The Clairvoyant Zoopraxiscope

Tried, and failed, to watch 2046 tonight. Not sure what it is that held me back. Being what am and doing what I do, I should be drawn to films with less narrative structure. But the problem with the film, ultimately, was that the lack of narrative wasn't leading to anything, specifically, other than unspecified sadness, unnameable loneliness. The visuals are indeed nice, cannot complain about those. The movie moved in much the same way as The White Countess, only The White Countess contained a fair amount of genuine suffering in it. Ralph Fiennes' face is a fairly sad one, even when he's happy, and so when he's sad (and blind) on top of it, you really just want to break down and cry. Speaking of which, I saw King Kong recently, and while it's a lot of fun, I did feel occasionally as if my time was not being well-spent, sitting in the theater as a digitally enhanced ape flew around the set. Could have been worse, and Jack Black was not a bad choice for the lead role, I guess-- he has a fairly hammy way about him, which fit the movie, but was sometimes near-painful to watch.

Anyone out there have sympathy for apes? Just thought I'd toss out the question.