Tag Archives: Jack Black
Bernie
2011. 104 minutes. Rated PG-13.
“There are people in town, honey, that woulda shot her for five dollars”.
In 1996, a well-liked undertaker named Bernie Tiede shot his wealthy 81-year old companion, Marjorie Nugent, to death with a rifle. After hiding her body in a freezer, he proceeded to convince the residents of their home town of Carthage, Texas that Marjorie was alive and well in seclusion. Her reputation was so bad and Bernie was so popular that nobody questioned her absence for nine months.
Fifteen years later, they made a movie about it.
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Anna Call, Comedy, Crime, Jack Black, Murder, Shirley MacLaine, True Story
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The Big Year
2011. 100 Minutes. Rated PG.
“I just wanna do something big, you know?”
Except for the seagull or everyday garden variety that leaves its mark on my car, I never gave birds too much thought. Many of my friends enjoy birding, and bring binoculars with them while hiking or kayaking. Occasionally, I will take a look and relate a bird’s beauty to another friend or family member. Birds, like many things in nature, can be breathtakingly beautiful and pleasurable to examine and chase. For the most part, I would not be among the characters in The Big Year who set out on a competitive year-long journey to spot as many different types of birds in the United States as possible.
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Comedy, David Frankel, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, THE BIG YEAR, Zach Newell
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Kung Fu Panda 2
2011. 91 minutes. Rated PG
“My son saved China – you, too, can save! Buy one dumpling, get one free! “
Should I assume you have already seen the original Kung Fu Panda (2008)? Hmmmm…just in case you haven’t, here’s a quick synopsis. Some time in the future (it could be the past, but the future seems more likely), China is entirely populated by talking animals who act like humans. The Furious Five are a group of awesome kung fu fighters (a mantis, monkey, tiger, crane and viper), defending the village and surrounding area. A search is on for the fabled Dragon Warrior of prophecy and everyone is surprised when it turns out to be Po (voiced by Jack Black), a rotund panda with a prodigious appetite. Of course, Po must be trained and must win the respect of the Furious Five, but naturally, his weaknesses are his strengths, yadda yadda, and all ends happily.
In Kung Fu Panda 2, all is well until a gang of wolves arrive at the village, plundering all metal items. The Furious Five and Po show up to foil them, but Po is suddenly distracted by a symbol on the armor of one of the wolves. It sparks a memory of his forgotten childhood and he learns his father, a goose who runs a noodle shop in town (voiced by James Hong), is not his real father. Po was adopted. (Shocker!)Meanwhile, Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) sends the gang off to Gongman City when news comes that Shen the evil peacock(Gary Oldman, of course. Outside of Harry Potter, has he EVER played a good guy?) has created a weapon that can stop kung fu. Hence the need for all that metal. The Furious Five and Po set off for a showdown with Shen, but the one wrinkle is Shen knows what happened to Po’s real family. Po needs to know the truth before Shen is defeated once and for all.
The first Kung Fu Panda movie was entertaining. It was funny, it had a lot of action, it had very typical training montages, it had the hopeless good guy figuring out what he needed to at the right moment. But I think Kung Fu Panda 2 is actually a better film. It has an emotional resonance that the first did not. Po’s preoccupation with discovering his origins feels real, and his ability to accept who he is and what is important is a great lesson. The concept of what creates a family and how it can hurt or help you is the central theme to this film. It also concentrates on the concept of inner peace. Now, I don’t know how many movies you’ve seen lately, never mind ones for kids, that deal with finding inner peace. Let’s just say I don’t find it that common a theme.
Yes, the movie relies on stock scriptwriting around the idea of introducing a bad guy (misunderstood by his parents) who is beaten by the good guys against all odds. I was comparing the storyline to Harry Potter in some points–the big bad guy hears a prophecy and decides to get rid of his possible enemies before they become enemies. Sound familiar??? The charm in the film is provided by turning some of that stock writing into a joke. At one point, Po is trying to talk trash to Shen, but he’s too far away to hear him properly. The scene is hilarious as Po’s words fade in and out and Shen keeps saying, “What? What?” There’s a wonderful goat soothsayer character (Michelle Yeoh) that keeps humorlessly predicting Shen’s demise while attempting to get him to change his ways as she chews the edge of his robe (she’s a goat, after all).You may get distracted by how predictable the plot is for you, a seasoned film-goer, but mainly, you aren’t going to mind. When Tigress tells Po’s father, “He’ll be back quicker than you can say noodles” you know that Mr. Ping is going to softly say a moment after they are gone, “Noodles.” But the moment is still sweet, not cloying.
The fights scenes are fabulous. They are inventive, and to someone like myself, who has spent many hours watching Hong Kong kung fu films, they are satisfying. (Jackie Chan, by the way, voices the character of Monkey. Monkey isn’t half as cool as Chan is in any of his films, but you can’t have everything. It isn’t as if you can have Monkey start acting out Drunken Master).
The movie weighs in at just 91 minutes, which is a perfect length for the intended audience of children. If I go to see a live action film meant for grown ups that is only an hour and a half, I tend to feel cheated, but kids don’t have the same attention span. And when you can put together a movie that has all the required parts and packs an emotional punch as well in that short a period, I give it a thumbs up. The ending leaves an opening for a third film in the franchise. I wouldn’t be surprised if they create a third, and I, for one, would be interested in seeing where the story goes.
Kung Fu Panda 2 won’t be on my list of best animated films for children ever. However, it will make my list of highly watchable, funny films with the added bonus of character growth. Parents and caregivers, do yourself a favor and put Kung Fu Panda 2 in the rotation of watched and rewatched videos. You won’t regret it.
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jack Black, Jackie Chan, James Hong, KUNG FU PANDA 2, Michelle Yeoh, Noelle Boc, Reviews
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The Muppets
2011. 103 Minutes. Rated PG.
“If I’m a Muppet, then I’m a very manly Muppet.”
I don’t know about you, but I grew up watching The Muppet Show on Sunday nights. Pretty much everyone who was anyone guest-starred on the program, from Bob Hope and Carol Burnett to Debbie Harry and Steve Martin (side note: no guest star was ever on the show twice, although John Denver made it into more than one “special”). Everyone had a favorite character, be it Kermit or Rowlf or Janice or Scooter or Miss Piggy or Animal or the Swedish Chef. There was always music and silly comedy sketches, like the infamous “Mahna Mahna” song, and the unforgettable commentary from Statler and Waldorf.
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Tagged Alan Arkin, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Emily Blunt, Feist, Jack Black, Jason Segel, Jim Parsons, Kermit the Frog, Mickey Rooney, Noelle Boc, Reviews, The Devil Wears Prada, THE MUPPETS
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Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder
It doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test. There are gratuitous explosions. It toes the line with stereotypes. But Tropic Thunder was one of my favorite movies of 2008.
It’s a movie about making a movie, which is a fantastic frame; unbeknownest to the actors who have been dropped on location in Vietnam for authenticity, when the director steps on a land mine, the only shooting that continues is by drug-runners, at our heroes, who still think they are within a construct they will emerge from safely.
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Tagged Ben Stiller, Beth Gallaway, Bill Hader, Brandon T. Jackson, Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, TROPIC THUNDER
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