King Kong 1932 on dvd nov 22

Yi Fong Yu · November 15th, 2005, 11:35 PM

but mike... still photography running@24 stills a second is fake by itself. don't you get it, film is one big special effect in of itself! =). they already dealt with this in the late 19th century.

Michael Gibbons · November 16th, 2005, 09:20 AM

Actually Yi, that's more or less my exact point! :) it all comes down to the flavor of fake that you prefer, kind of like ice cream. Person a likes choclate(CGI) person b likes vanilla (stop- motion and models) one isn't any more valid, or real than the other; it really is just a matter of taste. I love vanilla, especially the bryers with the little flecks of vanilla beans in it.
except I've become lactose intolerant :/ and can no longer eat it.

We'll be having an old fashined King Kong thanksgiving at my house this year- just like when I was a kid in NY.

Meryem Ersoz · November 18th, 2005, 12:07 AM

now here is something you can really sink your fangs into!

http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,,107433|107435||,00.html

better than the original king kong, better than any remake, TCM is releasing a film bio of Merion Cooper, the director of Kong, by Kevin Brownlow, who is a terrific scholar/film historian/filmmaker.

Cooper had a very dashing, adventurous life, and he is pretty much my idol, not for King Kong, but for his lesser-known documentaries. Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life is just about my favorite. film. ever.

must see! must see!

Yi Fong Yu · November 18th, 2005, 03:19 PM

meryem,

i seen that 1925 silent documentary, but it seemed so "staged", that's one of the difficulties of the earliest documentaries, staging vs. actualities. on the other hand, the landscape is absolutely awesome. it was like Lawrence of Arabia only a few more years back!

if you liked that, check out nanook of the north. imho it's a superior documentary from that era from robert flaherty.

Meryem Ersoz · November 18th, 2005, 05:19 PM

yi, what about it seemed staged to you? its apparent authenticity is actually what is most appealing about it.

nanook is a great film, too, but i don't know whether it is better or not. pretty much any of those filmmakers who traveled into the pre-modern world lugging moutains of filmmaking equipment have my respect.

but for what it's worth, nanook definitely falls into the stagey category, from the very opening sequence, when nanook and his entire family come tumbling out of his tiny kayak like so many shriners from a clown car. how many wives does that guy actually have, anyway??

i prefer flaherty's "man of aran" to nanook. his shot composition was more highly developed in his later work. almost murnau-esque. the imagery in "man of aran" is far more stark and frightening than in nanook. but it is very staged as well. flaherty is known for exploiting the locals, sending the native folk into dangerous situations (giant ocean swells in tiny canoes, for instance), so that he could get good footage. he talked the island locals into spearing a huge basking shark for the benefit of his cameras, a supposed old local custom which had been dead for decades until he resurrected it for the sheer spectacle. his reputation was as a bully and a taskmaster. he had a great eye, though, no doubt about it.

meanwhile, everything in the historical record indicates that cooper and co. completed this trek, which is almost identical to the nomadic trek by the very same bakhtiari tribe documented in the 1976 film, people of the wind. according to this iranian reviewer, these days, modern technology has to some extent infiltrated the nomadic way of life in contemporary iran, but basically the nomads is still the nomads.

www.iranian.com/Travelers/2003/January/Migrate

shameless plug: if anyone wants to know more about this film, take a peek at my first-ever podcast, online since yesterday, where i do a more thorough review of Grass (and two other adventure films, as well). i already posted this once in "dv for the masses," looking for some feedback, but it seems to fit this thread even better, perhaps, since there is apparently a renewed interest in Cooper's work. check it out: http://www.ourmedia.org/node/101497

Yi Fong Yu · November 18th, 2005, 05:28 PM

i guess that's just my prejudice and bias =). but i can't really talk about it specifically because it can easily dive right into a religio-political discussion. documentaries in general, imho, have always seemed stagey compared to fiction. ironically, the fictions tap into larger truths than documentaries. i generally prefer fiction.

my fav r. flaherty is still both tabu and the lousiana story. cinematically, both are very well constructed and he isn't afraid to share his own opinion of reality. his point of view, etc. that's what great documentaries should be... not objective. all film should be subjective. and take a really strong subjective point of view at that. otherwise (imho) it doesn't warrant watching.

that's why i didn't like cooper&shoedsack or most documentaries who vye after 'the objective truth' cause there ain't such thing. hence why i didn't like grass or chang, etc.

Justin Morgan · November 20th, 2005, 08:09 AM

Here's an article some may be interested in (esp stop-motion fans).

Stop motion genius Ray Harryhausen, the man who inspired Peter Jackson to make movies, talks to William Shaw about working with Kong's original animator, and the rise and rise of CGI...

The origin of the species

Michael Gibbons · November 23rd, 2005, 12:23 PM

Got the delux set last night. It's really nice.

Boyd Ostroff · November 23rd, 2005, 02:00 PM

Hey, did anyone else catch the Turner Classic Movies special on Merian C. Cooper (King Kong producer/director) last night "I'm King Kong"? Fascinating guy, I had no idea. He was an aviator, explorer, documentarian, head of production, general, director, author... He also produced/edited/wrote "This is Cinerama." Wow. They're running this again on December 13 and 17.

Michael Gibbons · November 28th, 2005, 01:09 PM

Boyd, I think that Doc is part of the set I got. I haven't watched it yet though.
As for the dvd transfer of kong; well it looks pretty good. There are a few scenes, especially towards the beginning, that have a bit of "flicker" but for the most part it looks very, very good- especially the Kong sequences on Skull Island.
One interesting feature is included in the making of documentary. Peter Jackson and his weta team recreated the props and sets from the original kong in order to figure out how it was put together. Very interesting if you like or have an interest in stop motion. They also shot a version of the legendary missing "spider sequence" which they did a pretty good job on- although certain elements give it a way as a product of the 21st century.

Watched "Son of Kong" animation is good, but all crammed into the last 20 minutes of the movie. Overall the film is a bit tiresome- and strange- it seems to be improving towards the end, but then it just explodes into senseless chaos and is over. :/ .

I'm saving "Mighty Joe Young" for the coming weekend.

November 15th, 2005, 11:35 PM	#16
Yi Fong Yu Trustee Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vulcan Posts: 1,564	but mike... still photography running@24 stills a second is fake by itself. don't you get it, film is one big special effect in of itself! =). they already dealt with this in the late 19th century. __________________ bow wow wow

November 16th, 2005, 09:20 AM	#17
Michael Gibbons Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Loveland, Colorado, USA Posts: 292	Yes! Actually Yi, that's more or less my exact point! :) it all comes down to the flavor of fake that you prefer, kind of like ice cream. Person a likes choclate(CGI) person b likes vanilla (stop- motion and models) one isn't any more valid, or real than the other; it really is just a matter of taste. I love vanilla, especially the bryers with the little flecks of vanilla beans in it. except I've become lactose intolerant :/ and can no longer eat it. We'll be having an old fashined King Kong thanksgiving at my house this year- just like when I was a kid in NY. __________________ " When some wild-eyed, eight foot tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head against a bar room wall, and looks you crooked in the eye, and he asks you if you've payed your dues, well, you just stare that big suker right back in the eye, and you remember what old Jack Burton always says at a time like that, 'Have you paid your dues, Jack? Yes sir, the check is in the mail."

November 18th, 2005, 12:07 AM	#18
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	New film bio about Kong's creator! i'm so excited.... now here is something you can really sink your fangs into! http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,,107433\|107435\|\|,00.html better than the original king kong, better than any remake, TCM is releasing a film bio of Merion Cooper, the director of Kong, by Kevin Brownlow, who is a terrific scholar/film historian/filmmaker. Cooper had a very dashing, adventurous life, and he is pretty much my idol, not for King Kong, but for his lesser-known documentaries. Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life is just about my favorite. film. ever. must see! must see!

November 18th, 2005, 03:19 PM	#19
Yi Fong Yu Trustee Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vulcan Posts: 1,564	meryem, i seen that 1925 silent documentary, but it seemed so "staged", that's one of the difficulties of the earliest documentaries, staging vs. actualities. on the other hand, the landscape is absolutely awesome. it was like Lawrence of Arabia only a few more years back! if you liked that, check out nanook of the north. imho it's a superior documentary from that era from robert flaherty. __________________ bow wow wow

November 18th, 2005, 05:28 PM	#21
Yi Fong Yu Trustee Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vulcan Posts: 1,564	i guess that's just my prejudice and bias =). but i can't really talk about it specifically because it can easily dive right into a religio-political discussion. documentaries in general, imho, have always seemed stagey compared to fiction. ironically, the fictions tap into larger truths than documentaries. i generally prefer fiction. my fav r. flaherty is still both tabu and the lousiana story. cinematically, both are very well constructed and he isn't afraid to share his own opinion of reality. his point of view, etc. that's what great documentaries should be... not objective. all film should be subjective. and take a really strong subjective point of view at that. otherwise (imho) it doesn't warrant watching. that's why i didn't like cooper&shoedsack or most documentaries who vye after 'the objective truth' cause there ain't such thing. hence why i didn't like grass or chang, etc. __________________ bow wow wow

November 18th, 2005, 05:19 PM	#20
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	yi, what about it seemed staged to you? its apparent authenticity is actually what is most appealing about it. nanook is a great film, too, but i don't know whether it is better or not. pretty much any of those filmmakers who traveled into the pre-modern world lugging moutains of filmmaking equipment have my respect. but for what it's worth, nanook definitely falls into the stagey category, from the very opening sequence, when nanook and his entire family come tumbling out of his tiny kayak like so many shriners from a clown car. how many wives does that guy actually have, anyway?? i prefer flaherty's "man of aran" to nanook. his shot composition was more highly developed in his later work. almost murnau-esque. the imagery in "man of aran" is far more stark and frightening than in nanook. but it is very staged as well. flaherty is known for exploiting the locals, sending the native folk into dangerous situations (giant ocean swells in tiny canoes, for instance), so that he could get good footage. he talked the island locals into spearing a huge basking shark for the benefit of his cameras, a supposed old local custom which had been dead for decades until he resurrected it for the sheer spectacle. his reputation was as a bully and a taskmaster. he had a great eye, though, no doubt about it. meanwhile, everything in the historical record indicates that cooper and co. completed this trek, which is almost identical to the nomadic trek by the very same bakhtiari tribe documented in the 1976 film, people of the wind. according to this iranian reviewer, these days, modern technology has to some extent infiltrated the nomadic way of life in contemporary iran, but basically the nomads is still the nomads. www.iranian.com/Travelers/2003/January/Migrate shameless plug: if anyone wants to know more about this film, take a peek at my first-ever podcast, online since yesterday, where i do a more thorough review of Grass (and two other adventure films, as well). i already posted this once in "dv for the masses," looking for some feedback, but it seems to fit this thread even better, perhaps, since there is apparently a renewed interest in Cooper's work. check it out: http://www.ourmedia.org/node/101497

November 20th, 2005, 08:09 AM	#22
Justin Morgan Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: London Posts: 189	Here's an article some may be interested in (esp stop-motion fans). Stop motion genius Ray Harryhausen, the man who inspired Peter Jackson to make movies, talks to William Shaw about working with Kong's original animator, and the rise and rise of CGI... The origin of the species

November 23rd, 2005, 12:23 PM	#23
Michael Gibbons Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Loveland, Colorado, USA Posts: 292	Got the delux set last night. It's really nice. __________________ " When some wild-eyed, eight foot tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head against a bar room wall, and looks you crooked in the eye, and he asks you if you've payed your dues, well, you just stare that big suker right back in the eye, and you remember what old Jack Burton always says at a time like that, 'Have you paid your dues, Jack? Yes sir, the check is in the mail."

November 23rd, 2005, 02:00 PM	#24
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I'm King Kong Hey, did anyone else catch the Turner Classic Movies special on Merian C. Cooper (King Kong producer/director) last night "I'm King Kong"? Fascinating guy, I had no idea. He was an aviator, explorer, documentarian, head of production, general, director, author... He also produced/edited/wrote "This is Cinerama." Wow. They're running this again on December 13 and 17.

November 28th, 2005, 01:09 PM	#25
Michael Gibbons Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Loveland, Colorado, USA Posts: 292	Boyd, I think that Doc is part of the set I got. I haven't watched it yet though. As for the dvd transfer of kong; well it looks pretty good. There are a few scenes, especially towards the beginning, that have a bit of "flicker" but for the most part it looks very, very good- especially the Kong sequences on Skull Island. One interesting feature is included in the making of documentary. Peter Jackson and his weta team recreated the props and sets from the original kong in order to figure out how it was put together. Very interesting if you like or have an interest in stop motion. They also shot a version of the legendary missing "spider sequence" which they did a pretty good job on- although certain elements give it a way as a product of the 21st century. Watched "Son of Kong" animation is good, but all crammed into the last 20 minutes of the movie. Overall the film is a bit tiresome- and strange- it seems to be improving towards the end, but then it just explodes into senseless chaos and is over. :/ . I'm saving "Mighty Joe Young" for the coming weekend. __________________ " When some wild-eyed, eight foot tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head against a bar room wall, and looks you crooked in the eye, and he asks you if you've payed your dues, well, you just stare that big suker right back in the eye, and you remember what old Jack Burton always says at a time like that, 'Have you paid your dues, Jack? Yes sir, the check is in the mail."