Spike ,'Touched'
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Daaaamn. A.O. Scott on Seven Pounds:
Frankly, though, I don’t see how any review could really spoil what may be among the most transcendently, eye-poppingly, call-your-friend-ranting-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-go-over-it-one-more-time crazily awful motion pictures ever made.
I finally watched the original. It was much better than I suspected.
The original is an excellent film. It's one of my favorites. It was quite astute and even radical for its time.
I loved Maria Bello in Mummy3, I thought she played the character beautifully--just differently than Weiss. The movie was a wild romp, and as such, it was fine.
What I hated was sidelining Rick and Evie in favor of their kid and some random chick, a pair who, in my opinion, are no more ready to be the main focus of the film than Rick and Evie are ready to be gracious in retirement. I'd have been happier with it with less story devoted to the kids, and more focus on the couple I fell in deep like with and affection for in the first two movies.
Finally watched the third Mummy movie this weekend. It was really very enjoyable, I thought. I mean, yes, no plot, but anyone who actually goes into those films with the idea of having much plot is going to be disappointed anyway.
Plus, bonus! Shirtless Brendan Fraser.
This!
And I agree that Maria Bello was charming as hell.
I didn't mind the kids, but I was much more All About Rick and Evie. I didn't feel that they were sidelined - I still read them as the main characters. But ymmv.
I love Maria Bello, but Evie will always be Rachel Weiss in my heart. This is why I haven't seen Mummy 3 yet. It's a lame reason, but it's my reason.
I didn't mind the kid's story. It was fun to see something that paralleled Rick and Evie's original adventure and yet to see that Rick and Evie still were central in fighting the bad guys. It's not as if they were completely shunted aside in their rockers.
And John Hannah continues to crack me up monumentally.
Plus - Jet Li! And Michelle Yeoh!
It struck me, as I was watching TM3:CotDE that there really wasn't much need to make the Amelia Peabody books into movies. Because they'll only be disappointing, more likely than not, and really the Mummy series pretty much scratches that itch for me. With added monsters.
(Mind you, it does drive me insane that these movies have convinced kids that scarabs are flesh-eating demon monster beetles. When trying to teach Ancient Egypt, the kids are all 'yes, yes, we know about scarabs - they EAT YOU ALIVE!!!!' To which I'm all '...er, no. Not so much. But they do roll big balls of poo around, which is still pretty good value for money.' And they just give you these pitying looks, and insist that scarabs eat you alive. And when you start to jump up and down and rail at the heavens, and point out to them that THEY ARE EGYPTIAN KIDS and that THERE ARE SCARABS OUT THERE IN THE PLAYGROUND RIGHT NOW, and that said scarabs are not, in fact, stripping the flesh from the kindergarteners' bones, but are instead calmly rolling along balls of dung, the kids Will. Not. Believe. You. Because they saw it in the movie.
shakes tiny fist at universe.
Guh!
said scarabs are not, in fact, stripping the flesh from the kindergarteners' bones,
Sounds like a field trip to me.