Tangled Up in Cruise

I recall being somewhat surprised by the time period wherein the Brendan Fraser "Mummy" movie was set when I first saw it. I'd been expecting modernity. But then I didn't expect this new one to be set in the present day. I was also ignorant of the inclusion of that dude from "New Girl". Especially because he seems like an actor who could work really well in a period piece?

It was a fine piece of cinema, though. But I thought the same about "Dracula Untold", which was supposed to kick off the same Dark Universe of monster movies that "The Mummy" now begins. Why were the bad reviews enough to stop those plans for Drac but ineffective at preventing the same ones from being enacted by "The Mummy"? Is it because of Tom Cruise? Hm. That's actually seeming quite plausible.

Incidentally, I saw the newest "Pirates of the Caribbean" film in the week before "The Mummy", and Ahmanet's aesthetic reminded me greatly of Calypso from "At World's End". It works in its way. She's the desert version of an ocean god.

But if Tatooine has taught us anything, sometimes those two locations aren't so different. Sometimes you just want to take your skiff out on the sands and surf the great Dune Sea. Living large on a pleasure barge!

Bonus Question!

How's the new Jean Grey comic?

I just read the third issue, and I felt inspired to share some thoughts to the tune of New Edition's "Candy Girl".

A Reboot Anomaly

I've started watching a bit of "Penny Dreadful". Right now, it feels like a smurry mash of many of things I liked about "Moulin Rouge!" and the filmic version of "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Incidentally, I've heard that the latter lacks many of the things other people liked about its comic book source. I came to the comic later, and it was particularly good in its earlier iterations, but I still think  that the movie was really made to show me most of what I wanted to see.

Oh. And the 2004 "Van Helsing" movie. This show feels like that too. Which I also liked! But again. I don't seem to be in the majority on this. I heard about plans to remake that with Tom Cruise in the lead role? Which they're also doing with "The Mummy". That just seems mildly odd to me. Usually, remakes are made with younger stars in their ascendant stages. Instead, Brendan Fraser and Hugh Jackman are being replaced by a dude who was already on top before they'd even started on the ladder. And he's never really stopped being bigger than they are. No discredit to those dudes. I love the guys. "George of the Jungle" was an early jam for me. "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was fantastic, and while its loose sequels are fine in their own rights, I wouldn't mind seeing the Bren come back like Big Vinny in the renaissant films of the "XXX" and "Fast and Furious" franchises. Just put that dude in more stuff.

But yeah. Tom Cruise. Dude has not stopped being a draw.

Bonus Question!

If they rebooted a Tom Cruise movie and put Tom Cruise back in his role, what would it be?

"Interview with a Vampire" comes instantly to mind for some reason. But also maybe "Legend"? With Jemaine Clement. Because Tim Curry's got to keep moving.

Unless maybe they make another "Wild Thornberrys" movie. I could imagine him putting in a few hours on a microphone to revisit that.