with “Indiana Jones”

Another thrilling week as come to an end here at Essentials. Topping our list of posts for the last seven days, a new "Batman" game is coming to consoles, Capcom kicks it old school with a new Mega Man game and a few summer blockbusters get DVD release dates.

Many summer-blockbusters ago, the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones series had adventure flick fans flocking to theaters. A whole summer worth of action later, and Indy is ready to re-up for the fall -- this time on DVD and Blu-Ray.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will hit store shelves on Oct. 14 in both standard DVD and Blu-Ray flavors, as well as part of the series' new four-film box set.

Sequels, prequels and remakes have been en vogue for quite sometime in Hollywood. I'm actually a little surprised that George Lucas, King of Re-Dos, didn't revive the Indiana Jones series sooner. But, no matter how you slice it, Indy is back, resuming his quest to return antiquities to museums.

I'll be pithy -- Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the third-best Indiana Jones film; it's better than Temple of Doom. Though it's difficult to compare films in a series that seen nearly 20 years pass since it's last release. Kingdom manages to maintain an unsteady balance between the themes that built the franchise and those that will introduce it to a new generation.