King Kong and on and on and on and on and on.....

Wee Scunner's better half ( JB) rented two movies for us to watch this weekend. "The Family Stone" which was a lovely film and very enjoyable to watch. I loved the quirky characters, loved the writing and the performances were great.

The second movie was "King Kong" the remake of the 1933 film. Having seen the original many, many times, I did not understand how over an hour into the film the characters had still not sailed off for skull island in search of Kong the "8th Wonder of the World". The original King Kong runs a short, exciting hour and a bit. As a child, I remember being terrified each time I watched the old black and white version. It was fast paced and the musical score helped to make the movie even more exciting and dramatic. It had the quick, intelligent banter typical of films from that era. This new version by Peter Jackson is too long!! Although it is somewhat respectful of the original 1933 version and includes some funny references to the original film and even to Fay Wray the lead actress in the original film. Everything appears to be over explained in this version. I have noticed this a lot in movies these days. Have we become stupider since the 1930's or is it that movies have become so expensive to make as well as to go and see that they must be jam packed with as much special effects as possible while over explaining each characters situation or motivation in each scene? Does this ensure that they get as many tickets purchased as possible? I don't need all the dots connected for me. I can pretty much figure it out. I really think that movie makers understimate the intelligence of the movie going public.

Suffice to say, it is not a good sign when I get up and go off to clean the bathroom and then check e mails, after a movie has started. That is usually my sign to JB, the film buff, that I have pretty much given up on a film and my doing this usually illicits the "what? you are giving up on the film already?" response. Interestingly enough JB seemed to be as bored as I was with the film but he gets kudos for sitting through the entire film without taking a break.

YAAAAAWN!

Watch the original instead, it won't insult your intelligence as much as I felt this version did mine and you will also gain another hour and a half of your life to watch another great film from the 1930's.