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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Mummy (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Crushingly Mediocre
I’d read the bad reviews, but thought “Hey, it’s Tom Cruise – how bad could it be?” The answer is, “Pretty bad”.
It’s an ominous sign when a film starts with a voice-over (even if done by the sonorous tones of Russell Crowe). Regular readers of this blog will know I generally abhor voice-overs: it invariably belies a belief by the scriptwriters that they think the audience are too damn stupid to join up the plot-dots themselves. Here we portentously walk through the ancient Egyptian backstory of princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella, “Kingsman: The Secret Service“; “Star Trek Beyond“) cursed to become the titular Mummy. We then skip forward to the present day and the film settles down, promisingly enough, with scavenging adventurer Nick Morton (Cruise, in Indiana Jones mode), discovering a lost Egyptian temple in war-torn modern-day Mesopotamia that for the sake of the world should have stayed lost.
But after an impressive plane crash (with zero G scenes filmed for real in a “Vomit Comet”) the plot dissolves into a completely incoherent mush. With B-movie lines forcing B-movie acting performances, the film lurches from plot crisis to plot crisis in a similar manner to the comically lurching undead Zombie-like creatures that Ahmanet has sucked the life out of. (After 110 minutes of this, I know how they feel!)
What were actors of this calibre doing in this mess? When I first saw the trailer for this, and saw that Cruise was in it, I thought this felt like an unusual career misstep for the megastar. After seeing the film, I’m even more mystified. Nick Morton is supposed to be an immoral bad guy. Immoral bad guy?? Tom Cruise?? Nope, you lost the audience on that one in the first ten minutes. Cruise, who is STILL only a year younger than I am (damn him, for real!) is still in great shape and must spend ALL his time in the gym. There must be a time soon coming though where he gets to a “Roger Moore in View to a Kill” moment where these action hero roles just no longer become credible anymore.
And what was Russell Crowe, as a famous / infamous (yes, both!) doctor from literature doing in this? His character’s involvement in the plot was almost completely inconsequential. In fact his ‘affliction’ only serves as a coincidental diversion (how convenient!) for bad Mummy-related action to happen. His character has no backstory and seems to serve only as a backbone for Universal’s “Dark Universe” franchise that this movie is supposed to launch. (Good luck with that Universal after this stinker!) Surely it would have made more sense to have the first film in the series to be the origins story for Crowe’s character and the organisation he sets up. This would have made far more sense.
Annabelle Wallis, who is sweet and “only” 22 years his junior, plays Cruise’s love interest in the film and equips herself well, given the material she has to play with. However (after “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword“) she must be kicking herself for not picking the ‘right’ summer blockbusters for her CV.
The main culprit here is the plot, which again is mystifying given that the writing team includes David Koepp (“Jurassic Park”; “Mission Impossible”); Christopher McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects”, “Edge of Tomorrow“) and Jon Spaihts (“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation“, “Doctor Strange“). A poor script can sometimes be salvaged by a good director, but here we have Alex Kurtzman, who has only one other directing credit to his name. And I’m afraid it shows. All round, not a good day at the office.
Brian Tyler did the music (aside from the Danny Elfman opening “Dark Universe” fanfare) but it comprises what I would term “running and jumping music”, with few discernible leitmotifs for the characters breaking through.
“Was that supposed to be funny?” My wife’s reaction after the film sums up that this really is a bit of a stinker. Best avoided.
It’s an ominous sign when a film starts with a voice-over (even if done by the sonorous tones of Russell Crowe). Regular readers of this blog will know I generally abhor voice-overs: it invariably belies a belief by the scriptwriters that they think the audience are too damn stupid to join up the plot-dots themselves. Here we portentously walk through the ancient Egyptian backstory of princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella, “Kingsman: The Secret Service“; “Star Trek Beyond“) cursed to become the titular Mummy. We then skip forward to the present day and the film settles down, promisingly enough, with scavenging adventurer Nick Morton (Cruise, in Indiana Jones mode), discovering a lost Egyptian temple in war-torn modern-day Mesopotamia that for the sake of the world should have stayed lost.
But after an impressive plane crash (with zero G scenes filmed for real in a “Vomit Comet”) the plot dissolves into a completely incoherent mush. With B-movie lines forcing B-movie acting performances, the film lurches from plot crisis to plot crisis in a similar manner to the comically lurching undead Zombie-like creatures that Ahmanet has sucked the life out of. (After 110 minutes of this, I know how they feel!)
What were actors of this calibre doing in this mess? When I first saw the trailer for this, and saw that Cruise was in it, I thought this felt like an unusual career misstep for the megastar. After seeing the film, I’m even more mystified. Nick Morton is supposed to be an immoral bad guy. Immoral bad guy?? Tom Cruise?? Nope, you lost the audience on that one in the first ten minutes. Cruise, who is STILL only a year younger than I am (damn him, for real!) is still in great shape and must spend ALL his time in the gym. There must be a time soon coming though where he gets to a “Roger Moore in View to a Kill” moment where these action hero roles just no longer become credible anymore.
And what was Russell Crowe, as a famous / infamous (yes, both!) doctor from literature doing in this? His character’s involvement in the plot was almost completely inconsequential. In fact his ‘affliction’ only serves as a coincidental diversion (how convenient!) for bad Mummy-related action to happen. His character has no backstory and seems to serve only as a backbone for Universal’s “Dark Universe” franchise that this movie is supposed to launch. (Good luck with that Universal after this stinker!) Surely it would have made more sense to have the first film in the series to be the origins story for Crowe’s character and the organisation he sets up. This would have made far more sense.
Annabelle Wallis, who is sweet and “only” 22 years his junior, plays Cruise’s love interest in the film and equips herself well, given the material she has to play with. However (after “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword“) she must be kicking herself for not picking the ‘right’ summer blockbusters for her CV.
The main culprit here is the plot, which again is mystifying given that the writing team includes David Koepp (“Jurassic Park”; “Mission Impossible”); Christopher McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects”, “Edge of Tomorrow“) and Jon Spaihts (“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation“, “Doctor Strange“). A poor script can sometimes be salvaged by a good director, but here we have Alex Kurtzman, who has only one other directing credit to his name. And I’m afraid it shows. All round, not a good day at the office.
Brian Tyler did the music (aside from the Danny Elfman opening “Dark Universe” fanfare) but it comprises what I would term “running and jumping music”, with few discernible leitmotifs for the characters breaking through.
“Was that supposed to be funny?” My wife’s reaction after the film sums up that this really is a bit of a stinker. Best avoided.
Merissa (12854 KP) rated Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant #1) in Books
Apr 4, 2019
Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant #1) by Deborah Garland
Drawing Bloodlines is the first book in The Princeton Allegiant, and we meet with Alexander, a young vampire of only five hundred years old or so. He is the doctor who draws the blood from our main female, Elizabeth, which is okay until she catches him drinking it.
The attraction between Alexander and Elizabeth is off the charts from the start, but I actually wished it wasn't for part of the book! Now, don't get me wrong, steam isn't a bad thing at all, but for me, it actually took away from some of the parts of the story. It all became about how often these two made the naughty, rather than anything else like, for example, maybe Alex could have told Elizabeth more of his history... say the part with Christiana in it?! I actually preferred this book once Alex was told he had to mate with Christiana, and Loren appeared on the scene. I felt there was more of a connection then, but maybe that's just me.
On the whole, this was a very good read, with plenty to get your teeth into (bad pun intended). I would love to read more about this world of Allegiants, and see how it works in greater detail. And, of course, find out more about the missing vampires. Oh, and hope Elijah gets his story!
There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, and I have no hesitation in recommending this book. Excellent start to the series.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
The attraction between Alexander and Elizabeth is off the charts from the start, but I actually wished it wasn't for part of the book! Now, don't get me wrong, steam isn't a bad thing at all, but for me, it actually took away from some of the parts of the story. It all became about how often these two made the naughty, rather than anything else like, for example, maybe Alex could have told Elizabeth more of his history... say the part with Christiana in it?! I actually preferred this book once Alex was told he had to mate with Christiana, and Loren appeared on the scene. I felt there was more of a connection then, but maybe that's just me.
On the whole, this was a very good read, with plenty to get your teeth into (bad pun intended). I would love to read more about this world of Allegiants, and see how it works in greater detail. And, of course, find out more about the missing vampires. Oh, and hope Elijah gets his story!
There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, and I have no hesitation in recommending this book. Excellent start to the series.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Kaz (232 KP) rated 'Master and Commander' in Books
May 15, 2019
An Interesting Maritime Adventure
This book was recommended to me by a friend who has read all of the books in the series and this, is the first. I thought because I had watched the film version of this novel, that I knew what the story was going to be about, but the book is very different from the adaptation.
At first, I found this extremely difficult to get into. After about 100 pages I actually put this book down, because I found the maritime vocabulary, impossible to follow. However, I decided to pick it back up again and actually, when the character Stephen Maturin, the ship's doctor, comes into the story, I found that, because he was a novice with ships, he was asking questions about the different mechanisms etc of the ship and that helped me to feel that I had some idea of what it was all about.
I also found some of the battle scene a little bit static and difficult to visualize.
Even though this was a challenging book, I really like the relationship between Stephen and Jack Aubrey, the ship's captain. The writing was very humorous at times and I also liked how some of this book featured places in the Mediterranean that I'm really familiar with.
Being the first in the series, I'm sure as the novels progress, I might find this easier to get into. I won't be rushing out to read any more at the moment, I think you need to be in the right mood to read them. However, I may read more of this series in the future.
My Rating ***
At first, I found this extremely difficult to get into. After about 100 pages I actually put this book down, because I found the maritime vocabulary, impossible to follow. However, I decided to pick it back up again and actually, when the character Stephen Maturin, the ship's doctor, comes into the story, I found that, because he was a novice with ships, he was asking questions about the different mechanisms etc of the ship and that helped me to feel that I had some idea of what it was all about.
I also found some of the battle scene a little bit static and difficult to visualize.
Even though this was a challenging book, I really like the relationship between Stephen and Jack Aubrey, the ship's captain. The writing was very humorous at times and I also liked how some of this book featured places in the Mediterranean that I'm really familiar with.
Being the first in the series, I'm sure as the novels progress, I might find this easier to get into. I won't be rushing out to read any more at the moment, I think you need to be in the right mood to read them. However, I may read more of this series in the future.
My Rating ***
Yvonne (12 KP) rated The Devil and the Muse in Books
Jun 9, 2019
The immediate threat is over and happy to live in Italy with Gabriel and her family, Coco is getting more comfortable with her gifts. But when a concerned friend and her paintings highlighted the plight of teenage girls, Coco knows that the Allegiance has got to step in. However, with the team have to split up to cover two missions, things go from bad to worse.
Due to the majority of the characters already known to us, the book seemed to flow a lot quicker and the story was fast paced. Whilst Coco still had a major role to play, the story concentrated on some of the other characters and we learn a lot more about Pelayo, an El Salvadoran vampire and Sabine, a doctor who fights for the vulnerable. Also helping the Allegiance was a vampire with a surprising background. Whilst the main mission concentrates on the missing girls, Prudence has her own mission and it gives us the chance to meet some of her ancestors and learn more about her life. Whilst we know that Kenan is behind the trouble, the story goes further to explain why he is the way his.
Due to the nature of the subject matter, this story came across a lot darker than book 1, but this just helps enforce just what Coco and company are up against. As I mentioned it was a faster pace due to the fact there was always something going on. The art still played a big part in the story and the picturesque descriptions of the paintings enable you to imagine them as you are reading.
A good addition to this fantasy series and I am looking forward to reading The Immortal Muse which came out on 31st March 2019
Due to the majority of the characters already known to us, the book seemed to flow a lot quicker and the story was fast paced. Whilst Coco still had a major role to play, the story concentrated on some of the other characters and we learn a lot more about Pelayo, an El Salvadoran vampire and Sabine, a doctor who fights for the vulnerable. Also helping the Allegiance was a vampire with a surprising background. Whilst the main mission concentrates on the missing girls, Prudence has her own mission and it gives us the chance to meet some of her ancestors and learn more about her life. Whilst we know that Kenan is behind the trouble, the story goes further to explain why he is the way his.
Due to the nature of the subject matter, this story came across a lot darker than book 1, but this just helps enforce just what Coco and company are up against. As I mentioned it was a faster pace due to the fact there was always something going on. The art still played a big part in the story and the picturesque descriptions of the paintings enable you to imagine them as you are reading.
A good addition to this fantasy series and I am looking forward to reading The Immortal Muse which came out on 31st March 2019
BeRad89 (48 KP) rated The Mountain Between Us in Books
Mar 23, 2018 (Updated Mar 23, 2018)
Two successful strangers, Ben Payne the doctor and Ashley the Columnist, end up plane crashed in Utah. As they struggle to survive, Ben pushes all the odds to get them rescued. Is this the end or the beginning?
Let me begin by saying, I liked this book. It was an easy read; and with all the hype around it, I really wanted to read it. I pushed it to the front of my pile and have read it in between official review books. I liked how you get to know Ben, his strength and character through his recordings to his his wife. Sadly, that was about the only thing I truly enjoyed in this book.
With all the recommendations to read this book, I was excited. I thought I was in for an exciting, thriller. I was disappointed. I kept waiting for moments that made my heart pound, my breath catch, fear, anything. It was flat , in my opinion. The book focuses on Ben. You do not learn anything about Ashley other than she is one hell of a strong woman. I feel like that was a missed opportunity. She may have well been a log dragged around.
Charles Martin's writing style feels generic. I kept having to check the front of the book to make sure it was a book churned out by Nicholas Sparks. I did like the way he told Ben's past. It was touching, and the emotions got through to me.
Overall, I gave The Mountain Between Us 3 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it as an easy read to anyone who loves Nicholas Sparks type books. If you are looking for an action-packed thriller, let this one pass you by.
Let me begin by saying, I liked this book. It was an easy read; and with all the hype around it, I really wanted to read it. I pushed it to the front of my pile and have read it in between official review books. I liked how you get to know Ben, his strength and character through his recordings to his his wife. Sadly, that was about the only thing I truly enjoyed in this book.
With all the recommendations to read this book, I was excited. I thought I was in for an exciting, thriller. I was disappointed. I kept waiting for moments that made my heart pound, my breath catch, fear, anything. It was flat , in my opinion. The book focuses on Ben. You do not learn anything about Ashley other than she is one hell of a strong woman. I feel like that was a missed opportunity. She may have well been a log dragged around.
Charles Martin's writing style feels generic. I kept having to check the front of the book to make sure it was a book churned out by Nicholas Sparks. I did like the way he told Ben's past. It was touching, and the emotions got through to me.
Overall, I gave The Mountain Between Us 3 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it as an easy read to anyone who loves Nicholas Sparks type books. If you are looking for an action-packed thriller, let this one pass you by.
Midge (525 KP) rated French Kissing: Episode One in Books
Dec 17, 2018
Humorous, amazing and touching (1 more)
Wonderfully written highs and lows
Sexy And very Enjoyable!
French Kissing is a sexy novel about very successful women with plenty of action in the boardroom and bedroom. It centres around the owners and employees of a public relations firm called Barbier & Cyr that is located in Paris. One of the owners is in a long-term relationship with a woman who works at a hospital and is working long hours like her partner. The book is written in sections and is told from each one of the key characters' perspectives, making the story very easy to follow.
Juliette and Nadia have been partners for the past ten years. Juliette is a workaholic and very proud of the agency that she and Claire Cyr started. However, Juliette feels her long-term relationship with Nadia is in jeopardy and doesn't know what to do about it. The highs and lows of their relationship are one of the key focal points in this book and the glorious undercurrents are very humorous, amazing, and touching. Juliette is in a state of turmoil and at a loss as to how to make things right with Nadia. How will things progress?
The two other main characters involved with Juliette and Nadia are Claire and Steph. Claire is single and Nadia has invited a doctor from her hospital to a dinner party happening at Juliette and Nadia's home as a date for Claire. These four women are all involved in each others' amazing love lives. This is a major part of the book, along with being a source of many delightful events and amusing situations. The author's wonderfully written highs and lows are incredibly enjoyable to read.
This is a truly remarkable novel!
Juliette and Nadia have been partners for the past ten years. Juliette is a workaholic and very proud of the agency that she and Claire Cyr started. However, Juliette feels her long-term relationship with Nadia is in jeopardy and doesn't know what to do about it. The highs and lows of their relationship are one of the key focal points in this book and the glorious undercurrents are very humorous, amazing, and touching. Juliette is in a state of turmoil and at a loss as to how to make things right with Nadia. How will things progress?
The two other main characters involved with Juliette and Nadia are Claire and Steph. Claire is single and Nadia has invited a doctor from her hospital to a dinner party happening at Juliette and Nadia's home as a date for Claire. These four women are all involved in each others' amazing love lives. This is a major part of the book, along with being a source of many delightful events and amusing situations. The author's wonderfully written highs and lows are incredibly enjoyable to read.
This is a truly remarkable novel!
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