my first screening in our holiday movie viewing was "king kong". i really didn't know what to expect before watching it, apart from, you know, a 60-foot hairy ape growling his way through a disturbed existence. i have never watched the previous incarnations of the original 1930s adventure flick, though i trust peter jackson to handle me in the same wide-eyed feeling as he did in the LOTR saga...

well, after uncovering it, i guess it was good entertainment. i like it that i was able to be transported to yet another world, filled with its mystery, suspense, and surprises along the way. kong was unbelievable... how emotional can he get! (hahaha...) he can be fierce, dramatic, funny and romantic! he just has to fall to ann darrow (naomi watts)... aren't there any females (dinosaurs, cannibals, apes?) in the island? haha. i like the interaction between the black man and the teenager (he's a little cute)... and another question, how do they get to transport an unconscious kong from the ship to the theater without wreaking havoc? anyways, it's funny that "the pianist" (one of my fave movies) guys got a reunion of sorts here, adrien brody (as jack driscoll) and thomas kretschmann (as the captain)... and that colin hanks (as preston) actually bears a striking resemblance to daddy tom hanks as i've just noticed in this picture (he on the right)... i wasn't able to spot it earlier because his glasses were distracting me. and oh yes, if i hadn't seen the caption of this pic, i wouldn't have known that andy serkis actually acted without the kong suit -- he was the one-eyed cook! (on the left side of pic) ... pleasant surprise.

...and lastly, what's most amazing to me is that my favorite tv guy from ages ago starred in this movie! kyle chandler, who played gary hobson in tv's "early edition" (the guy who gets tomorrow's newspaper today and saves lives), is here as the crap actor bruce baxter. i thought i was never going to see him again! i used to watch "early edition" religiously as i remember, and found him handsome (hahaha)... i wondered if he was ever going to have a big break... so maybe this was it! at first i didn't notice him as the gary guy (when he made his appearance in the cabin), but soon after his expressions gave way (such as this) and it hit me! it was a joy to see him back. :)

so, i must say i enjoyed watching "king kong" and i give it a B+.

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