
• Michael Carter (Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi)
• Jerome Blake (had six parts in The Phantom Menace and also Attack of the Clones)
• Alan Ruscoe (multiple parts in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones)
• John Coppinger (worked behind and in front of the camera in Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace)

These guests have not only appeared in the Star Wars films but can also be seen in films like The Fifth Element, The Mummy and the James Bond-, Indiana Jones- and Harry Potter movies.

Fans can meet the guests, ask them questions, pose for photos and get their autographs. There will also be a wide variety of merchandise for sale, a charity auction with lots of exclusive items, a costume contest and lots more.

The event will be held on September 27, 2003 at the NBC Blokhoeve in Nieuwegein (near Utrecht), and is opened from 10.00 to 17.00. The location is within a short distance of Amsterdam. For more info, the latest news, travel directions etc. please visit www.echobase.nl/con/english or e-mail info@swfanclub.nl.

Thanks to Wiebe-Johan van der Werk for letting us know.

The people at Something Awful must be big Indiana Jones fans. Because their favorite hero only has three feature films they created a collection of Indy stills and posters edited in photoshop. The result is very amusing as they have inserted Indy's image into posters and screenshots of other famous films like Scarface, Pulp Fiction, Tomb Raider, Terminator, James Bond, Minority Report, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, King Kong, Dude Where's my car? and many more.

Click here to view this very entertaining Indiana Jones and the Crossovers of Doom photoshop images collection.

Thanks to Ryan Fink for letting us know.

Alison Doody, the Irish actress who played Dr. Elsa Schneider in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, will soon be seen on television again. Her last film was Temptation back in 1994. I have received the good news that she will star in a King Solomon's Mines mini-series along with Patrick Swayze. This adaptation of Henry Rider Haggard's famous novel will be hosted by HBO television network.

I also got an email from Indyfan Charles Provost who added that during an interview on set of her new film King Solomon's Mines in South Africa, Alison Doody revealed that she will be flying to Hollywood shortly for a forthcoming Indiana Jones anniversary party.

Stay tunes as I'm going to keep an eye on this King Solomon's Mines mini-series for three reasons. First because it's with the beautiful Alison Doody. Second because it's another version of the King Solomon's Mines films released in 1950, one of the films that inspired the creators if the Indiana Jones films. And third because I wonder what this forthcoming Indiana Jones anniversary party could be.

Thanks to Charles Provost and Dark Horizons for the news.