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EW's Conspicous About-Face on King Kong |
I made very little secret of the fact that I loathed Peter Jackson's King Kong when I saw it a year ago. My frustration with it spawned one of my most popular blog entries I've ever had.
What aggravated me the most was how many popular critics were snookered by the studio hype. The must have sniffed the three-hour running time and took that to mean Important Movie and didn't want to look like idiots, so they celebrated it with great fanfare. Boxofficemojo, by contrast, had what I thought was one of the most honest reviews, with the line "truly, it was bombast that killed the beast."
But EW smooched that ape's keester aplenty, with a review by Lisa Schwarzbaum that slobbered "this colossal Kong wears its jumbo three-hour running time with glee, wit, and affection, ever mindful that it don't mean a CGI thing if it ain't got that emotional swing."
Here we are, twelve months later, and Entertainment Weekly has abandoned its fawning to name the expanded Kong DVD as "THE WORST DVD" of the year. What a contrast. Here's what they said:
"Yeah, just what we wanted: another half-hour of one of the emptiest recent big-budget blockbusters."
Remember this the next time you pay any credence to an Entertainment Weekly review, good or bad. Just wait long enough, and it, like the weather, will change.
ph
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http://blogs.starwars.com/pablog/108 |
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Z-score
The Star Wars Uncle
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date Posted: Dec 23, 2006 12:56 AM
Remember this the next time you pay any credence to an Entertainment Weekly review, good or bad. Just wait long enough, and it, like the weather, will change.
That's exactly why I do not pay attention to movie critics and just make up my own mind. If a movie looks good to me, I go and see it. If it does not interest me, then I don't.
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Dan Wallace
Continuity, Criticisms, and Captain Panaka
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date Posted: Dec 23, 2006 8:57 AM
That's not entirely fair -- EW's movie reviews are written by one group of critics, and its DVD reviews by another set of critics. It's not as if Schwarzbaum is suddenly calling it the worst DVD of the year.
For the record, I liked Jackson's King Kong -- though I could have done with 100% fewer atmospheric scenes filmed in slo-mo.
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Son of a Bith
The Cantina Corner
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date Posted: Dec 23, 2006 12:40 PM
Now you should do a "Michael Bay remakes (Insert Movie Here)" blog!
Raider's of the Lost Ark, Bay style:
0:30-0:35-Heavy intense militaristic music as Indy loads his gear. Show quick shots of him loading weapons in close up, with rapid cuts. Continue intense music as it shows plane flying over Atlantic. (No maps and red lines in this version) As he steps of the plane in the destination, make it a low angeled shot, Indy walking in slo-mo, the rotors on the plane spinning above his head ominously in slo-mo, going woof, woof, woof. Make the image super bright, saturated, and slick.
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Son of a Bith
The Cantina Corner
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date Posted: Dec 23, 2006 12:43 PM
0:35-0:40-Cut back to FDR giving a long winded speech about the fight for freedom against the Nazis attempting to steal the Ark. Quick shots of US Army getting ready for war. (loading planes, troops marching, etc. In slow motion with militaristic music. Cut back to FDR looking at American flag in Oval Office. Slow, ominous dissolve into Nazi Swastika flag, zoom out to reveal Nazi platoon in Egypt looking for Ark.
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greenandwhitejedi
Bar 66
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date Posted: Dec 23, 2006 1:03 PM
Aye, and Rolling Stone too. They slated The Bends when it was first released, but have since realised that it made them look like idiots and have re-rated it appropriately.
Should've got five stars, though.
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lovelucas
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date Posted: Dec 23, 2006 7:32 PM
could not....would not....but suffered through KK on a flight home from Naboo / Lake Como. Terrible end to a great vacation.
Jar Jar is a better dancer
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MissPadme
Miss Padme's Naboo Love Nest
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date Posted: Dec 23, 2006 8:24 PM
I rented KK earlier this year. Not the worst movie I've seen, but Lordy, it was too long and it was too long because it was just padded with stuff. Entertainment Weakly and the critics who slobbered over it did so because the name "Peter Jackson" was attached to it. Had it been "Michael Bay" (LOL, Son of a Bith) they would've roasted it. (EW was also desperate for KK to outgross ROTS.) Now that EW has changed its mind about KK, does this mean Jackson's star has become a little dimmer?
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Captain Peabody
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date Posted: Dec 25, 2006 8:46 PM
whoa, whoa, whoa.... Entertainment Weekly is entitled to their opinion, too.... I agree with you to a certain extent, but that's no reason to accuse them of being a bunch of suck-ups....
Personally, I thought that the beginning of KK showed some promise, but the film quickly got mired down in action sequence after action sequence (I mean, seriously, how many times do we want to see a sailor devoured alive????). And, is it just me, or did anyone else find the all the action sequences...well, boring? Someone should tell New Line Cinema that it takes more than nifty CGI effects to make a good movie...
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TheSithEmpire
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date Posted: Jan 04, 2007 6:48 PM
I make no apologies: I loved it in theaters and I love the extended edition even more (heck I'd have put more scenes back in!)
The only reason I don't watch it more often is because it's ultimately depressing. I hate seeing them torture and kill Kong at the end. Otherwise, I think the characters, settings, music, etc. are top notch. It's refreshing to see a genre film allow itself time to establish mood and emotional resonance. But the human characters carry the film, and if you're not on board with them (no pun intended) then the ride is going to be far less interesting for you.
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TheSithEmpire
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date Posted: Jan 04, 2007 6:49 PM
Now don't think I'm blind to the fact that PJ includes some indulgent shots (he did in all 3 LOTR films), but I think it's great to see a director eschew the tastes of M-gen audiences with less-than-nill-attention spans.
I certainly don't think every film would benefit from this directorial style (although I'd love to see the Indiana Jones version you described!) but the characters and ouvre of LOTR and King Kong justify it IMO.
If I'm going to wish PJ make any changes to the way he makes films, I'd first see him stick more closely to the original source material, and especially if he ends up doing The Hobbit.
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JMMC
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date Posted: Jan 05, 2007 6:08 AM
I think my reaction to KK was pretty much EW's reaction. I saw the movie and sort of thought I liked it. I felt that I enjoyed it, but noted I really had no interest in seeing it again. And it wasn't only the length. I saw "Return of the King" twice. But yes, "hollow" is the perfect word for this flick. Looking back on it, it also lacked any real fun. Which was my criticism of Superman Returns, too.
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