HEAVY WEATHER 2008: KAMMURI UPDATE
Aug. 6th, 2008 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogI should be reporting to you today from a wooden tub filled with fresh-roasted coffee brewed and poured from a hot spring. Then teh typhoonz came.
Yesterday afternoon we got a call from the travel agency right before we went to the movies to say they were canceling the package because we need to take a ferry to get to Gudou, and Severe Tropical Storm Kammuri was scheduled to smack Hong Kong about an hour before our boat set off.
Which it did. Woke up this morning to the sound of howling winds and torrents of rain pounding the building and a Signal 8 warning. Been doing it all morning. It’ll keep doing it until sundown at least. The good news is that we have three months to reschedule the trip. The bad news is we really only have a couple of weeks cos that’s when my China visa expires. So I’ll have to take a couple extra days off next week.
I know, poor me. Except that it IS a bit troublesome because the work I was supposed to be doing when I got back will pile up while I’m gone, and I have to convince The Powers that this won’t be a problem.
Anyway, this is shaping up to be a weird year, weatherwise. The last five years, we’ve barely seen any typhoon action, with most the storms going wide of the mark and more often than not clobbering Japan instead. This year, we’re three for three – anything that’s come close enough to raise a Signal 1 has elevated to 8 before it was over.
And there’s more where that came from, according to the experts.
What movie did we go see, you ask? The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor. Was it good? No. I didn’t really expect it to be, but KT was keen, so we went. Apart from some serious plot holes and Rob Cohen’s decision to adopt a Michael Bay style of action directing (lotsa shaky cameras and bad CG), it commits the cardinal sin of Foreign People Conveniently Speaking English At Times When It’s Not Called For. And the yeti business is just silly, even for a mummy film.
Too bad, in a way, since any film that has Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and Anthony Wong in it shouldn’t have to be this bad. But then only a Hollywood director could make a sword fight scene between Li and Yeoh look clunky.
Okay. Back to the typhoons.
The wind cried Mary,
This is dF
Yesterday afternoon we got a call from the travel agency right before we went to the movies to say they were canceling the package because we need to take a ferry to get to Gudou, and Severe Tropical Storm Kammuri was scheduled to smack Hong Kong about an hour before our boat set off.
Which it did. Woke up this morning to the sound of howling winds and torrents of rain pounding the building and a Signal 8 warning. Been doing it all morning. It’ll keep doing it until sundown at least. The good news is that we have three months to reschedule the trip. The bad news is we really only have a couple of weeks cos that’s when my China visa expires. So I’ll have to take a couple extra days off next week.
I know, poor me. Except that it IS a bit troublesome because the work I was supposed to be doing when I got back will pile up while I’m gone, and I have to convince The Powers that this won’t be a problem.
Anyway, this is shaping up to be a weird year, weatherwise. The last five years, we’ve barely seen any typhoon action, with most the storms going wide of the mark and more often than not clobbering Japan instead. This year, we’re three for three – anything that’s come close enough to raise a Signal 1 has elevated to 8 before it was over.
And there’s more where that came from, according to the experts.
What movie did we go see, you ask? The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor. Was it good? No. I didn’t really expect it to be, but KT was keen, so we went. Apart from some serious plot holes and Rob Cohen’s decision to adopt a Michael Bay style of action directing (lotsa shaky cameras and bad CG), it commits the cardinal sin of Foreign People Conveniently Speaking English At Times When It’s Not Called For. And the yeti business is just silly, even for a mummy film.
Too bad, in a way, since any film that has Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and Anthony Wong in it shouldn’t have to be this bad. But then only a Hollywood director could make a sword fight scene between Li and Yeoh look clunky.
Okay. Back to the typhoons.
The wind cried Mary,
This is dF
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Ugh!
on 2008-08-06 06:30 am (UTC)I'm bummed about your Mummy movie review. I already knew I wouldn't like it as much because the female lead is different. So how would you rate all the Mummy movies on a scale of 1-10 so I can see how this one compares to the others?
Re: Ugh!
on 2008-08-06 09:48 am (UTC)I'd rate the first Mummy as the best. Flawed and derivative but a hell of a lot of fun to watch, and some classic one-liners and great casting. The second one was okay, but not quite as fun, but Arnold Vosloo makes a good mummy, and at least it had the tragic love story angle that made it interesting. The third doesn't really have that, and the family angle with Alex all grown up just got tedious.
Yr mileage may vary, obviously, but out of five stars (I don't do 1-10 scales for some reason) I'd rate Mummy a 3.5, Mummy Returns a 2.5, and Chinese Mummy a 2.