Had a great time last night with Bill at “King Kong.” The movie … is amazing. It’s got more ‘movie’ than any movie I think I’ve ever seen, and by that I mean it’s just a constant cinema thrill-ride. The kind of film that could never be anything other than a FILM; couldn’t be a play, or a book, or a video game, or a ride at Disneyland. I think it’s the hugest, most audacious spectacle film has yet produced. The fact that it’s over 3 hours long but contains no wasted moments is all the more extraordinary. A solid, focused script purposefully skips the cheesy, chiched dialogue that is the stock-in-trade of the typical blockbuster. Here, the filmmakers trust body language, visuals, and amazing sound design to communicate what words should not.

It makes a movie like “Jurassic Park” look like the expensive ham-fisted, lazy-script potboiler that it is. Jackson out-Spielbergs Spielberg. And what I mean by that is that he does not merely APPROPRIATE the thrills and scenarios of the classic adventure films of the past and then throw tons of money on the project. No, Jackson honors the originals by twisting his choice of film “quotes” into ramped up riffs of homage that fulfill what those original filmmakers would have done had they the money, resources and technology. And everyone chips in some fine acting. For once the humans are actually as convincing as the special effects.

You need to see this movie on a big screen. I don’t care what elaborate home set-up you have. It just won’t be the same as it is on a big screen with a roomful of strangers. Especially when the creepy-crawlies make their appearance, and everyone in the theatre squirms at the same time.