Of apes and men

Man, I love Vern's writing style. He's always good for a laugh. I doubt I'll go see Brokeback Mountain, though. It might be worth a rental.

I saw King Kong Sunday. That was a very strange movie. I thought it would be a great adventure flick, and I really admire Peter Jackson, but at one point a character even says "This isn't an adventure, is it?", and gets a reply of "No." Or maybe a head shake, I'm not sure. But they're right, this movie aspires to be something more than an adventure, and ends up a little bit creepy.

I picked up the new Frighteners dvd, which came with a free ticket to King Kong, and I still really enjoy that movie. I saw it in theaters when it came out, and as I recall it was actually pushed back because there was a mass murder in Tasmania just before it was supposed to be released, where some guy killed around twenty people in an afternoon. Jackson's a New Zealander, but they're close enough to Australia (kind of like Canada is to America) that it would be a pretty sensitive time. I was over there in Melbourne about a year later, and I don't remember ever hearing a peep about the incident, unlike, say, Columbine.

Anyway, Jackson has always liked scaring his audience, and King Kong is no exception, but in addition to an adventure movie and a horror flick, he also wants it to be a love story. And I just didn't buy it. I don't care how good of an actress Naomi Watts is, I don't care to see her fall in love with a giant ape. These long takes of them staring into each other's eyes just made me want to laugh. If you're going to see this one, make sure you don't expect a non-stop thrill ride, and it might help to have someone with you to share the joke.