This blog jumped the gun on me. Three years ago, it was hyping NATM 3. It was hyping NATM 3 before I was even sure it would be a thing (my general threshold is once it's confirmed pre or production and we get definitive cast lists and a script's been finalized, and this thing's going forward by hook or by crook). It's called "Night at the Museum 3 Trailer". Their first post (and the only one which actually deals with plot speculation) discusses all sorts of early possibilities, making it a valuable artifact for anyone interested in that sort of thing. This author tosses around the Liberace Museum (in Paradise, Navada, so clearly this is no longer the case) in particular, based on Ben Stiller's 2010 comment after the great success of BOTS.
And the second post, I am extremely proud to say, was my first source of those spoiler-y filming shots from NATM 3, set in London and featuring Lancelot, Teddy, Ahkmenrah, Sacajawea, and Attila the Hun. Similar shots also show Nicky, Larry, and the steps of some facade or another (I'd guess the New York museum, but I can't quite be sure on this). For that slide show, click here, but I saw it at NATM 3 Trailer first.
Those are the only two posts available for the blog, but as development on NATM 3 progresses, we hope to see more.
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": Besides NATM-themed blogs, there are a number of blog posts devoted to reviews of the movies. I'll be going through these, as well, providing links to all and my take on their take. That's next.
Countdown: 290 Days to NATM 3.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Night #81 - Blogger Commentary Part 2
Or, A blog called Night at the Museum 2.
For starters, this is considerably more extensive. The blog itself is focused squarely on Battle of the Smithsonian but covers nearly everything you could possibly think to cover about a movie: what did you think about it? promo pictures, cast/crew list, trailer, and perhaps most importantly in a movie blog: what is the damned thing about? If you're looking for a comprehensive guide to BOTS, Night at the Museum 2 is the place to be. (There are some small holes which could be plugged if the author chose, like character profiles and such, but that's very minor versus last night's blog up for bat.)
That having been said, this is by no means a "praise blog", which is to say that the purpose of this blog is not to praise the movie, but rather to study it and provide in-depth coverage of it, and nowhere is this more evident than in the overview and review posts. The author not only offers his/her take on BOTS, but spices her synopsis with his/her take and almost turns it into a second review, or a review trailer. The main message is that the performances came off as odd to the author, namely Ben Stiller, Amy Adams as "perky to the point of annoyance (for me at least)", and the kicker, Hank Azaria; apparently "for some reason the voice they chose for his character was a bad Boris Karloff impression with a lisp thrown in for good measure." The way I understand it, and this is just me, is that Azaria came to the voice of his own accord, and the lisp was a byproduct of his efforts. And another thing: Kahmunrah is not a "prince". He's "Fifth King of Egypt". My spasm of defensiveness for one of the Brothers Egypt now over, we can move on.
I will say only a few things about the review, however: the famous V-J Day photo is set in New York, not Paris, and in 1945, not 1950; I only recall Amelia saying 'ace' a good two or three times, if, but if that's enough for you, then it's not my business; and good on you for closing with that shot from the deleted scene World Twister. That brings the blogger's take up to one glaring inaccuracy, one gray-area item, and the pleasantly-minded touch of Kahmunrah's "borderline sacrosanct wisdom". The review in itself is generally critical of BOTS, regarding it as "more-is-less" and generally down with a terrible case of sequelitis. Don't worry. I've heard this complaint a lot. If you feel that way, that's none of my business, but for the purposes of this blog (in this case, giving truthful commentary of other NATM-themed blogs).
There is nothing wrong with this blog, but for the two things which rubbed me the wrong way and the one thing which made me iffy (respectively: the author's calling Kahmunrah a "prince" and choosing to state that the voice was not the choice of the actor, and the misplacing of one of the most famous photographs of all time; and the matter of the frequency of Amelia's use of 'ace'). Considerably better as a NATM-themed blog than "A Night at the Museum", which was a more informative piece about ancient Egyptian society in general (see last night if you're truly curious), and the first in my blogroll which places square focus on a part of the franchise rather than claiming the title of the franchise to do other things with. Good on the author for that, and of course, World Twister! (Seriously, that needs to be a real life game.)
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": The third on my blogroll, a little ditty called "Night at the Museum 3 Trailer". Sounds promising, no?
Countdown: 291 Days to NATM 3.
For starters, this is considerably more extensive. The blog itself is focused squarely on Battle of the Smithsonian but covers nearly everything you could possibly think to cover about a movie: what did you think about it? promo pictures, cast/crew list, trailer, and perhaps most importantly in a movie blog: what is the damned thing about? If you're looking for a comprehensive guide to BOTS, Night at the Museum 2 is the place to be. (There are some small holes which could be plugged if the author chose, like character profiles and such, but that's very minor versus last night's blog up for bat.)
That having been said, this is by no means a "praise blog", which is to say that the purpose of this blog is not to praise the movie, but rather to study it and provide in-depth coverage of it, and nowhere is this more evident than in the overview and review posts. The author not only offers his/her take on BOTS, but spices her synopsis with his/her take and almost turns it into a second review, or a review trailer. The main message is that the performances came off as odd to the author, namely Ben Stiller, Amy Adams as "perky to the point of annoyance (for me at least)", and the kicker, Hank Azaria; apparently "for some reason the voice they chose for his character was a bad Boris Karloff impression with a lisp thrown in for good measure." The way I understand it, and this is just me, is that Azaria came to the voice of his own accord, and the lisp was a byproduct of his efforts. And another thing: Kahmunrah is not a "prince". He's "Fifth King of Egypt". My spasm of defensiveness for one of the Brothers Egypt now over, we can move on.
I will say only a few things about the review, however: the famous V-J Day photo is set in New York, not Paris, and in 1945, not 1950; I only recall Amelia saying 'ace' a good two or three times, if, but if that's enough for you, then it's not my business; and good on you for closing with that shot from the deleted scene World Twister. That brings the blogger's take up to one glaring inaccuracy, one gray-area item, and the pleasantly-minded touch of Kahmunrah's "borderline sacrosanct wisdom". The review in itself is generally critical of BOTS, regarding it as "more-is-less" and generally down with a terrible case of sequelitis. Don't worry. I've heard this complaint a lot. If you feel that way, that's none of my business, but for the purposes of this blog (in this case, giving truthful commentary of other NATM-themed blogs).
There is nothing wrong with this blog, but for the two things which rubbed me the wrong way and the one thing which made me iffy (respectively: the author's calling Kahmunrah a "prince" and choosing to state that the voice was not the choice of the actor, and the misplacing of one of the most famous photographs of all time; and the matter of the frequency of Amelia's use of 'ace'). Considerably better as a NATM-themed blog than "A Night at the Museum", which was a more informative piece about ancient Egyptian society in general (see last night if you're truly curious), and the first in my blogroll which places square focus on a part of the franchise rather than claiming the title of the franchise to do other things with. Good on the author for that, and of course, World Twister! (Seriously, that needs to be a real life game.)
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": The third on my blogroll, a little ditty called "Night at the Museum 3 Trailer". Sounds promising, no?
Countdown: 291 Days to NATM 3.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Night #80 - Blogger Commentary Part 1
I've actually managed to find several other blogs either devoted or related to Night at the Museum, and numerous other blog posts (usu. reviews, which I'll get to later), and I'd like to kick off the next few posts by going through them and offering my take.
The first up to the plate is "A Night at the Museum", which is perhaps the most educationally-oriented and informative of the group. But the format leaves a good deal to be desired. Let me explain my bias here: I like good, long detailed things, but not so long that I get lost in it and eventually give up reading. This is why I like Yu-Gi-Oh! (complex plot and characters, takes time to develop (50 ep season avg with surprisingly low filler should say a lot right there, in my opinion), and above all, engaging). This may be a product of growing up, but I'm more willing to sit through an hour or two of you positing at me about ancient astronaut theory or something which actually has basis, for that matter, than, say, a string of half-hour Disney sitcom episodes. The format for "A Night at the Museum" goes like this: paragraph of informative but easy-to-understand text, followed by pictures to illustrate the point, or a link, or both. Very short blog posts overall.
Don't get me wrong. This is a good jumping-off point if you want to actually go in and research the elements the author discusses on your own (papyrus's many uses, for example, or mummification, ancient buildings, or ancient farming and surveying techniques), but humans are lazy. Let's face it. It's in our nature to want to find everything we want to know in one spot. This may be what the author is catering to by the method she's chosen to use, but quite frankly, for the curious armchair blog peruser, this isn't quite enough. Granted, a curious person may go and look things up for him- or herself, but not every curious person has that kind of motivation. As I said before, humans are lazy. We like "one-stop shopping", and for the purpose this blog seems like it's trying to serve, it comes off more like window-shopping or catalog advertising, if you want to keep the analogy.
Verdict: 3 stars. Good, interesting stuff, but you need more of it.
P.S. This blog was last updated Sept. of 2012, but being written by a busy mom, this is more forgivable than in most cases.
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": Next on my blogroll: a blog called Night at the Museum 2 (Not to be confused with the UK title for Battle of the Smithsonian, Night at the Museum 2).
Countdown: 292 Days to NATM 3
The first up to the plate is "A Night at the Museum", which is perhaps the most educationally-oriented and informative of the group. But the format leaves a good deal to be desired. Let me explain my bias here: I like good, long detailed things, but not so long that I get lost in it and eventually give up reading. This is why I like Yu-Gi-Oh! (complex plot and characters, takes time to develop (50 ep season avg with surprisingly low filler should say a lot right there, in my opinion), and above all, engaging). This may be a product of growing up, but I'm more willing to sit through an hour or two of you positing at me about ancient astronaut theory or something which actually has basis, for that matter, than, say, a string of half-hour Disney sitcom episodes. The format for "A Night at the Museum" goes like this: paragraph of informative but easy-to-understand text, followed by pictures to illustrate the point, or a link, or both. Very short blog posts overall.
Don't get me wrong. This is a good jumping-off point if you want to actually go in and research the elements the author discusses on your own (papyrus's many uses, for example, or mummification, ancient buildings, or ancient farming and surveying techniques), but humans are lazy. Let's face it. It's in our nature to want to find everything we want to know in one spot. This may be what the author is catering to by the method she's chosen to use, but quite frankly, for the curious armchair blog peruser, this isn't quite enough. Granted, a curious person may go and look things up for him- or herself, but not every curious person has that kind of motivation. As I said before, humans are lazy. We like "one-stop shopping", and for the purpose this blog seems like it's trying to serve, it comes off more like window-shopping or catalog advertising, if you want to keep the analogy.
Verdict: 3 stars. Good, interesting stuff, but you need more of it.
P.S. This blog was last updated Sept. of 2012, but being written by a busy mom, this is more forgivable than in most cases.
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": Next on my blogroll: a blog called Night at the Museum 2 (Not to be confused with the UK title for Battle of the Smithsonian, Night at the Museum 2).
Countdown: 292 Days to NATM 3
Monday, March 3, 2014
Night #79 - The Fan Mix
A list of tracks to play to Night at the Museum-themed thoughts, or anything related.
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": I start going through all the blogs in my reading list which are in some way NATM-themed, and I offer my take on each.
Countdown: 293 Days to NATM 3
- Night at the Museum Theme Music - Alan Silvestri
- Fly By Night - Rush
- Gloriana - Corner Stone Cues
- King Tut - Steve Martin
- Playing With the Big Boys - Steve Martin + Martin Short
- Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
- William Tell Overture - Hans Zimmer
- Forgotten Children - Tokio Hotel
- Fly With Me - Jonas Brothers
- There She Goes - Sixpence
- You've Got the Love - Either Now Voyager Remix or Florence + The Machine
- September - Earth, Wind and Fire
- Let's Groove - Earth, Wind and Fire
Bonus track!!!
- Kaisei Jōshō Harerūya (Fine Weather Rising Hallelujah) - Jindou
Because I can't stop obsessing about it right now.
Countdown: 293 Days to NATM 3
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Night #78 - "May It Be"
Every story has a protagonist (hero or anti-hero) who must go through a journey and face conflict (otherwise things get really boring really fast). For the cases of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Night at the Museum, the people who fill these roles are Yugi Moto (and alter self Yami Yugi) and Larry Daley, respectively, and as these stories are clearly very interesting to a lot of people (look no further than box-office millions and no less than three spin-offs for proof), these characters do, in fact, go through journeys.
Larry's journey is a prolonged search for the self. He starts out by trying to find a stable situation to be able to keep living with his son, but once he becomes a successful entrepreneur, what he now needs to do, whether he realizes it or not, is find his way back to the situation which gives him the most happiness. It's unknown yet what his path will be for NATM 3, but given the trend, we may look at a fresh shot at love (with Rebel Wilson's character? Being a night guard, she would eventually come to know the secret) or trying to reconnect with a teenage Nicky, or both.
Yugi and his other self, on the other hand, have set roles for them (the 4Kids dub, at least, focuses quite a lot on destiny) which they must grow into. Yami is trying to recover his memories after spending thousands of years being a trapped spirit and then assuming the identity of an extension of Yugi for a while before the latter caught on that this wasn't the case, and Yugi is going through the natural process of transforming from the shy bully-target to the kid in charge of saving the world after coming face to face, multiple times, with much greater problems than bullies (who admittedly still act like it, making the job easier). Both of these are happening in conjunction with the various journeys of the surrounding characters, including the so-called bad guys (a very good quality in a so-called "kid's show", in my opinion), making them only stand out because they are the journeys of the principal characters and the fate of the world hinges on their actions more often than not.
That a character's actions determine some key element far beyond anything in their former experience is an element shared by both franchises. Yugi has to repeatedly help his spirit alter self stop baddies who openly express their desire to destroy/rule/recreate/etc the world. Larry has to first learn how to contain a powerful magical item to keep it out of the wrong hands and then stop a baddie who wants to take over the world, and presumably he will be doing the same again in NATM 3, considering who he's up against: Lancelot, possibly Robert Fredericks out for revenge, and possibly Sir Ben Kingsley's character (we won't know for sure, though, until the trailer comes out and the basic plot is revealed, but for now....?). It's a way of keeping the stakes high, in any given story. If the conflict focuses on something a lot greater than the protagonist is typically used to, the viewers/readers and the protagonist both are thrust into the journey of figuring the new situation out and then surmounting it (this typically takes the form of the underdog tale, a poor untrained sap against some villain who clearly knows what he's doing, a la Yu-Gi-Oh! (oh, GOD Yu-Gi-Oh!) and NATM, and countless other movies, shows, etc.). Classic storytelling device, still in use in these media and elsewhere.
Magical systems and general plot lines and premises may be different between these two franchises, but they share the similar elements of the use of Egyptian themes (for various reasons such as Egypt means mystical and cool and ancient, and it may in fact make sense, in the case of some Millennium Items and the Tablet of Ahkmenrah) and the core elements of a story which make it work. And they both interest me, and they may both interest you, as well.
P.S.: The post title is, if you don't recognize it, the title of one of the ultimate Hero's Journey songs of all time: "May It Be" from The Lord of the Rings.
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": A fan mix for the Night at the Museum franchise and whatever else the reader may associate with it.
Countdown: 294 Days to NATM 3
Larry's journey is a prolonged search for the self. He starts out by trying to find a stable situation to be able to keep living with his son, but once he becomes a successful entrepreneur, what he now needs to do, whether he realizes it or not, is find his way back to the situation which gives him the most happiness. It's unknown yet what his path will be for NATM 3, but given the trend, we may look at a fresh shot at love (with Rebel Wilson's character? Being a night guard, she would eventually come to know the secret) or trying to reconnect with a teenage Nicky, or both.
Yugi and his other self, on the other hand, have set roles for them (the 4Kids dub, at least, focuses quite a lot on destiny) which they must grow into. Yami is trying to recover his memories after spending thousands of years being a trapped spirit and then assuming the identity of an extension of Yugi for a while before the latter caught on that this wasn't the case, and Yugi is going through the natural process of transforming from the shy bully-target to the kid in charge of saving the world after coming face to face, multiple times, with much greater problems than bullies (who admittedly still act like it, making the job easier). Both of these are happening in conjunction with the various journeys of the surrounding characters, including the so-called bad guys (a very good quality in a so-called "kid's show", in my opinion), making them only stand out because they are the journeys of the principal characters and the fate of the world hinges on their actions more often than not.
That a character's actions determine some key element far beyond anything in their former experience is an element shared by both franchises. Yugi has to repeatedly help his spirit alter self stop baddies who openly express their desire to destroy/rule/recreate/etc the world. Larry has to first learn how to contain a powerful magical item to keep it out of the wrong hands and then stop a baddie who wants to take over the world, and presumably he will be doing the same again in NATM 3, considering who he's up against: Lancelot, possibly Robert Fredericks out for revenge, and possibly Sir Ben Kingsley's character (we won't know for sure, though, until the trailer comes out and the basic plot is revealed, but for now....?). It's a way of keeping the stakes high, in any given story. If the conflict focuses on something a lot greater than the protagonist is typically used to, the viewers/readers and the protagonist both are thrust into the journey of figuring the new situation out and then surmounting it (this typically takes the form of the underdog tale, a poor untrained sap against some villain who clearly knows what he's doing, a la Yu-Gi-Oh! (oh, GOD Yu-Gi-Oh!) and NATM, and countless other movies, shows, etc.). Classic storytelling device, still in use in these media and elsewhere.
Magical systems and general plot lines and premises may be different between these two franchises, but they share the similar elements of the use of Egyptian themes (for various reasons such as Egypt means mystical and cool and ancient, and it may in fact make sense, in the case of some Millennium Items and the Tablet of Ahkmenrah) and the core elements of a story which make it work. And they both interest me, and they may both interest you, as well.
P.S.: The post title is, if you don't recognize it, the title of one of the ultimate Hero's Journey songs of all time: "May It Be" from The Lord of the Rings.
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": A fan mix for the Night at the Museum franchise and whatever else the reader may associate with it.
Countdown: 294 Days to NATM 3
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Kaisei Jōshō Harerūya (Fine Weather Rising Hallelujah)
I discovered this song today, and I also discovered that I can't seem to stop listening to it. Make of that what you will and if you think it's a good thing, I wish you the same experience.
Regardless of your leanings, here it is, folks! The Japanese opening song to Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (the first spin-off), Kaisei Jōshō Harerūya, or in English, Fine Weather Rising Hallelujah (Rising of Fine Weather Hallelujah, Fair Weather - Ascension - Hallelujah, etc.).
(From what I gather of the translated lyrics, this is basically the Japanese version of this (please, I beg of you, correct me if I'm wrong). You can find the English-subbed version here.)
Regardless of your leanings, here it is, folks! The Japanese opening song to Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (the first spin-off), Kaisei Jōshō Harerūya, or in English, Fine Weather Rising Hallelujah (Rising of Fine Weather Hallelujah, Fair Weather - Ascension - Hallelujah, etc.).
(From what I gather of the translated lyrics, this is basically the Japanese version of this (please, I beg of you, correct me if I'm wrong). You can find the English-subbed version here.)
Night #77 - Magic and Meta (and Egypt)
As I mentioned last night, the only tie the magical systems in Yu-Gi-Oh! and Night at the Museum have to each other is that they both originated in ancient Egypt, and in fact, something about ancient Egypt seems to, in popular consciousness, be eternally linked to really cool golden mystical things. There are several reasons for this: 1) Egyptians liked gold and imported it from neighboring Nubia (to the south), where there was an abundance of it. 2) Egyptians believed wholeheartedly in magic. Spells were everywhere, and it was a way of life rather than some weird mystical occult thing like we think of it today. 3) Because of popular but inaccurately-founded concepts such as the Mummy's Curse, we have it in our collective heads that the Egyptians had access to the real deal.
Both Yu-Gi-Oh! and Night at the Museum play off these premises. There is a heavy pop culture market for Egyptian magic; it's been around since the discovery of King Tut's tomb and it's been in pop culture off and on ever since, from the 1930s The Mummy to the 1990s remake to our very own Night at the Museum series. But it's not like movies get to have all the fun: Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles, the series Ancient Aliens, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and many more get to join the party. All this shows that in the popular imagination, the trend is, if it's magical, it's ancient, and if it's really magical and really important, your odds are good if you think it's Egyptian.
The seven Millennium Items and the Tablet of Ahkmenrah aren't just Egyptian by coincidence. Egypt is associated with magic and mystery regardless of the truth of such an association. If you believe something is so, that's more than enough for you, and if a whole bunch of people believe it, then it takes a very long time and a huge amount of effort to change it. But why mess with something which still has the power to make a lot of money?
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": The third and final comparison test: The Hero's Journey.
Countdown: 295 Days to NATM 3
Both Yu-Gi-Oh! and Night at the Museum play off these premises. There is a heavy pop culture market for Egyptian magic; it's been around since the discovery of King Tut's tomb and it's been in pop culture off and on ever since, from the 1930s The Mummy to the 1990s remake to our very own Night at the Museum series. But it's not like movies get to have all the fun: Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles, the series Ancient Aliens, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and many more get to join the party. All this shows that in the popular imagination, the trend is, if it's magical, it's ancient, and if it's really magical and really important, your odds are good if you think it's Egyptian.
The seven Millennium Items and the Tablet of Ahkmenrah aren't just Egyptian by coincidence. Egypt is associated with magic and mystery regardless of the truth of such an association. If you believe something is so, that's more than enough for you, and if a whole bunch of people believe it, then it takes a very long time and a huge amount of effort to change it. But why mess with something which still has the power to make a lot of money?
Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": The third and final comparison test: The Hero's Journey.
Countdown: 295 Days to NATM 3
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