King Kong EE is Here!!!

With only 13 extra minutes of footage, it's not comparable to the LOTR:EE's, but the few scenes added did make the film better... mainly new dinosaur footage - YAY!!!! The main reason to buy the set is for the special features, even better than LOTR
- Bloopers- 20 mins worth, edited really well
- Deleted scenes- 40 min worth... glad most of these weren't cut back in
- Behind the scenes doco... not so much cut into little pieces like LOTR - the best part of the package really.
- Commentary- only one unfortunately, but the one that matters - PJ and Phillipa give insight into the character motivations... and there seems to be a huge amount of completely CGI shots.

This is Kong how it should be presented.... it shows you how little the production diaries actually showed.

Digital Painting

Started my first serious digital painting today. I've had a graphics tablet for nearly a year, but have never really put it to serious use. The only thing I've been doing with it is editing photos. I have learnt alot along the way and now I feel confident to start a major project. I've been wanting to do a Kong inspired piece ever since I saw PJ's movie. If everything turns out well, I might even get it printed on a large canvas to display with my Kong vs Rex Statue. Here's a little preview of my progress so far. Not much (just some background really), but it is a start.

Kong's Revenge

This is what happens if Kong catches you dissing his movie.... 'nuff said really.

Kong DVD!!!!

I absolutely love this movie.... extremely glad to actually have it on dvd... now I just have to find 3 hours to sit down and watch it. The extras on the 2 disc version are pretty good... enjoyed the two doco's immensely, the New York segment has some amazing facts, the Skull Island doco shows how much fun the Weta team had making the movie.

Now, I can't wait for the Extended Edition... and the commentary track, this is just the appetizer. :)

King Kong EE is Official!!!!!

Thanks to {8thWonder} and mrgrooism over at the KongIsKing.net Boards for this news!
While at KiKnFest Groo used my phone to ring Richard Taylor’s personal phone while trying to set up an appearance by PJ and RT at the luncheon. RT saved that number to call back and apparently didn’t label the number anything he remembered because he rang trying to figure out if mine was a number he should know.
Once the reason for my number had been figured out, I brazenly asked him a few questions.
First I asked about “Neon Genesis Evangelion” which is a favorite project of RT’s. He really wants to see it get to the screen. He sas that artists are dividing thier time between NGE, “Prince Caspian” the second Narnia film, and a third project.
The third project is what they are calling “The Eighth Wonder Edition” of King Kong. November 21st, the tuesday before Thanksgiving is the release date, in time for the Christmas shopping rush. Weta Digital has 235 shots to complete between now and their target date for handing the finished film over to be printed. Over 46 minutes of new footage is being included. Some of this is new scenes, specifically the Swamp, a “Triceratops” scene, and “It’s you”, but much of it is insert shots within scenes we already know. The bronto scene is longer, as is the V.rex fight. I asked if all of the added footage was on Skull Island and was told the split is about 60 Skull/40 New York. Universal wants it all on 3 discs, but with Pellerin’s documentary and all the marketing stuff they want to put in the set RT thought it would end up being 4 discs. The official announcement will be at the start of the 3rd fiscal quarter, after the initial sales push for the current release has peaked.
He then stated that he needed to get back to his errands as Sunday is the only day he can do “Family Taylor” things.
So that’s it, mark your calendars for November 21st, THE EXTENDED EDITION IS A GO!!!

Originally posted at http://www.black-magic.co.nz

This is something I've been really itching for... not just for the added scenes, but to hear the PJ's commentary.... just to hear his passion for the project always gets me excited, it'll be great to hear him discuss the project in detail. And he's funny too, in one of the LOTR commentaries, he comes up with the idea of doing a TV series about Treebeard the ent, as he solves crimes in Fangorn forest. "The cases get solved, they just take a very long time." :)

Kong

Scary huh? Took this pic of Kong's face from my new statue and played around with it in photoshop. Quite happy with the result actually... Lemme know what you all think :)

Kong vs Rex is in da HOUSE!!!!!!

After having it on laybuy for 3 months.... I finally got this sucker home... and boy, is it heavy. I thought my Sauron box was heavy, but this is worse. I picked it up during my lunch break and struggled to carry it back to work. I could deal with it being heavy, but the box is huge as well, making it very awkward to carry. To make matters worse, the guys at the toyshop had covered it with big plastic bags... basically wrapped it with them, 'cause there is no way you'd find a bag big enough. I had to scum a ride with a co-worker, just so I could get the thing home.

All that was worth it tho, incredible sculpture, impressive size and definately the star of my collection so far. Just wish I could post some pics of it, but alas, the lighting here is terrible atm. Tried some pics with a flash last night, but I couldn't keep the camera still as my arms were trembling slightly from carrying the thing. Was hoping for pics this morning, but the sun's still behind clouds. Have no fear, I will post pics as soon as I can. :)

Movie News

This is the poster for the upcoming Pixar movie "Cars"... had real doubts about this movie when I first heard about it.... I mean, a movie full of cartoon cars??? wtf??? But after seeing the trailer and now this awesome poster, I'm really jazzed about seeing it, and hope it's as good as "The Incredibles".

Also coming soon is the dvd of King Kong... I absolutely loved this movie, everything a movie should be, well in my eyes anyway. Kong received an Empire award for best movie and they've posted PJ's acceptance speech online. It's filled with bloopers, out-takes and a few alternate scenes. And at the end PJ confirms Weta is working on the Extended Edition as we speak.

Caution... video filled with swearing... and I absolutely love it.
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=18266