Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre

"Temple of Film" is an incredibly frustrating short film to watch. Grauman's Egyptian Theatre is one of the most beautiful theaters in the world and it's recently been restored to its original glory. I have been to this restored movie palace and it is worth the travel to see it. In fact, in many ways I like it more than Grauman's Chinese which is just up the street...and it, too, is gorgeous. Why in particular do I love the Egyptian? Well, the Egyptian revival theme is the answer--with the place looking as if it was created by King Tut's architects! It is simply breathtaking to see and experience watching a movie there. I fortunately have seen several...including a Harold Lloyd silent with a full orchestra! Talk about amazing!!

Here is the problem. The short is only 11 minutes long...and you see almost NOTHING of this glorious theater. Instead, you see Hollywood big-wigs like Guillermo del Toro and Rian Johnson waxing poetic about movies...but not so much about the Egyptian.

It's NOT really a film about the theater but about why famous filmmakers like films...oh, and they also just happen to like the theater as well. A huge disappointment and a film that felt like bait and switch! You see only a few clips of the place before its restoration and almost nothing about it now! One new clip lasted about 1-2 seconds...and that's it!! Talk about a waste of time.

This short has almost nothing to do with the Egyptian theater. It's mostly Guillermo del Toro prattling on about watching movies. There are a few other people in it that talk about, not the Egyptian theater, but watching movies. Clip after clip of vintage films, in a pastiche that is disorienting and pointless. Every now, and then, three or four seconds of the exterior, or the interior of the theater. Nothing about what it used to look like, in its heyday, or how it has been altered to the mere shell of its former self it is today. What was the point of this? I have absolutely no idea. It's a waste of 11 minutes.