In the words of my mother, "You're going to listen to an hour and a half of that woman screaming?" Yes mother, and we're going to like it too.
We all know the story of King Kong. Director meets woman. Woman meets giant gorilla. Giant gorilla meets 7 well armed WWI fighter pilots with scarves and dies.
Given the fact that this movie is 77 ears old, it can't help but feel old. That's not to say that it is not well done; it actually looks pretty good. The live action stuff flows together pretty well with the animation displayed on a screen behind them in the studio. Movie magic!
My favorite was when Kong would throw something into the foreground. The object would fly off screen. Then an object of about the same size and shape would reappear at about the same arching angle and take out a villager. That's entertainment.
The whole time, I couldn't help but think of Robot Chicken. The animation style looks exactly the same. I kept expecting the gorilla to turn to the camera with a moving putty-made mouth and try to sell me some Admiral Ackbar Cereal.
Regardless, I didn't look at the clock nearly as much as I did in Peter Jackson's "version." I guess that's a good sign. When it was all said and done, we were all glad it was over.
In a fight of King Kong vs. King Kong, Peter Jackson loses.
A lot of people love this movie: Producers, Directors, Movie Buffs. With news of influences into "Rodger Rabbit" and "O Brother Where Art Thou?," we quickly picked up this AFI loved classic.
Sullivan's Travels is a movie about a comedic movie maker, Sullivan, and his quest to make his first drama. He deems that he has not "suffered enough" to make his deeply tragic film about poverty, "O Brother Where Art Thou," and sets out to live the life of a tramp, hopping on trains and depending on the kindness of strangers. How "method" of him.
Sullivan searches for hardship and seemingly fails until his failure ultimately leads him into actual hardship. In the end, he discovers the benefit of his whimsical comedies all along by watching a Disney movie in a small town church with the less than fortunate.
There are some good thoughts about escapism and the value of laughter here, but my real question: Did people really laugh that hard at slapstick Disney movies? I mean these people are gasping for air and falling on each other like they are in a Mathew McConaughey movie poster.
Overall, my main thoughts and the thoughts of the group were, "meh." I'd much rather watch a whimsical comedy. Though, in light of the message of this movie, I'm not sure what that says about my economic situation.
Thus opens our new theme, Movies about Making Movies.
GSMW watched The Emerors New Groove this past weekend and it was a good laugh. The animation was traditional for an animated film and plenty of slapstick humor for kids.
You are never too old for cartoons and this very one I just saw for the first time. I recommend this for families, children, or adults at the Beach winding down for the night. Its witty and light humor are a plus that compliment your typical snowballing cartoon catastrophes. It reminds me of Shrek both in the humor and the people turning into animals/ogres and everything. Even though Shrek came in 2001 and this came out in '99. Talk about prophetic.
Like all good cartoons you can't get away without a message for us all to learn from ... unless your Madagascar!!! In these modern times many people think the world is about them, myself included at times. This has a great depiction of a young man rife with selfishness. And it is through the oddest of trials that he is brought to the light of a life lived with the consideration of others. This movie is a watch.
This past Sunday we brought the theme of Science Fiction to a close. Minority Report, Contact and Terminator 2 were out choices. Within these three movies, there are multiple common sub-genres and themes of scifi that were covered. This included but was not limited to:
In Minority Report we saw a great deal of futuristic technology. Eye scanners, self driving cars, and that cool interactive hologram screen. Which is real by the way.
More important to the plot we took a close look at the Ethical implications of arresting and judging people for crimes that they are supposed to commit in the future.
Contact was our alien movie. The bigger theme of the film is the exploration of the social issues that would arise from actual contact with extraterrestrials. *Spoiler Alert. On a side note, the first machine deserved to get blown up. NASA must have the crappiest security if bleach blond preacher guy can get onto the base, into a suit, out on the launchpad, up the structure, wander about for a couple minutes, get coffee, talk about the weather, go the bathroom, pretend to work to avoid getting actual work, smile like a creeper, and then stand around looking evil for five minutes before someone notices he's not supposed to be there.
Moving on, Terminator 2 had a our biggest collection of sub-themes. Time Travel, Dystopian Future, Robots and as a bonus, the very same ethical dilemma of judging someone for "crimes" they haven't yet committed. That particular theme is an undertone of the turning point in the story. Where they go from defense to offense.
I feel pretty good about the movies choices for this theme. The movies were old enough that they weren't fresh in our minds. Except Val with Contact, apparently she watches it all the time. If you are looking for other good Science Fiction movies here are a couple recommendations:
Primer (2004)
A great indie film about time travel. The story telling is wonderful and the tech isn't over top, it's actually pretty 'realistic.' For as realistic as time travel can be.
Alien (1979)
A dark, gritty space movie about average people, but they live in space. I think space was the biggest, most common scifi theme we didn't cover. In Canada the scifi channel is named Space. Space is the final frontier. It's also big, i mean really big. I mean massively, mind-bogglingly big. And so on, you get the idea. Anyways, the suspense is fantastic, and if you like scifi you need to see this movie. It's relatively violent though, so screen it for the kiddies.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
If you are looking for something a little lighter then you should consult the Guide. Based on a series novels, the first of which starts with the same name, this movie provides a light-hearted romp through the galaxy in a search for the ultimate question to life, universe, and everything. It is important to note that the Guide series is British. Which will explain a lot. Also, it's awesome.
I'm a big fan of Science Fiction, and I know Stevox enjoys it as well. So if you have any suggestions for scifi movies we should watch, not necessarily at movie club, that aren't your normal 2001 a Space Odyssey or Blade Runner, let us know.
Next Sunday we actually won't be having movie club. And I know, I'm disappointed too. But get over it, because you don't own us. Also, we are going to the beach. So there's that.
The whole time, I couldn't help but think of Robot Chicken. The animation style looks exactly the same. I kept expecting the gorilla to turn to the camera with a moving putty-made mouth and try to sell me some Admiral Ackbar Cereal.
and this very one I just saw for the first time. I recommend this for families, children, or adults at the Beach winding down for the night. Its witty and light humor are a plus that compliment your typical snowballing cartoon catastrophes. It reminds me of Shrek both in the humor and the people turning into animals/ogres and everything. Even though Shrek came in 2001 and this came out in '99. Talk about prophetic.
