From a BBC article about the enduring appeal of King Kong:
"Both Mr Freer and Mr Setchfield dismiss critics who say the film is merely an indulgence by its director.
"Jackson wanted to remake Kong because it's a real labour of love," says Mr Freer.
"I don't think it is a vanity project," adds Mr Setchfield.
Who the heck are these critics? What's wrong with an indulgent vanity project when it's Peter Jackson? Did they even see Lord of the Rings?
The "labour of love" scenario is the best thing movie audiences could hope for, and it's the opposite of the way most movies are made today. Some day I would love to helm a beautiful, expensive stop-motion movie that my peers loved and that made no money, becoming a cult movie that doesn't recoup it's costs until a decade of dvd sales. I'd rather make something successful, natch, but sometimes I think I'd be more likely to pull that gag, and just get suckers to bankroll me once.
With its five-day opening weekend, I'll be very surprised if Kong doesn't make back its production costs by the 18th.
5 comments:
Gee, you make some good points here... :)
It's true, "did they even see Lord of the Rings" is a direct Jordan quote from a phone call last night.
I found myself thinking about Return of the King this morning, since it's all cold and Christmasy. Thank maybe I'll watch the Witch King of Angmar get his tonight. I love that scene.
("Cold" in Northern CA is a 42-degree morning chill that goes away by lunch.)
I share Octopunk's unreasonably-overscaled anger at people doubting "King Kong."
It's like those reviewers who consistently pan sci-fi movies, and then, years later "confess" that they "don't really get" sci-fi.
It's like, Okay, fine, you don't "get" sci-fi. That's fine. But can you then do us all a favor and SHUT THE FUCK UP about the sci-fi movies? The lazy arrogance involved is very irritating.
Most of the people I know personally who are skeptical of "Kong" are the sort who really don't have much of an appetite for movies and kind of wish they were something else, like essays or novels. I mean, God damn it, King Kong INVENTED the entire concept of fantastical filmmaking that leads directly to Lucas, Spielberg, Zemekis etc.
Like Pauline Kael said in the 'Seventies, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (title of her fourth book; copied from a Mexican movie poster) is "the essence of movies in four words." If you don't agree, pick a different art form to pay attention to.
Okay, I'm wandering off topic...but come on; just the posters alone make me want to see King King 50 times.
Just the shot of Kong jumping to swat a plane while standing on the Empire State Building is enough to get me to see it 50 times.
Heh heh, I whooped out loud when that happened before Harry Potter.
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