King Kong (2005)

Peter Jackson is most well-know for Directing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He has always been a fan of Kong ever since he was 9 years old. Most of his movies involve some sort of ground-breaking effects; Kong was the first to tamper with such things. Also, his idea of putting his own spin on such an all time great was seen as an honour and privilege. Whether or not the handsome $20 million (highest amount ever paid to a Hollywood director) paid to Peter to direct the film had any influence on his invitation to re-create a classic…who knows. The film was produced by Big Primate Pictures, WingNut Films (Peter Jackson’s own company) and MFPV Films. These three companies themselves aren’t too much to brag about. It was the production of Universal that backed it up, with it being one of the top movie companies in the world and top directors who wouldn’t give this a second glance?

Peter originally stated that the script would change slightly from the previous instalments of Kong; he would create a more comedic slant similar to that of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’. This soon changed as Universal disagreed with this idea; Peter soon took a more ‘mature’ turn on it. With such a vast budget of $200 million, in comparison with a measly $700,000 of the 1933 original, you would straight away think this is a dire-hit.Although, with such advances in society generally, there were so many things Peter had to take into account: the independence of women, more in-depth narrative, and people now more familiar with ‘foreigners’ etc. He followed this up by letting a good 70 minutes until the action started in order to introduce characters and let the audience get to know them better. Fay Wray becomes a more independent female and also grows an affection towards Kong, which she doesn’t do in the originally. Kong himself was the major focus. Peter wanted him to seem less human, to do this the team spent time in Rwanda to study gorillas and how they move, act and behave. It was Andy Serkis (the all too well-known Golem from LOTR) who was given the task of putting on various suits to act like Kong. All of this was done with such advanced CGI suit technology that it would have been unthinkable even 10 years ago.

Advertisement first began at the end of June 2005, showing its first teaser trailer on the official Volkswagen website. Soon adverts were put onto ‘War of the Worlds’ throughout many countries. Peter Jackson himself began to publish production diaries which he would hope his fellow Lord of the Rings fans would read and spread the word of Kong! Many of his diaries had in-depth documentaries that all proved to be quite successful and interesting. ‘The Island of the Skull’ was created (a book version of Kong), for the more ‘interactive’ fans a video game was released of the film. This obviously increased popularity for the younger, gaming generation. After these unique ways of advertising the obvious online ads, poster in bush shelters and on buses all started to appear. All of this was met with $50 million in King Kong’s opening weekend. Initially it wasn’t particularly successful, but it began to creep up in popularity and hit $200 million putting it in the top five grossing films 2005. Eventually it reached $500 million, making Universals 4th highest grossing film.

King Kong (1933)

The idea of King Kong grew from the wildlife documentaries that both Cooper and Schoedsack had previously worked on. Cooper also says he once dreamt of his movie, where a massive gorilla attacked New York. Schoedsack had previously worked on dinosaur pictures such as ‘The Lost World’ which gave him the inspiration for such a huge feat as a film with a giant ape. How they were going to go about filming a picture with a gigantic 50 foot ape in was a tricky one. It was Willis O’Brien’s previous success with stop motion in ‘The Lost World’ that caught Cooper’s eye. After informing O’Brien of his idea they went to RKO where they showed previous stop motion animations – it was immediately liked as many of the staff were amazed as to what may come of this creation. Edgar Wallace was soon added to the strong team as the initial Scriptwriter for the film. Straight away work began on Kong himself: mechanisms, skins and paws were created all prior to script writing. Detailed research into Gorilla skeletons started to ensure the precision of the 18-inch Kong doll. Their funds were minimal which is why they carried on filming Kong 2 straight after the first Kong release. The set was also open to the filming of ‘Most Dangerous Game’ adding further money the companies.

When it came to initial acting it was very challenging for everyone as Kong himself was a ‘rear-projection’ which was also a very new technique – with such aspiration to succeed with these new techniques RKO knew they were onto something with Kong. O’Brien experimented with condoms during his filming, but not used as intended; instead he used them to experiment with different colour filters and see the after affects. From this he found that red objects projected through a red filter simply disappeared, whereas through a blue filter they would jump out at the audience. Both Schoedsack and Cooper were wrestlers in their youth, so they would act out the scene where Kong battles a dinosaur beforehand. Clever techniques such as playing a Lion and Tiger’s roar backwards was what created King Kong’s famous roar. To save money a lot of the set was re-used from old films. The native village huts were left over from ‘Bird of Paradise’ and the Great Wall was part of the Temple of Jerusalem used in ‘The King of Kings’. The scene in which King Kong tears apart an elevated train is a little aspect Cooper added, due to when he was a child he would constantly be disturbed by them at night. The reason for the dinosaur in the fight scene seeming quite snake-like is due to RKO having to cut cost because armatures were expensive – so they decided to remove the dinosaurs back legs. Jungle sets were the same used in ‘Hounds of Zaroff’ which were all shot indoors at Culver Studios. Although some of the shots were taken outdoors in Bronson Canyon. When the shots weren’t literally taken in New York, they were simply models, due to the fact that King Kong was a model they were able to use that to affect. For example: when Kong climbs the Empire State building that is simply all a model.

Apart from RKO Radio: Biografernas Filmdepot, Janus Films, Kino International Cine Vog Films S. A., Mondial, Union Afrique Films, and Compagnie Universelle Cinematographique were the other distributors. The huge variety of distribution over many countries helped increase King Kong’s popularity. King Kong had very little advertisement other than posters. It was hearsay that helped it succeed. It was cleverly shown on the 3 most popular theatres in New York simultaneously (never done before), this on its own aroused suspicion as to its importance. As audiences watched they were shocked by the horror of Kong, but amazed by the special effects and techniques that had never been seen before. Soon word spread about the amazing Kong and it soon became a phenomena – a bench mark in film making history.

Nicolas Cage - My researched biography

Nicolas had a lot to live up to as his father, August Coppola, was a professor of comparative literature; his mother, Joy Vogelsang, was a well-known dancer and choreographer. Furthermore his aunt was Talia Shire, star of ‘Rocky’ (as Adrian Pennino) and ‘The Godfather’ series. His uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, was the most well-know of all his family and partly the reason for Nick’s success; he is the legendary director of ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’.

He would often spend his summers in San Francisco with his uncle and cousins (Roman and Sofia) which could have explained his growth as an actor being around such an iconic director. Although Nick hadn’t always wanted to be an actor, his mother’s natural idiosyncratic look on life and struggle as a depressive had moulded his view on life. This could explain his eccentric, yet skilfully calm, personality that is portrayed in many of his characters.

At the age of 12 his parents divorced and he lived with his dad in San Francisco who schooled him in arts, literature, music and film. The true film he says to have ‘kick started’ him into his film career was John Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’. It was James Dean’s rebellious role that made it connect for Nick.

Funnily enough one of Nick’s first major roles in ‘Valley Girl’ shows his performance as very similar to James’s rebel style. After this epiphany Nic followed his father’s wishes and enrolled as the Young Conservatory in San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre. Despite only lasting one summer he still went on to pursue his future acting career.

Nick continued on studying theatre at Beverley Hills High whilst also starring in the TV show ‘Best of Times’. Due to his connections he got hold of a small part in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ (1982) where he was first cast as Nicolas Coppola. Although he didn’t like the strings attached with the family name, people were always relating him to his family members; Nick felt he wanted to be somebody and have his own persona. So he decided to change his name to Nicolas Cage, he had thought of the idea from the black comic book hero Luke Cage thanks to his vast comic book collection. After his transformation Nick went on to help his uncle with further projects such as ‘Rumble Fish’ (1983) in which he helped out the actors with lines and auditions. His uncle was so impressed that he was offered the role of ‘Smokey’ in the film.

Star Trek (2009) - Reasons for Success

One of the major reasons for the success of this impressive sci-fi blockbuster was due to its production through Paramount; therefore taken seriously. Well known stars such as Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg played very iconic character in Star Trek – intriguing fans to watch their performance. Its spring/summer release was a good season for audiences due to the brighter weather and the fact that more people generally go out during these seasons.

There are many relations to reality within the film, such as Nokia and Budweiser. Not only do the companies pay for their product placement, but audiences find connection towards these items in a modern materialistic fashion. Other aspects that the audience can relate to are the characters that are based around a ‘work force’ even in its futuristic style. Older audiences will see definite relations from this compared to their own work place; there’s always the nagging one that takes control (Spock) and the funny one that everyone gets on with (Scotty). Positive reviews and many awards reassure the few people who are unsure of the movie. The fact it is a 12 certificate allows almost all ages to watch and loosens restrictions unlike 15’s and 18’s, this increases audience almost tenfold due to the fact that a high percentage of cinema goers are within their teens. Star Trek accumulated 12 awards through 45 nominations. If no one had been that bothered about seeing it then the high publicity of its numerous awards would sway them to watch it.

Despite the movie being a sci-fi genre there are also aspects of comedy and romance which provide entertainment for all audiences. The obvious aspects of relation towards the classics keep the old fans interested; big bangs, comedy and introduction to characters keep newbies happy. The romance and empowering of women throughout is one for the women. The film was fortunate to have one of the largest preformed fan bases – Trekkies – who would watch it to see how well it was done in relation to the classics. The change of direction in the narrative appealed to audiences who may have found Star Trek dull and boring before. Yet the sci-fi action has a surreal atmosphere which acts as escapism and lets the mind wonder: asking ‘what if?’

Merchandise was another key reason for the films huge success, releasing action figures and various day-to-day items such as lunch boxes and bags with the all too recognisable Star Trek crest. Previous Star Trek merchandise was also bought due to the uncovering of the almost forgotten craze.

Overall Star Trek was a majorly successful film due to its diversity and huge fan base. It certainly ticked many boxes for genre.

The Worst Film of All Time?

The Human Centipede

Where do I start? Well first thing to say is that despite this being an awful film, you need to see it! It's more an experience than anything. The Human Centipede is a horror film where a mad scientist/surgeon has a dream of wanting to create the very first tri-human (human centipede). How does that work I hear you ask? Well it involves removing parts of the rectum and jaw in order to sew one of the very unfortunate victims to the other. The story consists of him 'obtaining' two, young, tourist girls. Soon he obtains another victim and the horrible story begins. When I say 'story', I mean: watch the 'Human Centipede' eat, go to the toilet and perform many tricks for the surgeon - disgusting and funny at the same time. That’s it really (apart from the horrific acting). Nonetheless it is a film you have to witness sometime in your life.

The Best Film of All Time?

The Shawshank Redemption

A film that takes the audience on a trip to ‘epiphany central’. The Shawshank Redemption is a timeless film focusing on the life of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), imprisoned for the murder of his wife and her lover. His perilous journey through the prison system is met with many obstacles such as death, fraud, rape and many more. Although, he does learn a lot on his journey, things that people don't often think about, things that are too often given an answer to without true thought. On his way Andy makes a very important friend called 'Red' (Morgan Freeman), a tradesman within the prison, who is an important influence on Andy throughout. We are taken on a journey of hope as Andy serves his life sentence, seeing life from a totally different perspective. The Shawshank Redemption is such a brilliant film simply because of how we are able to relate to certain aspects of friendship, love and denial. Once you have watched this film, I will assure you that you will look at life from a different perspective.