Avaitor wrote:Hitchcock and Wilder? Now we're talking about my favorite directors.
Foreign Correspondent's been one I've been wanting to watch for a while, but can't seem to find anywhere. I'll have to look more into that.
I found The 39 Steps Criterion release for sell at Barnes & Noble this week for $10, and between that and a choice few Kurasawa releases also on sale, I may end up splurging there sometime soon.
Yay, another fan. As far as seeing that movie, I caught it on TCM a couple of times and its seems there is a lot of movies that are hard to find that TCM shows. Just do a search and if its coming up, tell the site to give you an email reminder.
King Kong (1933) 9.5/10 - this is my favorite movie! It has everything humor, stereotypes, a fantastic score, groundbreaking special effects, action, adventure, romance, 1930's horror, and great characters. All slapped together with great pacing in a one-of-a-kind movie during the heart of the Great Depression. Just pure escapism, as never seen before in the 30's, and entertainment at its finest.
Keep in mind that the score I gave it is probably very biased and many people won't appreciate the goofy dialog and such. This was my first B&W film and I went in initially just to see what Kong was all about before the new PJ movie came out and ended up leaving with a new appreciation for classic cinema. I was initially off-set by B&W white films, just thinking it was for old people, and that I could never watch it. After watching King Kong all the way through and to my surprise, being entertained, I was ready to start watching more of these older movies. I watched this on TCM and saw a doc on Merian C. Cooper right before it and was simply fascinated at how amazing his life was. Next I saw
Singin' in the Rain (1952) 8.5/10, my first musical, which is a genre along with westerns that I never thought I'd watch, but I loved it. Now I'll give any movie of any genre from any timeline a chance and I have to thank this film that opened myself up to all of cinema. Personally I love everything that has to do with classic Hollywood (movies, actors/actresses, studio system, studios and their heads, and Hollywood itself).
Adjusted for biased, its probably an 8/10.
Son of Kong (1933) 6.5/10 - this movie starts out well enough. Original cast returns and its premise is quite realistic. Denham is being sued by everyone in New York for Kong's damage and he leaves town. Its when he gets back to the island that the story falls apart. Lets just say they find Kong's son way to quickly, who of which is nothing more then comic relief, and its weird that they are so sure that its his son from just one look. I really didn't like that the island was now filled with weird creatures and almost no dinosaurs at all (like why is there a bear there?).
King Kong (1976) 5/10 - I like the fact that they set the time to the present and that, relevant to this day, they stumble upon Kong's island looking for liquid gold (oil). Other then that, the monkey suit, obviously plastic sets, writing, and special effects are really bad. Some people have come to appreciate this movie for its campiness and I have to admit, its starting to grow on me. That doesn't omit the fact that this movie is just bad (contrary to belief, this movie wasn't a flop when released). John Berry's score is great and lets not forget that this movie actually introduced the idea of Ann connecting with Kong (something later utilized by PJ in the second remake), as opposed to her just screaming and fainting, making the ending all the more tragic.
King Kong (2005) 7.5/10 - Peter Jackson got a lot right. I think he perfected most of what the original got wrong but screwed it all up with excess characters and terrible pacing. If he could dump the throwaway characters and unnecessary scenes to return to the amazing pacing, he would've surpassed the original in every way as Kong and Ann were perfect in this version and the ending plane scene was also perfected. I feel Jack Black was miscasted and the changes to Denham and Driscoll's characters were unnecessary (Denham became a jerk so you couldn't empathize with him anymore and Driscoll became a poet just so PJ could make this film poetic). Could've been so much more.
Mighty Joe Young (1949) 7.5/10 - can only describe it as delightful. Also a Cooper film, this one has a happier ending and a more child friendly story. Its like the first big effects kids movie that you would see Disney making now (coincidentally, they did remake it) and its just fun. Not nearly as far fetched as Kong. My main problem with this film is the random end sequence with the burning building. The stop motion in this is a lot smoother then Kong as O'Brian and Harryhousan pretty much perfected their craft by then (even won an award for it).
Mighty Joe Young (1998) 6/10 - a pretty good remake. The story is completely changed with only a few elements of the original still intact. James Horner's score is pretty good and Rick Baker's effects are AWESOME. They look really good for the 90's and the costume and CG blend flawlessly (couldn't tell when they switched sometimes). Also liked the new CG RKO opening (very nostalgic).
Pearl Harbor (2001) 5.5/10 - this was actually my first time seeing this movie. This was the only Michael Bay movie besides Bad Boys 2 that I haven't seen and I have to say, this movie is almost as bad as I heard (not quite as bad as Transformers 2). Ben Affleck is terrible and all his romantic scenes seem forced and fake (the whole love triangle thing feels off). If anyone has ever listened to the song The End Of An Act, from
Team America: World Police (2004) 8/10, it pretty much sums up my feelings on the movie. The main problem is that not only was this movie long, I've seen way longer movies, but like Transformers 2 it FELT long. As far as Pearl Harbor dramas go,
From Here to Eternity (1953) 7.5/10 was far better, and still not that great.
Quick comment on the Pearl Harbor DVD, I've never seen so many audio options for one language. Really nice and sounded great too!
You know, I loved those books.... but now that the movies are out and just bastardize it, I just can't respect them anymore. They were good books, but the movies just kind of killed the series. Now it's just too easy to make fun of! 
