In honor of today's opening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (what's not to love - intelligent apes, dangerous biotech research etc?), I invite readers to comment on their favorite monkey movies over the years.
Was it in Madagascar the the monkeys were discussing when they should "fling poo" in cultured British accents?
And if anyone can explain all the time and space paradoxes in previous Planet of the Apes movies, I'd be most grateful. Don't they start in the future and end in the past?
This site provides a set of jump links to the various wiki entries for the franchise:
http://planetoftheapes.wikia.com/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_Wiki
Posted by: Jeff Yates | August 05, 2011 at 06:01 PM
I'm wondering if this one will have the same kind of social commentary of the first Planet of the Apes. While I'm usually not a fan of sci-fi movies, I found the first one interesting because of its critique of wholesale prejudice. It wasn't subtle, but perhaps that's what made it work for the late 1960s. And I guess to build some hype for this one, one of the cable channels ran one of the more recent "Ape" movies last week and I found that it also had a message: as one of the slave-traders said at one point as he seemed to be reforming his views, "can't we all just get along?" I thought it was decent at critiquing both slavery and Jim Crow and putting the audience into the position of seeing a family separated by sale. I was impressed.
I think I'm going to hold off putting down some money for this one until I get reports on whether this has a message about rising up to cast off the chains of oppression, as the trailers seem to suggest. Or if this is just about ever more violence. I did note in the New York Times' review, however, that one of the key characters is named Will Rodman. And that reminded me that one of the North Carolina reformers of the antebellum era was one William Blount Rodman. A coincidence?!
Posted by: Alfred Brophy | August 05, 2011 at 06:23 PM
I would go with "2001" or "12 Monkeys" if they count. Otherwise, I will go with George Romero's "Money Shines,' a pretty good horror movie. I heard good things about the documentary "Project Nim" this summer, but I think that I will wait to see it on DVD.
From what I remember of the original Apes movies (which I think we actually watched in school for some reason):
In "Planet of the Apes," Charlton Heston is an astronaut who goes to the future, where apes rule after a nuclear war on what turns out to be Earth. In "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," a second spaceship (a rescue mission for Heston's ship) lands, and they come upon men living in the subway system who worship the nuclear bomb. At the end of the movie, Heston's character sets off a nuclear bomb that destroys the world. But, in "Escape from the Planet of the Apes," it turns out that three apes had fixed Heston's spaceship and escaped, somehow returning to 1970s America. They have a son, who in "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" because the leader of the apes' revolt against humanity (similar to the new movie). In "Battle for the Planet of the Apes," man and ape fight, but at the end they learn that this can only lead to the destruction of the planet and decide to peacefully co-exist. Or something like that.
Posted by: Colin Miller | August 05, 2011 at 07:24 PM
Apes. Monkeys. While both are primates, there are differences. See http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/monkeys-vs-apes.htm
But I digress.
My vote? Curious George.
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | August 05, 2011 at 08:27 PM
Ah, Tim. That's the second time today my "monkey" terminology has been questioned. In conversation earlier, I mistakenly referred to a lemur as a monkey as well.
And thanks to Colin both for explaining the original movie series in context. Where was your school that the ape movies were on the curriculum? Also, I have to give you a hat tip for mentioning 2001. I hadn't thought of that as a monkey movie and that opening scene has to be one of the best monkey movie moments ever. I particularly remember the Mad Magazine send up where the monkey throws the bone into the sky and it immediately hits the hull of the spaceship from the next scene. The spaceship pilot mutters, "That's funny. I could have sworn a bone just hit the ship." (or something to that effect.)
How about "Congo" anyone? Not a great movie, but LOTS of monkeys. (Oh, and wasn't one of the Indiana Jones movies filled with monkeys - and monkey brains - as well?)
Posted by: Jacqui Lipton | August 05, 2011 at 08:31 PM
Jacqui, I was in Virginia Beach. When the calendar hit June, we pretty much just watched movies (and the French Open) in class. I believe that we watched the Apes movies in history class along with Casablanca and Apocalypse Now.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom had the scene where they were served chilled monkey brains. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy had his monkey sidekick who met his fate at the hand of "bad grapes."
Posted by: Colin Miller | August 05, 2011 at 08:46 PM
What? No one has mentioned BEDTIME FOR BONZO! But maybe I'm showing my age ....
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | August 05, 2011 at 08:49 PM
Colin - remind me never to take you on in a movie trivia quiz.
Posted by: Jacqui Lipton | August 05, 2011 at 08:51 PM
Colin, confirming what I thought -- bad "dates" (not grapes). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082971/quotes
But you still know more movie trivia than I do!
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | August 05, 2011 at 08:52 PM
Here's a good blog post by Chuck Klosterman about monkey movies, Project Nim, and all things Planet of the Apes:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6834562/rise-ape-movies
Posted by: Colin Miller | August 07, 2011 at 08:11 PM