King Kong

Here's a question, if dogs are man's best friend, are Kongs woman's best friends? I fear we will never know the answer, this is because there is a distinct shortage of 25 foot gorillas throughout the world with which to work. We can hypothesize though, and although this is not the primary purpose of Peter Jackson's latest big screen extravaganza, it is one opportunity presented by this movie. Watching a movie requires something of viewers, something commonly called "willing suspension of disbelief" the only problem with this is that after so many duds of movies, and assaults on our intelligence we the viewers are not ready to suspend disbelief as easily as we once were. King Kong is no different, in fact it requires a huge suspension, but it is worth every bit of it, because once you can accept that it is a movie, made to thrill and excite the senses, you will let yourself be taken on one of the most grippingly tense, visually dazzling, and emotionally surprising cinematic adventures of recent years. The story is the same as that of the 1933 original, but with Jackson at the helm it is expanded into something much better. I'm not just talking about the special effects, but I could if I wanted; sure fifteen minutes is a lengthly stretch to watch King Kong juggle the brave heroine Ann Darrow whilst he wrestles three ferocious T-Rexes through the jungle down a cliff and across the swamps, but it looks so real, and it's so engaging that I loved every minute of it... four times in a row. More important to the story than the CGI however is the way in which Jackson makes you care about the characters, understand their motivations, feel their loses, and cringe at their continual peril. We cannot help being proud of Ann as she walks away from the sleazy burlesque cabaret, choosing rather to starve than compromise her morals, (Olivia Newton John take note!) and anyone with a caring bone in their body is heart broken at the end when once again something she loved is taken away from her. Andy Serkis, who also plays Lumpy the ship's cook, works his magic with the motion capture again, this time giving us a fantastically tree and mood swinging Kong who at first is curious, later inclined to show off, but finally totally protective of his prize, our heroine Ann. The supporting cast works just as hard as the two leads to bring this movie to life, especially noteworthy are Jack Black as the obsessive but thoughtless film maker with an agenda, and Adrian Brody as the writer smitten with Ann but to nervous to do more than write a play for her. I cannot completely express my love for this movie, because I love so many things about it, the bottom line is that it does what a movie ought to do, completely and gloriously. It's almost worth all the disappointments to be able to ever so rarely be thrilled and astounded by a movie so adventurous and sensational as King Kong. I loved Star Wars Episode III, Narnia, Pride and Prejudice, and so forth. 2005 was a great year at the movies, but I can seriously say that none of them gave me so immensely entertaining, and marvelously fulfilling a time at the theater as this one here, all that to say and my point really is that in my opinion the best movie of 2005 was none other than King Kong

A

Millions

One of the best things about Millions is that it sounds so cliche, but once you begin, it takes you through a story so original, so full of childlike joy, that you finish it feeling like you've learned something new and wonderful, or at least remembered how it feels to do something good for no other reason than to help those in need. I won't go into plot, because like I said before, the expectation of a cliche movie makes it so much better, so suffice it to say that two boys recently having moved into a new house, and still dealing with the death of their mother, come across a duffel bag stuffed with money, and must sort out what to do with it before the Great Britain Euro is enacted, and their grand fortune becomes worthless. Damien Cunningham is the hero of this story, and like all Danny Boyle movies, the hero teaches us about the condition of man in one way or another. Damien learns, and shows us, how easily greed can take hold of the people he trusts the most, and how the presence of a large sum of money can turn life upside down. All Damien wants to do with the money is help the poor, he is encouraged by the saints of the catholic church (all of whom he knows by names and dates) and he continually tries to do good with what he's given. The unfortunate thing for Damien is that no on else seems to share his want to do good, no one will commend him for his selflessness, he has no advocate, and he becomes increasingly bothered by the money as he realizes that it's more of a hindrance than a help. I will say no more than to say that this is truly one of the best movies of 2005, and I recommend it as highly as I can, it is one of the most heartfelt and uplifting movies I have ever seen. See it, and I'm talking absolutely as soon as possible, you won't be disappointed.

A

The New World

For the record, I had no intention of seeing this movie until a week ago, and I was only convinced to see it because other reviewers were being so positive. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not at all what I'd expected, but neither was it what I would have expected to find if I didn't find what I expected. I realize this probably makes no sense, but let me try to explain. I thought it would be a modernized John Smith Pocahontas story that would be dripping with ridiculous scripting and poor acting. When I started to realize that it wasn't going to be this, I expected pretty much the same story, but with good scripting and good acting. What this movie wound up being was something of a cross between an Indian documentary, a nature documentary, and a very reserved love triangle but where none of the three involved where sleazy jerks. The scenery is fantastic if you're into running water, calm forests, and unkempt America. As far as the acting goes, there was hardly a need on the settlers' parts because there was so little dialogue. The Indians on the other hand had to sell the idea of having never seen the modern ways of the settlers, and for the most part they did. The thing that kept this from becoming a great epic romance is the fact that we never really get involved in the characters themselves, or at least I didn't, and when we don't really care for them, we don't really care who ends up together. There are moments when our hearts go out for a particular person with their troubles, but while it's a beautiful looking film, it never really lifts itself above historian's eye candy.

B

Crash

There's not a lot to say about this movie that hasn't already been said like a hundred times. It is pretty raw in its portrayal of racial tensions and the way they make people of all ethnic backgrounds think and respond to life. I love movies with multiple smaller stories that are connected into the final film. That is I love them when they work, fortunately for us the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, or however that little bit goes. What I mean to say is that all the little painful moments add up to a realization that no one is perfect, and more often than not there's a whole lot more to the story than meets the eye. I won't say I loved Crash, but there were elements that I really admired, I predict that we have not heard the last of Paul Haggis, and this is a promising thing.

A-