Monkey Movie Reviews

We saw this the other night:

Holy cow and boy howdy the studio that put this film out must have been trying to ruin it with it's shitty publicity campaign when it hit the theatres a few months back. They made me think it was an entirely different movie than it actually was. I rented this movie with the expectation that the leads, played very well by both actresses, had an adversarial relationship in this movie, and I got that idea from the initial publicity they gave this film. I'm happy to say I was wrong and that this movie was nothing like the marketing team tried to make it out to be.

It's a sweet pre-war (WW2), story about an American actress, Amy Adams (and let me say she looks WOWZA! in this role, she should look for parts like this to do all the time and stay the hell away from parts that require her to play mousy short haired characters like she did in Julie & Julia), who is romantically playing a bunch of guys off one another who meets up with a down on her luck nanny, played winningly by Frances McDormand. The two meet and form an unlikely friendship that in the end benefits both more than either of them would have ever guessed. One of my adopted actors, Shirley Henderson, is in this film as well and she's very good in it.

The dialogue comes fast and furious at times, just like it did in those 1930's screwball comedies which is film is an homage to. If you like the old Carol Lombard/Cary Grant comedies of the 1930's then you'll love this film. It's frothy and fun.

I watched the 1963 version of this film last night after Sparky went to bed:
I'm sure most of you are familiar with the story, the symbolism, and allegory of The Lord of the Flies so I won't recap it or delve in to it here. What I will say however is that this is one of the most powerful and unsettling films I have ever seen. There are times when you watch it and it just gives you chills because the young actors in it are so good. This film should be required viewing for anyone in any kind of public leadership position, if only to remind them how tenuous our grasp of 'civilization' can be.

Speaking as someone who was bullied at home and at school by my cousins and their parents, I felt Piggy's pain all through this movie. And I felt Ralph's righteous fury at Jack and the rest of the savage boys.

The cinematography is stunning, and yes, that's saying something because it was filmed in black and white, which may put some younger viewers off. But even though it's in black and white, when the boys paint their bodies after they go 'native', I swear I could make out the colors of their body paint.

This first film version of this modern classic novel should be on your list of movies to see before you die. It's that important and unlike some other films of this era, this one holds up very well. I honestly can't say enough good things about this movie, which means of course that some ass wipe in Hollywood is planning on remaking it using motion capture 3D technology soon. If they do, avoid it like the plague and see this version.