She's from the island of Manhattan. He's from the Island of Skull. It's never going to work. I give it another hour, tops. 15 minutes even. Love is blind but this will end badly! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY anyway!
*
Showing posts with label King Kong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label King Kong. Show all posts
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentines from a Beauty and Her Beast
She's from the island of Manhattan. He's from the Island of Skull. It's never going to work. I give it another hour, tops. 15 minutes even. Love is blind but this will end badly! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY anyway!
*
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Signatures: Naomi Watts
Adam of Club Silencio here with a look at my favorite actresses and their distinguishing claims to fame.
How better to describe Naomi Watts career? It's amazing how quickly she burst into into our cinematic lives and cemented such high esteem. It doesn't hurt that she's working with choice auteurs, but being told off by Lily Tomlin has to be a sign that you've arrived. But knowing Naomi she'll probably find some way to take it badly... Although it's understandable. She's gone through so much in so little time. And in that brief period she's taught us that there really is an exquisite process to grieving.
Probably never going to work out anyways... Naomi'd have to put him down easy - if he wasn't shot down with helicopters first. We feel her interspecies pain.
To save her own skin and that of her (irritating) child, Naomi decides to pass the videotaped death penalty onto her babysitter. Grief sometimes leads to poor choices -- like losing childcare living with that kid. You win some, you lose some, and for the sake of Naomi in action, we always hope for the loss.
You arrive in Hollywood with big dreams and you leave taking a hit out on your mean bisexual lover. Same sad Hollywood tale. Try as she might (and by god does Naomi try), she never can deal with her fatal farewell.
Naomi's got a lot on her plate. This time it's another dead family. Words can't describe the loss, but taking a hit out on the man responsible might just cover it. Apparently Naomi's still learning how to channel that rage.
Naomi finally learns to deal with griefs like a demeaning job and a sexless marriage by being both dirty and Amish. Grief does indeed take many forms.
Naomi says she's not oblivious to the high-wire state of her characters, "Everyone's experienced some degree of depression in their life and I definitely have, but not to the point where I didn't get out of bed or shower for days." Although in describing her stunning double-turn as buoyant Betty and dour Diane in Mulholland Drive, she equates the experience to her own form of counseling, "David (Lynch) saw me for myself and was OK with my self-doubts. And I give him the part of myself I felt I'd been hiding for so long, that didn't need to be hidden. But he's an artist and he knows that creativity, humor and sexuality all come out of a dark place."
Unlike her tragic lives on-screen, Naomi seems of the mindset that tomorrow is a new day. But then we all know where this kind of optimism has gotten her so far...
Good grief.
How better to describe Naomi Watts career? It's amazing how quickly she burst into into our cinematic lives and cemented such high esteem. It doesn't hurt that she's working with choice auteurs, but being told off by Lily Tomlin has to be a sign that you've arrived. But knowing Naomi she'll probably find some way to take it badly... Although it's understandable. She's gone through so much in so little time. And in that brief period she's taught us that there really is an exquisite process to grieving.
Stage 1: SHOCK (Funny Games)
Turns out the funny games aren't so funny. Dead family? An evening with Michael Pitt? She may as well end it all.Probably never going to work out anyways... Naomi'd have to put him down easy - if he wasn't shot down with helicopters first. We feel her interspecies pain.
To save her own skin and that of her (irritating) child, Naomi decides to pass the videotaped death penalty onto her babysitter. Grief sometimes leads to poor choices -- like losing childcare living with that kid. You win some, you lose some, and for the sake of Naomi in action, we always hope for the loss.
You arrive in Hollywood with big dreams and you leave taking a hit out on your mean bisexual lover. Same sad Hollywood tale. Try as she might (and by god does Naomi try), she never can deal with her fatal farewell.
Naomi finally learns to deal with griefs like a demeaning job and a sexless marriage by being both dirty and Amish. Grief does indeed take many forms.
Naomi says she's not oblivious to the high-wire state of her characters, "Everyone's experienced some degree of depression in their life and I definitely have, but not to the point where I didn't get out of bed or shower for days." Although in describing her stunning double-turn as buoyant Betty and dour Diane in Mulholland Drive, she equates the experience to her own form of counseling, "David (Lynch) saw me for myself and was OK with my self-doubts. And I give him the part of myself I felt I'd been hiding for so long, that didn't need to be hidden. But he's an artist and he knows that creativity, humor and sexuality all come out of a dark place."
Unlike her tragic lives on-screen, Naomi seems of the mindset that tomorrow is a new day. But then we all know where this kind of optimism has gotten her so far...
Monday, December 08, 2008
Streep Conquers DC
"Come See the Ninth Wonder of the World!"Meryl Streep, at the spry age of 59, continued her quest to completely conquer the world this weekend with her first Best Actress win of the Oscar Precursor season. It seems Doubtful (hardy-har-har) that she'll be able to scale the heighths of a near precursor sweep --the NBR already raised their glasses to Anne Hathaway "l'chai-im!" But we'll see.
The Washington DC Film Critics Awards go like so...
Picture & Director: Slumdog Millionaire (which they hilariously refer to as an "underdog" in their press release. How long can that film and the media supporting it pretend it's the underdog? That's a sincere question. Answer it.)
Actress (& Ensemble): Doubt. (That's the second ensemble prize for Doubt. God, I hope this isn't going to be a super boring season. Come on other groups. Mix it up. There's lots of fine ensembles... I'll give you some examples: The Class, Rachel Getting Married, Milk, Happy-Go-Lucky, The Dark Knight, Synecdoche New York... see how easy that was. I didn't even need to reference any list)
Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Supporting Actress & Best Original Screenplay: Rosemarie DeWitt and Jenny Lumet both for Rachel Getting Married... hey, I interviewed them
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
their full list of awards here...
Thursday, June 21, 2007
AFI: The New Top 100 List
The Revised Greatest American Films List
I'm happy to see Blade Runner, Nashville, and Cabaret added. They all hold high rank in my own favorites listing. What say ye about this new lineup? (To be helpful I've added their previous AFI ranking to the right --big changes in bold)
1. "Citizen Kane" (1941) same
2. "The Godfather" (1972) 3
3. "Casablanca" (1942) 2
4. "Raging Bull" (1980) 24
5. "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) 10
6. "Gone With the Wind" (1939) 4
7. "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) 5
8. "Schindler's List" (1993) 9
9. "Vertigo" (1958) 61
10. "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) 6
11. "City Lights" (1931) 76
12. "The Searchers" (1956) 96
13. "Star Wars" (1977) 15
14. "Psycho" (1960) 18
15. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) 22
16. "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) 12
17. "The Graduate" (1967) 7
18. "The General" (1927) new
19. "On the Waterfront" (1954) 8
20. "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) 11
21. "Chinatown" (1974) 19
22. "Some Like It Hot" (1959) 14
23. "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) 21
24. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) 25
25. "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) 34
26. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) 29
27. "High Noon" (1952) 33
28. "All About Eve" (1950) 16
29. "Double Indemnity" (1944) 38
30. "Apocalypse Now" (1979) 28
31. "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) 23
32. "The Godfather, Part II" (1974) same
33. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) 20
34. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) 49
35. "Annie Hall" (1977) 31
36. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) 13
37. "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) same
38. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) 30
39. "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) 26
40. "The Sound of Music" (1965) 55
41. "King Kong" (1933) 43
42. "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) 27
43. "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) 36
44. "The Philadelphia Story" (1940) 51
45. "Shane" (1953) 69
46. "It Happened One Night" (1934) 35
47. "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) 45
48. "Rear Window" (1954) 42
49. "Intolerance" (1916) new
50. "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001) new
51. "West Side Story" (1961) 41
52. "Taxi Driver" (1976) 47
53. "The Deer Hunter" (1978) 79
54. "M*A*S*H" (1970) 56
55. "North by Northwest" (1959) 40
56. "Jaws" (1975) 48
57. "Rocky" (1976) 78
58. "The Gold Rush" (1925) 74
59. "Nashville" (1975) new
60. "Duck Soup" (1933) 85
61. "Sullivan's Travels" (1941) new
62. "American Graffiti" (1973) 77
63. "Cabaret" (1972) new
64. "Network" (1976) 66
65. "The African Queen" (1951) 17
66. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) 60
67. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) new
68. "Unforgiven" (1992) 98
69. "Tootsie" (1982) 62
70. "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) 46 (i still don't understand how this one qualifies as American)
71. "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) new
72. "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) new
73. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) 50
74. "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) 65
75. "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) new
76. "Forrest Gump" (1994) 71
77. "All the President's Men" (1976) new
78. "Modern Times" (1936) 81
79. "The Wild Bunch" (1969) 80
80. "The Apartment" (1960) 93
81. "Spartacus" (1960) new
82. "Sunrise" (1927) new
83. "Titanic" (1997) new
84. "Easy Rider" (1969) 88
85. "A Night at the Opera" (1935) new
86. "Platoon" (1986) 83
87. "12 Angry Men" (1957) new
88. "Bringing Up Baby" (1938) 97
89. "The Sixth Sense" (1999) new
90. "Swing Time" (1936) new
91. "Sophie's Choice" (1982) new
92. "Goodfellas" (1990) 94
93. "The French Connection" (1971) 70
94. "Pulp Fiction" (1994) 95
95. "The Last Picture Show" (1971) new
96. "Do the Right Thing" (1989) new
97. "Blade Runner" (1982) new
98. "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942) 100
99. "Toy Story" (1995) new
100. "Ben-Hur" (1959) 72
<---they're tearing him apart: James Dean lost BOTH his spots on the top 100. And Monty Clift too. Argh. The films that fell out were...Doctor Zhivago #39, North by Northwest #40, Birth of a Nation #44, From Here To Eternity #52, Amadeus #53, All Quiet on the Western Front #54, The Third Man #57, Fantasia #58, Rebel Without a Cause #59, Stagecoach #63, Close Encounters of the Third Kind #64, The Manchurian Candidate #67, An American in Paris #68, Wuthering Heights #73, Dances With Wolves #75, Giant #82, Fargo #84, Mutiny on the Bounty #86, Frankenstein #87, Patton #89, The Jazz Singer #90, My Fair Lady #91, A Place in the Sun #92, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner #99
weirdest entry: Sophie's Choice... almost never listed in any "best of", apart from Meryl Streep's astonishing performance, is in the top 100 --They collectively name it the 6th best of the entire 80s decade. Whaaaa?
lesson learned: nothing below the top 30 is ever safe. It all depends on who they poll and which way the winds blow.
I'm happy to see Blade Runner, Nashville, and Cabaret added. They all hold high rank in my own favorites listing. What say ye about this new lineup? (To be helpful I've added their previous AFI ranking to the right --big changes in bold)
1. "Citizen Kane" (1941) same
2. "The Godfather" (1972) 3
3. "Casablanca" (1942) 2
4. "Raging Bull" (1980) 24
5. "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) 10
6. "Gone With the Wind" (1939) 4
7. "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) 5
8. "Schindler's List" (1993) 9
9. "Vertigo" (1958) 61
10. "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) 6
11. "City Lights" (1931) 76
12. "The Searchers" (1956) 96
13. "Star Wars" (1977) 15
14. "Psycho" (1960) 18
15. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) 22
16. "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) 12
17. "The Graduate" (1967) 7
18. "The General" (1927) new
19. "On the Waterfront" (1954) 8
20. "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) 11
21. "Chinatown" (1974) 19
22. "Some Like It Hot" (1959) 14
23. "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) 21
24. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) 25
25. "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) 34
26. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) 29
27. "High Noon" (1952) 33
28. "All About Eve" (1950) 16
29. "Double Indemnity" (1944) 38
30. "Apocalypse Now" (1979) 28
31. "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) 23
32. "The Godfather, Part II" (1974) same
33. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) 20
34. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) 49
35. "Annie Hall" (1977) 31
36. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) 13
37. "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) same
38. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) 30
39. "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) 26
40. "The Sound of Music" (1965) 55
41. "King Kong" (1933) 43
42. "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) 27
43. "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) 36
44. "The Philadelphia Story" (1940) 51
45. "Shane" (1953) 69
46. "It Happened One Night" (1934) 35
47. "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) 45
48. "Rear Window" (1954) 42
49. "Intolerance" (1916) new
50. "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001) new
51. "West Side Story" (1961) 41
52. "Taxi Driver" (1976) 47
53. "The Deer Hunter" (1978) 79
54. "M*A*S*H" (1970) 56
55. "North by Northwest" (1959) 40
56. "Jaws" (1975) 48
57. "Rocky" (1976) 78
58. "The Gold Rush" (1925) 74
59. "Nashville" (1975) new
60. "Duck Soup" (1933) 85
61. "Sullivan's Travels" (1941) new
62. "American Graffiti" (1973) 77
63. "Cabaret" (1972) new
64. "Network" (1976) 66
65. "The African Queen" (1951) 17
66. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) 60
67. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) new
68. "Unforgiven" (1992) 98
69. "Tootsie" (1982) 62
70. "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) 46 (i still don't understand how this one qualifies as American)
71. "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) new
72. "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) new
73. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) 50
74. "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) 65
75. "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) new
76. "Forrest Gump" (1994) 71
77. "All the President's Men" (1976) new
78. "Modern Times" (1936) 81
79. "The Wild Bunch" (1969) 80
80. "The Apartment" (1960) 93
81. "Spartacus" (1960) new
82. "Sunrise" (1927) new
83. "Titanic" (1997) new
84. "Easy Rider" (1969) 88
85. "A Night at the Opera" (1935) new
86. "Platoon" (1986) 83
87. "12 Angry Men" (1957) new
88. "Bringing Up Baby" (1938) 97
89. "The Sixth Sense" (1999) new
90. "Swing Time" (1936) new
91. "Sophie's Choice" (1982) new
92. "Goodfellas" (1990) 94
93. "The French Connection" (1971) 70
94. "Pulp Fiction" (1994) 95
95. "The Last Picture Show" (1971) new
96. "Do the Right Thing" (1989) new
97. "Blade Runner" (1982) new
98. "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942) 100
99. "Toy Story" (1995) new
100. "Ben-Hur" (1959) 72
<---they're tearing him apart: James Dean lost BOTH his spots on the top 100. And Monty Clift too. Argh. The films that fell out were...Doctor Zhivago #39, North by Northwest #40, Birth of a Nation #44, From Here To Eternity #52, Amadeus #53, All Quiet on the Western Front #54, The Third Man #57, Fantasia #58, Rebel Without a Cause #59, Stagecoach #63, Close Encounters of the Third Kind #64, The Manchurian Candidate #67, An American in Paris #68, Wuthering Heights #73, Dances With Wolves #75, Giant #82, Fargo #84, Mutiny on the Bounty #86, Frankenstein #87, Patton #89, The Jazz Singer #90, My Fair Lady #91, A Place in the Sun #92, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner #99weirdest entry: Sophie's Choice... almost never listed in any "best of", apart from Meryl Streep's astonishing performance, is in the top 100 --They collectively name it the 6th best of the entire 80s decade. Whaaaa?
lesson learned: nothing below the top 30 is ever safe. It all depends on who they poll and which way the winds blow.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
King Kong is Everywhere
I was going to do a big heavily researched post about how King Kong is a crucial part of the collective consciousness. Not quite on the order of say, The Wizard of Oz, but pretty stable in its instant recognition factor. So... anyway. This post was going to survey recent pop culture references like, say...
plus throw in some visual referencing and whatnot. But then I came across this unbelievable ditty from (arguably) the greatest pop band of all time, ABBA. And I figured it doesn't get any better so I'll quit while I'm ahead. The song was recorded in 1973 predating even the failed 70s remake about the Big Ape's tragic adventure. So since I can't play music on my blog, I present you the lyrics to:
ABBA's "King Kong Song"
"Well I was looking at a movie on the TV last night
Then I had a very funny notion, yeah
I really had to write a song about it
And then I'm gonna sing it with my rock'n roll band
And I bet the people gonna like it, yeah
I know that everybody's gonna shout it
And what a dreadful mighty killer
A big black wide gorilla
Chorus:
(We do the) King Kong song, won't you sing along
Listen to the music and it couldn't go wrong
We do the Kong Kong song, gotta sing along
Can't you hear the beating of the monkey tom-tom
Listen to the rhythm of the King Kong song
Now we can make the jungle out of any old place
We can make gorillas out of people, yeah
Well who can tell a monkey from a monkey?
So people get together, gonna have a good time
Everybody listen to the music, yeah
'Cause what we're gonna sing is kinda funky
So let your arms hang down
And waddle all around
Like a dreadful mighty killer
A big black wide gorilla
[Repeat Chorus]
Like a dreadful mighty killer
A big black wide gorilla
[Repeat Chorus & Fade]
This choice track is available on ABBA's Waterloo LP.
plus throw in some visual referencing and whatnot. But then I came across this unbelievable ditty from (arguably) the greatest pop band of all time, ABBA. And I figured it doesn't get any better so I'll quit while I'm ahead. The song was recorded in 1973 predating even the failed 70s remake about the Big Ape's tragic adventure. So since I can't play music on my blog, I present you the lyrics to:
ABBA's "King Kong Song"
"Well I was looking at a movie on the TV last night
Then I had a very funny notion, yeah
I really had to write a song about it
And then I'm gonna sing it with my rock'n roll band
And I bet the people gonna like it, yeah
I know that everybody's gonna shout it
And what a dreadful mighty killerA big black wide gorilla
Chorus:
(We do the) King Kong song, won't you sing along
Listen to the music and it couldn't go wrong
We do the Kong Kong song, gotta sing along
Can't you hear the beating of the monkey tom-tom
Listen to the rhythm of the King Kong song
Now we can make the jungle out of any old place
We can make gorillas out of people, yeah
Well who can tell a monkey from a monkey?
So people get together, gonna have a good timeEverybody listen to the music, yeah
'Cause what we're gonna sing is kinda funky
So let your arms hang down
And waddle all around
Like a dreadful mighty killer
A big black wide gorilla
[Repeat Chorus]Like a dreadful mighty killer
A big black wide gorilla
[Repeat Chorus & Fade]
This choice track is available on ABBA's Waterloo LP.
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