Truly, I love Ebert

[dianeduane]

And how not, when he writes stuff like this?

Moviegoers who knowingly buy a ticket for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" are going to get exactly what they expect: There is a mummy, a tomb, a dragon and an emperor. And the movie about them is all that it could be. If you think "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" sounds like a waste of time, don't waste yours.

I, as it happens, have time to waste and cannot do better than to quote from my review of The Mummy (1999): "There is hardly a thing I can say in its favor, except that I was cheered by nearly every minute of it. I cannot argue for the script, the direction, the acting or even the mummy, but I can say that I was not bored and sometimes I was unreasonably pleased. There is a little immaturity stuck away in the crannies of even the most judicious of us, and we should treasure it."

Go Roger! Go Roger! Go Roger! Go Roger! (etc)

Tags: Roger+Ebert, film, review, Mummy, Dragon, Emperor, Tomb

Comments

[rebelsheart]

Thine HTML is b0rked.


(Edit: and so is my typing apparently.)

[dduane.livejournal.com]

I think I fixed it. Take a look.

[rebelsheart]

Success!

And now I have more reason to go see the movie!

[robotech-master.livejournal.com]

Roger Ebert is one of our great national treasures.

It was a sad day when he was no longer able to host his show, and a sadder one now that the show is being remade without either him or Roeper.

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

Or Siskel, whom I also miss dearly.

I have some reservations about Ebert when he speaks outside of the sphere of film, but within it I've found his criticism remarkably free of pretense or dogma. Unlike too many other critics, he's not trying to hammer every film into some particular "ideal" mould and then panning the flick if it doesn't fit.

And, also rare to my chagrin, he knows when to hang the brain up on the coatrack and just enjoy the ride.

-- Steve could definitely do with more Ebert-like criticism of film. Or other arts, for that matter.

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I always found Ebert to be a good barometer of whether I'd enjoy a movie. In large part because he was capable of saying, "It's not a GOOD movie, but it's a FUN movie"--something all too many critics can't/won't do.

Plus, I'll never forget his and Siskel's review of TERMINATOR when it first came out. They summed it up as "Dirty Harry and the Road Warrior meet the killer from HALLOWEEN."

How could I NOT go see the movie after a review like that!?

[natural20.livejournal.com]

In my ongoing effort to comment on all of your posts today... :)

He is so very right. I *love* The Mummy, but I know what I'm going to get. Of course it helps massively that it's pulp, but yeah. I love the phrase "...unreasonably pleased."

To note, I can't wait to see the new one. :)

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Good pulp is a treasure.

That, after all, is what George Lucas was supposed to be trying with Star Wars. If it later became bloated merchandising fodder, well, that doesn't shouldn't devalue the original.

We're certainly looking forward to Mummy III. I mean, it's got the superb Jet Li. We've just seen Forbidden Kingdom, which was Kong Kong style pulp with Jet and Jackie.

[robotech-master.livejournal.com]

Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Squeee!

[snowydragon1776.livejournal.com]

They are both made of win :)

Can't wait to see the Mummy III

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

*beams* I loved The Mummy (though I was very frustrated with the end of the second one), and I'm totally looking forward to the new one. Especially now. :)

[polaris-starz.livejournal.com]

And that is why I love movies like this, and will probably end up going to see this one. Glorious, mindless fun.

[lady-autumnstar.livejournal.com]

When I watch a movie it is because I want to be entertained, not preached at. I thought The Mummy was great fun. Some of my favorite "guilty pleasure" movies are The Scorpion King, and the Conan movies, which have very little redeeming value except for being glorious pulp.

And to bellinghman, I agree wholeheartedly about the Star Wars movies. The first three are still fun, but I cannot bring myself to watch the rest.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I agree, except that I don't find the pleasures 'guilty'. I'm not ashamed of liking some things which are not of the 'best' technical quality. Like Capt. W.E. Johns (of 'Biggles' fame) space series, which are total rubbish as far as the 'science' is concerned but are Jolly Good Fun.

The Star Wars movies follow the saying about a certain Fantasy author: "The first three books of a trilogy are good..."

[lady-autumnstar.livejournal.com]

Hence the quotation marks. I don't find such movies that bad, but call them so because the politically correct among us do.

That Fantasy author is right.

Conan

[zargon.livejournal.com]

Well, if you liked Conan, do you like lampooning Conan?

http://bloody-nipple.groboclown.net/0001.html

Re: Conan

[lady-autumnstar.livejournal.com]

*snicker*

Good one!

Re: Conan

[zargon.livejournal.com]

I like it! I think the cartoonist has done an excellent job with it. They're up to the point where they are rescuing the princess from the temple.

[tenaya-owlcat.livejournal.com]

The Mummy is one of my all time favorite movies--cheesy, but oh so fun to watch. My husband and I are very eager to see the new movie. :P

[ca-bookwyrm.livejournal.com]

I do so love it when a movie critic can admit that a movie might be actually made to (*gasp*) entertain.

[snowydragon1776.livejournal.com]

I kno I *gasped* as well.

Yay for entertaining movies. And Fraser is great at them :)

[seity1.livejournal.com]

My husband tells me I need to watch The Mummy and The Mummy II, so that we can go see the latest one. I'm sure he'll download them to the apple TV soon. I must admit they look fun.

[cholma.livejournal.com]

Heh. I just back from the matinee showing of this movie!

If you like the Mummy movies, then you should like this one. The first one is still the best one (IMO) but this one follows in the vein of the other two. For some reason Rachel Weisz is out, and Maria Bello takes over the Evie role. I love Maria Bello, but I almost didn't recognize her in this! The brunette hair is a factor, but the fact she copied Rachel's tone and inflection was marvelous. I loved the way she gave a verbal nod to Rachel. (both with her speaking manner and an actual line in the film)

[Semi-Spoilerish]





[/Spoilers]

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's good news! I heard Rachel Weisz wasn't in it (because she was having a baby at the time) and was afraid that meant Evie wouldn't be in it, either, and she's basically why I love the movies (because I totally am her, but blonde, american, and wimpy-- whereas my husband totally is Rick O'Connell, so you see why the movies are special to us). But hmm, not klutzy, you say? THAT can't be right!

[patrick roberts (from livejournal.com)]

Sounds like Tomb of the Dragon Emperor met everyone's expectations... Brendan Frasier tries too hard to act, so you can tell he's acting