Skadoosh and Smash

My name is Kim and I am a pop culture junkie.

Whew. It's good to say that outloud. Many of you know, I used to regularly maintain a blog on myspace that revolved around various entertainment related top tens, thoughts on TV shows, and celebrity gossip in general. After a few months of silence I started getting the questions of "Why don't you blog anymore?". Well, I guess I got a bit burned out...not that I didn't have anything to say (cause I always have an opinion on everything), I just ran out of the energy to actually say them on a blog. Well, no more my friends. I am back and back with a vengeance. So look forward to my thoughts on Movies, TV, Music, Books, Celebrities...basically anything entertainment related :-) I hope you enjoy it. I know I do.

What is a better thing to do on a Sunday where scattered storms are predicted than to go to the movies? And what is better, I had a free movie pass from my Regal Crown Club rewards...and the Kaufman Astoria theatre is one of the easiest theatres to movie hop in, so I decided to catch up on some of my summer movie blockbusters by double featuring Kung Fu Panda and The Incredible Hulk. For Free. Hey, I see enough movies, I am owed some free ones every once in awhile!!

Kung Fu Panda is just delightful. The animation is top notch, and some of the fight sequences are more thrilling than many live action sequences I have seen this year (please refer to the second movie I saw today). Stand out sections include villain Tai Lung's escape from prison and when the Five battle Tai Lung on a suspended bridge. Truly breathtaking, and right on par with Pixar level animation.

The trend with many animated flicks these days is to rely on celebrity voice casting. This isn't always a good thing, as while a celebrity voice may be recognizable, it may not be a good animated character voice. This is not the case in Kung Fu Panda. Great voicing all around. Jack Black is made for this kind of thing. He infuses Po with both great humor and great empathy. But the real standout voice to me was the inspired casting choice of Dustin Hoffman as Kung Fu Master Shifu. He's gruff and cantankerous, yet lovable and hilarious. The sequences with Shifu training Po are great.

The story itself has a great message of self acceptance and the importance of believing in yourself. The only thing I would say negatively about this movie is that unlike Pixar films like Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, it lacked some of the sophisticated wit that made those movies enjoyable for both the kids and adults. But that is a minor quibble, considering that it has what may possibly be the catchphrase of the summer in "Skadoosh". All in all I really enjoyed it, and highly recommend it. A-

As soon as the credits rolled, I scurried into an adjourning theatre to check out The Incredible Hulk. I will admit that I never saw the much maligned first film, and have never really cared for the Hulk as a character in general, so I may be a bit biased. I found the movie to be mediocre at best. Now, I love me some Ed Norton, but I wasn't buying what he was selling in this role. I know Bruce Banner is supposed to be a mild mannered scientist, but Norton lacked all of his usual charisma in this role. And there is just something about how he looks that doesn't gel with being a comic book character. Perhaps it's the soft jawline and chin and his sloping eyes? (Don't get me wrong, I think Norton is attractive just not really for this movie. I like him better circa "Keeping the Faith") He just didn't work for me...and when your lead doesn't work, you know you are in trouble. Liv Tyler has never been more beautiful, but she had little more to do in the movie than whisper "Bruce" and gaze up at the Hulk with tears in her eyes. But I am very glad to see her back up on the screen again after she took a few years off to start a family.

What I disliked most about Hulk was the fact that it lacked most (if not all) of the gravitas, heart and wry humor of good comic book movies like Iron Man and the first two Spidermans (I prefer to think the third Spidey never happened). I just didn't care as much. Sure there were lots of things blowing up and being Hulk smashed, but what is that without some heart behind it? Just a bunch of explosions. So if that is your game, you'll love it. Perhaps it was the director? Would it have been different in the hands of a Jon Favreau, Sam Raimi, or Bryan Singer? I think so. Or was it the script? It was known that Norton contributed heavily to the script (but was not given credit for it) and also clashed heavily with the Studio as to whether to focus more on character development or action. The studio won, resulting in Norton doing little to no publicity for the film. Would Norton's version have been better? We'll never know.

I also feel that in the era of Gollum in Lord of the Rings, Davy Jones in Pirates, and Kong in Peter Jackson's King Kong, the CGI character of Hulk was very lacking. Unlike Gollum and Davy Jones, where you can clearly see the actor behind the CGI, I saw very little of Norton in the Hulk. Yes, yes most of the time you aren't supposed to see any of Bruce in Hulk, but in those moments when we are supposed to see Bruce coming through, I just didn't see any of Norton's emotion in the animation. And like I said, we know that there are CGI characters capable of that. Plus there was a shot of Hulk and Betty on a cliff that was a clear ripoff of a shot in Jackson's King Kong.

It's really sad when the highlight for me was the short cameo by Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark is the highlight of the movie. Now THAT, my friends, was inspired casting. Maybe it is just because Stark is a more enjoyable character, but Downey had more charisma in 2 minutes than Norton did for the whole film. And MAN, he looks hot in those power suits.

Clearly, they leave the movie open-ended for a Hulk 2 (or is it 3? or are we just pretending Ang Lee's version didn't exist?). Will I go see? Maybe...for free. C-

That's all for today. We've got a big movie weekend coming up: Wanted and Wall-E. I want to see them both...