(1999 The Mummy) Mummies Back From the Dead in Summer Knit Tops

You know I have a question that is one of the oldest questions in the book yet completely unanswered, why are all Mummies called Mummies? Where are the Daddies in the ancient Egyptian world? Ancient Egypt has always been a big interest to me as a writer (Thanks Rick Riordan for fueling that fire.) and a lot of filmmakers tend to feel the same way. Mummy movies date back as far as the 1930s with the original Universal Monster movie “The Mummy” in which Boris Karloff (The Uncanny) played the toilet paper wrapped undead man. It was a massive hit (As were most of Universal’s monster movies back then.) a timeless classic and spawned quite a lot of “loose” sequels (They weren’t really connected.) like The Mummy’s Hand, The Mummy’s Tomb (Which WAS a sequel to the Mummy’s Hand.) and a few others. British production studio Hammer Film remade these films in the late 50s into the 70s with none other then Christopher Lee playing the part of the Mummy in the 1959 “The Mummy” film by Hammer.

Basically the Mummy has been remade quite a lot over the years; I mean an undead Egyptian wrapped in toilet paper in a thrilling movie is pretty popular. Recently Universal released their new remake of these films The Mummy in theaters but it seems like it’s not doing so well when it comes to consumer and critic opinions. Not to start anything but this probably has to do with Tom Cruise having to do with the movie and bad directing but I haven’t seen the movie personally to make an opinion on that.

The movie I’ll be diving in today however is the 1999 remake of the Mummy franchise titled, take a guess, “The Mummy” starring Brendan Fraser (One of my favorite actors, mostly because of George of the Jungle.) the lovely Rachel Weisz and John Hannah. (Who I know best for his role in Four Weddings and a Funeral.)

I discovered these Mummy movies years ago when they aired on TV during the day. I believe I was home sick from school or maybe it was summer vacation I don’t remember exactly but I do remember not actually seeing this Mummy movie first but instead The Mummy Returns first, but I’ll talk about that movie in a different blog. A lot of people in my generation tend to view this Mummy movie as the classic original but no the movies I mentioned before are the originals.

The 1999 Mummy movie spawned a trilogy of three films and I own all three so I’m going back to the first of this classic series. The movie begins with a narrative introduction to the plot of the movie, which dates back to 1290 BC Egypt, Thebes to be more precise. The high priest Imhotep (Who was the Mummy in the original 1932 film as well it’s just not Boris this time but Arnold Vosloo who does a pretty awesome job to be honest.) is having a love affair with the Pharaoh’s lover Anck-su-Namun (Patricia Velasquez) which ends pretty badly for the two lovers. I mean love affairs normally end badly but in ancient Egypt? Yeah you get hunted down and mummified while your girlfriend is forced to stab herself in the stomach. Imhotep’s wrath was locked away for 3000 years until a certain someone accidentally awakened him.

Flash forward 3000 years to 1926 we meet our protagonists Rick O’Connell (Brandon Fraser) at the time captain in the French Foreign Legion soon turns adventurer when stumbling across the ancient city of Hamunaptra also known as the City of the Dead and somehow surviving the trip back.

In a different part of Egypt aka Cairo a young, clever but amazingly clumsy Egyptologist and Librarian Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) soon discovers a map to the City of the Dead conveniently stashed inside a tiny box that her older brother Jonathan Carnahan (John Hannah) obtained (Actually he stole it.). This map lasts for two seconds before the head of the Library “accidentally” (Intentionally.) burned it after Evelyn presented it to him. Only one option was left was to seek out the man who Jonathan guiltily admits he stole the box from, Rick O’Connell. Rick is apparently got himself arrested and locked up in some point after returning from the City of the Dead and is now set to be hung, not sure how this happened but after making a deal with Evelyn to get out of prison and barely escaping the noose they all head out to the city. Following them close behind are American treasure hunters led by Rick’s coward colleague Beni Gabor. (Kevin J. O’Connor)

After a rocky, bumpy and camel filled journey they finally make it to the City of the Dead unknowing what lies beneath the surface. This is where the Mummy comes into it. Evelyn’s overpowering curiosity accidentally sets forth events that reawakens and resurrects Imhotep from his 3000 year slumber. He’s not really a toilet paper kind of Mummy more like a crusty, flaky kind of Mummy in this movie. Imhotep then seeks to resurrect his lost lover Anck-su-Namun and will stop at absolutely nothing to achieve this.

This movie is a thrilling ride from beginning to end with a loving cast and amazing actors to fill those roles. Oh yeah and this movie has a lot of bugs in it, but hey it's Egypt you gotta expect a few bugs. Though The original 1932 The Mummy would probably be classed as more of a horror movie as this one but there’s just something about this and the movie that follows it that no other Mummy movie can hold a torch to, this movie is absolute fun. With all the thrilling close calls and unpleasant scarabs this movie doesn’t forget how to have fun which emanates from the main three actors Brendan, Rachel and John. This movie isn’t just a cheesy goofball movie however it juggles the serious, thrilling and engaging moments with the fun and that to me makes a wonderful movie. Back to the characters I find them to be well written. Rick O’Connell is a gun-ho, rough and ready kind of guy but has a heroic streak and can be a bit of a blunt dork at times. Jonathan tends to be the comic relief of the movie and isn’t really great at fighting, navigating as Rick. However he does have some knowledge of ancient Egyptian and has considerable skills in thievery. (Probably not a good thing.) Evelyn tends to outshine the other two by being ambitious, passionate and a go getter. She knows what she wants and despite her clumsiness and over powering curiosity she puts herself out there. Her entire expedition is fueled by her desire to further her career and her romance with Rick is a surprisingly, unpredicted occurrence but just as well written

Wasn’t sure whether to mention what some of my favorite scenes in the movie were considering this may be spoilers but it’s an almost 20 year old movie so why not. This is a spoiler warning anyway the next paragraph holds spoilers.

Some of my favorite scenes in this movie are probably not scenes you’re expecting. The first off would be after Rick and Company escape the boat after being attacked and they’re split up between a river. Beni exclaims that he has all the horses and Rick retorts with “Hey Beni, Looks like you’re on the wrong side of the river!” I don’t know I just found that scene hilarious.

Another favorite would be after the expedition as they’re setting up camp and having a few drinks Eve, with too many drinks drunken starts up a drunken conversation with Rick and exclaims “What’s a place like me doing in a girl like this?” with Rick replying “Yeah something like that.” She then goes on to proudly proclaim, after a pause that she is a Librarian.

Finally another favorite scene would be Imhotep and his interactions with cats. Cats were worshipped as gods almost by ancient Egypt, said to be guardians of the Underworld. They were absolutely sacred but over time they became more of pets like they are today. It only makes sense for Imhotep to feel intimidated by a cat; probably thought the cat was going to take him back to the underworld, still funny nonetheless.

I’m not quite sure how the new reboot can hold a torch to this movie and it looks like it isn’t with the waning reviews. Luckily these movies still hold up to this day and were worth re-watching after all these years. This movie makes me wish there were more thrilling adventure movies of the sort that were this engaging. If you don’t already own this movie you can buy it on iTunes for $14.99 for HD and $9.99 for SD. I actually have a physical box set of all three movies but it appears iTunes doesn’t have them available and I can’t actually find where to buy the box set anymore. They also have I believe all of the classic movies on here as well. (They do click this right here to see the 1932 Mummy movie.) I’m really going to have to watch the classics at some point for you guys. (I’ve watched the 1932 Mummy I’m sure of it but it’s been way too long to remember it completely.) I’ll be discussing the next two movies in the future!

Even though I’m not so interested in the new Mummy movie it is out in Theatres now and I recommend you give it a go yourself despite my opinions of Tom Cruise and the critics.

For now however it’s time to talk about Mummy wraps… Well it’s something you wear anyway and you can definitely wear it if you’re a Mum. It’s time for the Free Knitting Pattern!

Been diving into Summer knitting as of late, it is summer of course and I’ve given you guys some cool toys to knit but what about actual summer wear? Knitted wear might mostly be viewed was sweaters, beanies, gloves and socks but there’s a lot more summer related items you can knit with those needles of yours and some thin weight yarn. These items are shawls, shawlettes, that snazzy beach wrap I shared a few weeks ago and what I’m featuring today, a top. Yeah it’s a top, a summer top and it’s pretty elegant for being so simple. For some reason I cannot find any male tops (That aren’t sweaters.) as knitting patterns but you ladies are going to love this. Today’s free knitting pattern is “Istanbul” by DROPS Designs.

This is perfect for the summer and autumn seasons with its lovely lace pattern long the bottom of the top to the beautiful lace design in the chest of the top. Before we dive into the pattern I’ll list off the materials you’ll need. First off you’ll need some sport weight yarn. I recommend, as does this pattern, some 100% cotton, that’ll make this top as comfy as can be. Depending on the size you knit you’ll need 250 g all the way up to 400 g of sport weight, cotton yarn. Up next you’ll need double pointed needles and of size US 2.5/3 MM (Or needles that’ll get you 24 stitches and 32 rows stockinette stitch on 10 cm / 4” in width and 10 cm / 4” in height, that’s the gauge.) and some DPNs and Circular needles of Size US 1.5 /2.5 MM or the right size to get a 26 stitch, 34 row stockinette stitch on 10 cm / 4” in width and 10 cm / 4” in height gauge.

Now we can dive into this free pattern! From the look of things you’ll be working bottom up on this top. (That wasn’t a pun I swear.) Seems you’ll need a sewing needle as well as your knitting needles because the back and front of the top of this shirt as well as the sleeves are all worked independently then assembled. It seems to be good for beginner knitters wanting to get into knitting tops, like myself and the only difficult part could be the lace chart but I’m sure, especially with the symbols laid out in front of me and described I and you too will be able to knit this with ease. Anyway challenges are good and can be very rewarding at the end. You can check out this awesome pattern by following this link to Drops Design’s website! https://www.garnstudio.com/pattern.php?id=8007&cid=17

I might be eyeing this pattern for knitting a certain Mum of mine a lovely gift but don’t let her know that okay? She actually reads this so the gigs up already. Haha, anyway I think this is definitely one of the prettiest patterns I’ve shared and I would love to do more lacework. Speaking of lace I need to bust my butt and finish my shawl finally, with no other projects on the needle I don’t really have an excuse now do I? Anyway until next time be nice to your Mummy and Daddy. (Let me know if you actually see any Daddies would like to see one for once instead of all the Mummies, Daddy deserves a movie franchise too.)

That’s a wrap folks!