Saturday Trivia

Nefertiti goes to Hollywood
http://www.algomhuria.net.eg/gazette/1/ (URL will expire shortly)
As usual, the Egyptian Gazette don't archive their online articles so this piece is reproduced in full:
"On several recent occasions, Pharaonic Queen Nefertiti has been at the centre of controversy. The latest exciting news involves the shooting of a US$130 million movie about her.
It will be produced by American John Heyman and shooting is expected to start in Egypt in February.'Nothing is really fixed. When Heyman was here a couple of months ago, he said that shooting would be in early 2008 and he's still raising money for the project. Some parts of the film will be shot in Morocco, and it's not settled yet whether they'll start in Egypt and then go to Morocco or vice versa,' Youssef Sherif Rizqallah, the complex's head of international cooperation and an Egyptian critic, told the Mail.
The US$130 million Nefertiti is based on the controversial bestselling Moses and Akhenaton, written by the Egyptian-born London-based writer Ahmed Osman. 'It is not exactly based upon it. The film takes some of the main points from Osman's story, but the details are different,' explained Rizqallah.Osman's tale is controversial, as historians say that it doesn't relate the real, historical story of Akhenaton and his wife Nefertiti. Last month, a war of words erupted between Egypt and Germany because of the famous 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti.
The Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Zahi Hawass, recently requested the sculpture for a temporary exhibition in Egypt, but German officials refused, saying that the iconic artwork is too fragile to travel. The painted limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti has been in Germany since 1913, a year after it was discovered by a German archaeological team at an ancient sculpture workshop at Tell el-Amarna, about 150 miles (240km) south of Cairo.
Two other films will also be shot in Egypt's Media Production City (EMPC): one tells the story of Cleopatra and the other is a thriller. In November, EMPC will produce Young Cleopatra with a budget of US$5 million."The production company, Young Legends, have been scouting shooting sites. They'll arrive in September to prepare for shooting after Ramadan," said Rizqallah, adding that the censors have already given the green light for the movie, while the producer has decided to change a few things to suit the shooting sites.
The third film, The Exodus Scrolls, is a thriller that tells the story of the chase to find a stolen papyrus. The production company is still waiting for a date to start shooting.'The Exodus Scrolls will be shot all over Egypt, not only at EMPC. The producers are now raising money for the film. They've chosen all the sites for shooting and are now talking with a few Egyptian actors,' explained Rizqallah.EMPC is about 18 miles from downtown, Cairo and six miles from the Giza Pyramids. It's a 2 million square metres complex, while a further 1 million square metres have been set aside to create a free zone to meet the needs of potential investors. The movie industry kicked off in Cairo a century ago. Egypt has a long-established film heritage and a spectacular range of locations for shooting movies. "

Book Review (fiction): The Eye of the Moon
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2098475,00.html
The Eye of the Moon by Dianne Hofmeyr, Simon & Schuster
Review by Adèle Geras
"The details of the landscape, the jewels, the clothes, the food, the writing implements and the weaponry are there before us, but economically described. The intricacies of the religion and the society are explained as the story unfolds. There is something pleasingly spooky about ancient Egypt. We revel in accounts of curses falling on those who opened the old tombs. Mummies are big box-office. And Hofmeyr herself, in a fascinating author's note, tells us how she came to write the book. She explains that she's taken some liberties with timing but that the main historical events are accurate."
See the above page for the rest of the review.

DVD Release/Review: Tutenstein
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/tutensteinvol1.php
"Saturday morning cartoons have been around for decades, and have often shared common characteristics. They move quickly, with a small cast of familiar characters. The animation is produced cheaply. They are designed for children, and few of them really care to be any more than disposable entertainment. There have been some important exceptions, of course—but Tutenstein isn't one of them, I'm afraid.
To be fair, as a product of the Discovery Channel, the producers have tried something slightly different with Tutenstein. It's educational children's programming, the attempt of an educational station to compete with more popular stations. Each episode incorporates some educational tidbits: explaining aspects of ancient Egyptian mythology and history. Unfortunately, the learning gets a bit mixed up with all the other nonsense."

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