A hulking gorilla of a movie

Kudos to Universal Pictures for showing the teensiest bit of courage in allowing Peter Jackson to release King Kong at a full 3 hours. Admittedly, giving a wide berth to the man behind the massively successful Lord of the Rings series is something of a no-brainer, but Hollywood studios, ever concerned with commercial appeal and quick hit profits, are often hesitant to allow artistic freedom that might cost them a short-run buck, as this decision most certainly will.

The NYTimes article linked to above is filled with the typical superfluous, glowing praise from Universal suits ("I've never come close to seeing an artist working at this level."), but it still gives me great pleasure to see that a filmmaker as talented and dedicated as Peter Jackson is being given the freedom to make the movies that he wants with full monetary support and creative freedom from a major studio.

Between Kong, Chronicles and the new Harry Potter (which, having already recieved a PG-13 rating and glowing remarks from Chud, looks to be another big step up for the series), this Christmas season looks to be the a fantasy film fan's, well, film fantasy.