PoochyB’s Flick Reviews

Kung Fu Panda was pretty awesome. Kids will like it because it’s a cartoon. Adults will like it because it brings back the good ol’ days of kung fu movies. Jack Black is Po the panda. He dreams of being a kung fu master, but instead is the son of a noodle chef. He’s got five idols, Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross). Shifu, the wombat-looking kung-fu master, is voiced by Dustin Hoffman. Michael Clarke Duncan has a small voiced role as a prison warden. Anyway, some of the predictable themes from the kung fo movies of yore are present in this one. Overcoming impossible odds, finding and fulfilling your destiny, etc. it’s kind of a “Little Engine That Could” story, but less inspiration and more entertainment.

Jack Black has experience doing cartoon voice-overs. He was in Shark Tale and Ice Age. I love his humor. It’s very subtle (which I guess is why NPR’s FilmWeek said the film’s comedy was muted) but very effective. Dustin Hoffman’s been in a few The Simpsons episodes, but that’s about it. Angelina Jolie was also in Shark Tale, as well as Beowulf, which is kind of an animated film. We all know Jackie Chan, but he really didn’t say too much in here. And neither did Lucy Liu. Seth Rogen (from Superbad and Knocked Up) also had a minor role. Po’s dad is played by James Hong. He’s usually typecast because of his accent.

Kung Fu Panda was cowritten by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (both of whom did some Mad TV and King of the Hill episodes). Codirected by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson (who has worked in the art department on Shrek 2 and Madagascar).

Go see it!

A story about obsession. Two high school teachers played by Judi Dench (better known as M from the James Bond films, or Queen Elizabeth from Shakespeare in Love) and Cate Blanchett (who incidentally, also played Queen Elizabeth in the film Elizabeth, and from The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio) befriend each other. They’re relation turns from one of respect, confidence, and loyalty to one of betrayal and blackmail.

Bill Nighy (from Love Actually, Underworld: Evolution, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) plays Blanchett’s devoted husband. Nighy’s always got these great roles… Billy Mack, the obsolete rock singer in Love Actually. Viktor, the vampire lord from Underworld. And Davy Jones, the legendary pirate in Pirates.

Notes on a Scandal is actually pretty straight-forward. There appear to be twists and turns, but not really. A married teacher sleeps with one of her students. Her friend and fellow teacher keeps journals of everything going on. They clash. That’s all there is to it. The acting is pretty amazing. You have two of the arguably best English actors of our time. Can’t really go wrong with that.

The film’s kind of dark. The mood is melancholic, sometimes hasty. I think that’s to create an uncomfortable environment for the audience. The music and mood do a pretty good job of that. It was adapted from a novel by writer Patrick Marber, who also did Closer, which I realy liked. Director Richard Eyre is a former TV director in the UK. The only other work of his I’m familiar with is Atonement, with which he had a producer role.

Decent flick. Probably not worth renting… But if it plays on TV, I’d DVR it.

Not sure why I never heard of this movie except from browsing Netflix. About 45 minutes into it, I seriously thought about giving up on it. It wasn’t because the movie was bad. It wasn’t. It was just disturbing. Hayden Christensen (from Shattered Glass and Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars movies) is a billionaire Wall Street whiz. A weak heart renders him into surgery at the hands of his trusted friend and doctor, played by Terrence Howard (from Crash and Iron Man). His girlfriend, and fiance later on in the movie is played by Jessica Alba (TV’s Dark Angel, Fantastic Four, and Into the Blue). Lena Olin (The United States of Leland, Chocolat) plays his mother.

A side-plot here: Christensen and Alba are in love, but Olin is against it. I guess a pretty major theme of the movie is “Mother knows best.”

So Christensen undergoes surgery, but doesn’t go under because the anesthetics don’t work on him. According to a tagline at the beginning of the movie, “Over 21 million people are anesthetized every year, and about 30,000 don’t go under. They stay awake.” It’s a scary thought, but I can’t imagine it to be the way the movie depicts. Nonetheless, very interesting.

There’s a twist, but I’m not going to spoil it here. I’d say the film’s worth checking out. Jessica Alba actually gives a pretty convincing performance here, which is surprising. Terrence Howard is pretty good, as is Lena Olin. I haven’t seen Christensen in enough movies to judge his acting, but it wasn’t bad. The monologues get tiring pretty quick, but I guess they were necessary in this case.

Awake was written and directed by first-timer Joby Harold.

This was by far the worst movie I’ve seen so far this year. Kristen Bell’s a looker, and a pretty decent actor. You know her from TV’s Veronica Mars and from film Gracie’s Choice. Jason Segel plays the guy lead. He’s lame. Terrible actor. Mila Kunis plays his new object of affection. She’s Jackie from That ’70s Show.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was meant to be a comedy, but it wasn’t funny. Not in the least. I walked out of the theater, actually, only to walk back in because I’d seen the three other movies that were playing at that particular theater. I sat in agony through the rest of the film.

Kristen Bell breaks up with her boyfriend of five years and breaks his heart. To get over her, he decides to take a vacation in Hawaii, only to run into her and her new boyfriend there. At the resort they’re staying at, he meets Mila Kunis (who works at the hotel) and falls in love. The story had a lot of potential (I’m thinking Meet the Parents or something of that sort), but neither the writer nor director delivered.

Segal wrote it. He’s a terrible writer. This guy shouldn’t be in Hollywood. He has no idea what he’s doing. Nicholas Stoller directed it. He’s also clueless. I hated this film!

I now know why I don’t like horror flicks. They just don’t do it for me… Sure, there’s the jumpy music. But that’s about it. The story wasn’t that scary. Two people, Scott Speedman (of TV’s Felicity and the Underworld trilogy) and Liv Tyler (from Inventing the Abbotts and Armageddon) spend a night at a cabin in the woods. They get harassed by three masked strangers. And that’s pretty much the gist of it.

The two characters do a pretty good job of acting scared. Liv Tyler and her whispy voice and all… But really, there’s just no story behind it. You don’t find out why they were assaulted. You don’t find out who the assailants are. There are just so many loose ends.

The Strangers is written and directed by Bryan Bertino, who’s done two other movies I’ve never heard of. He’s no good.