Kung Fu Panda (2008)

You'll believe a panda can practice kung fu! Actually that's one of the easier feats of Kung Fu Panda, the animated kids' martial arts feature from DreamWorks Animation. This feature focuses a bit too much on its two leads, but it proves a funny action movie that shows reverence for more traditional martial arts movies.

In this anthromorphic world of the Valley of Peace (in ancient China, naturally) the panda bear Po (Jack Black) dreams of being a great martial artist with his heroes, the Furious Five. Unfortunately Po is fat, lazy, and apparently destined to be a noodle cook.

When the fearsome snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane) escapes from prison, the turtle master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) declares that it is time to declare which warrior is the fabled Dragon Warrior. Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) assembles his students, the Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), and Mantis (Seth Rogen). A mishap with a chair propelled by fireworks leads to Oogway selecting Po as the Dragon Warrior -- something that sits quite poorly with Shifu and Tigress.

What follows is a blend of the traditional "lovable loser finds his strength" story and some very mixed martial arts. While kids will enjoy the antics of lovable Po (and quite a few fat jokes at his expense), kung fu fans will enjoy everything from what would be wire-fu (if this wasn't animated) to slow motion and extreme speed. There's an exciting sequence of dueling chopsticks, not to mention one of the most amusing training montages you're likely to see this year.

Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman are the perfect voices for their roles in this movie. Black tones down his usual hyper-cool slacker persona to make us root for Po, while Hoffman supplies surprising wit as the frustrated teacher who can't believe his worst student is the one destined to save the day. If I have one complaint, it's that with the massive focus on Po and Shifu the other characters have little to do: The talent voicing the Furious Five is truly impressive, but they have little to do but react to Po -- and the end result is that just about anyone could have done the voice work the actors did.

I had a lot of fun at Kung Fu Panda. There's plenty of humor here, and the action is reminiscent enough of "traditional" kung fu films to provide some nice thrills along the way. So if you're looking for some good laughs and good action, check out the panda with the moves!

Overall Grade: B+

Reviewed by James Lynch

Life or Something Like It (2002)

Angelina Jolie and Edward Burns star in Life or Something Like It. It's a romantic drama that takes a look at what to do when you think you're abruptly dying.

Jolie is Lanie Kerrigan, the Seattle TV reporter who is climbing the corporate ladder. She seemingly has it all together, and loves her life: she dates a major leaguer, has a great apartment, and is a TV personality that is on the verge of going national. What could possibly mess this all up?

A chance encounter with a homeless guy/prophet of doom, known on the street as Prophet Jack (played by Tony Shalhoub, better known for his work on "Monk") sets the stage for the conflict of the film. Out of nowhere, he makes some predictions, including one that Lanie is to die within the week.

What's a blonde to do? Absolutely nothing, at first. However, when his initial prophesies start to materialize, she takes his soothsaying more seriously. In the meantime, Lanie travels to NY for her national TV debut, which haphazardly turns into the interview of her life. With so little time left, she rapidly rebounds from the end of her relationship, and starts anew with the cameraman she can't stand, Pete (Edward Burns).

Overall, Life or Something Like It just didn't do it for me. The plot kind of drags, and none of the performances were overly convincing or involving. I've seen each of these actors do better in other roles. While there's really nothing wrong with this film, there's really no reason to seek it out either.

Overall Grade: C+

Reviewed by Jonas

A Mighty Heart (2007)

In the aftermath of 9/11, the compelling story of reporter Daniel Pearl, and his wife, Mariane Pearl, also a journalist, caught the nation's attention as he was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan as a victim in the "war on terror." He was investigating the "shoe bomber," Richard Reid. It is a most unfortunate, and unthinkable tragedy, when a journalist, who is a bystander trying to report the news, becomes the news itself. This is the story that became the basis of the film, A Mighty Heart.

For those of us that lived through 9/11, especially close to NYC, and were personally affected by 9/11, and knew individuals who were so violently killed, up until now, I really had no interest in Hollywood's attempt to capture it on film. I have not watched United 93, or World Trade Center. I'm not sure if it is that enough time has passed that I wanted to watch this film, or I generally like Angelina Jolie's work, but I decided to watch A Mighty Heart.

In this film, Jolie plays Mariane Pearl. Her husband Daniel is played by Dan Futterman. They both turned in strong performances Needless to say, it's always a challenge to script a film that everyone knows the ending before we even start.

In the end, I really didn't enjoy this film. I didn't expect to, as I expected it to be hard to watch. However, 9/11 and the story aside, it's just not that compelling a story as it's told. Sure, the strength of Mariane comes through, but the film is just a drag and a downer. It doesn't help that too much of it is in Pakistani. Also, while we needed a few shots of the Karachi area to set the place, it seemed that every five minutes we were getting more images of the daily Karachi rush hour, and hardly compelling film making. Also, I'm not sure if there ever was a conclusion other than that the American diplomats didn't do nearly enough to find Daniel, and secure his release.

For all of the above, I'm recommending that A Mighty Heart is a Mighty Skip.

Overall Grade: C-

Reviewed by Jonas

The Good Shepherd (2006)

If you want as much star power as any of the Ocean's films, than The Good Shepherd should be on your list. This film features performances by William Hurt, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, Robert De Niro (who also directs it), and even a cameo by Joe Pesce.

The main protagonist played by Damon is a CIA agent. The crisis centers around a leak in the agency that allowed Cuba's Castro to squash the American backed rebels during the Bay of Pigs incident. To get to the source of the leak, we are taken on a multidecade journey. This starts from before World War II, and shows us how Damon got recruited for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services- the forerunner of the CIA during WWII). We also journey on through the end of the war, and into the Cold War, and the formation of the CIA.


The Good Shepherd tips the scales at a little under three hours, so it's definitely on the long side. It is also a little confusing at times as we start in the 60's, and then concurrently run the background story minced into the current crisis. Not helping either is that there are many characters, across many years, and many look similar. Seriously, couldn't at least one or two of them have something other than a buzzcut and brown hair? Still, this long film held my attention because it is the kind of epic filmmaking that Hollywood only rarely undertakes these days. The locations were very real, the costumes were excellent, and the props were all vintage. This type of film would make the Golden Age of Hollywood proud.

Matt Damon really turns in outstanding performance in The Good Shepherd. When you've got a spare three hours of undivided attention, grab some popcorn and enjoy a big budget film that only rarely gets made these days.

Overall Grade: A-