you will be hard-pressed to find another "monster" movie that will leave you crying by the end of the film. in the hands of uber-director peter jackson, king kong is not just an action adventure, but it's a thoughtful love story that will ultimately end in tragedy. the relationship that ann darrow (naomi watts) has with the great ape is so special that i almost wish she didn't get rescued, and gorilla and girl could have more adventures together on skull island, watching sunsets together on the mountain top when they're not out fighting tyrannosaurus rexes. what girl doesn't want to have her own personal king kong? a giant protector who can easily demolish any threats, give her highspeed piggyback rides through the jungle, and she can sleep in his hand when tired. jack driscoll (adrien brody) should've backed off the moment he got a weird vibe that there might be something more going on between ann and her giant "captor." i personally think jack's role as the lovestruck playwright is completely unnecessary for the haphazard love triangle - quite honestly, can he even compete with the likes of king kong? jack and ann should stay "friends only." the movie is long (you really get your money's worth!), the first hour just brings you to skull island, the second hour takes place all in the jungles, and the final hour brings kong back to new york city. the first third is slow but crucial to the story, sort of a gradual cooking before the spicy flavors really kick in. the beginning is so classic depression era americana, i almost expected little orphan annie to make a cameo appearance. the middle is the most exciting part, as peter jackson is allowed to showcase his talent for amazing action sequences: running of the brontosaurus and a crazy fight between kong and not one not two but three tyrannosaurus rexes! the final third is the most tragic, since everyone already knows what's going to happen. the empire state building of course is the stage for the final act, and when kong heads for it with ann in hand you almost want him to turn back. as a naturalist, i also see this movie as a warning to leave nature well alone - taking nature out of its elements can have dire consequences, as shown in the movie. when kong goes on a rampage, i totally sympathize (unfortunately most other threatened species aren't equipped for kong-level rampages). the original 1933 king kong came out during the depression, a time when people needed the escapism from their dreary lives. with today's modern audiences jaded on movie magic, this new version of king kong has seemingly done the impossible: a film that captures that same spirit of escapism for the 21st century, and a movie about a giant gorilla no less.

the rest of the day was padded with work. i took some time out to make a decent lunch: a blackberry smoothie and a hearty omelette. when the mail came my suspicions were confirmed: normally newsweek shows up on mondays, but since i still didn't get my issue, i think one of the neighbors must've gotten it and didn't bother returning it (the cover art featured george bush in a bubble, i could see why they'd want to keep it). when evening came i went to cvs to get some theatre contrabands as well as a copy of newsweek. i met dan and elias and amanda at the boston common theatre, as well as their fellow co-worker mike (not that mike, a different mike; and this mike didn't think i existed because he'd hear stories about me but never actually met me before). surprisingly the screening for the 7:00pm king kong wasn't sold out like we thought it would. after the movies we headed home with the temperature in the single digits. dan and i got off at porter square and stopped by anna's taqueria to get some burritos to go.