JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

It's back to the magic/cursed game Jumanji in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.  This movie has teens transported to a video game jungle -- in new bodies.

The movie starts in 1996, when some kids find the Jumanji board game and one says no one plays board games anymore, returning to his video game.  The game magically transforms into a game cartridge, and the boy disappears.

Jump to the present, and four teens have gotten detention.  Spencer (Alex Wolff) is a thoughtful student and nervous hypochondriac who got busted for writing papers for Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain), a football player who used to be good friends with Spencer.  Bethany (Madison Iseman) is a high school popular beauty who couldn't stay off her iPhone.  And Martha (Morgan Turner) is a quiet thinker who speaks out against gym class.  While the four are stuck cleaning a room, they find the Jumanji game (now a video game console) and find themselves zapped into the world of the game.

The teens are now the video game characters, with their skills and weaknesses.  Spencer (Dwayne Johnson) is the muscular leader with no weaknesses.  Fridge (Kevin Hart) is a zoologist who's slower and weaker, plus he carries everyone's stuff in his backpack.  Bethany (Jack Black) is now a pudgy male -- but she still can't deal with not having a phone.  And Martha (Karen Gillan) is a beautiful martial artist in a skimpy outfit.  Their mission: Find the magic gem stolen by evil explorer Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale, who has little to do but look menacing) and return it to its place in a giant statue.  Each teen has three lives, and when they die they fall from the sky to continue the game.  NPCs show up, with limited reactions and often repeating the same lines over and over.  And the four run into Alex (Nick Jonas), the teenager who got sucked into the game back in 1996 and has been trying to get out ever since.

Despite enough cursing to get this movie a PG-13 rating, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle feels a lot like a kids' movie.  The teens start as strangers or former friends who grow to be good friends, and their characters' skills let them work together to complete the game.  A lot of the humor comes from the stars acting atypically (Dwayne Johnson constantly scared, Jack Black effeminately) or video game cliches brought to life, and the movie doesn't give any surprised or take any real chances.  This is a cute movie, but not terribly funny or exciting.

Overall grade: C
Reviewed by James Lynch

The Lonely Island, INCREDIBAD

The Lonely Island -- comedy trio Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone -- became famous from their Saturday Night Live "digital shorts" but were making comic music well before then. Both songs and videos are on their album Incredibad.

Aiming to be "the greatest fake m.c.s on Earth," the Lonely Island love rapping the best. They go gansta several times, be it about the joys of being on a boat ("I'm the king of the world, on a boat like Leo/if you are on the shore then you sure ain't me yo") or conducting a job interview. They also do synthesizer-based songs about geeky sports fans and guys who are, um, easily excited and fake romantic songs witha, er, very personal gift. Yup, that parental advisory on the album cover is there for a reason.

Incredibad also features a very large number of guest appearances, including T-Pain, Justin Timberlake, SNL regular Chris Parnell, Norah Jones, Jack Black and Natalie Portman (who goes very gangsta).

Incredibad works pretty well. There are a couple of songs that are duds, usually one-joke bits where the joke isn't that funny. But the comedy trio attack even the simplest activities with street-tough zeal or pretentious stylings, and the results are quite funny. Including a dvd with the videos was also a nice move: They add a lot to the songs, though it's odd that some songs here don't have their videos included (no "I'm on a Boat") and there are a few videos where the songs aren't on the album. If you love the SNL skits, or you want some wild humor, go with Incredibad.

Overall Grade: B+

Reviewed by James Lynch

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

Margot at the Wedding (2007)

So, just this week, fellow Armchair Critic Jim asks me about my grading system, and what constitutes the different letter grades. I go through what they are in my mind, and he feels a little differently about the "mediocre" category. Hey, to each their own, and that's fine by me. Then, he asks me if I truly disliked Apocalypto so much, and couldn't even get through watching the DVD, why wasn't it just an F, and not an F+. I replied that because it had some visual interest at some points, it wasn't totally bad, and I'd reserve an F for those totally dismal films that failed in every department. While I can't find this type of film too often, after all, it's on the other end of the bell curve and an A+ review is a rarity around here, I'll tell you that Margot at the Wedding is such a truly awful film.

How can a film featuring such veteran actors as Nicole Kidman, not to mention Jack Black be so dismal? Imagine a film based around some estranged friends and family gathering around a wedding that few think should be taking place. The house guests are all thrown together, and all they do is gossip about each other. they keep mentioning characters that are nearly impossible to keep straight. They throw in random sexual scenes, like the neighbors in the backyard in the buff, that serve no purpose other than shock value, and don't even make any sense given the minimal plot. The thing drudges along at the speed of a full dumptruck, stuck in reverse, going uphill, and running out of gas. Unfortunately, after wasting an hour of my life on this, I realized "who cares" and I ejected the disc to a feeling of relief. Don't waste any time on Margot at the Wedding, as it is a waste of two veteran actors who have done far better work elsewhere. I can understand Jack Black getting involved with this, but seriously, Nicole Kidman? What was she thinking?

Overall Grade: F

Reviewed by Jonas

The Holiday (2006)

The Holiday is a newly released DVD that fits in the romantic comedy genre. It stars Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslett, Jude Law and Jack Black who all perform well in this film (As an aside, it’s always a little strange seeing Jack Black in a more serious role… I always see him as the washed up teacher in School of Rock, but that's another story.).

Both leading ladies are involved in completely dysfunctional relationships with their current men. They both simultaneously decide that they need a serious break- we're talking about a "holiday" (gotta love those Brits!) on another continent. So the two meet online, and decide to exchange homes for two weeks (I have heard of folks actually doing this so this is not as far fetched as this would seem). While each is busy trying to escape their current life, they end up finding what they were looking for all along.

While The Holiday is a lengthy 2:15 film, particularly for a romantic comedy genre film, it really is needed, as the parallel journeys of the two women are told. If you're looking for a clever date movie to watch with your significant other, than this film should be near the top of the list. I thoroughly enjoyed this well acted film which had several memorable and touching scenes.

Overall Grade: A-