Sometimes, when you’re scrolling through Paramount+‘s movies looking for something to watch, the algorithm gods just drop all the right things on you. I was trying to line up a handful of movies to watch throughout the work week, and this mix, streaming for U.S. subscribers, just might do the trick.
For this week, this eclectic mix of licensed movies doesn’t have much in common other than the fact that they all still stand up (and they’re all, well, classics. The first is probably the most famous Australian movie ever made, the second is the best of a legendary franchise involving a fedora-wearing archaeologist, the third is a mind-bending astronaut thriller, and the fourth is a stoner quest of epic proportions.
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Crocodile Dundee (1986)
That’s not a knife
I’m not sure if I like this movie for its wonderfully Aussie stereotypes and super charismatic leading man, Paul Hogan, or because it spawned one of the best Simpsons episodes/moments of all time—”I see you’ve played knifey-spooney before.” Either way you slice it, mate, Crocodile Dundee was a massive hit movie in the late ’80s, and helped drive the “Australian invasion” that shot the country’s music (Men at Work, INXS), fashion, and movies to popularity in America.
The Oscar-nominated fish-out-of-water comedy follows New York reporter Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski), who brings notorious Aussie bushman Mick “Crocodile” Dundee (Hogan), and his enormous knife, back to Manhattan with her. While Mick navigates the complexities of indoor plumbing and subways, and tries to fit in, he also has a few lessons for the urbanites who cross his path. Crocodile Dundee is worth a watch for the nostalgia and Aussie jokes alone. It has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Both of its sequels are also streaming on Paramount+.
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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
They named the dog Indiana
The greatest Indiana Jones movie of all time is always welcome on my weekly watch list. Not only does it deliver all the iconic, bull-whip-wielding, fedora-wearing swagger and badassery of Harrison Ford’s legendary archaeologist character, and an epic globetrotting search for a mysterious artifact, but Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade added Sean Connery, perfectly cast as Indy’s father, Henry Jones, Sr.
QuizIndiana Jones movies
Trivia challenge
From the lost ark to the dial of destiny — how well do you really know Indy’s greatest adventures?
CharactersArtifactsLocationsVillainsQuotes
What is the name of the powerful artifact that Indiana Jones races to find before the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Correct! The Ark of the Covenant is the legendary chest said to contain the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. In the film, the Nazis believe harnessing its power will make their army unstoppable, but it ultimately destroys them when opened.
Not quite. The answer is the Ark of the Covenant — the sacred chest from the Bible said to hold the Ten Commandments. The other artifacts appear in later Indiana Jones films, which makes them easy to mix up.
Who is Indiana Jones’s young sidekick in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?
Correct! Short Round, played by Ke Huy Quan, is the resourceful and loyal young companion who helps Indy throughout Temple of Doom. Ke Huy Quan later won an Academy Award for Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Short Round returned in an Indiana Jones comic storyline.
Not quite. The answer is Short Round, the energetic young boy played by Ke Huy Quan. Sallah and Marcus Brody appear in other films, while Henry Jones Sr. is Indy’s father introduced in The Last Crusade.
Which villain serves as the primary antagonist in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?
Correct! Mola Ram is the terrifying high priest of the Thuggee cult who seeks the Sankara Stones to gain world domination. His dramatic death at the rope bridge — plunging into a crocodile-filled river — remains one of the most iconic villain endings in the franchise.
Not quite. The answer is Mola Ram, the Thuggee high priest who rips beating hearts from his victims as part of a ritual sacrifice. René Belloq is the villain in Raiders, while Walter Donovan appears in The Last Crusade.
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where is the Canyon of the Crescent Moon — the final resting place of the Holy Grail — located?
Correct! The Canyon of the Crescent Moon scenes were filmed at Petra, a breathtaking ancient city carved into rose-red rock in Jordan. The site’s iconic Treasury building, known as Al-Khazneh, doubled as the entrance to the Grail Temple in the film.
Not quite. The answer is Jordan, specifically the ancient city of Petra. The filmmakers chose Petra’s Al-Khazneh temple facade as the entrance to the Grail’s resting place, and the location has become one of the most visited movie filming sites in the world.
Which famous line does Indiana Jones say in Raiders of the Lost Ark when asked if the Ark is a transmitter to God?
Correct! “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” is delivered when Indy peers into the snake-filled Well of Souls. This line perfectly captures his one true fear — ophidiophobia — and has become one of the most quoted lines in cinematic history.
Not quite. The answer is “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” — spoken when Indy discovers the Well of Souls is crawling with thousands of snakes. The line about fortune and glory is actually from Temple of Doom, while “making this up as I go” comes from The Last Crusade.
Which actor plays Indiana Jones’s father, Henry Jones Sr., in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?
Correct! Sean Connery brought enormous charm and wit to the role of Henry Jones Sr., Indy’s absentminded but brilliant father. The real-life age gap between Connery and Harrison Ford was only 12 years, which Connery and the filmmakers cleverly played for laughs throughout the movie.
Not quite. The answer is Sean Connery, the legendary Scottish actor best known for playing James Bond. Despite being only 12 years older than Harrison Ford, Connery’s casting as Indy’s father was widely praised as one of the most inspired choices in the franchise.
In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where does Indy ultimately return the crystal skull?
Correct! The skull is returned to the crystal skeleton of an interdimensional being inside the lost city of Akator, hidden deep in the Amazon jungle of Brazil. The reveal that the beings were “archaeologists of the space between spaces” divided fans but leaned into the film’s 1950s sci-fi B-movie inspirations.
Not quite. The answer is Akator, a mythical lost city in the Brazilian Amazon. The skull belongs to an alien — or interdimensional being — whose skeleton sits on a throne surrounded by twelve others, and returning it triggers the city’s cataclysmic destruction.
At the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, a younger Indy is seen trying to recover the Lance of Longinus from which location?
Correct! The de-aged opening sequence takes place aboard a speeding train in Scotland in 1944, where a young Indy and his colleague Basil Shaw race to recover the Lance of Longinus from Nazi hands. They also discover half of Archimedes’s Antikythera device, which sets the entire plot of the film in motion.
Not quite. The answer is a speeding train in Scotland. The spectacular de-aged prologue used digital effects to make an 80-year-old Harrison Ford look as he did in the 1980s, and it remains one of the most technically ambitious sequences in the entire Indiana Jones saga.
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Set in 1938, when Henry disappears while on the hunt for the Holy Grail for a wealthy collector who turns out to have ties with the Nazis, Indy, along with Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), set out to find and rescue Henry. Of course, to do so, they have to also find the Grail and solve the mystery of everlasting life, if they are worthy. With an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The Last Crusade is endlessly rewatchable. Oh, and you don’t have to just watch this one—all the other Indiana Jones movies are also streaming on Paramount+, too.
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Interstellar (2014)
Christopher Nolan sends McConaughey through a wormhole
If you’re looking for something a little more cerebral this week, this Oscar-winning Christoper Nolan sci-fi epic might just unlock parts of your brain that were previously dormant. Written by Nolan, with the help of Nobel-winning physicist Kip Thorne as scientific consultant, Interstellar is one of those movies that people still talk about.
Set on Earth in the near future, Matthew McConaughey stars as Cooper, a former NASA pilot living a quiet family life on his farm with his young daughter, Murph (Mackenzie Foy). But the Earth is dying, and when a mysterious wormhole appears near Saturn, giving us a glimpse at potentially habitable planets, Cooper and biologist Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) go on a trippy-as-heck time-bending, interdimensional mission to investigate. Interstellar is intense, will probably make you cry, and has a Hans Zimmer score that will haunt you.
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Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004)
A stoner odyssey for those famous steamed sliders
And now for the palate-cleanser stoner movie of the lineup. If you haven’t experienced Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle in all its glory yet, what are you waiting for? The first, groundbreaking installment in the Harold & Kumar trilogy is a certified stoner classic of the 2000s. John Cho (billed at the time as “that Asian guy from American Pie“) and Kal Penn (“that Indian guy from Van Wilder“) star as our heroes, Harold and Kumar, two college students who get high one night, see a White Castle commercial on TV, and follow their munchies on an epic late-night road trip.
Along the way, they deal with racist frat boys, almost have a threesome with tow truck driver and his hot wife (Malin Ackerman), pick up a hitchhiking Neil Patrick Harris, and so, so much more insanity. As a Canadian, I had never heard of White Castle in 2004 when this movie came out, but by the end of this movie, I sure as hell was inspired to find one.
Take the edge off the work week with these four movies
There’s not a lot of brand new titles happening on Paramount+, but that’s OK—sometimes the comfort of a classic comedy, adventure, stoner, or sci-fi flick is the perfect pick. For more weekend fuel, our weekly Netflix, HBO Max, or Prime Video roundups have you covered, too.
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If you enjoy CBS offerings, you’ll want to subscribe to Paramount+. You get access to hit shows like Star Trek and Yellowstone, as well as a variety of SHOWTIME content.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
