Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Victorious Raiders parade trophy through downtown Ashland State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake Police Reports Cheering on the champs Ashland's Safeway part of Haggen acquisition Education For a friend: AHS seniors team up to help former fellow student Ashland builds a bridge across the STEM gap Chicken pox hits Ashland Middle School AHS speech and debate team to compete in Medford Ashland: Lions Club steps up for vision tests Environment New TAP pumps bolster Ashland's options Most residents speak against gas pipeline proposed for Southern Oregon Home Help: Make your new house feel like home ‘Tis the season — for wild mushrooms Business Ashland's Safeway part of Haggen acquisition The Playwright pub will be serving again Saturday Mt. Ashland managers ponder opening this week Hats with a Past Employment in Oregon surpasses pre-recession levels Politics and elections State certifies recount showing failure of GMO-labeling measure Local rep to testify before U.S. Senate panel Tuesday Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat State News In Portland, mindfulness classes ease stress of high school GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount Resent ballots, late results likely to trigger GMO recount Nation - World Obama makes Maduro’s ‘insolent Yankees’ line harder to sell Grand jury won't indict Ferguson cop in shooting Obituaries Death Notices Death Notices Bernard Eugene Krueger Death Notices Christina Lea "Mima" Jacobson Shareable Sports Latest Stories Raiders bring it home Weber's triple-double help SOU men survive OT thriller For fans who made trip, title game special Cheering on the champs NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! SOU tops Marian in NAIA football finals High school Shibley-Styer, Malcolm lead Grizzlies to comeback win over Henley Feinberg scores 17 in Grizz loss Grizzlies tripped up late in tourney loss to Ridgeview Grizzlies' comeback attempt falls short against Mazama Ashland girls win three duals in home swim meet Southern Oregon University Raiders bring it home Weber's triple-double help SOU men survive OT thriller For fans who made trip, title game special Cheering on the champs Shibley-Styer, Malcolm lead Grizzlies to comeback win over Henley Opinion Latest Stories Herb Rothschild Jr.: The Christmas spirit Our View: Good news this week The vaccination deniers Granlund cartoon: Christmas season Matthew T. Mangino: The future of the death penalty in question? Editorial Our View: Good news this week The vaccination deniers Other Views: Hunting helps the economy Our View: ACH's remarkable recovery Our View: Growing up is inevitable Letters Letters to the Editor, Dec. 17 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 16 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 11 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 8 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Guest opinions Herb Rothschild Jr.: The Christmas spirit Guest Opinion: Heard the buzz about Bee City USA? Herb Rothschild Jr.: Fight Zionist suppression Guest Opinion: Life — and death — by choice Guest Opinion: The environmental tipping point Revels Latest Stories Dancing People Company celebrates the Winter Solstice 4 Things to do this weekend Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Best Bets: Dec. 18-24 'Homesman' plays grit and despair perfectly Theater ACT presents reading of 'The Quality of Life' Putting the music into 'A Christmas Carol' Meet the real Jacob Marley Music Rating old-timers’ albums from 2014 SOU presents all-percussion concert Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Movies Movie review: This ‘Museum’ entry should be closed to the public Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas 'Homesman' plays grit and despair perfectly Movie review: Exiting Middle-earth with a triumphant flourish Movie review: A captivating film about a girl gone ‘Wild’ Food and Drink Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Looking Up: The stars from the North Pole Suzette Martinez Standring: Christmas light reflections Health Watch: Change up your treadmill workout In Good Faith: Fallen angels Marketta Gregory: Advent calendar Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Victorious Raiders parade trophy through downtown Ashland ... State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake ... Raiders bring it home ... Victorious Raiders parade trophy through downtown Ashland ... State police search for pursuit suspect near Hyatt Lake ... Raiders bring it home ... Movie review: This 'Museum' entry should be closed to the public Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Dec. 19, 2014 @ 12:01 am Posted Dec. 19, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Social News By Ed Symkus More Content Now “Night at the Museum,” the first film in this good-looking, action-packed but rather soulless series of special-effects movies, made gobs of money. The second, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” also did well, though its profits didn’t come near the heights of its predecessor. And so here we go again, with the same cast playing the same roles, but as in the second film, acting it out in a different location. This time Larry (Ben Stiller) the night guard at New York’s Museum of Natural History, journeys to London’s British Museum where, along with his teenage son and various living statues and a monkey (Crystal) from the New York institution, he meets a new set of living statues in the big British building. All three films feature visual effects that would probably make the late, great effects visionary Ray Harryhausen nod in approval. And these movies are not without a degree of charm, as in the sequences where a huge dinosaur skeleton (a T-rex in the first film, a triceratops in this one) goes scampering about like a puppy. But the second and third entries seem to take their audiences for granted, assuming that there’s no way anyone would come to see these films without first watching the first one. That first film feebly explained something about a cursed Egyptian tablet that, after sunset every day, made every inanimate object in the museum come to life until sunrise, when they would again revert to their display selves. Inserted in and around that story was one of the divorced Larry and his shaky relationship with his young son, and – wow, it’s kind of hard to remember the details of bad movies – something about an attempted robbery of that magic tablet. When the second entry came around, with a switch of venue to Washington, D.C., the filmmakers lazily didn’t even bother to mention why statues were coming alive. They just plopped Ben Stiller back in with those talking objects and kind of retold the first story, with a few changes here and there. This time, there’s at least a feeble attempt at the start, in a flashback to a long ago archaeological dig in Egypt, to show where the tablet came from. But then the film just jumps back into the continuing saga of Larry and his statues and his monkey, and his now teenage son who, to the dismay of dad, is thinking of not going to college. The only really new elements here are the British accent of British Museum night guard Tilly (Rebel Wilson) and the plot twist of every museum exhibit that comes to life at night being in peril because of a glitch with the tablet (any Egyptian magical tablet expert would immediately know that the problem is a lack of moonlight ... or something like that). So it’s Larry to the rescue, and Larry’s companions bumbling about, and the statues at the British Museum who have come alive for the first time (yes, Larry has brought the tablet with him) wondering what the heck is going on. Also new to the series is the idea that if that tablet is present, even a lava flow from a Pompeii exhibit can come alive. This totally absurd and pointless segment does put the film’s two diminutive living statues – the laid-back cowboy (Owen Wilson) and the gay gladiator (Steve Coogan) – in great danger, but ends up serving only to provide a toilet humor gag of the monkey peeing on them to “protect” them. Sorry, not funny. It hurt a little to see both Robin Williams and Mickey Rooney in their final screen appearances. But (watch out, here comes a compliment) it was great to see “Downton Abbey’s” Dan Stevens, here playing a robust and lively and clueless Sir Lancelot, in a great comic performance. As far as Ben Stiller goes, he does his job well, making all of this seem as if it’s really happening. But the two best parts of “Secret of the Tomb” are a terrific cameo during a West End production of “Camelot” and that fact that this series will exist as a trilogy. It’s now over and done with. Say no more. Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now. NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB Written by David Guion and Michael Handelman; directed by Shawn Levy With Ben Stiller, Dan Stevens, Robin Williams, Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson, Rebel Wilson, Crystal Rated PG DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Dec. 19, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501