Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda

Who's in it: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Ian McShane, Randall Duk Kim

What's it about: Po(Black) is a panda working in a noodle shop. His dream is to be the greatest Kung Fu master in all of China. After he is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior by Oogway(Kim), he is to work with Shifu(Hoffman). Shifu has trained the Furious Five, which includes Tigress(Jolie), Mantis(Rogen), Viper(Liu), Monkey(Chan), and Crane(Cross). When Tai Lung(McShane) escapes from prison, the village is in deep peril. Po must learn the way of Kung Fu quickly before Tai Lung arrives. The only problem is that not only Po, but Shifu also, doesn't believe that Po can live up to the title he'd been given.

What I Think: I first saw this movie in theatres. I loved it then and I love it even more now. There were so many things that I missed the first time around and then I got the DVD and was able to really inspect some of the things. I listened to some of the commentary and it was amazing how many things I didn't catch on to! Anyways, Jack Black is always awesome and I loved him doing a big, fat panda. His humor and way of distorting his voice made everything really fit. You felt as if he were really the panda. Hoffman I didn't even notice wasin the movie until the credits. I knew that I recognized the voice and then it hit me when I saw the name.

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder

Who's in it: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downing Jr., Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Tom Cruise, Brandon Soo Hoo, Nick Nolte


What's it about: Tugg Speedman(Stiller), Jeff Portnoy(Black), Kirk Lazarus(Downing), Kevin Sandusky(Baruchel), and Alpa Chino(Jackson) are the five actors in Four Leaf's(Nolte) novel based movie. They refuse to cooperate and then are put into real life danger in the Vietnam jungle. They are being taped throughout this experience but they think that all of the Vietnamese people they meet are actors. They meet Tran(Soo Hoo), the adolescent leader of Flaming Dragon, a heroine plant, and Tugg is captured. Les Grossman(Cruise) gets a call from the drug sellers and tells them that they can kill Speedman. The other 4 plan an attack on the camp to save him.


What I Think: This was a great movie for all of the actors in it. Ben Stiller is not only an outstanding actor, but he directed this movie as well. He's a mastermind of comedy! He picked the funniest cast ever. The plot was great, but still had that serious feel to it. Downing played a great "dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude"! Black did his part absolutely perfectly. I'm proud of all of these guys. I didn't notice until the end, that there weren't any main female roles at all. They did great to not have any women in it. There was a brief moment of nudity, but that's all.

The Holiday

The Holiday

Who's in it: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black

What's it about: Iris(Winslet) and Amanda(Diaz) are two women who have trouble with men. Iris has been in love with a man for three years and has now found out he's engaged. He won't seem to let her go and it's driving her insane. Amanda can never find a stable relationship. She's beginning to hate men and everything that they stand for. These two women meet online for a house-swap. Over the 2 week Christmas holiday, Iris goes to L.A. and Amanda goes to England. Iris meets a man, Miles(Black). Amanda meets a man, Graham(Law).

What I think: This movie started and ended with great performances from all the stars. The storyline is quite realistic when you think of the world as a whole. Everything that happens has me just crept up to the screen wishing I could somehow be part of the movie. I'm wanting to slap, hug, cry, laugh, and love all at the same time. I completely recommend this movie for couples who want to snuggle and have a good night together.