Monday Notes

Well, I finished all of Battlestar Galactica: Season One yesterday (including commentaries and extras, of course) and it was great. Perfect timing, because Season Two street dates tomorrow. (Guess what's at the top of my Netflix queue?) It was great because (like Dawn, Shaft, and Manchurian) it was both an homage and a remake (they called it a "re-imagining") done by people who loved the original -- unlike certain remakes I could mention that seem to be done just because a studio owns the rights to some brand name and a bunch of characters and didn't have anything better to do. Here are David Anson's comments on the remake phenomenon.

Speaking of lovingly crafted remakes, my ♥GF♥ and I went and saw Peter Jackson's King Kong last night. It was awesome! Jackson is a devoted Kong fanatic, as evidenced by his loving recreation of the lost Spider Pit Scene. (More lost/censored Kong info here.) We watched the original afterwards (actually, she watched it all, I watched parts and offered comments). Things to look for, large and small, to compare and contrast between '33 and '05:

1. Roger Ebert observes that the Jack Black portrayal of Carl Denham is modeled on Orson Welles, and I agree.
2. They must not have had Stockholm Syndrome back in 1933.
3. It's impossible to see military planes on a sudden, unforseen, crucial mission over New York's skyline without thinking about having at least a brief flashback to the emotions you felt watching you-know-what unfold.
4. The similarity of the billboards/neon signs in Times Square.
5. The self-referential comment in Jackson's version about Denham "killing off the first mate."
6. The yellow taxicabs.
7. The hats the sailors wear on Skull Island.

Years ago I was at a screening / discussion of the original Kong film, and in the discussion afterwards, they started talking about Kong as Christ-figure. This prompted me to think of the best line I've never used (until now). I should have said, "Well, Kong was killed by Army pilots..." (wait a beat) "...and Christ was killed by Pilate's Army."

How did it come to be that Kong was finally felled by the biplanes? (I know, I know, 'twas Beauty, etc. -- Beauty didn't have any machine guns, though.) It's a safe bet that it's because producer Merian C. Cooper was a combat pilot himself, both before and after he made the 1933 King Kong. I might have to check out this Cooper biography by Mark Vaz sometime soon, and also see if I can catch this Turner Classic Movies documentary.