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04 Jan

Kung Fu Panda

Grade: B+

Kung Fu Panda is a Dreamworks animated film.  Jack Black is the panda, Po.  We first see Po working in his dad’s noodle restaurant.  His dad wants him to take over the business, but Po has other dreams, he loves Kung Fu.  When a big competition comes up, Po ends up on the outside looking in, until he literally falls from the sky into the center of the arena.  This qualifies him to be the next “Dragon Warrior!”  He now must be trained, and mentored in the martial arts, so that he can battle the big bad guy who has just escaped from prison.  Cute story about being true to yourself, finding your inner strength, and making your dreams come true.  Good for all ages.  Very family-friendly.  Angelina Jolie voices the Tiger, Dustin Hoffman is the mouse-type animal, the Kung Fu master.
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04 Jan

Kung Fu Hustle

Grade: C-

This parody takes itself a little too seriously. Gotta give Stephen Chow kudos, though – he wrote, directed and starred in this movie, and the guy has got the moves! Sometimes it goes over the top, and comes off like a live action cartoon. Other times the message is a little heavy handed. For chop-socky aficionados, there are several inside jokes. For the rest of us, we’re left shaking our heads. I think I would have liked Kung Fu Hustle a lot more if it were about half an hour shorter.
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04 Jan

Knowing

Grade: C-

Knowing is promoted as a sci-fi thriller, but it’s really more of a horror movie.  Scary – creepy scary.  The story starts out in 1958 when an elementary school buries a time capsule.  The kids all draw pictures of what they think the future will look like.  One little girl is compelled to write a series of numbers in a kind of trance-like state.  Fast forward to the present day when the time capsule is unearthed.  One dad, an astrophysicist, gets this sheet of paper and starts analyzing it.  He finds that the numbers correspond to dates and locations of catastrophes where many people died.  Since the little girl who wrote the numbers is dead, he tracks down her daughter, and the two of them try to solve the mystery of what this all means. Their two young children are now very much involved, so the stakes are high.

Nicolas Cage is the dad, and he is badly miscast.  He’s too old, too sullen, too removed emotionally from the situation.  I usually like Nic Cage, but this performance just didn’t fit.

Knowing is filled with doom and gloom, armageddon, Christian overtones and undertones throughout.  Heavy handed and dark.
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04 Jan

Knocked Up

Grade: B+

Knocked Up is rated R, mostly for the language and some simulated sex scenes, which are absolutely hilarious, I’m a little embarrassed to say.  Anyone who has been pregnant, or been with someone who is pregnant, will laugh – which is probably why the whole theatre was an explosion of laughter the whole time.

Knocked Up is from the same people who brought us “The 40 Year Old Virgin” which I also liked, but Knocked Up is sweeter, sunnier.  It’s about two people who might never have gotten together if their one-night stand hadn’t resulted in a pregnancy.  They are so opposites that they have to work for the attraction, but when they really get to know each other as people they find some common ground.  Meanwhile, the married couple with kids provides the B story, a kind of glimpse into the future for the newly pregnant ones.

Fresh, funny, warm.  I could relate.
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04 Jan

Knight and Day

Grade: B-

Knight and Day stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.  He’s a spy and she’s the regular girl who gets caught up in and dragged along for some top-secret caper he’s working on.  We’re led to believe that he’s a rogue agent, and insane, and going by his actions this would not be a bad guess.  But, hey, he’s Tom Cruise. So we never really buy it.  And then there’s Cameron, acting ditzy, we’ve seen this character before. There’s an attraction, but we never really buy it either.  The story is interesting, and well-executed – but I think the movie would have been more successful overall if the casting had been different.
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04 Jan

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Grade: B+

Normally Kiss Kiss Bang Bang isn’t the kind of movie that I’d rush out and see – but in this case I had to! Why? Because Shane Black is the director – and he wrote the screenstory and screenplay. Most movie fans know Shane Black as the brilliant and highly paid young screenwriter who did the Lethal Weapon series. But I know Shane Black as my buddy from UCLA! We took a TV class together and worked on several projects together. Yes, he was funny and smart, and we all knew that he’s be a big success – and here he is – a huge success! Very cool. The movie starts out with a bang – and doesn’t let up. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect as the thief turned actor who gets swept away to Hollywood and then gets caught up in an old-time caper. Val Kilmer is “Gay” Parry – the private eye who ends up taking on a case that is bigger than he anticipated. There’s plenty of action, hijinks, violence, (albeit mostly comedic violence it’s still pretty gross) – it’s quirky, fun, and definitely original. And that’s what I appreciate when I go to the movies these days. I don’t want formula, I don’t want predictible – I want to be surprised, and maybe shocked! This movie delivers.
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04 Jan

Kinsey

Grade: B

Well, things certainly were different in the 40’s and 50’s. This movie, which takes place during that time, never could have been made back then! And it looks like we owe this “progress” at least in part, to the work of Alfred Kinsey. The movie Kinsey is a fascinating character study. Liam Neeson portrays the title character in this film, based on true events. A really wonderful performance, giving us insight into this man’s persona. Laura Linney plays his wife – this actress has got to be the new Meryl Streep – she is so good in every part she plays.

The theme, of course, is sex. And the characters talk about it, study it, teach it, and actually practice it themselves, amongst themselves. Strong supporting performances by Peter Saarsgard, Timothy Hutton, Chris O’Connell and John Lithgow.
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04 Jan

King Kong

Grade: B-

I wish I could get excited about King Kong – I mean, after all the build up, it would be nice to have a real blockbuster come out for Christmas. But, sadly, I found it disappointing. Mainly because it’s 3 hours long and about an hour could have easily been edited out and not even noticed. The original King Kong clocked in at a little over an hour – and this one is supposed to be true to the original…. uh, don’t think so. The ads and previews all make this King Kong seem like an adventure movie – but in the first half hour we are warned by one of the characters: “This is not an adventure movie” and he’s right. It’s a horror movie, through and through. Be prepared for a King Kong vs. Godzilla scene that could be a movie itself – then there are the giant slugs which swallow people whole head first, and the demonic looking bats. A bit too gruesome if you ask me. The movie takes risks, that’s for sure. It’s just that sometimes the risks just don’t pay off. Other than that, well… Peter Jackson got some great moments on film. The movie is BIG, as big as its title character. Jack Black seems like an odd choice to play Denham, the director who gets everyone into this mess in the first place. Black kind of mugs his way through the film, making it all a little too put on, and unreal. Maybe that was the intention? Not sure, it just felt out of place next to Adrien Brody’s very real and brooding screenwriter and Naomi Watts’ sensitive and desperate ingenue, Anne Darrow. Kyle Chandler’s credit isn’t near the top of the list – but he is wonderfully funny and fresh as the egotistical actor cast opposite Anne in the movie, Bruce Baxter. You may recognize Chandler from the series “Early Edition” which aired on CBS in 1996. He played Gary Hobson, who is visited every morning by a mysterious cat and tomorrow’s newspaper. It was a great series, and I always liked Chandler. It’s good to see him on the big screen and I hope this is a big break for him. Older kids who are real movie-philes and can sit through 3 hours (plus the now-standard 20 minutes of ads and previews) may get a kick out of it. Otherwise, thank goodness we have lots of movie-going options this holiday season.
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04 Jan

Killers

Grade: C

I think this is supposed to be a romantic comedy, and there are a few romantic moments – not nearly enough of them – and some comedy – mostly black comedy – but what there is a lot more of is pure silliness.  This is a farce more than anything.  Katherine Heigl is too smart to be playing ditzy.  Ashton Kutcher is the new hubby, and he’s great in the role – he’s playing it straight, and everyone around him is playing over-the-top.  We’ve got the mom who drinks too much the overprotective dad, the gossipy girlfriends and the nosy neighbors.  And who turns out to be the undercover killer?  Ummm…. maybe we should say who does NOT?  Loved seeing France, otherwise, this one’s a rental.

 

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04 Jan

Just Like Heaven

Grade: B

Reese Witherspoon plays another spunky, smart character, and Mark Ruffalo is her love interest. It’s definitely a romantic comedy, and we don’t see enough of those these days. There’s also some melancholy, as the topic could be quite heavy if played differently. But the formula works, boy meets girl, etc. The twist is that there are metaphysics involved! Jon Heder, from Napoleon Dynamite, plays a psychic who helps the two communicate – kind of the Whoopi Goldberg role in “Ghost.” Sweet and thoughtful – and sometimes just a little uncomfortable, which might not be a bad thing.
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