DECEMBER 2005 MOVIE VIEWING #784 - #788

31 Saturday
King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese 1983) 2.5 / 5
[DVD] #788
A change of pace for Scorsese, the very dark comedy about one man's obsession to fit into society and become the comedian he has dreamed of. With Robert De Niro as the self absorbed, unrelenting comedian, stalking, and eventually kidnapping Jerry Lewis.
A nice film indeed, with De Niro able to project both sympathy and anger in his role. Jerry Lewis is very fine as the studio's number 1 comedian maintaining manners whilst De Niro pressures him often. A fine insight into the world of celebrity and infamy.

Miss Congeniality 2 (Joh n Pasquin 2005) 2/5
[DVD] #787
Not as enjoyable as the first film, still this sequel manages to throw up some enjoyable bright scenes and interesting cameos. Whilst Bullock fits into this character extremley well, it is disappointing not seeing more of William Shatner in his role as Beauty Pageant MC.

I felt the film had too many sub plots happening, the relationship between Bullock's character and Regina King's character ( Fuller, the bodyguard), the fact that Bullock's love life is non existent anymore, the relationship with the hierachy at the FBI and the impact she has on females of all ages as a role model. As a result it was difficult to complete all these plots, along with the major kidnapping plot (which was weak), by the film's end.

14 Wednesday
King Kong ( Peter Jackson 2005) 2.5/5
[Highpoint Cinema]#786
Over long remake of the original 1933 horror film by the same name. Peter Jackson has made a King Kong mistake in several aspects of this film. Firstly, the film is far too long, divided into three clear sections, the opening section needs to be tighter to segue into the second acts.

In the second act- Jackson has some nice moments, the appearance of Kong is a great special effect and Naomi Watts is quite convincing, but it is the disappointing special effects with the charging Brontosaurus that left a bad taste in my mouth- this from a man who has provided us with flawless special effects before! There is obvious uses of blue screen and CGI and it does ruin the moment in the second act.

The casting of Jack Black and Adrien Brody are wrong, with Black's slightly humorous take completely out of fashion with the film. Infact the majority of his lines are poorly conceived and several jokes (not needed anyway) fall flat.

I came away from this film underwhelmed, now matter how big that damn monster was.

9 December
Alfie (Charles Shyer 2004) 4/5
[DVD] #785
Enjoyable witty drama comedy about a handsome womaniser who tries to understand and learn from his mistake. Jude Law is absolutely perfect as Alfie, the man who wants to be with every woman he encounters. This film is such a smash, great costume, perfect script and ideal casting all around. Highly recommended

4 Sunday
Brothers Grimm (Terry Gilliam 2005) 2/5
[Highpoint Cinema 5 ] #784
Intelligent idea for a film, following the lives of the Grimm Brothers as they encounter a real life fairytale curse. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are the Brothers Grimm, with Ledger the standout performer. But the film becomes too confusing, and fairytale characters blend into each other and it all becomes a bit of a mess at the end, which is a shame as the idea and the first half of the film was good.