King Kong, 2005

King Kong, 2005
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody


Stage: Home TV selection


King Kong in short: Carl Denham needs to finish his movie and has the perfect location; Skull Island. But he still needs to find a leading lady. This 'soon-to-be-unfortunate' soul is Ann Darrow. No one knows what they will encounter on this island and why it is so mysterious, but once they reach it, they will soon find out. Living on this hidden island is a giant gorilla and this beast now has Ann is its grasps. Carl and Ann's new love, Jack Driscoll must travel through the jungle looking for Kong and Ann, whilst avoiding all sorts of creatures and beasts. But Carl has another plan in mind.


Preps: Just the background of a Saturday evening. Nothing special, as I have seen it before. I wanted to see if I changed my mind about this movie.


Reality: Hm.. the xxxth remake of King Kong and Peter Jackson. Well, the name I want to see again, but not in this role. It's supposed to be a spectacle. And in the movies it was. I remember seeing this in the local theatre. And I cryed. As I always did when seeing the King Kong. I actually despise movies about animal abuse. However, I do agree that in some extent they are necessary to keep us from doing even more such things. And we all love big monkeys, orangutans, gorillas. And we don't want to see them hurt. Which is quite the opposite here. So the movie touches everyone with at least some decent cells within. Or it touches deeply a soul like mine is. In this psychological, animal abuse, sense.

Apart from that, the familiar story, remake as it is expected in the new era of cinemascopy, with all possible effects. To me, a good distinction between real and fiction is really visible here, which makes a minus to this movie. Film it in the studio and then later make the background.. naah, it doesn't pay my bill. Jackson here doesn't exceed LOTR or some of his greatest achievements. The script seems poor, the storyline barely believable. How did they transport the animal in the small boat still remains a secret. The movie could be at least one hour shorter. And the action seems somehow similar to Jurassic park. Ok, it's quite predictable or believable to keep all sorts of weird animals on a deserted island, but somewhere you should pull a line between barely believable and something that's just copied from another movie.

There are some scenes that are a masterpiece, but it's merely a few. And they don't make it up for the looooong suffer you will engage when watching this and waiting for its finish. It will keep you weeping if you see the slaughter of the great animal. In my opinion, it wasn't worth making a remake and making some more money out of emotional-oriented crowd.


My personal rating: 4,0 (merely as a strong warning how cruel people can act towards nature and its wonders. Even if in this case Kong only impersonates the wonders)

King Kong on IMDB

Getting even with dad, 1994

Getting Even With Dad, 1994
Director: Howard Deutch
Cast: Macauley Culkin, Ted Danson



Stage: home theatre, NY selection on local TV - afternoon

Getting even in short: Ray, an ex-con and widower, is planning a coin heist with two accomplices to help him to buy his own bakery. However, he doesn't expect his son Timmy, who was living with Ray's sister, to show up at the house right in the middle of planning. Timmy is ignored and Ray and his buddies pull off the heist. Timmy gets his father's attention by stealing the coins and hiding them. To get them back, his father must take him to a number of different places and treat him like he enjoys his presence. They grow fond of each other but Timmy won't stay with his dad unless he gives up the coins.


Preps: None whatsoever. Since I don't have a better idea for a Sunday afternoon I will look at what the decent TV folks are recommending for the after NY party mood.


Reality: Yuk. Macauley Culkin in another sync of Home Alone. Hmmmmm. Well, I guess he needed to cash in the fame he had in those years. After that they would always connect him with the main character he played in those HA movies. But.. there's also Ted Danson, who shot himself into the star world with this genre. In this case, he plays a foolish dad, that doesn't want to be recognized as dad, and that in any chosen moment in the movie states this aloud without any shame or doubt. And yet, (so Hollywood like), changes his mind in one week and wants to be a father after all. Yes, also the villains and robbers have souls and urge to be daddies. The story is underestimating the viewer, more than obvious exploiting the fame of Culkin (the script is so similar to Home alone funny scenes, it's pretty straightforward what the director is trying to pull off). And most of robbers are really jackasses, but do they need to be so dumb as they show in this piece?

I strongly disrecommend this, as it will give you nothing more than a headache. Predictable flow, predictable ending, horrible script, vague cast.. hm. Don't waste your time. It's not really a family comedy, mere a family copy of Home Alone. I know, even if you see that can turn over those steps for the xxxth time, it still feels funny. But this is only because we kinda grew up with Home Alone. And everything that looks up to that movie and tries to be a better copy, only fails badly.




My personal rate: 2,0 (I wouldn't call et even decent enough to recommend it a bit. However, if you like family comedies of low intel, then it's the right choice)


Getting even with Dad on IMDB

The Ugly Truth

The Ugly Truth, 2009
Director: Robert Luketic
Cast: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner


Stage: Home theatre, a nice pre-ny evening with one of my friends - she insisted on seeing this.

The Ugly Truth in short: A romantically challenged morning show producer is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic correspondent to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love. His clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result.


Preps: I have seen this and enjoyed the irony in the piece one time a year or two ago. After that I have made several refferals to the piece in this blog. And last week one of my best female friends comes and wants to see this, because it's supposed to be great. Heh, I agree on seeing this lesson-full piece again.


Reality: The Ugly Truth tells us that men are on this world not to be understood, but to be teased and flirted with. Don't look for love, look for sex and lust, it's cheaper and easier to find - would be one of the lessons learned in the movie. Gerard Butler casts as the stud, knowing all there is to know about women. Similar role as Mel Gibson played in What women want, only it's the other way around. In the sense, that Gerard is the bad boy all women hate and need still to cope with.
Unfortunately, he falls in love with Katherine (Abby), the producer of the show he's playing in. The irony and black humour, where this piece started (and should end with) turns into some Hollywood cheesy last third of the piece.

Apart from the typical ending, the movie offers a few truly amazing places to laugh and to learn from simple (yet truthful) lessons. It's really hard to judge the ways women respond to this man and yet you try to follow the guidelines. The base would be that you need to pretend to be a sexual goddess and you will be able to get anything in the world. Sadly enough, men like sexual goddesses and unfortunately not women as they are for real. Every now and then the bubble bursts and woman shows herself as she really is and for that she's punished with a break up or sad evenings back at home. But, playing the game for a lifetime ensures you male escort. The question here would be - is it absolutely necessary to have someone, if you have him under these conditions? The truth reveals as she doesn't want to pretend.

Fortunately, the movie is Hollywood-ish, therefore the punishment comes also with a prize, as Butler steps in as the mushy man he once judged online. Nothing more than an average romance in this piece. However, you will love some of the lessons, I was cracking of laughter in some funny scenes.



My personal rating: 6,5 (you will laugh so hard at some scenes that your stomach will ache. Apart from that, a pretty average piece with a typical US ending)


The Ugly Truth on IMDB