|
Post by Derrick on Jun 13, 2010 9:45:35 GMT -5
There's an excellent reason why KING KONG was so critically praised: it was a remake that succeeded in being faithful to the source material while managing to be fresh and original. It's a much better movie than the overblown, overhyped and overlong LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy.
I've seen FIGHT CLUB three times now and I just don't get it.
As for movies that were commercial/critical hits with no afterlife...here's three right off the top of my head: THE MATRIX, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
|
|
|
Post by Eddie Love on Jun 13, 2010 14:11:11 GMT -5
There's an excellent reason why KING KONG was so critically praised: it was a remake that succeeded in being faithful to the source material while managing to be fresh and original. Ouch. I certainly wouldn't fault the film from a technical standpoint and there are some cool scenes. I'm guessing you really liked the 30s pulpy feel to some of the Skull Island section, although there are also parts of that which look like the TV show of Land of the Lost. But if it's faithful to anything it's the spirit of the '76 remake, where to my mind, the story descends into sentimental, and in the case of Jackson's version: pretentious -- nonsense. What's brutally fascinating about the original KK is it's total lack of sentimentality, whether towards Kong or the people white and black whom he crushes. It's luridly nihilistic pulp and there's no criticism of the guy who causes all this havoc to be wrecked, because the filmmakers feel that people are suckers anyway. There's none of that perverse carnival spirit to Jackson's film. And, frankly, there's also some dark, proudly racial, sexual baggage to the first film, that gets glossed over by the "romance" between woman and beast here. The scene where they go ice-skating? Seriously? I hated ever second of that. I think the notion of Kong as a sexually fraught beast rampaging to screw the woman who fears him is more dramatically interesting than watching Naomi Watts do vaudeville shtick for his rapt benefit. To me, it's similar to the case of Tim Burton's PLANET OF THE APES, where the remake carefully, yet deliberately, mutes the incendiary meaning of the first film. Anyway, I remember at the time the NY Daily News called it "the best remake ever made." Um, excuse me, but THE MALTESE FALCON with Humphrey Bogart was a remake, and so was William Wyler's BEN HUR.
|
|
|
Post by grubl on Jun 13, 2010 19:13:37 GMT -5
That KING KONG remake was boring. IT was technically sound, the writing was decent, as was the acting. B ut it was boring. ANd I think that comparing it to PLANET of THE APES is spot on. THE MALTESE FALCON, BEN HUR. Let's add THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
|
|
|
Post by Derrick on Jun 13, 2010 19:43:58 GMT -5
We're just going to have to agree to disagree when it comes to Peter Jackson's KING KONG. I love it, you guys hate it and neither side is going to budge. 'Nuff said.
I think that most people don't realize THE MALTESE FALCON is a remake because they know nothing about the earlier versions. I wouldn't know about them either if it wasn't for good ol' Turner Classic Movies. Occasionally they'll have a marathon where they'll show the first two versions: DANGEROUS FEMALE and SATAN MET A LADY before showing the Bogart version which as far as most people are concerned is the only one.
|
|
|
Post by james on Jun 13, 2010 20:40:08 GMT -5
We're just going to have to agree to disagree when it comes to Peter Jackson's KING KONG. I love it, you guys hate it and neither side is going to budge. 'Nuff said. I think that most people don't realize THE MALTESE FALCON is a remake because they know nothing about the earlier versions. I wouldn't know about them either if it wasn't for good ol' Turner Classic Movies. Occasionally they'll have a marathon where they'll show the first two versions: DANGEROUS FEMALE and SATAN MET A LADY before showing the Bogart version which as far as most people are concerned is the only one. I liked Jackson's King Kong, except for some of the Skull Island sequences, which seemed rote and tiring. At some point WB released a special edition of The Maltese Falcon on DVD which included the two previous versions on separate discs. I bought it on sale for under $20... but I still haven't watched either yet. If I remember correctly, Wilmer in the first film is played by none other than Dwight Frye.
|
|
|
Post by grubl on Jun 13, 2010 21:05:22 GMT -5
I remember the scenes on Skull Island as the only ones that effected me. Those natives were intense.
As much as it sucks, I have found memories of the '70s remake. When I was in 8th grade I thought that it was the most exciting thing that I had ever seen. I remember stopping at The Cinema in Endicott, NY for an opening day mattinee on my way home from school.
|
|
|
Post by Eddie Love on Jun 13, 2010 22:04:05 GMT -5
We're just going to have to agree to disagree when it comes to Peter Jackson's KING KONG. I love it, you guys hate it and neither side is going to budge. 'Nuff said. Yeah, setting aside the merits of the picture, it's odd to me that it seems to have vanished from people's consciousness. Derrick mentions another good example THE MATRIX and especially its sequels? (...crickets...) Another example, not that it was a critical hit, but it was mercilessly hyped prior to opening in the non-entertainment press (i.e. Huffington Post and Drudge) was BRUNO last year. Hysteria that completely evaporated upon release.
|
|
|
Post by Eddie Love on Jun 13, 2010 22:09:50 GMT -5
At some point WB released a special edition of The Maltese Falcon on DVD which included the two previous versions on separate discs. I bought it on sale for under $20... but I still haven't watched either yet. If I remember correctly, Wilmer in the first film is played by none other than Dwight Frye. I've poured over this set. The first version is pre-code racy, with Ricardo Cortez as a kind of sleazy, bug-eyed Sam Spade. It has much of the book's dialogue, but everyone talks in that languid early talkie drawl. The second version is slicker, but played for laughs, pretty unwatchable. This collection also has 3 radio versions, one with Edward G. Robinson.
|
|
|
Post by james on Jun 14, 2010 5:53:02 GMT -5
The second version is slicker, but played for laughs, pretty unwatchable. I read somewhere that Satan Met a Lady was an attempt to imitate The Thin Man (a box office smash), which would explain the comedy. James
|
|
|
Post by Derrick on Jun 18, 2010 1:06:18 GMT -5
Another reminder that DARKTOWN STRUTTERS is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Fri. June 18, 02:00 AM EDT.
|
|
|
Post by smang12345 on Jun 18, 2010 13:42:48 GMT -5
I wish that I had cable again instead of the rabbit ears.
|
|
|
Post by grubl on Jun 19, 2010 1:28:07 GMT -5
I am really liking DARKTOWN STRUTTERS. I recognize so many of these cats (Otis Day!). This is just what I was hoping for! Thanks fellas, for pointing ouyt this gem.
|
|
|
Post by tombitd on Jun 19, 2010 7:09:32 GMT -5
I am really liking DARKTOWN STRUTTERS. I recognize so many of these cats (Otis Day!). This is just what I was hoping for! Thanks fellas, for pointing ouyt this gem. As Derrick and I have mentioned many times before, having someone discover a movie they might otherwise never have seen because we recommended it is one of our biggest rewards.
|
|
|
Post by james on Jun 20, 2010 18:13:17 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Derrick on Jun 21, 2010 8:56:41 GMT -5
|
|