January 10th, 2006
Pete Burns, King Kong and conservation
Pre-Christmas I had the best of intentions of reviewing King Kong, but with all the usual Christmas distractions, it ebbed away in to the ether. The junket in London was good fun, but then film junkets are so misconstrued. You tell a friend you’re off to interview X actor about Y film and they have a very distinct and inflated view of what you’re doing. They imagine that you’re sitting around in a posh hotel, quaffing champagne and elaborate canopes, laughing uproarously with said actor, who has probably tried to hit on you.*
Their reaction is generally summed up by: “Oh boo hoo, my heart bleeds.â€? And rightly so if that was the case. In actuality, junkets tend to be affairs where you’re up at 5am, spend the day running around, sweating, stressing, not eating and nearly missing flights. At the King Kong junket, I got to meet various other media types (and see Jonathan Ross getting his hair blow-dried). The first thing most ask, always smiling, is “Print, TV or radio?â€? trying to assess where you come in the pecking order and if you’re above them. The most interesting person I met, and the reason for this blog entry, was a chap called David Beamont. After chatting for a while at the press conference, I asked who he worked for, expecting him to be journalist. As it turns out, he works for an organisation called Fauna and Flora, the world’s longest established international conservation body. During his research for Kong, Andy Serkis studied gorillas in the wild with FFI. For the London premiere, Peter Jackson donated 500 tickets to their The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) programme who sold the tickets and raised stg£30,000 to fund their work. Staggeringly, there are only 706 mountain gorillas left in the world and the IGCP is working to raise or at least maintain this number.
These day filmmakers are more aware of animal conservation . unlike the makers of the 1933 original. They actually wanted a real gorilla to fight a komodo dragon in one scene and Kong’s mechanical head (used in close-ups) was made from the skins of 50 bears.
One person with archaic conservation views is Celebrity Big Brother contestant Pete Burns, who has claimed in the house that one of his coats is made from gorilla fur. If this is the case, the singer may face prosecution.
But then given how different he looks now compared to his Dead or Alive days, Pete is no authority on conservation.
* Adrien Brody didn’t try to hit on me alas, but when he said I had a “pretty nameâ€?, I . the shame of it . nearly keeled over in a Jane Austen-esque swoon.
January 10th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
Genuine swooning seems to occur less and less these days…unless you’d describe falling into a religious rapture and speaking in tongues “swooning” (I believe that type of thing still goes on).
In fairness though, Adrien Brody is a fine looking man…*he said in a strictly scientific, male-heterosexual manner*
Has a touch of “Old Hollywood” about him - reminds me somewhat of Buster Keaton.
January 12th, 2006 at 7:29 am
I viewed over New Year a pirate dvd of King Kong in China (natch!) Ugh, ugh and more ugh. The old 1933 b/w version had some pathos and human interest to it, and indeed one could sympathise with hairy ole’ KK who was then portrayed as misunderstood and mistreated by avaricious, uncomprehending humanoids. This three-hour extravagant bore, with a poor imitation of Jurassic Park papier mache popups and lots of ham voodoo stuff on the island, was hardly worth the 10 yuan (about one euro) my colleague paid for it, but at least I sipped a nice cheap bottle of Chinese wine while trying to stay awake.
January 14th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
Genuine swooning seems to occur less and less these days…unless you’d describe falling into a religious rapture and speaking in tongues “swooning� (I believe that type of thing still goes on).
Don’t laugh. I saw “swooning” at an evangelical service in Cork city some years ago (long story).
January 15th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Wouldn’t dream of laughing EWI.
I’ve been reliably informed, by evangelically inclined friends, that such ’swooning’ is indeed a popular pastime in such churches.
The only time I threaten to swoon, however, is when I haven’t had my three cups of coffee before 11 a.m.
January 15th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Garreth, I really enjoyed King Kong. It was long, but I sit through enough press shows to know when a film bypasses 2 hours 15 minutes and I’m fidgeting in my seat. This didn’t happen with Kong. I didn’t really pick up on the voodoo thing, the islanders reminded me more of zombies. I thought overall it was end to end entertainment and sure it’s a big budget action film, but I liked it, having expected not to.
With regard to swooning in Cork - was Roy Keane there?