Movies w. Apes or Monkeys that don't suck
Submitted by jenhowel on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 09:15
Tags:
- "Being John Malkovich"
- "Planet of the Apes"
- "Escape from the Planet of the Apes"
- "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes"
- "Monkey Shines" (a fairly funny horror movie about a telepathic chimp who kills for his quadriplegic master)
- "The King of Masks" (good Chinese film out last year)
- "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
- "Trading Places" (thanks Uncroger!)
- "Jumanjii" (thanks Bertie!)
- "Dead-Alive" (New Zealand Horror Flick, poor monkeys!)
- "2001: A Space Odyssey" (The Monkey part is my favorite part! )
Author Comments:
I thought I'd compile a little list for all you monkey lovers out there. I haven't seen too many movies with monkeys, unfortunately, so this list might suck. Feel free to jog my memory with monkey/ape movies however. The monkey need not play a huge part.
Took me a minute to figure out Raiders. How about Trading Places?
Yes! How could I forget! A truly great ape gag! And a truly funny movie...
Then there's KING KONG.
ANY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE ? - oh, sorry, that sucked - so naturally there was a sequel.
JUMANJI ? - computer animated though - tacky.
(Note to self: find monkey movie for "Favorites by Genre" list.)
Man, I actually haven't seen King Kong, or if I have, don't remember it. Must put it on the to watch list. Jumanjii, yes, was pretty good! Haven't yet seen Any Which Way But Loose, but if it sucks, maybe I don't need to...
AWWBL was one of Clint Eastwood's lesser efforts, in my opion, but Ed (I assume Ed's your boyfriend) might like it - it features a charming orangutan. The sequel's called ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN.
Btw, I'm heading on over to your Challenge List to issue a monkey-related challenge.
I'll just throw a bunch out there without making any value judgements: Mighty Joe Young, Outbreak, Gorillas in the Mist, Dunston Checks In, Tarzan (Disney), and Ed. Of those six, I've seen three.
Must see Mighty Joe Young again to check it out (the old one I mean, my dad LOVES it), Outbreak haven't seen/don't want to, Gorrillas in the Mist haven't seen/probably should, Dunston Checks In haven't seen/probably will not, Tarzan Disney can't decide whether it sucks or not. Could just be my Disney prejudices. Ed will probably not see.
Gorillas in the Mist was excellent, and I enjoyed Tarzan quite a bit. Outbreak was an unremarkable rental, but not awful. And it did have a couple great gross-out scenes involving germ-spread (including a lovely slow-motion sneeze beginning with the spray of germs, and culminating in someone else inhaling a few).
nrrr...
PROJECT X? matthew broderick? or maybe you thought that sucked ....i saw it SOOOO LONG AGO that i can't even remember what i thought...oh well.
Good one! I also saw it a long time ago, and perhaps my opinion would change if I saw it again, but I remember liking it.
Re. your inclusion of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. It's an interesting question whether the primates that feature in the first part of the movie are apes or men (but note that the title of that first part is "The Dawn of Man"). I would argue that they are apes when we first see them but become Man at their first contact with the big rectangular alien thingummybob.
you seem to have forgotten all these great monkey/ ape films:
the age of innocence
dunston checks in
clerks
night at the roxbury
monkey trouble
starship troopers
big-top sex III ( the section with the midget)
madeleine
and, of course, bambi.
who wants to start a thread about penguins on film?
You do.
Actually, I could get in on that action. Fight Club leaps to mind. Unfortunately, that image is blocking out all other penguin scenes from my mind.
Are you serious that there were monkeys/apes in all those movies? I can't remember any in The Age of Innocence (which, admittedly, I barely remember at all) Clerks, Starship Troopers, or Bambi.