Movies 2: Electric Boogaloo

I really liked Logan - sad with an air of finality over the "old" X-Men cast. Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman were absolutely fantastic in it, to boot.

I recently watched this very odd film called The Greasy Strangler. It's an awful black comedy horror mish-mash of stilted acting and weird-ass music. The plot involves a father and son who fall for the same woman, but the father eats a lot of grease and at night, covers himself in grease and strangles people until their eyes explode. Also there's loads of nudity and prosthetic penises.

It's worth a watch if you like bad films that have a good/eery atmosphere. It reminded me of Hobo With A Shotgun.

In preparation for seeing Kong: Skull Island tomorrow, I've spent the last week or so rewatching (and in a couple of cases, seeing for the first time) the seven existing Kong films. I was thinking of writing something up for Gintendo, or maybe even doing some video content, but James Rolfe, of Angry Video Game Nerd fame, has done his own Kongathon and I didn't want to be overshadowed or look like I was jumping on the bandwagon. So anyway, here are my thoughts and Kongcerns.

King Kong
1933
There's not much I can say about this film that hasn't been said. Despite being 84 years old, its still a watchable and entertaining romp. The characters are likeable, the stop motion and puppets are charming and look amazing and the excitement still holds up. It is very much a film made in 1933: it's kinda racist and misogynistic, and though they go on and on about the beauty and the beast angle, Kong just terrifies Ann and kinda comes across as a scary, one-dimensional "monster."
Everyone has to watch this film. If you've ever enjoyed a fantasy or sci fi film, any kind of effects driven blockbuster or spectacle film, you have this masterpiece to thank. It harks back to a lost age, the last point in time there was still some mystery in the world. Six years later, WWII came along and engulfed the whole globe, and now there's not much of the land left unexplored. In 1933, the film industry was bringing home footage of new and incredible sights every week and there was still a chance a Kong was out there somewhere.

Son of Kong
1933
Yes, I've got that right. This sequel was pitched, made and released within 9 months of the original. It's a lighter film, with a friendly ape who teams up with the human cast and acts a bit more cartoonish. I'd seen it once, around the time the Jackson Kong was released, at some silly time in the morning on BBC2. It's a fun film and well worth the £1.20 or whatever I paid for the DVD. The cast, a couple of whom return, are likeable and charming and the plot is more fun, wrapping up in a satisfying happy ending. Unbelievably underrated.

King Kong vs Godzilla
1963
Produced by Toho, the Japanese studio behind the Godzilla films, this is a men-in-suits romp very much in that vein. Produced while Godzilla was still a villainous metaphor for nuclear destruction, Kong is treated as the hero and given a size boost and random electrical powers to put him on a better footing with Godzilla. There's undeniably a hokey charm to this film but it is crap. The suits look awful, the fights aren't choreographed at all and the green screen effects look worse than the 30s. Go into it knowing what to expect and you'll have fun.

King Kong Escapes
1968
Another Toho one, with a better Kong suit, a robot baddy and a surprisingly James Bond feel. This is a really great interpretation of that era of Japanese kaiju films and I'd recommend it to anyone with a taste for that kind of thing. The monster action is enjoyable, the globetrotting plot is barmy but takes you for a ride, and the human cast are just as watchable as the monsters. I'd heard of this one but never seen it, and I'm so glad I have now.

King Kong
1976
I've seen this one before once or twice on TV, late on Film 4 and that sort of thing. I remember really not liking it for some reason. The dinosaurs are gone, Kong is done with a man in a suit and animatronics, the plot is moved to the 70s and updated to feature a greedy oil prospector rather than an ambitious film director. . .
It's actually really good though! The animatronics and green screen work and the complicated suit looks amazing, the oil message hasn't exactly gotten less relevant, and Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange are a great pair of leads. It isn't as revolutionary or iconic as the original, but it does a better job of showing a connection between Kong and lady and it really shows off what practical effects are capable of.

King Kong Lives
1986
This is a weird film I somehow had no idea existed until I looked into buying up the few Kong DVDs I didn't own. It's a sequel to the '76 film, with a surgeon saving Kong and a female ape and a weirdly inconsistent (though often very enjoyable) tone, proper human baddies to see Kong fight against and some nice effects, action and gags. It's no classic, and I'm not surprised it's been forgotten, but I'm glad I found it as it is right up my street. It even stars Linda Hamilton, of Terminator fame!

King Kong
2005
The most recent film before Skull Island, this is one of my favourite films. I cried in the cinema!
It has its flaws: the run time is super indulgent, the scene with the dinosaur stampede looks inexplicably awful for a film with such otherwise groundbreaking visuals and . . . nope, that's about it! It expands on the original, it tugs on the heartstrings much more impressively by really focusing on the Ann/ Kong relationship and the action is phenomenal. That fight between Kong and the T-Rexes is bloody incredible. A top, top film that you can tell was lovingly made by a big King Kong fan.

Looking forward to seeing the new one tomorrow. Fuck your wolverines, I'm all about dem Kongs!

And now, to finish it off:

Kong
Skull Island
2017
Went and saw this at 11:30 this morning, between my early and late shifts at work. I went to the cinema at Cabots Circus in Bristol, and it turned out the showing I'd picked was in the fancy screen. I got to wait in a classy little bar before the screen opened, I was given a complimentary popcorn and coke (in a proper glass), then I had a lovely comfy seat with a little individual table, right in front of the optimum screen position. The best bit of all this? I was literally the only person in this screening! I had the whole place to myself. I can definitely recommend going to the cheaper early morning showings when cinemas are empty.

As for the film itself . . . obviously, I've only just today watched it in a theatre and been wowed by the action and all that, but I thought it was bloody fantastic. I can't think of another Western monster movie since Jurassic Park that was this good. The monsters and creatures are varied and imaginative, and they look great. The human cast are good too, with a nice spread of simple but memorable people peppered with great roles. I cared about them, wanted them to make it off the island, and felt like the film was telling a story about these people that happened to be set on a monster island. Compared to the dull and forgettable lead in Godzilla, it makes all the difference.

This is a film that can be watched as a fun romp where pretty people try to escape dinosaurs while a big monkey helps them, but there's more to it than that. It features a believably human cast, from one-note comedy roles to Samuel L Jackson's deeply human villain. It's also no coincidence a film about man's inability to fight things much bigger than a simple human enemy is set right at the end of the Vietnam war.

This isn't a deep introspective examination of the human condition or anything, but there's enough there to make this a film worth sitting down and watching, rather than fast forwarding to the monster fights. There's a great build and release of tension, there are laughs, there are awesome fights and I got on well with the characters.

In particular, the above mentioned Jackson was great, chewing more scenery than Kong did, and John C Reilly's crazy old castaway was both hilarious and surprisingly touching. I genuinely cried in the final shots of the film: the last time I did that in a cinema was the last King Kong! That was for the opposite reason though.





Also, I wish I didn't follow so much movie news and speculation and that. If I hadn't known already about the thing alluded to in the post-credits scene, I'd have blown my balls off. These guys seem to know how to build up to a shared universe. Think Marvel, not DC or Sony.

With apologies to Drunka for breaking up the Kong enthusiasm... I just saw Logan. Whilst it was a shockingly good film, it also felt like

Spoiler:

That was a great write-up Drunka - I saw the 2005 King Kong, but I've forgotten pretty much everything about it! Is the new one a fresh start to the series or a continuation from the wider series?

Also, I'm sorry but I can't read...

Drunkalilly wrote:

romp

...and not think of this.

JayMoyles wrote:

That was a great write-up Drunka - I saw the 2005 King Kong, but I've forgotten pretty much everything about it! Is the new one a fresh start to the series or a continuation from the wider series?

This is a completely new Kong, in a new universe with very different monsters. A total reboot, the only film it's linked to canonically is the 2014 Godzilla.
Obviously if you know the Kong basics - big strong ape, uncharted island, native people living behind a big wall, Kong falls in love with a girl - it plays on those ideas, but you can go in with no prior knowledge and have a great time. The film references Jackson's role in Jurassic Park as much as it does any Kong movies.

Quote :

Also, I'm sorry but I can't read romp and not think of this.

I've been the same since you and Jas introduced me to that clip

Verily, I have returned from watching the live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. It's splendid and gorgeously produced but not as successful as the live action Cinderella. I would say, anyway.

I found Cinderella to be pretty disappointing, though I think that may be because I'm not all that into the original either. I am a big fan of the Original Beauty and the Beast though, so I'll see how I feel.

I wasn't terribly fond of either of the originals but everything about the live action Cinderella is ace, particularly Lily James in the title role, alongside Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother and Cate Blanchett as the Wicked Stepmother (both chewing the scenery, maybe, but in a suited and not overpowering way). The live action Beauty and the Beast has a wonderful Gaston, a suitably brooding Beastie, and an incredible Maurice (Belle's father)... but I don't like Belle, and the musical numbers are too indulgent.

Nonetheless, I hope you have of the fun.

So I went and saw the Power rangers today

And truth be told I didn't hate it

I've watched a few films the last few nights so here goes:

Exists

A horror film based around bigfoot which is shot much like the original Blair Witch was, not particularly scary but the directing & acting is quite good so I say it's worth a watch.

EDIT: Just found out this is from the same director as Blair Witch.

Cabin Fever (2016)

Absolutely atrocious in every way. Avoid.

Central Intelligence

An action comedy with The Rock (one for Zero   ) & Kevin Hart, not really a fan of the latter as I find him a bit too whiny but The Rock is on great form here and had me laughing a fair bit.

I remember seeing Central Intelligence and quite enjoying it. Rock was by far the funnier of the two, definitely. He's not just muscles and a smile, he was playing a character and they felt different to the normal tough guys he portrays.

That CGI of a fat Rock is going to haunt me for a while though.

Them dance moves though!

Watched Beauty and the Beast and Ghost in the Shell last night. On BatB, those songs were just dreadful! I can only imagine they'd already done all of their casting before putting them in, why else would they hire people who can't sing?! The autotune on Emma Watson was so strong it felt like I was playing a Hatsune Miku game. All of the punch was taken out of the songs because they must've realised the actors couldn't remotely hit the notes. Bad.

Ghost in the Shell was good though, well worth checking out

I watched Power Rangers which feels like what would have been a good 2000s Superhero movie but now we have really good ones, that if you do want to watch it I'd wait to it comes out on DVD etc and watch one Saturday afternoon.

Also seen Ghost in the Shell, it's better then Power Rangers but I do think it also falls into worth watching when it comes to DVD etc and one afternoon to do so.

Just saw Power Rangers.
It was sort of really, really good but then also sort of really crap? I enjoyed what was there but wanted lots more. It was fun and funny and the characters were great and it handled the whole mythos exactly as I would have done. Zordon and his legacy was handled very seriously, but there were lots of gags and jokes, especially for long time fans. They obviously over-reached, with cool armour and CGI monsters even for the mooks, meaning there was hardly any actual Ranger action. When there was, though, it all looked much better than it did in the trailers and the action was well done. The whole film was shot in a way that just looked like a big film; good camera work, lots of effects, felt like an event picture. Hopefully it will do well enough for us to get a sequel with loads more Power Ranger time.

They're planning a 6 film cinematic universe.

Of course they are. The smart thing to do would have been to have slightly simpler practical effect Ranger costumes and Putties, so the action in this film wasn't literally limited to the last fifteen minutes of the film. Hopefully we will get those sequels, and they'll have a bit more of the stuff we buy the ticket for.

Could be worse as we've got 14 more Transformer films to come after the last Knight and we've also got the Call of Duty cinematic universe to look forward to.

The Transformers films are the pinnacle of the cinematic medium.

Sure are but 14 more really also will they get to that and will we see them all also if they all come out isn't going to be weird trying to connect the 19th film with the 1st.

Power Rangers, I don't know if that's 6 in total or 6 more but I would have them like this:
1st Introduce the characters
2nd Green Ranger story
3rd Lord Zedd
4th White Ranger story
5th Machine Empire
6th Zordon timeline ends

masofdas wrote:

Sure are but 14 more really also will they get to that and will we see them all also if they all come out isn't going to be weird trying to connect the 19th film with the 1st.

I've got two words for you: Beast Wars!

I'd probably agree with your wishes for the Power Rangers films.

Holy crud that new Star Wars Last Jedi trailer! Anyone else get some tingling up the spine at the end of that?