<P>The title says it all with Kung Fu Panda, an appropriately upbeat if occasionally flat account of a panda who wants to be a hero. As voiced by Jack Black, the panda Po is just about the whole show, apart from a few nifty action sequences and…
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<P>Oh, the mugging in this thing. You would not believe how many of the actors spend all their precious screentime contorting their face into extravagant comical positions, making sure every single audience member comprehends "College Road Trip…
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<P>Girl with a Pearl Earring is the first feature for director Peter Webber. Most freshman filmmakers don't come close to Webber's level of accomplishment, and (not to take anything away from him) some of the credit must certainly be parceled o…
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<P>Thinking to read The Merchant of Venice one more time, I took down the volume of Shakespeare's tragedies, only to be reminded that this dark and troubling play is classified with his comedies. Its two natures come from different spheres; sun…
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<P>The wonder is that it took Disney so long to get to the gods of Greek mythology. ``Hercules'' jumps into the ancient legends feet-first, cheerfully tossing out what won't fit and combining what's left into a new look and a lighthearted style…
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<P>The Departed is a perfect example of why remakes shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. Director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan have taken the B-grade Hong Kong crime flick Infernal Affairs and re-imagined it as an American ep…
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<P>For me, there's a litmus test for remakes: are they sufficiently different and/or interesting in their own right that their existence is easily defended? Admittedly, it's a lot easier to argue the case for a new version of Alfie (to today's …
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<P>Following two horrific live-action versions of Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel's beloved children's stories, the author's estate wisely decided to keep the next Seuss-to-screen translation in the animated realm. But even though the new cartoon H…
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"The Mexican" pairs Brad Pitt with Julia Roberts in a dream casting coup that promises a road movie of blissful comic romance and delivers a series of dramatic dead ends. Pitt plays Jerry, a low-rent mob bagman whose girlfriend, Samantha (Rober…
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<P>"The Mexican" stars Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts and involves a quirky, offbeat relationship--but it's not between Brad and Julia, it's between Julia and James Gandolfini. I like it that way. Considering how badly Jerry and Samantha--the Brad…
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<P>Imagine "E.T." as a towering metal man, and you have some of the appeal of "The Iron Giant," an enchanting animated feature about a boy who makes friends with a robot from outer space. The giant crash-lands on a 1957 night when America is pe…
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When a “heartwarming” holiday movie is this hamfisted, the best response is to slap some pineapple slices on it, throw it in the oven, and serve it for Christmas dinner. It’s the only way to make it palatable. Oh, the Whitfield clan is gathe…
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<P>Phone Booth became one of a number of post-9/11 films to fall victim to an increasing reluctance on the part of motion picture studios to release movies where on-screen events echo real-world tragedies. Joel Schumacher's thriller was origina…
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<P>I have nothing against historical fiction: books or movies using real characters in situations that didn't happen. However, one would hope in such cases that the authors would have a story worth telling. That's not the case with Copying Beet…
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<P>"Around the Bend" feels as if it were written in the immediate aftermath of a particularly inspirational screenwriting seminar, in which all the secrets of the mythic plot, the emotional growth trajectory and the big reveal had been meticulo…
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