Posted on 12/17/2005 6:04:50 PM PST by Merciful_Friend
Mick Hartley makes fun of some comments by The Times' art critic relating to the new KING KONG film. Actually, the comments induce hilarity without his need to do much other than reproduce them. Read his post here.
The drift of that critic's remarks couldn't help but put me in mind of my own pet theory about KING KONG.
Firstly, I would never consider going to see this remake. Why would I deliberately go and spend money to see a film that I know is going to leave me emotionally devastated and weeping inconsolably? I can stand to see any number of human beings get killed or tortured on-screen—but great, big, lovable and misunderstood Kong? My memories of seeing the original and even the 1970s remake are bad enough. I've been getting teary-eyed just seeing the commercials for the new one on TV. It's unbearable. We all know how it ends. It must surely be one of the very few "blockbusters" of history with an irredeemably heartbreaking finish. I mean, just no relief at all.
Anyhow, people have been speculating recently in some quarters about the film's "racist" undertones. On that, I have nothing to say. My theory, instead, is that the secret design of KING KONG is to turn impressionable children into communists; or at least into fervent America-hating dupes.
Think about it: the great, big, lovable and misunderstood Kong is captured, humiliated, and dragged by force back to the United States of America, just so some people can make money off of him. This is an indictment of American-style capitalism at a visceral level. Next, after he escapes, the American governmental authorities riddle him with bullets and send him plummeting to Fifth Avenue (or 34th St.?); the great, big, lovable and misunderstood Kong is murdered in a shoot-first-ask-questions-never manner by the vicious U.S. military.
Effective? Hey, I was a liberal into my mid-twenties. And if that doesn't convince you, consult the Times' art critic. She's about ready to take up arms against Uncle Sam based on the killing of the computer-generated Kong, and she's an adult.
Which brings me to another reason I wouldn't go see the KING KONG remake. What if it changed me back??
King Kong as politics? I never saw it that way. Strange.
It sounds tongue in cheek. :)
Is this the Hollywierd remake where King Kong goes fudge packing? ..Oops nevermind, wrong movie, that was the cowboy one the fruits just put out.
misc ping
Yeah, but there are absolutely ZERO Tyrannasuri and Brontausori left, but which critter do the Hollyweirdo screen writers have their lead characters choose to bring back to the states?????? Sheeeesh!!!
Saw it. Dumb movie. Too long. Don't waste your money.
The acting has recieved kudos from professional reviewers and fans alike.
This movie was "Barney" with the special effects. Rather than devouring Ann Darrow, Kong befriends her, and you can almost hear him singing "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family......"
I was pleasantly surprised by Jack Black. I thought his range was limited to pissed-off potheads, but he did a great job as the conniving film producer.
But I didn't believe either Adrien Brody or Naomi Watts.
The acting stunk.
The movie stunk.
As bad a case of cinematic overkill as you're ever likely to see.
Peter Jackson thinks that just because his special effects wizards can do it, he must do it....and do it and do it and do it...until you wish the special effects people would die at the end instead of Kong...
Guess you and some others here overlook the concept of "escapism". That's all the original Kong was; a remake of "Beauty and the Beast" in the extreme. Stop overanalyzing and enjoy the ride.
Ain't just me man. The movie's already being called a flop, and it's still Saturday!!
While attending a community college in southern California years ago, a young Eddie Van Halen took a music composition course and performed his 'final exam'....a piece he composed for and on keyboard, not guitar....for the class. The prof. ripped it, ranting about how its structure was 'all wrong'. Eddie responded "yeah, but did it sound good?".....and the class gave him a standing ovation. History has since proven his approach to music very, very right.
I submit it's the same with movies. 'Was the movie enteraining to its audience?' should be the ultimate question.
Not by critics, by the box office. When a movie can't even open higher than "Pokemon" that should tell you something.
And no, I didn't like it. But I'll probably see it again when Hollywood does another version, sometime around 2021.
It was a 3 hour movie that opened in the middle of the week. Families are waiting for the weekend.
The critics mostly love it. Ebert and Medved - politically on opposite sides of the fence - both gave it high marks.
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