As I am on my Summer holidays I have an absolutely preposterous amount of spare time which results in me watching alot of films, nominally very very bad films.
Doing nothing makes me feel tired and lethargic, when I feel like this I never want to watch anything of severe artistic calibre for reasons I cannot entirely grasp. I found myself watching The Mummy: Tomb Of the Dragon Emperor yesterday. I obviously thought it was going to be bad, just possibly worse than The Mummy Returns.
I was right.
The movie opens with a stupid prologue to fill you in on the historical backplot before the main characters are introduced. This is just really really bad script writing, over simplifying the plot an excrutiating amount but I guess this is kind of expected given the films broad target audience. So that was tolerable at least.
List of intolerable: Brendan Fraser (no detail necessary), a ridiculous 'in-joke' at the beginning where they highlight the fact that Rachael Weisz is no longer playing the leading female role, every single moments where the 'imbecilic British stereotype' guy is on screen particularly when he is talking to a Yak (most notaly when the Yak is inexplicably on a plane and during some turbulance throws up and he says 'the yak yacked', I'm cringing just thinking about it), for unexplained reasons the reborn emperor can shapeshift (and if he can shapeshift why does he spend most of his time as Jet Li?), tortured and unecessary love interests between the two adolescents in the film, dreadful acting any form of comic relief and the fact that Jet Li clearly sold out so so much being in it.
Having said this the special effects were very very good and the closing sequence was everything it should have been and more- incredibly epic. Two undead armies fighting against one another, was what I was hoping for. Despite how absolutely shit the film was I kind of enjoyed watching it? I didn't enjoy the film but I enjoyed not liking it. I think that makes sense.
On a completely different note I have watched two outstanding documentaries recently, both of which I have been meaning to see for a very long time but always forgotten about when I am either taking films out of the library or have chosen something else over them. These films being Wan On Wire and Grizzly Man. Very rarely do you see a documentary that is completely captivating throughout, often I have watched documentaries and been relatively disinterested except for a few moments of 'shock impact' or 'raw beauty' and I am also sick of political documentaries (yes you Michael 'ramming my opinion down your throat' Moore I mean you).
Both Man On Wire and Grizzly Man came across as very touching, personal stories of extraordinary people's perception of what it really means to live or rather what they live(d) for. As a film student/fan watching films like these is a much needed and appreciated breath of fresh air. In documentaries you are almost aware that on the most part the footage is 'real' for want of a better word and there is arguably not a guiding artistic hand creating meaning behind each shot. This in many ways lets me shut my analytical side down and just appreciate what I am watching and be swept away in a 'true story'. The overwhelming enthusiasm of both Phillip Pettite and Timothy treadwell instantly grabs your attention and makes you want to understand them as individuals.
Man On Wire hold some wonderful moments of truely great friends working together towards an incredible goal. The photographs of Phillip tight rope walking across the Notre Damne and the Twin Towers are completely awe inspiring but my personal favourite moments were watching and listening to him in interview, he is so enthusiastic and happy. His friends are moved to tears just talking about accomplishing their goal, Phillip seems as if he is still on an adrenaline rush from it even 20 years on. The preparartion to walking between the towers and the event itself essentially shaped a huge part of this group of people's lives and in watching the film I almost felt like I was a part of it with them, with well placed reconstruction footage narrated by the people themselves interlaced with interview footage, photographic and video evidence of his several walks. This is a truly extraordinary story, extraordinarily told.
Grizzly Man directed by the renound director Werner Herzog. Most famous for his mind boggling adaptation of Heart of Darkness called Aguirre Wrath of God. It is clear that Herzog has a fascination with slightly mentally unhinged characters (as displayed by his love-hate relationship with the utterly insane acot Klaus Klinski) ans Grizzly Man. Timothy Treadwell is one of the oddest and most tragic characters I think i have ever come across. Forging an at times visible and at other times almost imagined relationship with the bears of Alaska reffering to them as his friends the film follows his 13 years living his summers in the wild with the bears. By cutting between archive footage that Treadwell himself recorded against footage of close friends and relatives talking about him post-humously we get a very in depth look into the confusing and tragic side of his character. As interesting as it is delving into the life of a man who dedicated 13 years of his life to protecting and living with bears some of the most amazing moments of the film are the footage that treadwell recorded. Some staggeringly beautiful moments of him playing with foxes, lying down next to a sleeping fox, argueing with a fox who stole his hat, standing his ground against bears who look to be slightly aggressive, stroking bears, walking along a riverback with two bears following him and most notably a fight between two bears which is almost unbearable (no pun intended) to watch.
It is really interesting watching Treadwell slowly psychologically crumble under his delusions of the 'perfection' of the bears way of life and the beauty of nature. Herzog's commentary on his character and his actions provides a very perceptive incite into what he was really all about and the key problems with his thoughts. All of this aside the raw footage of treadwell immersed in the wild is breathtaking and I gasped at several occasions with how amazing some of the moments are.
I would recommend both films hugely to anyone, I cannot see anybody disliking them at all. Two tales of extraordinary human beings in extraordinary situations. I remember after watching Man On Wire I really felt like going out there and doing something amazing with my life. The next day I watched The Mummy: Tomb Of the Dragon Emperor. fml.
Grizzly Man directed by the renound director Werner Herzog. Most famous for his mind boggling adaptation of Heart of Darkness called Aguirre Wrath of God. It is clear that Herzog has a fascination with slightly mentally unhinged characters (as displayed by his love-hate relationship with the utterly insane acot Klaus Klinski) ans Grizzly Man. Timothy Treadwell is one of the oddest and most tragic characters I think i have ever come across. Forging an at times visible and at other times almost imagined relationship with the bears of Alaska reffering to them as his friends the film follows his 13 years living his summers in the wild with the bears. By cutting between archive footage that Treadwell himself recorded against footage of close friends and relatives talking about him post-humously we get a very in depth look into the confusing and tragic side of his character. As interesting as it is delving into the life of a man who dedicated 13 years of his life to protecting and living with bears some of the most amazing moments of the film are the footage that treadwell recorded. Some staggeringly beautiful moments of him playing with foxes, lying down next to a sleeping fox, argueing with a fox who stole his hat, standing his ground against bears who look to be slightly aggressive, stroking bears, walking along a riverback with two bears following him and most notably a fight between two bears which is almost unbearable (no pun intended) to watch.
It is really interesting watching Treadwell slowly psychologically crumble under his delusions of the 'perfection' of the bears way of life and the beauty of nature. Herzog's commentary on his character and his actions provides a very perceptive incite into what he was really all about and the key problems with his thoughts. All of this aside the raw footage of treadwell immersed in the wild is breathtaking and I gasped at several occasions with how amazing some of the moments are.
I would recommend both films hugely to anyone, I cannot see anybody disliking them at all. Two tales of extraordinary human beings in extraordinary situations. I remember after watching Man On Wire I really felt like going out there and doing something amazing with my life. The next day I watched The Mummy: Tomb Of the Dragon Emperor. fml.
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