Kong kicks ass... link to trailer

[Flangepart]

Dunners : Good thought. After watching the Sci-Fi showing of the radio War Of The Worlds,
 Black could do a convincing Wells. He dosen't do that in Kong does he? I can't hear the audio of the trailer on the library computer.  It would have been a nice take on Denham, if he were played as a more rowdy Wells.

[Andrew]

I have been mislead by trailers any number of times now.  Pixar films always seem to have trailers that do not excite me, but I end up loving the movies.  Some goes for "The Fifth Element."  I was glad to see all the dinosaurs running around, though the quality of the CGI was less than expected.  On the other hand, Kong looked superb in my opinion.  

Interestingly, marginal CGI is something I can forgive pretty easily.  Just look at the original four "LEXX" mini-movies.  The CGI in them was okay, but not great.  However, I enjoyed them, because the story was fun and I could easily get into the characters.  Here is to hoping that Peter does the same with "King Kong."

[h.p. Love]

Every single Peter Jackson flick has distinct (not always the same kind) atmosphere for me. The trailer definitely had that look and feel to me. And it looks like he's doing something different with the natives. They really look pretty wild and out there.

For me the Rings movies weren't that impressive to me. They were, but they weren't. Can't explain it. I do plan on someday watching them over three days though. They are something.

The cgi thing. I think Jackson knows how to use it better than anyone. He put so much "real" detail and costumes and make-up in Rings. He doesn't over-use it. I do think that gollum could have been done just as well with a yoda-like puppet. We all know that Jackson is the king of that too.

The make everything look real and more real and more real is taken way too seriously. I always think of how lame The Thing would be if all that great stop-motion and effects were digital. "It takes five hours for a second because of all the muscles and hair we have to draw." Big deal, shut up already. I'm not impressed. It's like, just write a good story please.

I hope I haven't entered the cgi debate. I don't seem to disagree too much. But animated cheerios were done by hand? Pathetic. Most of these shiny cartoons flat out suck. They're hyperactive gibberish to me. Know wonder all these kids are ADD.

Stop motion was used for the creatures in Life Aquatic and they were charming and sort of "magical". There's something I think in props made by talented hands that actually touch the creations. Digital, while good and bad, is almost always sterile.



Post Edited (06-30-05 22:41)

[Alan Smithee]

There's no doubt Peter Jackson is a gifted director, and there is a lot of talent behind this movie.

But in this day and age, the less cgi- the better.

I think if you don't notice the fx, or that they don't distract from the movie..
..kudos to the filmaker.

[h.p. Love]

That's kind of what I was trying to say in my lengthy post. If the story is good, it's easy to suspend disbelief. Cgi explosions in a thriller or something, that's the same thing. Cheap ass effects in a b-movie can be a beautiful thing. But, the stories that suck and try to rely on wowing us with their "impressive" effects are pretty lame. I simply haven't seen very much cgi, creatures etc., that are new or different. I don't think that is something inherently a part of computer effects. I just think the bigger is better and realistic muscle action and textures and such is too much focus on the wrong thing, IMO. Yeah, to make a yoda flip around like a jedi flea is fun, but everyone I know seems to like the first series yoda, with his little cane and elderly walk. Not to get melodramatic, but there was some soul there that I think is sorely missing in most instances these days.



Post Edited (07-01-05 08:35)

[ulthar]

Alan Smithee wrote:

>
> I think if you don't notice the fx, or that they don't distract
> from the movie..
> ..kudos to the filmaker.

That's kind of hard to accomplish when making a movie about a gigantic gorilla or one that contains dinosaurs.  These by definition are effects you are going to notice (no matter how they are done), and know that they are special effects.

I guess the real issues boils down to what is your own, personal, tolerance for suspension of disbelief (a key factor in the enjoyment of virtually ANY movie) based on visual clues.  We all KNOW the original Kong was not real; and based on modern effects, even stop motion animation of puppets, he does not look real or all that believable.  But, he is enjoyable as a character for many other reasons - after we choose to ignore the visual clues that he is artificial.  The same is true of CGI.  You choose to accept it (or you don't) and go from there.

Love it or hate it, CGI is here to stay.

Now, if you want to make a movie about a 600+ pound catfish, there you could use a REAL one.  The caught one in the Mekong River recently.

[h.p. Love]

ulthar wrote:

> Alan Smithee wrote:

> Now, if you want to make a movie about a 600+ pound catfish,
> there you could use a REAL one.  The caught one in the Mekong
> River recently.
>


You'll still have to deal with his agent.

[akiratubo]

It's a period piece!  It scores ten points just for that.

Looks like it could be good, but I'm no fan of Jack Black and the guy playing the Driscoll equivalent looks like a wuss.

Give me Bruce Cabot any day.  He may have had the acting talent of a block of wood, but at least he was a block of wood who looked tough enough to survive encounters with wild dinosaurs and a giant ape.

I predict the dinosaur and Kong bits will be lots of fun, but the human bits will be intolerable.

And, err ... why in the hell do the natives look like white people in zombie makeup?  My groan-o-meter went off when I saw the spooky little girl, too.  I guess little girls with creepy eyes are cinematic shorthand for "scary" now.

[daveblackeye15]

I like Kong, the CGI doesn't look too bad. The dinosaurs look good but they're also on the cartoony side. The Kong vs. Rex fight had better be good. Actually the origianl rex still creeps me out a bit while this new one doesn't.

This just may be good yet.

[Flangepart]

Akiratubo : always remember the word of Joe Bob Briggs, when refering to Kaiju flicks...
"The monsters are the stars...the human actors are furniture."