Kong!

[xidrep]

I know this ain't the movie thread, but I just have to say how excited I'm getting about Jackson's King Kong! :D
I'm an anorakesque Kongophile for the 1933 film, although not a De Laurentiis hash-remake fan: but from the trailers it looks as if PJ might have just pulled off the impossible: an effective colour version of the original surrealist film noir! A better use of his talents than LOTR!
It was just like the approach to Skull Island on Sunday when I was rowing on the Thames in a dense fog. I wasn't even that surprised when a pteranodon flew off with the cox... :roll:

[DeeCrowSeer]

I'm not entirely sure I've seen a Kong film all the way through, although I know how the story begins and ends. This is certainly a film I would consider going to see, being a fan of Jack Black. I've also been watching Jackson's films since I saw Meet the Feebles at a sci-fi convention... not really the sort of thing that sleep-deprived drunken people should be exposing their brians to, but there we are. Obviously, as adaptations, I felt the LotR movies lacked his unique style of humour and horror... obviously they also made him rich, famous and the idol of millions, so I doubt he'll be weeping over my dissatisfaction, but it would be nice if he made some smaller, funnier films in future. IMHO.

[David Mosley]

...it would be nice if he made some smaller, funnier films in future. IMHO.

PJ's next film is the smaller but not necessarily funnier The Lovely Bones based on the novel by Alice Sebold, in which Susie Salmon looks down from heaven after being raped and murdered on her family, the man who killed her and the detective investigating her death.

[Grey Mouser]

Anyone remember PJ's rather gratuitously amusing Brain Dead? Precursor of Sean of the Dead, perhaps.

Re Kong, there's something enduringly appealing (to the Id perhaps) in the image of a giant gorilla raging against a world it cannot understand, a world which seeks to exploit him, and, when it cannot do that, seeks instead to destroy him. Imho ERB touched on a little of this in his Tarzan too.

[DeeCrowSeer]

PJ's next film is the smaller but not necessarily funnier The Lovely Bones...

Actually, having written that, I have to say I also thought Heavenly Creatures was a fantastic film. Not intended as a comedy either, and more creepy/sad than "horrific", but well worth watching. So if Lovely Bones is on a par with that, then it's most welcome. I don't want to condemn the man to a lifetime of zombie flicks!

Anyone remember PJ's rather gratuitously amusing Brain Dead?

: Yes, I think I saw that at a con as well. For me the most horrific part of that film is still the scene with the rat-monkey, just because of the context... there's this sort of happy-go-lucky couple at the zoo date going on, and then suddenly it all gets very gory. Shudder.

Has anyone seen the recent photos of PJ btw? He's lost a ton of weight (not literally) and had laser surgery to fix his eyes. None of my business of course, it was just such a shock to see him looking so different.

"I kick arse for the Lord!" :)

[spaced_moorcock]

"I kick arse for the Lord!" :)

lmao I loved that scene in the movie.

[David Mosley]

I just saw a trailer on TV for King Kong. Unlike with LOTR where PJ held back on showing off his biggest surprises (ie the Balrog, Gollum, Shelob, etc) this pretty much showed all the bits you'd expect to see, like Kong fights a dinosaur, King on the Empire State with planes buzzing around him.

Afterwards I'm like 'So, not much point going to see that then'.

(To be honest, I wasn't much intent on seeing Kong anyway. The original KK never did much for me (although I have it on VHS somewhere) and I'm not sure I understand the point of (another) remake. Part of me suspects that it will turn out to be the biggest 'vanity project' since Battlefield Earth. I'll probably wait for it to turn up on TV one Christmas.)

[DeeCrowSeer]

I just saw a trailer on TV for King Kong. Unlike with LOTR where PJ held back on showing off his biggest surprises (ie the Balrog, Gollum, Shelob, etc) this pretty much showed all the bits you'd expect to see, like Kong fights a dinosaur, King on the Empire State with planes buzzing around him.

When I read this post I thought "Oh come on, it can't be that bad!" Then I saw the trailer last night, and you are so right.

And y'know what I saw in the shops today? A two-disc DVD set of Peter Jackson's on-set diary! Who would even... I mean... I just can't... 8O

[David Mosley]

To be fair, I've since see the 'long' trailer on the official web site, and although I still think it gives too much away (and some of the CGI looks a little obvious sadly) it is better than the TV trailer I referred to earlier. There's some good stuff in it, like when Kong leaps into the air atop the ESB to take a swipe at a biplane, but therein lie the trouble. It looks great but it also looks too easy.

What makes me prefer the original stand is the sheer effort that went into the stop-motion animation for King. It's the same with Ray Harryhausen movies, modern SFX may look slicker and 'better' but you know they were created inside a computer, whereas Harryhausen (and other animators like him) would spend 5 months creating a 5-min scene. That's way a film like Wallace and Grommit (although I understand it has some CGI in it) is more interesting for me to watch than Kong because of all the effort that went into making it.

Oh, and the PJ 'on-set' diary DVD? Now they want you to buy the 'extras' *before* you see the film? :?

[DeeCrowSeer]

Oh, and the PJ 'on-set' diary DVD? Now they want you to buy the 'extras' *before* you see the film? :?

I know! And for a tenner at that!

Personally I dodge spoilers like mental bullets, so the idea of making a three hour (yes) "making of" before the film strikes me as fresh madness. I'll admit I watched the making of Peter Pan (PJ Hogan, not Disney) beforehand, to find out how to pronounce Mme Sagnier's name... but different people pronounced it different ways, so that left me none the wiser. :(

I suppose with Kong and Pan you at least have well known plots, so the risk of spoilers is diminished... but if you want to attract a young audience, you shouldn't assume that everyone knows how the plot goes. Imho.

Godzilla may have been a terrible, terrible movie, but their "teaser" campaign was very smart.

[Maxim]

What have those dinos to do with King Kong?

[Azariel]

What have those dinos to do with King Kong?

The isle King Kong is in is something like "Land That Time forgot" where dinosaurs and fierce animals still roam the land.

[David Mosley]

What have those dinos to do with King Kong?

The isle King Kong is in is something like "Land That Time forgot" where dinosaurs and fierce animals still roam the land.

Actually, Steven Spielberg kidnapped Peter Jackson mid-way through filming and announced he was now making Jurassic Park IV: When Apes Go Wild. Jackson was kept in a locked cellar for six months with only a half-cooked leg of lamb and a tame rat named Elsie to keep him company. This is the true reason for his recent weight loss:

[lemec]

I could believe that. :lol:

[spaced_moorcock]

My word! Is that really Peter Jackson? I can see the Spielberg Basement Diet becomming all the rage in Hollywood over the next few months. :)