Eye Candy #320 - "King Kong" (2005)

King Kong:  I've been a fan of Peter Jackson since before the LOTR trilogy came out, and I've always enjoyed his appreciation for classic cinema (including his mockumentary "Forgotten Silver", that was so convincing some audiences tried to track down more of the fictitious director it featured), this is the third telling of "King Kong" since the 30's, it's the "gorilla meets girl" story to end all "gorilla meets girl" stories: On the heretofore unexplored Skull Island, a giant gorilla falls for the blond damsel, and then we've got the other humans and monsters trying to save her and/or kill her. Heavily investing in CGI and using Andy Serkis as the live model, Jackson makes Kong believable and sympathetic. The relationship between Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and Kong takes time to develop to make it realistic. The acting from the supporting players including Adrien Brody is solid. The special effects are quite simply some of the best committed to film outside of the sci-fi genre. The climactic Empire State Building scene actually induced vertigo in me when I saw it in the theaters (not so much on TV). The film is spooky, scary, touching, and funny. The only real weaknesses - Jack Black as showman Carl Denham (he seems like a caricature) and the length (3 hours). Woodchuck sez, "Me likey".