Movie Review: "Kung Fu Panda"

This is by far the funniest animation feature film since "The Incredibles", "Toy Story", and "Cars". Jack Black was amazing as the adorable chubby Panda chosen to be the Dragon Warrior to battle against the evil Tai Lung. His epic journey from the day-dreaming kung fu master wannabe noodle shop seller to the hero of the movie albeit predictable. However, the characterization and the animated voice-over by the entire cast is just phenomenal. The dialog plus the comedic timing of Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman really kept me laughing in tears throughout the whole movie. Yeah, I know all you macho guys might be laughing at me for watching this movie... well I challenge you to go see this movie and walkout not laughing or think this movie is for kids only. As I recall, there were many men in the theatre with me and they laughed even louder than me! Now that's a feat in its own! So, don't miss it. It's a definitely a 2 thumbs up.

Movie Review: "Indiana Jones in Kingdom in the Crystal Skull"

Lan and I wanted to catch the midnight show on Wednesday night of "Indiana Jones in the Kingdom of Crystal Skull" but we were a little tired even though I've been looking forward to this movie for quite some time now. Fortunately, we didn't stay up late and stand in a long line because this movie was actually somewhat disappointing. I guess partly because the previous 3 movies set the bar so high, and we've been anticipating the 4th movie for more than 19 years.

Harrison Ford's age actually showed as he didn't do any of his own stunts. He moved slowly. Too bad, his character was one of my childhood heroes. :-) The story was a little far-fetched, and a little weak. George Lucas' ILM's CGIs were fantastic as usual. That's a given. Moreover, re-introducing Karen Allen as Marion was a nice nostalgic touch. Also, early in the movie a quick reference to the original movie really added to this movie. Shia LaBeouf of "Disturbia", "Transformers", and "I Robot" did a magnificent job playing his long lost son. The tension between the characters showed throughout the movie and it made the movie somewhat dull plot to be more interesting. Finally, at the end a brief foreshadow that Shia's character would eventually take over as Indiana Jones was good tease to the audience.

All in all, Lan and I gave a small thumbs down. :-( Sorry "Indy".

Movie Review: "Sweeny Todd"

After leaving the Ritz Carlton (Pasadena), which by the way soon to be the Langham Hotel, Lan and I decided to go watch "Sweeny Todd". I'm a sucka for musicals and I remember when I was a young pup in NYC, I wanted to go watch the Broadway version of this movie. I was vastly intriqued with a demon barber cutting up people and then to dispose of these which he deemd evil people to his friend and accomplice to make shepherd pies. What a gruesome concept! Unfortunately, I was too young to go by myself, and none of my friends back then care to watch a Broadway musical. So, 3 decades later, I didn't want to miss this opportunity and wait for the DVD/Blu-ray version.

Lan is a great sport. Despite her lack of interest to musicals and distaste for bloody horror flicks, she agreed to accompany me. The storyline is great, but no surprise to me since I already know the storyline years in advance. However, the performance by Johnny Depp, both acting and singing, far surpass my expectations. Not to mention, Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of Mrs. Lovett was superb... she has a beautiful voice as well.

This is Johnny Depp's best performance showing all his talents in one single movie performance. I would be surprised if he doesn't get a nomination for an Oscar in Feb 2008. We gave it a big 2 thumbs up. Don't miss this movie! And if you did, make sure you at least rent the movie in the coming months.

Movie Review: "National Treasures - Book of Secrets"

Well, it's Christmas Day, since all the stores are closed, we really had nothing to do other than watch a movie. I've been anticipating "National Treasure 2 (the sequel to the first one), The Book of Secrets" for about a month now. It came out last weekend, but I was just inundated with so much work from SAG and Tiamo Photography, LLC. I haven't had a chance to see this movie. So Lan and I, along with her brother Thanh ventured to the movie theaters today knowing fully that it would be a mad house.

While this movie will probably not be nominated for any categories in the Golden Globe Awards , SAG Awards, nor the Academy Awards, it was an exceptionally entertaining movie. Usually, sequels can't live up to the original movie because of the exceptionally high expectation of the viewers, this movie did just fantastic.

The lead character Ben Gates played by Nicolas Cage, and Abigail Chase played by Diane Kruger (of Troy as Helen) was sparked an intriguing hook to the audience as this time, they are separated and Ben Gates had to move out of his lavish multi-million dollar estate. The ever witty Riley Poole played by Justin Bartha kept me laughing and fully engaged into the storyline of the movie. Jon Voight who portrayed Patrick Gates joined by his movie wife, Dr. Emily Appleton, portrayed by multi-Oscar winning actress Helen Mirren, added to the original movie with a new storyline that alleviates some of the intensity of the movie. I guess that's how they turn a simple movie plot and turn it into a 2 hour + movie. I guess I'm just a "sucka" for a treasure hunting movie, and the intertwine of history and fictional characters just sucked me right in. Yes, I liked "The DaVinci Code" as well.

This is a 2 thumbs up movie for me and Lan. Don't miss this movie and keep your eyes peeled for the Blu-Ray disc of this movie.

Beowulf - 3D

I went to see a late show tonight with Lan at the Edwards on Main Street. It's the 3D version of the critically acclaimed animated Tale of Beowulf. It's a fantasy set in 5th Century Denmark. The main character Beowulf (Ray Winstone) must defeat Grendel (Crispin Glover), a monster to say the least, who's been terrorizing a nearby Kingdom ruled by Hrothgar (Sir Anthony Hopkins). It's your average Love, Infidelity, Seduction, and Action movie. It has all the elements of a boxoffice hit. Plus... it's an animation with life-like characters. Not only the voices of these great actors brought these characters to life on screen, the animation is phenomenal. It's by far better than say "Final Fantasy" animation because Robert Zemeckis and his DP (Director of Photography) turned this animation into a movie epic with artistic camera angles. During the fight scenes, Zemeckis utilized many creative camera angles through high tech CGI brought this movie to a new level in animation.

To boot, we paid an additional $2 for the 3D version. We have not seen a 3D movie in a long while and they really improved on the glasses. We both wear glasses, and these 3D glasses sit comfortably on top of our regular glasses for 2 hours. I really think the extra $2 was worth the extra money for this movie. It really brought this very well made animation to life. Lan and I gave this a big 2 thumbs up!

Yum Dom Cha, Sic Gor Bau

My good friend Robert Hom sent me the video below this morning. Pretty Rad. This is the first Chinese rapper that a major record label signed. He broke the stereotypical image of Asians as being only good at school, work, smart, un-interesting, not talent enough for the American public.

For some reason, I've always been proud that there are Chinese entertainers who can cross cultural boundaries and make it on the big screen. For example, John Lone, who starred in "The Last Emperor", and his not so prominent role as the head Chinese Mafia boss in "The Year of the Dragon". He spoke Chinese and English dialogue virtually without any accent. As far as I can remember, this is the first time an Asian actor who spoke perfect English was not directed to speak with an accent in a starring role. I really like that movie because it was filmed in NYC and it hit really close to "home" because I witnessed many of the things/events that movie depicted. I also remember the Chinese community was outraged at the time because that movie represented a very negative image in the Chinese Community. I on the other hand, could not agree more. I should know... I lived through it during my teenage years.

Movie Review: "Live Free or Die Hard"

Lan and I watched "Live Free or Die Hard" today at the Edwards 14 theatre on Main and Garfield. This is Bruce Willis's 4th movie in the character of John McClain. For those of you who is not sure it's the 4th movie, let me count them for you...

1. Die Hard (1988)- Nagatomi Tower, Hans (Alan Rickman, I love his work, such a great actor, British too) robbing the company's vault. Blowing up the whold building
2. Die Hard 2 (1990)- Die Harder - where John McClain picks up his wife at the airport but end up spoiling a bunch of terrorists.
3. Die Hard 3 (1995)- with a Vengence - With Sam Jackson going about NYC to avoid bombing of a school full of children. Robbing Fort Knox of NYC and the villain is none othe than Jeremy Irons, another British Actor.
4. Live Free or Die Hard (2007) - along with Justin Long as Sam. Justin has been very popular and appeared in many films lately. However, his most famous work are the numerous Apple commercials portraying as Mac opposite to PC. However, recently with the emergence of the iPhones commercials, his commercials have subsided.

Anyway, back to the movie review. Live Free or Die Hard "kicked ass" and 4 thumbs up as Lan also agreed. It's wall to wall action from the beginning to the end. Don't miss it!

Movie Review: "Ghost Rider"

Lan and I spent the afternoon watching DVDs and just 'kickin' back" and relax a little. We watched this horrible Nick Cage movie called "Ghost Rider".

It's no wonder it went practically straight to DVD rental because the acting was horrible, which is consistent to all Nick Cage movies with the exception of "The Rock" and "National Treasure". The story and the plot were lame. His character and outfit which mimick Evil Kenevil of the 70's were a joke. There hardly any action. Sam Shepherd as usual mumbled through every dialogue he had in the movie. If it weren't for the beautiful Eva Mendez, and the sinister Wes Bentley as the villain, I would have turned off the DVD player.

It's 4 thumbs way down because Lan hated it too.

Movie Review: "Happy Feet"

Lan and I spent the lazy Saturday afternoon watching DVDs. "Happy Feet" was surprisingly good and I can see why it beat our Pixar's "Cars" for best Animation Features at the Academy Awards.

Elijah Wood, famous for his character in Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins, was the voice of Mumbles... the lead character in this movie. Nicole Kidman, Britney Murphy, Robin Williams, and Hugh Jackman were among the actors who gave life and voice of these characters. It started out very entertaining and I love the songs, and the animation of tap dancing, which looks very similar to the late Gregory Hines moves. And then the story when kind of weird when they added live actors in this animation and ultimately tried to convey a "save our animals, save our planet" message.

All in all, Lan and I gave a 2 thumbs up (with 4 hands) because I still don't believe that it's as life like as Pixar's animation of "Cars".

Movie Review: "Transformers"

Lan and I watched Transformers today. This movie totally rocked because it's filled with actions from the beginning to the end. They also managed to insert a comedy slippet in between the action pack scenes. Lan and I gave this a big 2 thumbs up!

Movie Review: "Knocked Up"

Lan and I went to AMC Santa Anita for "Transformers" but it was sold out! The next show is at 7:30PM and we have 3 1/2 hours to kill. Fortunately "Knocked Up" starts at 3:15PM and we sneaked in to watch this movie in it's entirety. We had plenty of time to get out of the movie and wait in line for "Transformers".

It was surprisingly funny. Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl was electrifying as a on screen romantic comedy couple. But seriously, in real life, it's highly unlikely that Seth's type would hook up with Katerine's type. It's movie magic! Seth showed his range in this movie... first as a bum with no real direction in life. But everything changed when he realizes (with a lot of help from Katherine Heigl's character Allison) that being a parent means taking on new responsibilities. His character (Ben Stone) really took charge in controlling an angry OB-GYN doctor and a meddling sister in law.

Lan and I loved the movie... a 2 big thumbs up.