Just watched Kong.

Peter Jackson can really make movies. Perhaps what was so stunning about the movie was that it seemed almost real most of the time (except for the parts where Naomi Watts still looks so sparkly even after being dragged halfway across an uninhabited island). King Kong was immaculately portrayed on the big screen and almost seemed real. He is every bit as believable as Gollum was, showing that WETA has just as much prowess in digital effects as ILM does. Which brings me to the stark differences in style between Star Wars and King Kong, where the former tries to put in as much detail as possible while the latter film has the effects and there is a lot of blurring in the motion. King Kong has a lot of aerial shots, and this works very well on the silver screen because of the wide angle format used.

Effects aside, Naomi Watts should be nominated for an Oscar. The point is she can act beside an imaginery ape, and she has 101 types of expressions, from happy to sad, you believe that she actually feels for King Kong (which is quite touching in a way). On the other hand, Jack Black is and has been the same in every other movie I’ve seen him in. A little toned down on the language and expressions, but you get the idea it’s him. There were some undeveloped characters, which can’t be helped when the movie is this ‘short’. Which brings me to another lament of the film. Although it’s no good to rush through a movie, some scenes were a little dragged out. Some highlighted the technical impressiveness of how the film was shot, some were there without any reason.

Overall a good film, maybe a little predictable towards the end, but you can roughly guess what happens to King Kong. Just feel that there isn’t the emotional impact that was there when I watched the ending for Return of the King. There are other things that I can add about the film, like how the whole musical score for the movie was made without Peter Jackson even meeting the composer (forgot his name). Everything was done via high speed connections, sending footage and musical recordings back and forth in real time so that both parties could collaborate on it. Heh, modern films are amazing, with all the logistics and coordination, it’s amazing they ever get started to begin with, let alone get finished and released to the world.

Tuesdays movie tickets are cheap. For the price of one ticket, you can watch two! No spoilers here. Well, almost.

Been wanting to watch Batman Begins for quite a while now. Heh, everyone recommended it, and I’m a partial fan of most American comic book concepts created in the early 20th century. A brief history (of what I think I know), you had DC and Marvel Comics, and I’m more familiar with the latter because of Stan Lee, the guy who invented Spiderman, the X-Men etc. I think you can roughly sort out which comic book characters he invented as they always had an adjective to describe them. The Amazing Spiderman, the Uncanny X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four etc.

Okay, back to Batman. This is a rather different take on the original Batman movies made. A brief review on those prior movies. The first two with Michael Keaton were still pretty good, in my humble opinion. The last two with Val Kilmer and George Clooney were utter duds. They were more like costume shows and had a very cartoony feel to it. The first two movies were dark, but not as dark as Batman Begins. You could actually feel a menacing Batman that common crooks would be afraid of. These days watching films, because of plots with potholes, the actors are the ones who bring out a movie, or make it worse off. Gary Oldman would probably be the most outstanding actor in the entire film. It’s only because I’ve seen him in so many roles, but never does he repeat a character so you actually believe him as who he is (the only other actor at the moment I can think of who’s like that is Tom Hanks). Morgan Freeman was typical in his delivery, so nothing new there. Liam Neeson’s role reminded me very much of Qui Gon Jinn in Star Wars. They spoke with a similar accent and acted the same. Heck, even some of the philosophies both characters spat out rang similar. The new Batman was also convincing enough. Sadly, Katie Holmes was a little misplaced. Heh, friend jibed asking where’s Dawson in the movie (how she became famous was playing a teenage role in Dawson’s Creek). She looks more like a teenager trying to be an adult (it’s her looks, she doesn’t have the same sexiness as Angelina Jolie does) and her lines didn’t make her role convincing enough to being part of the plot.

The other film I watched was War of the Worlds. Heh, from a technical standpoint, the movie is pretty well made. You actually fear the aliens the first time you see them, because of the camera angles in effect and the reaction of the crowd to it. The special effects blended in with the film very well, as if it was part of it, and did not have the shiny feel that I associated with the first two prequel Star Wars movies. On the other hand, while I’ll give 5 stars for technical excellence, I’ll give one for plotline. I guess it’s trying to compress too much of a story into a 2 hour film that made it a bit lack lustre. That and the feel good ending (which was totally inappropriate for this movie) made it a little unbelievable at the end. Heh, read somewhere that the plotline was plausible back in 1898 when it was written, but movie goers these days have had science lessons and are more discerning. Well, will just take the film on face value and it was thoroughly enjoyable throughout, although not as much as Batman was.

Heh, watched The House of Flying Daggers on a rented DVD with friends.

I only realised the film existed a couple of days ago while I was browsing through a HMV store just seeing what was on display. Did some research only to find out that this is another film by Zhang Yi Mou, his previous effort in Hero was much more appealing to me, as was Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The only thing these 3 films have in common is the beautiful actress Zhang Zi Yi.

Friend was commenting how there’s all that sobbing in Chinese films and drama series. Heh, it’s sort of a trademark to the genre, as it has to do with all the tragedy imbued in Chinese culture that there’s always some sort of forbidden love and no matter how you try to run away, the rest of the world seems to catch up with you. I never expected a happy ending for this movie and well, I got what I expected.

I wondered why this movie had slipped through the radar as I’ve always been a fan of such films (Chinese kungfu flicks that is, heh…). After watching it I guess it really didnt’ matter as I was left a little disappointed. The story was a bit slow in progressing and there were some really unnecessary scenes. The choreographed fight scenes weren’t as fluid as they were in Hero and I guess the main failing was casting Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro as the two male leads. The story leaves you wanting as there is a greater plot that the director never develops, but I guess it can’t be helped as the story is focused as a love story of sorts, although the chemistry between the characters are somewhat weak. This is really in contrast to the performances fo Chow Yun Fatt and Tony Leung for both prior films I mentioned earlier.

Out of the three, my favourite is still Hero, due to its historical setting and a more sophisticated and intelligent plot.