Kong

I saw King Kong and must admit that Peter Jackson can do things on film that others simply can not. Richard Rodriguez is the only other film maker that can use digital imagery as seamlessly as Jackson. George Lucas wishes he was this good.

Kong was amazing on screen. The ape was a true functioning character in the film. The interactions between Kong and Naomi Watts were the best parts of the film. Kong struck me as someone who was tired. Tired of the sameness of his days. Tired of beating up on dinosaurs. Just tired. This is why he seemed to respond to Watts' Ann Barrett because she was different than the other women which he had eaten. She stood up to him and messed with his head a little. I saw an interview with Peter Jackson in which he described Kong and how they were making his face very expressive and how he would act through his eyes. This was great. What was also amazing was how much on Naomi Watts' acting was through her eyes. Not just her scenes with the ape but throughout the film, she said more in visually than verbally. It was an amazing performance.

My one criticism of the film is Jack Black. He is awful. Of course this is not new but it continues. Everytime a scene shifts to him it seems to break the flow of the film. Jackson is generally very good with casting, but IMHO he blew this one. Badly.