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djcareless
Reviews
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Like 40 year-old fruit cake, this has not aged well.
While many people have fond memories of this CBS special, I'm not so sure this holds up well some 40 years later. Poor voice acting, even worse animation (could they have spent a few more dollars here, network execs?) and a mean-spirited plot detract from the overall message. In the year 2007, who is the target audience? It cannot be children, as they would be easily bored and confused; only hardcore Peanuts fans need apply. The only saving grace for me is the great soundtrack. Now don't get me wrong; I'm all about reliving childhood cartoons, especially when it is with your own children. But like a 40 year-old fruit cake, this one just isn't as good as you may have remembered.
King Kong (2005)
A Mind-numbing mess.
Peter Jackson is a lucky man. After a career consisting mainly of low-budget horror films, he hits the cinema jackpot writing and directing the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Sure, these movies were long as hell, but the source material is so good, you almost don't mind it. With 'King Kong' we have a simple monster movie that, like the fabled great ape, goes way, way out of control.
I think Jackson had the best of intentions when he started this movie. Everyone is familiar with the story by now, so I won't bother with a long, boring synopsis. The first 40 minutes or so I did enjoy; the 1930's setting was a bold choice. As soon as they hit Skull Island, like the crew of that ship, I knew we were headed for trouble.
(brief spoilers ahead)
Part of every good work of fiction if the suspension of disbelief. I can take a stretch of the imagination; hell, thats why we go to the movies. Here. whole scenes are thrown together that not only seem impossible, but are insulting to the audience. For example, when the ship is blindly speeding toward Skull Island, at the first sight of rocks and such, why not just drop anchor instead of plowing through? How many people are actually on board this ship? It seems the crew ranges from about 12 to over 20! I marveled at the huge collection of firearms that Captain Englehorn had in his collection. When the crew first meet the island natives, where did they all come from, and where exactly did they disappear to? Machine-gunning bugs off of your crew mates body, running from 30-foot dinosaurs, the baffling way Kong's capture and arrival in New York was written out.. The list goes on and on.
CGI. I hate to pan a movie for special effects, because I do understand the effort involved. 'Kong' runs the gamut from amazing to embarrassing. It feels like some scenes are just grand CGI/miniature experiments, slipped into the movie for no apparent reason. Since 'Jurassic Park' we've seen it , but here certain things felt wrong. Animators have a long, long way to go, such as when a CGI creature actually grabs a live actor and carries him/her. It looked bad in 'LOTR' and it looks worse here.
I never bought into the relationship between Kong and Ann. Why would Ann fall for this angry, menacing creature so readily? This is the part that every major critic seemed to be in love with, and I think it is what disappointed me the most. The original 'Kong' had Ann Darrow as the helpless victim, rightly scared out of her wits, with some pity coming with Kong's destruction. Again, another failure on the filmmakers part by not developing the relationship between Kong and Ann more. Jackson and company have a good twist here, but instead they insist on walloping us over the head with one action scene after another. I think the original 'Kong' was great because it knew it was a monster movie, with just the right pacing and mix of action (as well as a reasonable run time).
I must admit, I did enjoy the Kong vs. the three dinosaur fight, and the Empire State building fight was exciting. The cast was also very good, with Jack Black and Adrien Brody being unusual but effective choices. Naomi Watts is always great, but her relationship with Brody was hinted at, but never fleshed out.
Pearl Harbor, Independence Day, King Kong. For me, these are of the same nature; big dumb action movies that, if you can ignore the numbness in your brain, you can enjoy (especially on the big screen). The critics loved this movie, and it seems like most people either loved it or hated it. I just hope Peter Jackson and company don't get permanently lumped into this category.