Kung Fu Panda

Just saw this movie last night before I hit the road and let me just say, this movie sucked! I know that in the world of animation, anything is possible, but this movie takes way too many advantages.

Where do I start? Let's begin with Jack Black! Personally, I don't get him! I know that he is this comic genius who always strikes gold in movies, but to me, he's a lot like Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey can be a one-trick pony some times, but at least when he's asked to act, he delivers! Jack Black is annoying as hell to me. I know, you can't see Jack Black in the movie, but the panda was annoying enough.

The story itself had one major hole in the movie. They never explained how a panda could be the son of a bird. I kept waiting for a Steve Martin-The Jerk moment when the dad explains that Poe (the Panda) isn't his natural born child. Instead, we get noodle jokes!

All in all, while the movie does have some funny moments, I wouldn't call the movie a must-get! If you are at your local video store, take my advice, don't rent this movie!

Dirty Work

Having listened to the Howard Stern show for years, I have come to love Artie Lange. His role on the Stern show is cruical to the success of that show. Every once in a while, during the Stern show, Artie would always tell stories of the making of Dirty Work, before he came on to the Stern show. After years of hearing him talk about it, I decided that if I ever get a chance, I'll watch it. As luck turned out, I found the movie on Hulu.com. For the record, I'm glad I never bought the movie.

Let's start with the acting. Norm McDonald should never be the lead actor in a movie....ever! His dialogue is so dry, his words come out forced, almost making it look like he's reading from cue cards. Artie Lange is okay in the film, but in all honesty, he wasn't ready for prime time! Chevy Chase is sad in the movie. I remember loving to watch him in the Vacation movies, now he's resorted to playing bit parts. The only memorable moment in the movie for me is when Don Rickles plays the movie theater owner. His line to Artie, "Look at you, you Baby Gorilla," was classic! On a side note, Chris Farley looked pitiful in his final performance. Knowing that he died of drug overdose after this movie doesn't help!

As for the story, it was pretty vanilla. You can almost predict whats going to happen next during each scene. While the movie does have some laugh out moments, but it's not enough to save the movie. Plus, how many times do we have to see Norm McDonald thrown into a trash can before we get the fact that he can't defend himself. If that wasn't bad enough, we see them using the same tricks twice. In the beginning, Norm and Artie put popcorn kernels in a car engine and the popcorn ruined the car. Later, they do the same thing to a tractor. On another trick, they break into someone's house and leave fish everywhere. Later on, when they are vandelizing a building, they do the same thing. It's almost as if the writers ran out of ideas.

All in all, while the movie does offer a few laughs, it's not enough to make this movie a hit. As for Artie Lange, I wouldn't talk about this movie being one of your big highlights.

Madagascar 2: Escape from Africa

It was Cadence's turn to pick a movie for "Kids Movie Night", and she picked Madagascar 2: Escape from Africa. We saw this in the movie theater back in 2008, but didn't a forum to review it. So here we go!

The story of Madagascar 2 was really good! Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, and crew start to head back to New York, but ended up crash landing in Africa. As it turns out, Africa is more like home to them than New York! Alex (Ben Stiller) meets his parents (voiced by the late Bernie Mac and Sherri Shepherd), Marty (Chris Rock) runs with a herd of zebras, Melman (David Schwimmer) fights for Gloria's (Jada Pinkett Smith) attention from Moto Moto (Will I Am). Just a side note, if I ever go back into pro wrestling, I'm taking the Moto Moto song, Big and Chunky with me. Of course, the peguins steal the show!

This one holds up to the first one real well. I thought Cadence made a real good choice on Friday night.

Star Trek (2009) - Interview with Dakota

I took my daughter to see the new Star Trek movie this afternoon. After having to give up three upcoming movies of her choice, she agreed to see the movie. I thought it would be cool to get her take on the movie.

T: How did you like the movie?

D: It was great!

T: What was your favorite part?

D: The beginning. The ship blew up and Captian Kirk's dad died. Captain Kirk was born!

T: Who is your favorite character?

D: Scotty! He talks Scotish!

T: Would you be willing to watch some of the old Star Trek T.V. shows or movies after watching this film?

D: No! They might be old and boring!

T: Which movie was better: Star Wars or Star Trek?

D: Star Trek, it was action-packed!

T: Was there a time in the movie to where you felt lost during the movie?

D: No!

T: Were you scared during the movie?

D: Yes! When the monster came, I think it was a dinosaur or something. It was chasing Kirk!

T: What was the funniest part of the movie?

D: It was funny when Dr. McCoy was putting shots in Kirk's neck.

T: Would you ever watch it agian?

D: Yes!

T: If a sequel came out, would you want to go watch it?

D: Maybe!

T: Do you think Mom would ever watch it?

D: No! Not likely!

T: On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the best, where would you rate this movie?

D: 6!

T: Does Dad still owe you three movies of your choice?

D: Yes! I would make you see Ariel (The Little Mermaid). I want you to see Princess movies, like Belle (Beauty and the Beast). We can rent a Barbie movie!

Star Trek (2009)

If I could sum this movie up into one word, it would be "Wow!" J.J. Abrams is able to take the movies where no Star Trek has gone before in the eleventh version of Star Trek. In 43 years, after five different Star Trek T.V. shows and countless numbers of books and games, Star Trek finally gets the correct face-life that it needed.

For one thing, it's good to see all of the characters, not named Kirk and Spock, to have an intragale part in the movie. I'm sure George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig are happy to see the characters they created getting more movie face time than they had. Anton Yelchin plays Mr. Chekov as a young, 17 year old, genius, still trying to wok around his Russian accent. John Cho brings George Takei's Mr. Sulu back to life with his own characterization. Zoe Saldana plays a more noticeable Uhura as she plays the love interest of Mr. Spock (didn't see that one coming). Simon Pegg,. while not a complete replica of James Doohan's Scotty, brings his own sense of style to the character. Karl Urban caputres the Dr. McCoy character a bit differnetly than DeForest Kelley's intrepretation, but makes it work with humor. Zachary Quinto plays Mr. Spock, the logical, unemotional (unitll pissed off) firt officer of the Enterprise. While not as stoic as Leonard Nimoy's version, it actually puts Spock in a better light so the audience can relate to him. Then that lead us to Captain Kirk himself, Chris Pine. He plays Captain Kirk with his own style, not so much of William Shatner.

I feel the movie is probably one the best movies I've seen in three years. The special effects are fantastic, the scenes with The Enterprise are far different than those in the earlier movies. I do like how after the first 20 minutes of the movie, the Star Trek universe isn't the same as we last had it. This will allow the makers of next Star Trek movies a chance to branch out into different areas, without crossing over to the mythology of Star Trek. If you are not a Trekkie, just because the movie is Star Trek is not a good reason to not see it. It is a roller coaster action thrill ride from the first scene to the last. Like Captain Kirk says later on in the movie, "Buckle up!" You'll love the movie.

Twilight

My friend Julie has been raving about the Twilight series of books for months now as well as almost every other woman I know, so I decided to rent the movie when I was browsing Blockbuster for something to watch the other night. I'm not really a big fan of vampire flicks, so I think that is why it took me so long to consider watching the film. I do have to say that I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the movie.

Yes, it is about a family of vampires that are living among humans, but the movie didn't really dwell on the whole vampire thing, thank goodness. It was more about the highly intense relationship between high school junior, Bella, and her classmate Edward, the vampire. I liked how the vampires were portrayed as regular people instead of monsters that were obsessed with sucking the blood from humans. Okay, so there were a few bad vampires that hunted down humans, but every good movie needs a villain.

I loved how the movie had a dark feel to it created by the music, the roaming night forest shots, and the lack of bright colors. The special effects were pretty amazing, especially the way the vampires could move at lightning speeds on the ground and through the trees. I felt like the casting for Bella and Edward was spot on. I am truly shocked how much I liked this movie, and I really can't wait for New Moon to be released this fall.

Brother Bear 2

Coming soon...