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The Ant Bully; Azumi; John Tucker Must Die; The Motel; Mysteries of Egypt

A A A Comments (0) By STAFF Thursday, Jul 27 2006

MYSTERIES OF EGYPT
In its first film to be shot in the IMAX format, National Geographic offers a 40-minute crash course in 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, beginning with magnificent footage of the Nile River and ending inside the tomb of everyone's favorite pharaoh, King Tut. Unlike other IMAX subjects, the pyramids of Egypt just sit there, indifferent to the demands of restless movie audiences. To create a little forward motion, director Bruce Neibaur has devised a slightly awkward structure that features a dapper, still-handsome Omar Sharif as a grandfather giving his curious granddaughter (Kate Maberly) a tour. Although Maberly is stuck with a lot of golly-gee dialogue, one can't help feeling a stab of envy when she gets to perch on the side of one of the Pyramids of Giza. More useful is a black-and-white dramatization of archaeologist Howard Carter's six-year search for Tut's tomb in the 1920s. Although re-enactments are usually a sign of a story-starved documentary, this one provides crucial information not only on Carter's amazing expedition, but also on the question of how mummification takes place. A tour of Egypt, after all, just isn't complete without a good mummy sighting. (Chuck Wilson) (Galaxy Cinemas, Anaheim Hills)