King Kong

Year: 2005
Directed By: Peter Jackson
Written By: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson. Original Story: Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace

RYAN’S REVIEW

This was Peter Jackson’s next venture after creating the incredible and historic Lord of the Rings trilogy. No matter what he had decided to do there were going to be very big expectations.  I don’t know that anything he could have possibly done could have measured up those expectations but this movie came pretty damn close.  It is another epic film that runs a lot longer than anyone likes but it’s what Jackson thrives at.  This movie does offer some of the most exciting action sequences you will ever see and the visual effects are spectacular. It took on the responsibility of rebuilding a Hollywood legend and it carries that legend to another level.

When Peter Jackson finished with his epic goldmine trilogy he could have done anything he wanted to.  He could have chosen any project on the table but to his credit, he chose to take on a challenge.  King Kong goes back to very early in the film industry being made in 1933.  It had a legacy that was going to have lots of needs and expectations to fulfill when the remake was attempted. I think Jackson lived up to those expectations and even exceeded what some of us could have imagined. He had built his name making some of the biggest epic movies of all time and chose to follow up with the first epic ever made.  There could not have been a better choice to helm the project of bringing back that epic that still stood significant after more than 70 years.

I think this was an incredible movie but I have never felt it was as good as it could have been.  I have always thought the greatest flaw of the movie was in its cast.  With a picture like this, that is going to have all the hype in the world behind it, I just really thought they should have went big with the actors they chose.  The thing is, I like most of the actors in this movie but still, they could have gotten bigger people to play the part.  I really like Jack Black. I think he is an incredibly talented entertainer but when this movie was made I didn’t think he was a great choice.  I think he played the part well, but I really don’t think he was at the right place in his career to carry a movie this large on his shoulders.  Despite this opinion, I do think he was great in the movie and I think he acted his ass off.  The same goes for Adrien Brody. I like Brody despite some of his creepier movie roles over the years, but I don’t think he was a great choice to play the hero in the movie.  He has proven me wrong as a hero before, specifically in Predators but I just don’t see him as a serious choice for that role.  I think he is a talented actor and I don’t think he was bad in this movie but I have just never felt he was right for the part.

Naomi Watts was cast as the starlet of the film, the beautiful damsel in distress that captures the heart of the monster.  I think she did an incredible job playing the part and could not say a criticizing word about her performance.  I thought she showed a lot of talent and had to do so most of the time against a green screen which makes the performance even more impressive.  Yet I still have the same feeling about Watts as I do about Jack Black and Adrien Brody.  She did a great job but I think this movie would have been more successful had a more popular actress been cast in the part.  I don’t know why I feel this way because I honestly do think she played the part to a T and did a great job.

I think the greatest role in this movie was actually the one performed by Andy Serkis.  I don’t mean the part of the cook which he also played but that of King Kong.  Just as he did for Peter Jackson in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as the creature Gollum; Serkis again donned the motion capture suit and performed the actions of the legendary ape. It is a talent he probably won’t be able to get enough out of because these types of roles are rare but Serkis really has a specifically awesome gift.  King Kong in this movie is incredible and a lot of that has to do with the work put in by Andy Serkis.  He went the extra mile studying apes and their behavior to prepare for the part and it paid off handsomely.

This movie also sported a very good supporting cast aside from the other actors I have mentioned.  When this movie came out I had really high hopes for Colin Hanks.  The son of the legendary actor seemed destine for great things but that just hadn’t happened yet.  I had hoped that this movie would put him on that path but I was wrong.  Colin Hanks has only gotten older over the years and never really stepped out of his father’s shadow to make anything significant of himself.  I liked seeing him in Mad Men a few years back but by then his part in the show only reminded me of the high hopes I had for him years before. Jamie Bell has a role in this movie that I didn’t think was that great but want to mention it simply because it came off the heels of his performance in The Chumscrubber, which I really liked.  I am not a fan of Kyle Chandler but he has continued to do great things despite what I think.  I think he fit his part really well in this movie though and it seemed to do more for his career than anyone else’s part did.

I have always been under the impression this movie failed to live up to expectations but like I said I think the expectations were insurmountable.  I may be critical of the cast myself but I don’t know that I could really be critical of the movie itself.  I think the cast could have been better but they all did an incredible job in their roles.  I think this movie offers some of the most incredible action sequences ever filmed.  The attack of the savages, the stampede in the gorge, and Kong vs. the T-Rexes just to name a few were mind blowing and seem to get better with every viewing. What’s so awesome is that even after those mind blowing scenes are over there is still so much of the movie left, so much more action to look forward to.  This movie runs way too long really, but it doesn’t stop with the intensity or the action.

This is an awesome movie and I think it packs a pay-off that makes it worth anybody’s time to see it.  That says a lot given the movie runs for over three hours but I don’t think you will be disappointed investing that much time in the film.  It is an epic movie and made by the master of epics.  Peter Jackson really knows how to make these kinds of films and he did an excellent job with this one.

AMBER’S REVIEW

This movie is a lot of fun. It’s an adventure throughout and I usually like watching it any time I find it on television. I think the new version is a nice adaptation and has really nice visual effects.

This poster is a little boring. I think there were a ton of ways to make this more iconic and visually appealing graphically. There were tons of directions you could go and people would have automatically known what the movie was going to be. King Kong is already so iconic. The designers could have had a lot of fun with this but they lost the chance to do that. There are weird Photoshop glows everywhere too. I think it’s just sloppy. Too bad.

NEXT MOVIE: Kingpin (1996)

The Chumscrubber

Year: 2005
Directed By: Arie Posin
Written By: Arie Posin

RYAN’S REVIEW

If you are asking yourself “what the hell is The Chumscrubber?” then I will join you.  I find myself wondering that exact same thing sometimes when I grab a neighboring movie off the rack.  This movie has survived on our shelf for years since it came out on DVD and I’m remembering why all over again now that we are watching it. This movie was recommended to us by a friend in college and we were both caught off guard when we really liked it. I can sometimes be too snobbish when it comes to movies and I rarely give these kind of B movies the time of day.  There are things I don’t like about this movie but enough things that I can relate to and appreciate that I felt compelled to own it after seeing it.

I have never been a fan of abusing prescription pills.  They will eat away at your brain and steal your soul.  Most of my experiences with them in the past have been bad and I have personally watched people get lost in the haze created by that crap.  I wish this movie had been about a different drug because I can understand and relate to the escape drugs offer during the vulnerable teenage years, but I think pills are too dangerous.  What I’m saying is if the movie had been about a simple recreational party drug I would feel more comfortable.  Prescription pills, the ones in this movie anyway, are the kind of drug that affect your emotions and change who you are. They aren’t to be toyed with or taken for granted because you can’t control them.  You might think you can but before you know it they are controlling you and you don’t even realize it.

I like the message this movie sends about the dangers of irresponsible parenting though.  This Alpha Dog-like scenario is only possible because of the inattention of the parents. The kids even continually tell their parents that they have kidnapped this kid but they don’t take them seriously and the situation progresses.  This movie highlights a serious problem in our society today because far too many parents fail to understand or pay any attention to their children.  I have mentioned before that I like to learn whatever I can from anything that I can and this movie teaches me valuable lessons about parenting.  If you fail to pay attention to your kids there are dangerous consequences, but it takes more than just attention.  You have to make a concentrated effort to understand them and support them.  These are challenges I face in the future with two girls, and I’m glad I have movies like this to remind me how important it is that I do things right.  As difficult as it might be, as parents we have to remember to put our children first.  It’s easy to get absorbed in out own problems, we are all human, but when that happens it is our children who suffer. Our children are growing, they are developing their personalities and establishing identities of their own. If we as parents ignore who they are becoming then we are equally as responsible when they turn out to have made the completely wrong choices and turned into monsters.  We can’t trust them to make the right choices because they don’t know things as we do.  Some children are better than others in making their own decisions, but when it comes to that it’s all about knowing your child again.  Understanding them well enough to know what they can and can’t handle can allow us to use the appropriate discretion when raising them, and those decisions have to be handled carefully in a well thought out manner. Parenting is no joke, it’s hard as hell and you can’t afford to screw it up because the consequences are too great.  Let’s take a lesson from The Chumscrubber, when we fail to do our part and start ignoring them, our children start getting high on pills, committing suicide, or kidnapping and stabbing each other.

I usually write an entire paragraph all about the cast of every movie but I’m really not in the mood to do that right now.  This movie has a big ensemble cast that is worth mention but I don’t want to go into all of them, there are bigger names and smaller names but they all do their job well.  I must mention Glenn Close not only because she is awesome but because I am a big fan of her work both on The Shield and Damages. I have never heard of Arie Posin and he seems to be a one hit wonder but he made a great movie too many people didn’t see.  I have always felt that movies were better and more personal when the director also wrote the script.  This is a good example of what I have in mind when I say that.

Now that we near the end of this movie that we haven’t watched in so long I am not only reminded of why we bought it but I am proud to own it.  It has truly been too long since I have seen this movie and I will have to make it a point not to wait so long before seeing it again. This is a great movie that gives the viewer a lot to think about. I think you should definitely check this movie out because it is worth your time.

AMBER’S REVIEW

I agree with everything Ryan said above. This film really is a hit at suburban American parents. They aren’t paying attention to what their children are doing, they are just too consumed with their own lives.

This movie revolves around the selling of drugs to high school kids. Most of the kids are taking prescription drugs.The ironic thing is, while the kids are the ones abusing the drugs, the adults in the film are probably the ones that should actually be taking the medications. They are all fucked up in their own way. I want to learn from this movie. I do not want to fall through the cracks and be absent-minded when it comes to my daughters, like the parents in this film.

I know Ryan mentioned Glenn Close being in this film, so I thought I would go on and mention some of the other cast-members. Jamie Bell is the main character, the one the story really revolves around. You may have seen him in King Kong (the newer one, obviously) and Billy Elliot. Camilla Belle plays the cute, popular high school girl. You may have seen her in 10,000 BC or When A Stranger Calls. William Fichtner is also in this film and plays the psychiatrist parent of Jamie Bell. He is a very well-known guy and has been in films like The Dark Knight, Armageddon, and Crash. The last one I will mention is John Heard, who plays Officer Bratley. If you don’t know, he was the dad in Home Alone. Need I say more?

This film is well worth your time, and isn’t known by that many people. If you do watch it, feel free to chime in down in the comments and let us know what you think about it.

NEXT MOVIE: Cinderella Man (2005)