King Kong

what a great story! ahhaha

I used to do that kind of **** too when i was small...I used to stand up and look back at the people in the theater and wave to them. then scream out...HIII!!!!

then my mom slapped me maddd hard on the back of my head and i shut up afterwards. Some occasions she wouldnt even get me popcorn or juice if i didnt act ''correct'' in the theater....why are moms so cruel???!!
 
you got popcorn and drinks when you went to the theater?? I dont know what thats like. I think we should get hit more when we are little :)
 
I got hit twice..and that was it for me.

That hurt like hell!!

iduno man...either you enjoy pain or jus feelin a little out of the ordinary tonite. lol
 
Wow, 8 replys and nobody threatning to slit my throat for giving PJ just an ok on the movie...... I thought for sure I would catch it for not dropping to my knees and praising the almighty.
Anyway - I wrote that post as soon as I got home and now I've had a few hours to calm down. The movie really is good, just not spectacular like all the hype has lead up to it.

Regarding movie experiences... my worst was at The Sixth Sense. About 10 minutes from the end some stupid bi^&h sitting in front of me leans over to her friend and says "I bet Bruce Willis is already dead.."!!!!!!!
That's the first and probably only time I've ever actually wanted to hit a woman. Oh well....
I swore after that I would never go see another movie at the theatre again. I've since seen only 3 counting today's adventure and I doubt I'll see 3 more over the next 6 years.
 
I was a bit worried that there would be a large doofus quotient in the theatre for this flick but...

It was fantastic. I went to the first showing. The biggest screen in the place, there was 8 people there max, sitting way back from me and my mate. The popcorn was fresh, soda ice cold, and the washroom was just outside the theatre door (i needed it at 3 hours). I was expecting to have some yabo's come in 3 minutes after the movie started, and sit right behind me, messing it up in myriad ways (it has happened a lot) but this was an exception.

All that being said. I liked the movie a lot. I thought it was good, not great. There were several sequences i thought could have been shortened or cut out.







*****Spoilers*****

The Good

Naomi Watts was luminous. She was amazing in allowing this movie to become more emotional than just set pieces.

A lot of Kong's CGI was spot on. Especially the CU of his expressions. Also, some of the LS' were like great paintings -evocative and poetic.

The story is a classic, and was given justice by Pete. And the theme song as Ann's music with Kong (the choir at the end) was fantastic and emotional.

The BAD

The Brontosaurus sequence was bad and unnecessary. It was so cartoonish it took me out of the swing of the movie. Also, the T-Rex scene got ludicrous with Naomi in the vines, piling danger upon danger, actually diluted the threat for me. I wish Pete had of kept it simpler, with less convoluted mechanics involved.

Jack Black was alright, but was a little out of his depth, compared to the other actors.

Adrian Brody was underutilized. They didn't have enough connection with Ann to make their story more powerful.

A lot of the music was generic, and was like stock action/danger music.

The Ugly

There were two or three LS with the characters that looked like the Previs that PJ used (see Prod.Diaries). I was surprised at how unfinished they were. In fact, video game footage looked better than those three shots.

So, overall I liked the movie a lot. With tougher editing, and excising of whole scenes, and maybe some more depth to the Ann + Jack story, this film could have been amazing. It was a heck of a lot of fun though, and if I had kids, I would be first in line to see it. I can only imagine seeing the story as a kid. :beer:

Cheers. :)
 
I'm with Cmess

I have become a huge fan of PJ. I knew he had the skills; from Frighteners to the LOTR and Heavenly Creatures; that magical film that sits in the middle of The Frighteners and Dead-Alive as a sort of Quantum Leap in his filmmaking abilites.

I consider my self able to reproduce something akin to DEAD-ALIVE at this stage of my film journey; given the budget and proper crew support I think a film I did would look like that as far as coverage, compositions and framing

I feel I am a few steps away from Heavenly Creeatures Level and once one reaches The Frighteners level it's apparent you have arrived artisically

Sorry; minor segway.

I love King Kong and PJ has created a masterpiece for sure; an adventure for the ages. But i did not find it perfect (As we all quest for the perfect film). In fact, the last film I would call perfect in my eyes would be something along the lines of Schindlers List, The Shawshank Redemption, The Silence of the Lambs, Glory, Jaws, Platoon.... Well hopefully you get the idea (None serious adventuires I might add).

But this is must see t.v. This is mandatory, rush out and tell everyone about it goodness. It is glorious. The casting left me wondering even after the fact; Adrien Brody is a fine talent and Jack Black has come along but I found them mis-cast and longing for someone else. Where is the new generations Harrison Ford? Naomi is perfect and gives an Oscar caliber performance (in terms of showing sheer terror and emotion)

I found the action sequences phenomenal but also overdone and in-plausible. This will stick with me for some time.

I truly enjoyed the time on the boat (memories). But I found the one missing ingredient that I personally needed about the island; romanticism. No, not the romaticism between Kong and Watts but the swashbuckling, island-adventure vibe. I know it is called Skull Island and full of despair and terror but I never get this sense as I did say in PIRATES of the CARRIBEAN.

These are minor squabbles as I am postive this film is going to break records and remain one of the true classic adventures of all time. It sets benchmarks in VSF even if making some pretty large boasts in what we may find acceptible realism.

The shots of old New York are masterpieces of cinema and the dinosuars and island world are amazing virtual worlds. George Lucas should have taken a cue (sic clue) that VSF should be used to enhance adn not be the end of all.

The shots of the boat and the horizon of the New York Harbor is seamless and truly amazing. The bug-pit is one of the more creepily surreal scenes I have ever witnessed and played without the score for a time.

I give this 4 out 5 Hudson Stars. I loved it even though I still found it's shortcomings.
 
And what about Hudson JR? :)

I can only try to imagine how much more awesome it would have been if I was 6 or 10 when I watched it today; bet those little things like stampede wouldn't bug me at all.
 
I found the movie really really heartbreaking to watch...

*spoilers










Kong on the ice with Ann was ripping me in two.. cause you know what is coming but it is such a sweet scene.... I didn't break on it though.... but I was welling up for sure on this... (I rarely cry, so when I almost do, that movie was damn f-ing good, in my eyes).


stunning film. Love the running time, wouldn't have it any other way.
 
the brontosaurus stampede will be fixed in the super special edited fun with Peter Jackson DVD.

i don't know why everybody bitches about movie-going so much. With a little preparation and research, you can control your experience. Unless you live in a small town (if you do, sorry), there are a bunch of different choices where you can see your movie. Everybody knows that the theatre on the wrong side of the tracks usually has rowdy and disrespectful people. So don't go there. Go to the more upscale theatre on the north side of town with an older more respectful audience. If it's a film that might attract kids, don't go at 7, go at 10. If you hate big audiences, go on Sunday night. If you love'em, go friday prime time.

What's the big deal? I don't like morons as much as the next person but I can't say I've had a bad movie-going experience in my last 30 trips to the movies.
 
Loki said:
I found the movie really really heartbreaking to watch...

*spoilers

Kong on the ice with Ann was ripping me in two.. cause you know what is coming but it is such a sweet scene.... I didn't break on it though.... but I was welling up for sure on this... (I rarely cry, so when I almost do, that movie was damn f-ing good, in my eyes).


stunning film. Love the running time, wouldn't have it any other way.
Click to expand...

I agree Loki. The ice scene was beautifully shot. I am still amazed at the most lifelike CG animal to date.

I heard going into it that 'things were slow waiting for KONG' but I didnt notice the runtime at all.

In fact, I found a bit jarring to jump from island staright to PREMIERE MARQUEE SIGN. I wanted a quiet moment onboard the boat or like inthe original a moment in the apartment.

Nevertheless; fun stuff! :)
 
i just saw it and i LOVED IT!!

for me, the longer the better. it feels like my money goes further, and i get more engoyment than just 2 hours. i liked the "suspense" waiting for kong, i thought it was cool how it really led up to it and set everything up.

*spoilers*


i too loved the bug pit scene. the whole time i was like "ahh, noo, ewww." and when sirkis gets his head eaten... *shivers*... that was just groedy. but awesome.

it was frickin sweet how he owned those t-rex's. the way he just smashes em! that was a really cool fight scene, and ALL CG! the animation in this thing was spectacular. yea, there were a few little things that stuck out, but everything else was really good.

they way PJ put this thing together was amazing. even though i knew where it was going, it was still sad. the sunset scenes and the ice scene were just, emotional.

ok, now for the not so spectacular: the whole time they were trying to capture kong, in the back of my mind i was thinking, "how the f**k are they getting him onto the ship???" but theres really nothing they could do there...

and Jack Black... i'm also a huge JB fan, and i thought he did fine here, but i'm just so used to funny jack. and him acting serious in a comical way, that it was hard to take him seriously serious. and yea, he has like 3 expressions...

so overall, a wonderful example of what cinema can be.
 
oh yea, the audience...

ironically, this is one of the best movies ive gone too, but it had the worst audience ive ever been in. it was just the friggin kids! like 3 seats away theres this little toddler learning how to make sounds, and then 3 kids below me that couldnt sit still. and several times a crying baby had to be taken out. and it was ALWAYS at the sad emotional scenes. it was really distracting and pissed me off. i'm not about to stop going to the movies, tho. i love that huge screen, man.
 
Loved it... just thought as did others that it fell short in SOME of the green screen stuff. Just didn't match.

Amazing Kong.

Flat out.

I thought the run time and pacing was great. I love how PJ has the balls to hang on a moment when the movie SHOULD be pushing hard to the end. The scene in the theater where the writer decides to go rescue the lady... the ice scene was... IS a classic scene for me. .. I LOVED that scene.

I will NOT take my boys to see it. The pit scene went way too long and was VERY disturbing.

Jack Black was ok, he fit the 1930s cliche but none of the other actors did and so it seemed out of place.

Great story telling
Music was fine... not awesome but fine.
ALL the effects were well done... the cities and the island were amazing. Yes, some of the GS shots thru the ... well, you know where they were... were bad... VERY bad.

Finally -- I saw every production diary... every trailer... I knew that Kong would battle the T-rex... BUT OH MY GOD!!!! I had NO idea that it would be like that.

Strong A- film.

Not much of a review... but hey.

CaptM
 
I have uploaded some stills from a video I shot at the King Kong Wellington (New Zealand) Premiere. They can be viewed here: http://chrishurn.com/kong

I saw King Kong this morning, and I have to say, I thought it was an exceptional film. Sure - there were a few effects here and there that seemed rushed etc. but as a whole, this was great.

Cinematography, camerawork was superb. I really like what Andrew Lesnie, Peter Jackson and the team have done here. Excellent stuff.The visual effects were fantastic. Peter jackson throws some great stuff in - I don't want to give spoilers but you will recognize some similar shots and ideas from Lord of the Rings. WETA and everyone have done an amazing job on the stunning effects and animation in this movie.

I found the acting overall to be great, and was pleased with all the performances. All the actors really got into their roles really well and made the whole film great. The thing I liked especially was that despite the fact Kong and many other things in the film are digital, you don't feel that they are. It's not easy acting to something that's not there, and Andy serkis has played a number of very important roles in this film, including his work with performance capture.

I wasn't suprised when I heard that Howard Shore was going to be replaced with James Newton Howard. (N) Howard has written a very suitable and good score, considering the amount of time he had. The themes arn't particulary great, but they are good and the music certainly adds another level to the film.

It is very clear to me that all departments have worked incredibly hard to get this film onto the screen. Fantastic story, great visuals, great sound & fitting music. Highly recommended. I loved every frame of it.

-Chris
 
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