Me and my kids went and saw King Kong yesterday. The special effects and computer-generated graphics were absolutely fantastic. I think the true test of a movie (that depends on special effects) is whether you find yourself empathizing with the computer generated character. Kong, indeed, had his own character. I thought the end was a little hokey and didn’t match the sadness and intensity of the heartbeat fade in the last version… but the ride was still fantastic.
I took 2 friends of my kids as well as me so the 3+ hours cost me quite a bit. Driving up to the theatre 20 minutes before the movie was starting, my kids started groaning about being late and the seats we would find ourselves in. I joked back that we would first have to sit through the “Best-Buy-sponsored-turn-your-cell-phone-off-idiot movie”, a preview for X-Men 45, a soft-drink and nacho (with cheese that will make it through Armageddon) commercial, and 14 other previews of movies that are being remade.
What happened next made my kids think I was a prophet. It wasn’t X-Men 45, it was X-Men 3. Poseidon, a remake of the ever-terrible Poseidon adventure, Miami Vice, and lo and behold… a bank robbery (with a twist) movie with Denzel Washington.
Does anyone else wonder why the Movie Industry is sucking? Do they really wonder? Really? On my way to see King Kong 3 (if you skip Mighty Joe Young), I see a preview of Miami Vice (sans Don), Poseidon 3 (if you count the TV version a few weeks ago), X-Men 3, and a bank robbery movie????
The problem with the Movie Industry is that it’s now an official ‘industry’. It’s an industry with a bunch of fat cats sitting around the table used to making a billion dollars and who are afraid to bet on anything but the sure win.
They say those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. I’m starting to think no one in America studies history anymore. This country is built on faith and risk. Find me a company that made it, and guarantee they have some great stories about how they were an inch from complete annihilation.
The Movie Industry needs to ‘split its portfolio’ if it really wants to make it. Sure… go for the easy money with Shrek 5, Rocky 10, etc. But begin funding more ‘start-ups’. My best friend’s wife produced a movie in 2004, called Man Feel Pain that received a Bravo! award at the Toronto Film Festival… you would think folks are pounding down her door to bring in some talent!
Nope…. I guess we needed Miami Vice and Poseidon.
