Jack Black will star in Peter Jackson's King Kong remake [cnn.com].

I had originally thought this project was going to be a boring retread with souped-up WETA effects, but this promises to be an interesting turn of events. Any of you guys Tenacious D fans?

	27% (10)	Peter Jackson has completely lost his mind. He's been drinking too much Rocket Sauce.
	67% (25)	It's a fresh approach which will revitalize the concept for modern audiences.
	5% (2)	Who is Jack Black?

Jeez... not another of those damn remakes of old monster movies! I mean, it IS Peter Jackson and Jack Black and Naomi Watts, but that doesn't make such a thing ok! I have to ask: "why"? And does the world REALLY need another monster movie remake?

In Response to snipergirl (#15337):

And does the world REALLY need another monster movie remake?

If and only if we get to see Jack do another dance akin to the Walkin' on Sunshine dance immortalized in High Fidelity. Perhaps that's how King Kong is subdued in this one. Otherwise, you're right. Totally unnecessary.

I might go see it. Nothing I've heard so far has made me think that I absolutely MUST go see it, though.

I sure do wish that Hollywood would start coming up with some original ideas though. I swear, 50% of movies coming out these days are based on previously-created properties. Let's take a look:

Scooby Doo 2: cartoon AND sequel
Ladykillers: remake
Passion of Christ: book (to put it mildly)
Dawn of the Dead: remake
Jersey Girl: ORIGINAL!
Taking Lives: ORIGINAL! (as far as I know)
Starsky & Hutch: tv show
Hidalgo: based on true story, supposedly
Secret Window: ORIGINAL!
Eternal Sunshine: ORIGINAL!
Never Die Alone: ORIGINAL!
Cody Banks 2: sequel
50 First Dates: ORIGINAL (if you can call any Adam Sandler movie that)
Return of the King: book

6/14 are originals. That's less than half. Sigh.

In Response to FeldmanSkitzoid (#15352):

Secret Window: ORIGINAL!

Based on a Steven King work.

Eternal Sunshine: ORIGINAL!

Based, I believe, on Phillip K. Dick work.

Passion of Christ: book (to put it mildly)
Original. Based on Mel Gibson's last bout with banana peel smoking.

In Response to daubergoat (#15345):

If and only if we get to see Jack do another dance akin to the Walkin' on Sunshine dance immortalized in High Fidelity. Perhaps that's how King Kong is subdued in this one. Otherwise, you're right. Totally unnecessary.

  Totally unnecessary??? Only Jack Black could attempt this particular role in today's callous and desensitized society. It is my conviction that Jack will make this movie stand away from the regular run-of-the-mill reproduction flick.

In Response to zamphir (#15355):

Well, there we go. 4/14. 28.5%. Shows what I know.

In Response to FeldmanSkitzoid (#15352):

Haven't we already had [goats.com] this conversation?

In Response to zamphir (#15355):

I'm 90% sure Eternal Sunshine is original. It's by Charlie Kaufman, the guy who did Malkovich and Adaptation. I've read several reviews plus the IMDB site, and the only reference to Dick I've seen (which might have been what made you think that) was: "It's The Awful Truth turned inside-out by Philip K. Dick, with nods to Samuel Beckett, Chris Marker, John Guare—the greatest dramatists of our modern fractured consciousness." (The Awful Truth, I've discovered, is a 30's screwball comedy.)

Where does one procure said "Rocket Sauce"?

In Response to porcupine8 (#15360):

I'm 90% sure Eternal Sunshine is original

Huh.

Seems you're right, and I'm wrong.

Shoulda asked Dr. Internet first.

does no one remember these?
Dracula 2000 [imdb.com]
Godzilla [imdb.com]
American Werewolf in Paris [imdb.com]
Underworld [imdb.com] (i only count this because it has monsters in it, even though it is loosely based on the roleplaying game)
and now
Van Helsing [imdb.com]

all of these have gone to the halls of obscurity and are soon forgotten, so it is with KING KONG, untill they get broderick and jack black together for KING KONG VS. GODZILLA

In Response to kornz (#15374):

Van Helsing

Um, can you call this forgotten when it hasn't been released yet?

Not that I'm expecting it to be fantastic, I just think you might be jumping the gun a little.

I'm a big D fan and while I love the idea of JB getting all these movie rolls I really want a 2nd album or the D movie to get done. Don't ignore your original fan base or we'll have to do a reverse "Cosmic Shame" on you.

In Response to zamphir (#15355):

Based on a Steven King work.

*cough* *COUGH* [stephenking.com]

It's based on the short story "Secret Window, Secret Garden" from the collection Four Past Midnight.

An okay story, if somewhat predictable. It's so much in keeping with Stephen King's other story motifs that only people unfamiliar with all of King's works wouldn't know the ending.

In Response to Deathalicious (#15383):

Almost all of the movies made of Stephen King's short stories have been poor to crappy.

This movie, on the other hand, has Johnny Depp in it.

In Response to Rich (#15378):

I really want a 2nd album or the D movie to get done

Have you seen the DVD yet? Fantastic. Go get it now.

In Response to zamphir (#15385):

Ahhh... Johnny. Talented enough to be the Patrick Stewart of his generation-- handsome enough to be the Ian McKellen.

I have friends (and a sister) who enjoy reading every book published by Stephen King. Myself, i only appreciated Carrie, The Stand, FireStarter, and MonkeyShines(?) when i was a teenager. Then i lost my taste for the sad and gruesome which lacked enough humor. For example, Oliver can massacre tons of innocent bystanders with his monstrous android and its monstrous johnson; as long as he does it humorously, i keep reading. King could make me shudder and cringe, but i can't remember many smiles or laughs when i was trying to enjoy his work.

In Response to zamphir (#15385):

Depends on your definition of almost.

Shawshank was pretty good, as was Stand By Me (aka The Body). I never saw Apt Pupil, but it looked pretty good from the trailers.

I would actually say that adaptations of his short works are probably better than the long ones. His non-mystical, "realistic" work (Like Shawshank and Misery) also seems to translate better to the screen than the stuff with monsters and the like (like The Stand and It, which are great books but terrible miniseries).

Secret Window also has John Turturro in it, which while not a definite sign of excellence, is always promising

In Response to Teledildonix (#15389):

Kevin, you owe it to yourself to try some of his other stuff. You've been reading his lesser works. Try the Dark Tower series. Maybe some of the most entertaining books ever written.

In Response to jon (#15392):

{making note in queue... noticing that there are already novels from four authors waiting to be read and then returned to their rightful owners who lent them to me... calculating number of months before a work of fiction climbs to the top of the stack...} Thanks. Your word means more to me than what i've read on the dustcovers. Is the Dark Tower series a work of fantasy, science fiction, both, or neither?

In Response to Teledildonix (#15393):

All of that. Clues at the end of the fifth book indicate that it is still evolving and continues to defy classification.

Think Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns meet Lord of the Rings meet Mad Max. Plus some other stuff. Plus some meta.

In Response to jon (#15394):

"Plus some meta."

I wonder if this means something in Latin? Dr Internet wasn't forthcoming ;-)

Comparisons to Tolkien sound like high praise to my ears, but Eastwood is suspect, and Gibson vehicles are even more so... nevertheless, i am interested in finding more work that crosses genres. The one i'm reading now is The Tournament [iprimus.com.au] by John Clarke. It's speculative fantasy fiction, and very fun. The review linked isn't totally favorable, but it is descriptive.

In Response to jettaboy20 (#15388):

Yes I have the DVD along with 4 or 5 DVD concerts of theirs, gotten via burn + postage offers on the ASpecialThing [aspecialthing.com] forum. With no D activity the show burning has pretty much dried up though.

In Response to tynic (#15375):

all in favor of assuming this movie is going to be no more than eye candy and is other wise crap, say "I"

In Response to Rich (#15397):

Rich, any chance I could get a hold of some copies of those DVDs?