A DreamWorks Animation, mesma produtora de Shrek, cria agora o Panda Po, personagem com um grande potencial para render milhões, assim como já havia feito com o ogro verde.

Na história, Po (Jack Black) é um panda gordinho e preguiçoso que ajuda seu pai a vender macarrão e sonha em ser um lutador de Kung Fu.

Inesperadamente, Po descobre que é “O Escolhido” e o único capaz de salvar o Vale da Paz do vilão Tai Lung (Ian McShane), um poderoso leopardo que acaba de fugir da prisão.

Mesmo desprezado pelos colegas de Kung Fu, Po se tonar um grande lutador graças a seu mestre Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), que descobre maneiras diferentes de ensiná-lo Kung Fu.

Kung Fu Panda é uma animação bem divertida, mas após ter assistido Wall-E semana passada, sinceramente o robozinho conseguiu prender mais a minha atenção do que o panda gordinho!

E você, qual a sua opinião sobre o filme? Comente!

Título Original: Kung Fu Panda

Vozes: Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu
Duração: 92 minutos
Gênero: Animação
País: EUA
Ano: 2008
Diretor: John Stevenson, Mark Osborne
Roterista: Glenn Berger, Jonathan Aibel

Para entrar no site oficial do filme clique aqui

Confira também a trilha sonora de Kung Fu Panda em MUITO MAIS TRILHAS

ANYWAY! I ran out to see Kung Fu Panda the first week it was out. And not only was I not disappointed, I was pleasantly surprised! Jack Black voices Po, a panda who dreams of kung fu-ing with his heroes, the Furious Five who live on the mountain that overshadows his village. (Incidentally each of the Five are kung fu forms - Mantis, Monkey, Tiger, Cobra, and Crane - a detail I enjoyed.) Of course his father, who is hilariously a goose, wants nothing more than for Po to inherit his noodle restaurant and be ready for him to entrust with the secret ingredient in his famous noodle recipe! Po loves to eat noodles and dumplings, but is merely resigned to the fact that he will eventually inherit his father's shop.

On the mountain top the Five are preparing for the naming of the Dragon Warrior, as a dire threat has emerged which threatens the peaceful valley below. Only the Dragon Warrior can be trusted with the Dragon Scroll and the secret to its great power. Through a series of comically incredible circumstances, Po is named the Dragon Warrior, and is set on the path to becoming a kung fu master himself.

One of the strong points of this movie is the lovable nature of Po, as he is friendly, good-natured, and a little awkward due to his plump size. And, he's adorable! I'm a big fan of Jack Black's work in School of Rock, and he brings all of his good qualities to bear (haha) in his voice work for Po. The jokes in Kung Fu Panda all pertain to the movie, rather than pop culture jokes as we have seen in the past from Dreamworks in the Shrek movies.

Very small children might get restless during the training sequences in the middle of the movie, but the fight scenes throughout the movie sparkle with great choreography and are animated superbly. The moral to the movie is one of believing in yourself and not giving up on your dreams.

I recommend this movie for kids of all ages, though there are some intense fighting sequences so keep that in mind when going to see/renting this. No bad language, and only a few 'potty' jokes (at one point early in his training Po is hit in his 'tenders', which I thought was a pretty cute and funny way of putting it, if you have to include a blow to the crotch in a movie).

Kung Fu Panda is rated PG.

I went in mostly for the fight scenes, that I heard were ace, Jack Black, because he's just so damn likeable to me even if he plays mostly the same role, and David Cross, because he's awesome but I wasn't going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks for him.  I sometimes wish he was more picky about what he picks up.

So anyway, of course the film looks as amazing as you would expect of Dreamworks, the backgrounds and animation both, with the intricate and fluid fights standing out in particular.  I think all the participants seemed very 'solid', like they really had a presence in their surroundings.  I also really want to sing the praise of the 2D animation at the very beginning, also looked great and set up how Po fantasised about martial arts and the Furious Five.  I loved Tai Lung's escape sequence in particular, that wall of red arrows looked great and again, acted to set up just how powerful he was very well.

So the performances: I can't pick out anyone who was bad, Black and Hoffman had great chemistry, I get the feeling Black wrote some of his own lines, especially the opening which reminded me of his Tenacious D persona a great deal, and all the time he really gushed over his idols.  McShane showed the haughty malevolence and emotion that was so sadly wasted on the Golden Compass.  My only complaint about the rest of the main cast is they spoke too little, Jackie Chan's Master Monkey in particular had maybe 2 lines in the whole thing (though was made more characterful through expression and mime) though David Cross's Master Crane did at least have his delightfully awkward talk with Po.  I should also say I really enjoyed Michael Clark Duncan's Rhinoceros Commander, partly because I didn't know he was in it but recognised him, and also for his bluster and confidence that you know from the start is going to be rather painfully taken from him later.  Angelina Jolie was great as Tigress, definitely the deepest character outside of Po, Shifu and Tai Lung, really cool to see the parallels with Tai Lung and how Shifu raised her differently, but with maybe a somewhat similar outcome, as shown by her slowness to accept Po and decision to act on her own against Tai Lung, longing to win the approval Shifu witheld from her.

That flashback made me care a lot more for her and Shifu, made Tai Lung a more interesting, tragic figure, and Oogway awesome, setting up how powerful he was in dispaching Lung with ease, before he parted the mortal coil and left the 'weaker' characters behind for the final battle.  Very good use of the perhaps overused device.

As for the plot, yes it is a case of "slacker is the chosen one just because, and that makes him better than people who worked hard all their life" to a degree, but it is at least done better than I recall seeing elsewhere. I don't see it as a celebration of sloth (which is something I am very tired of, perhaps exemplified by Homer as he is now in The Smipsons), as we see that Po always had the drive, but felt his dream was unattainable due to his body and clumsiness. The greater triumph was over what he thought was impossible that he didn't dare try, not quitting when even his master was trying to wash him out, and that though something can seem mystical and unreachable, there's no "secret ingredient", you are what you make yourself.

Beyond that, I liked the way things like the finger-hold, Tai Lung's power and "the secret ingredient of secret ingredient soup" were set up, the only thing more I think I could ask for would be more time for the other characters to shine, especially since the film isn't especially long.  Apparently this is going to spin into an ongoing franchise, hopefully they will do right by it and possibly expand on those characters if the actors return.

There are a lot of promising films out this summer, with this completing with Iron-Man, Hulk, Dark Knight and Tropic Thunder and more for my money, but I'm certainly glad I spent some of my hard-earned on it.  Not the worst plot on earth, but more importantly a visual delight with endearing characters and superb fantasy martial art sequences.

I was not looking forward to Kung Fu Panda.

To be honest, I've had about enough of Jack Black's shtick and it just did not strike me as something that I HAD to see.  The characters were cute and all, but every picture I saw of Black and Angelina Jolie "yucking it up" at the premiere just sorta turned me off to it.

Well I was wrong.

I had the good fortune to see it in an IMAX theater today and it ROCKS. Really, really well done from start to finish. Laugh out loud funny and as succesful a Kung Fu homage as Kill Bill (albeit it in a much different way.)

It is visually stunning to look at and a whole lot of fun.

Jack Black gives Po the Dragon warrior Panda a soul from the minute you hear his voice.

Dustin Hoffman is AWESOME in this and it also has David Cross. Everything is better with David (Chicken Pot Pie) Cross.

If Dreamworks has a few more Kung Fu Panda quality movies on the way, Pixar/Disney should be nervous.

As vozes de Jack Black, como o preguiçoso Po, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan e Lucy Liu dão vida aos personagens da animação tridimensional Kung Fu Panda ( Idem, 2008 ). Po é um urso panda irreverente, apaixonado por Kung Fu, mas a preguiça o impede de praticar. Ele precisa trabalhar na loja de macarronada da família até que uma profecia o aponta como O Escolhido e Po mergulha no mundo do Kung Fu, como sempre sonhou. Ele inicia seu treinamento com o Mestre Shifu e encontra seus ídolos. Mas ele precisa ficar preparado para enfrentar Tai Lung, o poderoso leopardo das neves.

Aproveitando a proximidade com as Olimpíadas de Pequim e o interesse de todos voltados para a cultura do país comunista, os diretores iniciantes Mark Osborne e John Stevenson, que já trabalharam como produtores, roteiristas e diretores de episódios de séries de TV, assumem o primeiro longa metragem animado com o foco na sociedade chinesa. O estilo individual de cada animal retratado segue as sequências de golpes reais criados nas Artes Marciais tomando por base o movimento dos animais representados.

A animação Kung Fu Panda ( Idem, 2008 ) foi lançado no Brasil em 04 de julho de 2008.

It was great to hear the kids laugh through out - and I confess I laughed with them, because it had some great characters and funny scenes. This is definitely an animated film for all ages and one you could watch over and over.

Personal highlights from the film were the action scenes, Jack Black 'fat jokes' and Po's 'noodle' dad!

Steph's rating: 8/10

Começando com O Escafandro e a Borboleta, filme que aguça nossa sensibilidade justamente para que possamos nos comunicar com Jean Do (Mathieu Amalric). Preso em seu próprio escafandro depois de um derrame ninguém é capaz de tirar dele a criatividade, e só mesmo com um coração de rocha pra não derramar uma lagriminha, principalmente na cena em que Jean Do recebe um telefonema do pai. É pra assistir de lencinho na mão. Pra ler mais, clique na imagem:

Agora falando diretamente com a galerinha que tá de férias, Kung Fu Panda é tão irresitível quanto Jack Black
e a versão de Kung Fu Fighting que ele canta no créditos. No mais, o filme me fez lembrar as fábulas de antigamente, aquelas que a gente escutava antes de dormir, com moral no final e tudo mais. É só clicar no cartaz pra ler:

E por fim, Will Smith tá de volta na área com Hancock, uma tentativa de anti-herói... Buenas, se você é fã do cara, VÁ FUNDO e clique na imagem pra saber mais:

E por agora essa semana termina aqui, enquanto eu tento jogar Kung Fu Panda...

Dúvidas e reclamações: geoeuzebio@gmail.com

“Kung Fu Panda” stammt von den Machern von Shrek und Madagascar. Dieser Animations-Film strotz nur so von unwahrwscheinlichen Helden und unglaublich viel Witz. “Kung Fu Panda” scheint ein unterhaltsames Spektakel mit den flauschigsten Kämpfern aller Zeiten zu werden. Dieser Dreamworks-Film ist am 03.07.08 in den deutschen Kinos erschienen.

Die Handlung ist sehr simpel gehalten, aber denoch unterhaltsam: Der Panda-Bär Po (Harpe Kerkeling) arbeitet mit seinem Vater, einer Ente, in einem Nudelladen. Er träumt davon, durch Kung Fu zum Ruhm zu kommen. Po wird anscheinend zufälligerweise vom Großmeister des Kung Fus zu dem Drachenkrieger ernannt, der mit Hilfe einer Schriftrolle den Leoparden Tai Lung (Thomas Fritsch) besiegen soll. Doch um diese Schriftrolle erlangen zu können muss Po bei Meister Shi Fu (Gottfried John) die Techniken des Kung Fu erlernen. Weitere Schützlinge des Meisters sind Affe, Kranich, Giftschlange, Tigerin und Gottesanbeterin, die Po schon seit langem bewundert.

Die Original Synchronsprecher waren Stars wie Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman und Jackie Chan.

Die Geschichte und die Figuren sind sehr einfach gehalten. Die Autoren Glenn Berger und Jonathan Aibel beschränken sich auf eine 08/15 Heldengeschichte, bei der zunächst der Panda Po verkannt wird, aber am Ende über sich hinauswächst. Die Story wird mit bekannten Stücken aus Kung-Fu-Filmen bestückt. Ein großer Teil der Witze dreht sich um Pos Tollpatschigkeit und Fresslust, was auf Dauer jedoch ermüdend wirken kann. Das heißt nicht, dass "Kung Fu Panda" in Sachen misslungen ist, sondern dass anhand des sehr witzigen Trailers die großen Erwartungen nur teilweise erfüllt werden.

"Kung Fu Panda" ist kurzweilige Unterhaltung für ein sehr junges Kinopublikum. Das Dreamworks-Animations-Abenteuer überzeugt technisch auf ganzer Linie, jedoch weißt der Film inhaltlich ein paar Schwächen auf. Deswegen vergebe ich 7 von 10 Punkten.

Eine Vorschau könnt ihr hier genießen sowohl auch weitere Informationen.

Oliver Twist (Canale 5, 23/12/07, 21.30): 6, visto tanto per sapere di cosa parla il libro.

King Kong di Peter Jackson (Joi, 15/02/08, 13.30): 7, per gli effetti speciali e per il personaggio di Jack Black.

Death of a president (La 7, 18/11/07, 21.30): 6, perché non so se si possa fare un documentario su un seppur ipotetico assassinio di un presidente degli USA.

The legend of Zorro (Canale 5, 30/4/08, 21.10): 6, e si salva solo per Catherine Zeta-Jones e le acrobazie dei protagonisti.

The opportunity arises when a new dragon warrior is needed to save his city from marauding snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane). Kung fu master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) believes one of the Furious Five fighters he has already been training: Tigress (Angelina Joile), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), Monkey (Jackie Chan) and Mantis (Seth Rogen), will get the job, so imagine his surprise when Po is chosen. Thus begins Po’s training, a seemingly impossible task until Shifu discovers the way to Po’s inner warrior is through his stomach.

Set in a stylised countryside of cherry blossom and waterfalls the film looks lovely and contains some striking images, but the best thing about it is its imagination – in one scene where Shifu and Po fight over a dumpling, the kung fu moves are innovative and startlingly good. Jack Black is less annoying as a panda than he can sometimes be in real life and gives Po depth and soul, while the happy ending sets just the right tone.      Dee Pilgrim

Hace unos días descargué la película de Be kind rewind, la más nueva película de Jack Black, Mos Def y Danny Glover, ya había visto cortos de esta cinta una vez que fui al cine y la verdad me llamó la atención la trama de la misma: Dos amigos comienzan a filmar sus propias versiones de las películas de un videoclub y la gente los aclama.

Se escuchaba chistosa la idea, la verdad lo fue.

La película trata acerca de Jerry, interpretado por Jack Black, quien es un empleado de un basurero que intenta sabotear una planta de energía electrica porque sospecha que le causa dolores de cabeza, al intentarlo, sin querer, logra que su cabeza se magnetice, haciendo que se borren todas las cintas del videoclub donde trabaja su amigo Mike, caracterizado por el rapero Mos Def.

El dueño de la tienda es Danny Glover en el papel del viejo señor Fletcher, quien sigue rentando VHS a pesar de la tecnología, quien finge salir del pueblo para poder espiar a su empleado y copiar a los demás videoclubs en su forma de trabajar, mandando además a la señorita Falewicz (Mia Farrow) a rentar una película para ver cómo la atienden, la cinta en cuestión es Ghostbusters (Los Cazafantasmas).

Como la señora no ha visto la película y solamente sabe que se trata de una película de ciencia ficción, se les ocurre hacer la película para que no le diga al dueño lo que pasó, así que comienza todo lo divertido de la cinta que es ver la versión de este par de las películas, todo va bien hasta que otro cliente fiel llega y pide Rush Hour 2, no me acuerdo como se llama en español pero es la de Jackie Chan con Chris Tucker (¿O es Chris Rock?), como el cliente amenaza a irse a otro videoclub la pareja decide filmar la película.

Todo va bien hasta que llegan a la escena de amor y un mecánico que los ayudaba ya no los quiere apoyar, por lo que van a una lavandería cercana donde le piden ayuda a una chava quien les dice que su hermana los ayudará, cuando la película de Cazafantasmas es vista por unos tipos que si sabían la verdadera historia deciden ir y rentar más, por lo que tienen que recrear El Rey León y Robocop, siendo esta última la más graciosa de todas.

Después ya empiezan a grabar más y más películas, incluidas When We Were Kings (Una de Mohammed Ali), El Chofer y la Señora Daisy, 2001, entre otras, para incrementar las rentas deciden meter a gente del pueblo.

La idea de recaudar dinero es para evitar perder el negocio que tienen porque una inmobiliaria quiere destruir el lugar, todo se complica cuando el gobierno les cae en operativo por piratería, destruyendo todas las cintas, luego de agüitarse deciden hacer su propia película, la historia del héroe local, un músico de jazz.

Uniendo al final a todo el pueblo.

ES una película divertida, dura 102 minutos y la película que está en internet tiene muy buena calidad, así que me imagino que si la compran pirata es la que les venderán, es mejor a esperarse a que llegue al cine, ya que ahorita no hay muchas opciones para ver en las salas. Yo si la recomiendo.

There is no doubt I was dreading this. I have been a huge critic of Dreamworks’ digitally animated production since Shrek, and it’s hard not to see why. By in large they have been confused disasters.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a Pixar purist. I have loved every film of theirs I have seen (admittedly I have evaded A Bug’s Life and Cars). But I resent how Pixar has decimated Disney’s animation studios. Similarly I resent how Dreamworks have repeatedly produced hackneyed digitalisations of airport bookshop children’s stories with added pop-culture tripe and successfully sold them to the masses.

The resounding death knell, as far as I could see it, was in Madagascar, when Ben Stiller’s New York lion builds a faux Statue of Liberty on the beach to remind him of his lost home. This subsequently burns down, and he collapses in front of the rubble and à la Charlton Heston screams “you blew it up… darn you! Darn you all to heck!”

Wait the fuck – Darn? Heck? That’s an awful lot of censorship for a children’s film. And a reference to a film that children won’t likely have seen. So who is the joke for? If it’s for the beleaguered adults forced to sit and watch with their accompanied child, then the removal of “bad language” only serves to be outrageously condescending. And why would one even need to make a pop-culture reference to Planet of the Apes in a film that appears to have a solid plot structure (fish out of water zoo animals fend off the wild)? It boggles, and insults, the mind.

So yes, Dreamworks = shit. We’ve established that. But their latest film, which I have managed to resist mentioning for some 300 words, is actually moderately charming. In fact, it might even be deemed somewhat charming.

Kung Fu Panda is a film that if we took too seriously we would bemoan the lack of Chinese voice-actors and storm out of the cinema in a pseudo-political protest. But why bother? This film shows enough sensitivity to the land from which its story sort of derives (references to actual forms of kung fu, mahjong, various types of dishes etc) to be deemed well researched, for a kids’ film.

There is even some maturity in the script, most notably the cleverness of the film’s MacGuffin and the means by which the villain is defeated. There are also no references to popular culture (films, TV, music or forms of speech) bar occasionally toying with Jack Black’s traditional film personality, which is perfectly acceptable (and in fact leads to one of the film’s funniest sequences). Obnoxious use of modern music (most notable in the progressively disastrous Shrek series) is completely avoided until the closing credits, when ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ plays – and by then they’ve earned the right to it.

The story is fun if simple. Po, a Jack Black panda, is a food-loving panda who works with his father, a duck (amusingly never explained) who owns a noodle bar. His dream is to be a kung fu artist, and is accidentally given the chance when chosen in an apparent accident by Master Oogyay, the local mystic, and wittily a tortoise. The seemingly random choice (it is insisted by Oogway there are no accidents) outrages his disciple Master Shifu who has five excellent students, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, Crane and Tigress, all more suitable than Po, who is without training. But when the evil Tai Lung, a Siberian tiger, escapes from prison (in a rather exciting manner), it is Po who must train and face him.

The plot has few diversions from the basic “chosen one must find his path” tale, but there are clever things to be found. Po is not told to diet, as his equivalent in another film – instead he learns to master his desire for food into a martial art. While Tigress is utterly offended at not being the chosen disciple, the other four animal characters reveal themselves to be far more understanding. Tai Lung is not only undone by his own hubris, he is sat upon by it.

The gags come at regular intervals, mainly from Po, though many also from Shifu, who is voiced by Dustin Hoffman; clearly having the most fun he’s had since he played Captain Hook. Angelina Jolie, as in Shark Tale (let us never speak of it again), is utterly wasted as Tigress. As an actress, Jolie requires her face and body to carry her characters, as a voice alone she is nothing. Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu add Chinese-(ish)-ness to Monkey and Viper, while David Cross gets one terrifically awkward scene as Crane, typical of his Arrested Development persona. James Hong makes up for his turn in the vile Balls of Fury, where he managed to both offend the Chinese and the blind in equal measures, in a pleasant turn as Po’s father.

The film’s greatest problem is that it never lives up to its opening five minutes, which set the scene too well, as Po dreams of being a great warrior, entirely illustrated in traditional Chinese forms. The gorgeous drawings, combined with the music and Black’s comic narration (the word awesome has not been used so effectively since Wayne’s World) make for an introduction to film that alas is not followed up on.

This is nothing to rush out to, but it shows a step in the right direction for Katzenberg and co. who have for once managed to deflect my wrath with a smile or two. It would be nice to see people try and animate humans again, but for now a panda will more than suffice.

3/5

O Panda do Kung Fu, Hancock e Brincadeiras Perigosas são as estreias da semana.

”O Panda do Kung Fu” é a nova aposta de animação da Dreamworks Studios e como tal, seria de esperar que chegasse agora no Verão aos cinemas. Apesar de estar longe da genialidade da Pixar, o estúdio não desiste da animação.

E se quanto à qualidade do novo filme ainda é cedo para tirar conclusões, já o elenco vocal, esse podemos afirmar que é de luxo. Senão vejamos…

Jack Black (”King Kong“, “O Amor não tira Férias“) lidera o elenco e dá a voz a Po (um panda), o animal mais preguiçoso do Vale da Paz. Com poderosos inimigos às portas do Vale, todas as esperanças recaem numa antiga profecia que vaticina o aparecimento de um herói que irá “salvar o dia” e o Vale. Mas, entre todos os peritos em artes marciais que entretanto vão aparecendo e reclamam tal título, nenhum parece possuir a marca d’ O Escolhido… até agora! Quando o preguiçoso Po aparece no meio da competição, os masters do Kung Fu ficam em choque ao descobrir que o (nada motivado) Panda é o portador da marca… torna-se então necessário transformar o animal num verdadeiro Kung fu Fighter antes que seja tarde demais. Um grupo de 5 masters em artes marciais, desde sempre ídolos de Po, irão ajudá-lo.

Dustin Hoffman (”Encontro de Irmãos“) dá a voz a Shifu, um panda vermelho, e o master do Kung Fu mais duro de toda a China. É o líder do grupo e terá a difícil tarefa de transformar o indisciplinado Po num kung Fu Fighter.

Jackie Chan (”Hora de Ponta“), ele próprio um expert em artes marciais na vida real, empresta a sua voz a Master Monkey, um forte e ágil guerreiro de Kung Fu, cuja principal tarefa é lembrar a Po tudo o que ele não é… ainda.

Angelina Jolie (”Um Coração Poderoso“) é Tigress, uma tigre fêmea do Sul da China que se junta a Po, e lhe dá valiosos ensinamentos. Sem medos, corajosa, ela fará tudo para “salvar o dia”…

Ian McShane (”Deadwood“)  dá a voz ao vilão Tai Lung, um leopardo das neves feroz e poderoso, que foge da prisão com a intenção de usar as suas aptidões para destruir o Vale da Paz.

Lucy Liu (”Ally Mcbeal“, “Kill Bill“) é Master Viper, outra das professoras de Po, uma víbora que pode ser muito gentil e feminina ou quando for preciso, uma guerreira letal.

David Cross (”Arrested Development“) dá a voz a Master Crane, o mediador do grupo, que tenta a todo custo evitar uma luta… mas quando tal não é possível fará tudo para a vencer.

Seth Rogen (”Superbaldas“, “Um Azar do Caraças“) é Master Mantis, o mais pequeno dos cinco, apesar de nunca o admitir. Possuí um temperamento especial e está pronto para atacar ao mais pequeno insulto.

“Kung Fu Panda” conta na realização com a dupla John Stevenson e Mark Osborne. Êxito de bilheteiras nos Estados Unidos, poucas semanas após a sua estreia já se fala numa sequela.

[escrito por Nuno Santos]

BRINCADEIRAS PERIGOSAS

A violência sempre foi um cunho da presença humana, realizando-se nas suas mais diversas facetas de interacção. Algo que se tenta eliminar, mas que invariavelmente reside sempre no nosso mais recôndito íntimo. Não choca por isso reconhecer a sua importância na evolução do Homem, quer enquanto indivíduo, quer enquanto animal social, apesar de chocar muito boa gente a relativa insensibilidade com que, de certa forma, se banaliza a violência nos dias que correm. O constante bombardeamento da desgraça pela retina acaba por criar anticorpos e nesse passo, acabamos por perder um pouco de nós. O fruto desta traição reside na tecnologia, assim como para outras eras, outros instrumentos, outros recreios. Não, a tecnologia não é a doença. Apenas é. É parte fundamental de nós e sempre o foi e não somos nada sem ela. Mas o que somos é um conceito completamente lixado.

“Funny Games“, de Michael Haneke, deambula um pouco nestes caminhos, tecendo uma alegoria sobre a trivialidade da violência. Tudo gira em torno de um casal (Naomi Watts e Tim Roth) que é feito refém na casa onde passava férias por dois jovens (Michael Pitt e Brady Corbet) que os torturam sem razão aparente a não ser pelo puro prazer do sofrimento. Não será a primeira vez que Haneke contará esta história, já que a mesma é baseada (consta que é uma reposição literal) num filme seu de 1997, com o mesmo nome.

Tudo estaria a postos para a elaboração de um convencional thriller, ainda por mais quando, ironicamente, o próprio cinema ajuda a banalizar o conceito de violência nas suas mais diversas formas, seja pelo voyeurismo sádico de “Hostel” ou a moralidade distorcida da saga “Saw“. Mas “Funny Games” subverte a tendência, relegando os choques explícitos para a imaginação do espectador, criando um clima de verdadeira tensão psicológica num espaço de interacção reduzido, e por isso, mais intimista.

Mas afinal, o que leva um realizador como Michael Haneke a, aparentemente, se deixar levar na onda de remakes de obras estrangeiras para o mercado americano ? Segundo o próprio, e com certa lógica bem doseada pela confrangedora realidade (mas não exclusiva), a história sempre foi pensada como sendo uma história americana, precisamente pelo peso que a violência tem, anormalmente, na sociedade dos E.U.A.. E por aqui se percebe onde é que este estudo intimista de um acto hediondo se torna mais incisivo: numa sociedade que abraça de tal forma a violência, a morte deixa de fazer sentido, passando a ser apenas mais uma distracção. Resta saber é se a inversão de valores chegará a um ponto tal em que questionaremos quem são os párias: aqueles que matam ou aqueles que os condenam ?

[escrito por Pedro Almeida]

HANCOCK

Will Smith encabeça o elenco como um super-herói, outrora famoso, que cai em desgraça na opinião pública, relegando-se a uma vida de completo desleixo e que se envolve com a mulher (Charlize Theron) de um relações públicas (Jason Bateman) que tenta reabilitar a sua imagem.

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jack black/mos def/danny glover/mia farrow/sigourney weaver--dir. michel gondry

SUPERCOMEDIE !!! Deshi filmul debuteaza mai lent, pana la sfarshit razi in hohote, garantat! Doi prieteni, care lucreaza intr-un magazin de inchiriat casete video, printr-o intamplare nefericita reusesc sa shtearga absolut toate casetele, asha ca se trezesc pusi in ipostaza de a reface cele mai cunoscute filme...dar cu ei doi in rolurile principale. Treptat mai coopteaa si altzi prieteni de prin cartier, si incet-incet, tot cartierul se implica in proiectul lor supertampit. Povestea e interesanta, dar felul cum e spusa si realizata, face totzi banii ! Te tavaleshti de ras cand filmeaza aia doi "Ghost Buster" la ei in casa, "Robocop" imbracatzi in nishte cartoane sau "Lion King"...jack Black face un rol mai complex decat ne-a obishnuit in "Nacho Libre", Danny Glover depaseste faza "I'm too old for this" shi chiar o joaca, Mia Farrow se descurca in rolul unei batrane cumsecade si cu usoare probleme psihice...deci, filmul merita vazut si doar pt jocul actorilor, cu toate ca, vine cu mult mai mult decat atat, e o comedie la care kiar razi...in hohote!!!!     VIEW TRAILER

Atenção ENORME SPOILER nesse post. Leia Mais se quiser saber algumas coisas que que acontecem! Por sua conta e risco. Conto partes do filme.

O que rola no filme é o seguinte, Jack 'Kung Fu Panda' Black é o Jerry, um cara que mora num ferro velho e é atormentado com uma dor de cabeça. E tentando arrumar o que ele achava que lhe dava dor de cabeça, acaba tentando sabotar um gerador, acontece que o gerador acaba sabotando ele, gera um acidente e ele fica com o cérebro magnetizado.

O Jerry tem um melhor amigo que trabalha na locadora do Sr. Fletcher, o Mike,  e faz algumas visitas a ele de vez em quando. Numa dessas visitas, Jerry acaba apagando todo o conteúdo das fitas de vídeo! Todas foram magnetizadas.

E essa parte é engraçada, porque chega uma mulher pedido "Os caça fantasmas" e a locadora tá uma zona, todas as fitas espalhadas pelo chão, porque eles estão testando qual fita ainda funciona (nenhuma funciona, claro). Então, pra enrolar, eles pedem pra ela ir buscar a fita depois e saem procurando uma cópia VHS pela cidade. Como não acham, resolvem fazer sua própria versão de "Os Caça Fantasmas"! HAUIAIHUIA

Pra fazer isso, eles entram numa biblioteca. Com uma roupa de alumínio (e vários apetrechos)... tem uma velhota lá escolhendo os livros. Daí eles ligam a lanterna (Nisso todo mundo olhando pra eles), viram pra mulher e o Jerry solta "Hey, você tem falado com o Elvis ultimamente?".

Depois disso, eles saem fazendo várias versões de filmes famosos, tipo A Hora do Rush. A população local adora e eles começam a ganhar uma grana pra continuar a manter a locadora, até que a justiça interrompe a alegria do pessoal. Mas não totalmente!

O filme é legal. Não é dos que eu veria no cinema, sei lá. Mas é bom, é inteligente de certa forma. É engraçado ver um cara todo vestido de lata, fazendo o RoboCop.

Um diálogo interessante é quando o dono da Be Kind, Sr. Fletcher, escreve na porta do trem as palavras "Keep Jerry Out". Como o Mike estava do outro lado pôde ler apenas "PEEK YRREJ TUO", e ele vai pra locadora pensando nessas palavras e conversa com o Jerry:

- Hoje eu descobri uma coisa muito triste... O Sr. Fletcher não sabe escrever.
- Uh... Talvez os pais dele não puderam pagar a escola... Ele teve pais?
- ...
-...
- Sim.
- Interessante.

HAUIHUAIHUIA. A cara do Mike quando Jerry pergunta "Ele teve pais?" é perfeita. E eles agradaram o pessoal.

Nota 8! Bacana e sem noção.

The RandT had the privilege to attend a private screening last week... Yeah, that's right! 

Check out our review and a killer uncensored trailer...

Tropic Thunder is a fast-paced, scathingly funny action comedy starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. as a group of actors filming a Vietnam-a-la-Platoon movie when their fed-up writer-director decides to dump them in the middle of a real war. The good ol' folks at Cinemark's Tinseltown were kind enough to invite us over for a private screening of the film. 

Although we were advised that the movie was still a work in progress, with sound tweaks and other edits still pending, we felt the movie was absolutely fine as is. This is Ben Stiller's second film, since 2001's outstanding "Zoolander", which he co-wrote, produced and directed. Sharing those same credits here, Stiller is back in top form. Watch him blow you away with 4 trailers that open the film- each showcasing one of the movie's main characters. Following up with a killer action sequence, you'll be left wondering if its actually Stiller and not Jerry Bruckheimer, directing this thing if only for the action. A beautifully built satire of the action-film industry and its lampoonable pomposity.

Good luck catching your breath between laughs and the fast paced action.

Stiller plays Tug Speedman, an established action star who tried turning into a serious actor-with disastrous results. Jack Black plays Jeff "Fats" Portnoy, a comedic star turned drug addict, that satirizes every Eddie Murphy-plays-all-the-roles movie ever made.

But the real treat was Robert Downey Jr.'s character, Kirk Lazarus, the multiple Academy Award -winning thespian, who undergoes a controversial pigmentation operation to play an African-American character, Sgt. Osiris. Downey, who has long been one of our favorite actors, soars in his role as Lazarus, stealing virtually every scene he is in. You gotta give it to him, this is Downey's summer, after his smash hit, Iron Man. Downey's character Lazarus insists on staying in his Sgt. Osiris character throughout the entire movie and effectively exploits every possible stereotype along the way. If there is a "best comedic performance of the year" award out there we can give Downey Jr., sign us up!!

Stiller, abandoning his awkward-but-lovable-victim-guy schtick, does a great job as Speedman , who later in the film, surprises us with a fantastic spoof rendition of Marlon Brando's Gen. Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now". In a memorable scene, Stiller's Speedman finally opens up to Kirk Lazarus about his role in his failed serious film "Simple Jack", discussing the implications of becoming a character in its full sense. After Tuggman says that at times during the movie, he actually felt retarded (Ha!), in a hysterical attempt to provide constructive feedback. Downey's Osiris tells Speedman, "Remember Forrest Gump, man. He was retarded, but he charmed the pants off the nation and the president and got an Oscar. In Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman was autistic, but he could count cards and make some money. But then, Sean Penn, in "I Am Sam" well, he couldn't do nothin'. He went full retard. You can never... ever... go full retard. You went full retard, man". 

Jay Baruchel and Brandon Jackson give great supporting roles, especially Jackson as rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino, who has deal with Downey's Sgt. Osiris' antics as a black man.

We were, however, disappointed with how Jack Black was used on this film. If you think back to"Bongwater", "High Fidelity", "Orange County" and of course, "School of Rock" and "Nacho Libre", you would acknowledge Black is a highly talented comedic powerhouse. Seeing him reduced to a heroin junkie going through withdrawal for a third of the entire film was a little hard to stomach. Not until the final 20 minutes of the film, did we see Black shine - tied to a tree to keep his drug-induced withdrawal from compromising a rescue mission, he explains in vivid detail how he would passionately fellate Baruchel's character Kevin Sandusky, if he would just untie him. A scene that will be quoted across college campuses for many years to come.

And just wait for insanely hysterical cameos from Tom Cruise, Matthew McConneghy, Nick Nolte, Steven Coogan and Tobey Maguire.

We really don't want to give anything else away, because we want you all to enjoy this movie just as much as we did. If you love Ben Stiller and the comedy stylings that characterized movies like Zoolander, The 40-year-old Virgin, Old School, & Nacho Libre, you are going to love Tropic Thunder. We give it a WAY thumbs up. Especially after watching Stiller's Speedman getting literally stabbed in the back several times by a 6 year-old as he tries an escape. 

Audaciousness plus some awesomeness and a little attractiveness, decorated with a pinch of alliteration yields the formula for pure Po-ness. At least, in Po's dream.

Once out of dreamland, he is no other than an ordinary son to a goose, a noodle server of his father's delicious noodle restaurant (yumm), and an overweight albeit cute(x10) Panda who only dreams of kung fu.

Life is life, Po gets out of bed and starts his day with the ritual of a self-satisfactory imitation of the introduction of THE Furious Five: monkey, crane, mantis, viper, tigeress, ROAR, and stumbles downstairs to the restaurant Po's left handed father inherited from his father, who took it from his father, who took it from his father's friend in a game of Mahjong. Yup.

While Po is maneuvering his big, round, (& cute!) body between the customers serving noodle, something is happening at the Jade Palace. The legendary Kung Fu Master WuGui (tortoise) has a premonition - the evil snow leopard warrior TaiLang is going to break out of prison and bring danger to the village. Only the dragon warrior, who will be entrusted with the dragon scroll, will acquire the ability to defeat TaiLang with the secret of limitless power that the dragon scroll holds. (Oh the run on) Who will be the dragon warrior? That is up to WuGui to appoint and ShiFu to train.

The message that Master WuGui is going to pick out the dragon warrior spreads as fast as the wind. Soon, the palace arena is filled with eager citizens awaiting for The One. (Go Neo! I mean go Po!)

The tournament commences. Po is still climbing the stairs to go up the mountain. The door closes, and Po is locked out.

The Furious Five works hard to display their skills, hoping Master WuGui will choose the Dragon Warrior among them. Meanwhile Po works just as hard to get through the brickwall to see the tournament. From tree climbing to pole vaulting, none worked because none can support his weight. (no, no, it's just physics, not a fat joke.) Finally Po gets an idea and assembles a rocket via fireworks and a chair. Thinking this is it, Po reveals his inner passion for Kung Fu (instead of noddles!?!) to his father who has just arrived. The chair didn't launch as Po had expected.

Inside the palace, Master WuGui raises a digit, "I sense the dragon warrior among us." The crowd fell silent.

Po's father spreads out the apron for his son to get back to noddle selling. Po stands up to accept it when the chair suddenly lights up, slashing Po against the wall and up he goes. Higher and higher into the sky, the fireworks explodes in the sky to mark this important moment.

Master WuGui's digit starts to fall slowly. Then, *swoosh*, pulling by gravity, Po starts to drop. Falling, accelerating, speeding, annnnnd *BOOM* the roasted panda hits the ground face first. Recovering from the DIY Supreme Scream ride, Po opens his eyes to see Master WuGui's digit in his face. The flabby panda that fell from the sky is now the Dragon Warrior. *crowd cheers*

Po is then carried to the insides of the palace. He takes a quick tour and displays his in depth knowledge of the Kung Fu world. A true fan.

Master ShiFu doesn't like the idea of a panda being the Dragon Warrior too much. Nor do the Furious Five. To start Po off in an unwelcoming atmosphere, Master ShiFu gives Po the WuXi Finger Hold, developed by Master WuXi in the third dynasty. The finger hold captures 100% of the Panda's attention immediately. Master ShiFu forewarns Po of the training awaits him.

Po steps into the training room for the first time, he hits a sandbag after much stalling, the force of the sandbag swinging back into position hits Po and bounces him off into the various training equipments of the Furious Five. Ouuuuch. Let's just say awe and embarrassment are the only emotions Po feels when he crawls out of the training room. Well, maybe pain too.

Night at the lodges, Po isn't welcomed by any of the Furious Five. Upset and discouraged, the panda hides away under a peach tree and starts to stress eat. Master WuGui discovers him with a mouth full of peaches and still pushing more into his mouth. The Master drops Po with a few words of wisdom and a peach before floating away.

The next day, Po is found to be practicing on his own. Master ShiFu orders a one-on-one for Po to fight against the Furious Five and eventually ShiFu himself. Needless to say, the result is disastrous. But, Po does end up becoming friends with the Furious Four, with the exception of tigress, who are too proud to befriend with the "accident" that took away her chance of becoming the dragon warrior.

Unfortunately, "one often meets his destine on the road he takes to avoid it". TaiLang does escape and is heading to the palace at top speed to meet the Dragon Warrior. Master WuGui disintegrates into the night air as his time as up. Before he passes away, he enlightens Master ShiFu to believe and train panda to become the real dragon warrior.

Master ShiFu has finally sets his mind to teach Po Kung Fu. Po resists, Master ShiFu uses food as bait to lure Po into climbing 10 feet off the ground. Po does a little Kung Fu to get to the cookies, in the midst of all the busy chewing and stuffing, Po turns around, "Don't tell monkey." (My favorite scene in the movie :D) So then the training starts.

Everyday Master ShiFu trains Po with food, hence the wonderful chopstick fight for a bun, or dumpling as they call it in the movie, is born. (Enjoy the fat jokes here and there.)

While Po is busy with his training with Master ShiFu, the Furious Five are busy taking on TaiLang by themselves. They are no match to the fearsome TaiLang, whose agility and strength surpass them ten folds and more. The Furious Five were thrown back into the Jade Palace, all immobilized from the "nerve attack" as a show of strength.

To exacerbate the situation more, Master ShiFu and the others expectantly summoning the dragon scroll from the ceiling, thinking it's time for the revelation of limitless power critical to defeat TaiLang. But the scroll is empty. Baffled by the fact there is no secret in the secret scroll that the Kung Fu masters hold so dear, Master ShiFu decides to face TaiLang alone while informing the villagers to evacuate.

TaiLang finally arrives to claim his dragon scroll. He fights with Master ShiFu, his mentor and adopted father. Po returns in time to save the day, well, after a little enlightening by his goose father that the secret of no secret just means to believe in yourself. [insert eye rolling here]

After an intense fight with TaiLang that entails a mass destruction. (but they don't care, so long as they look heroic) Po gloriously finishes TaiLang off with the "Wuxi Finger Hold". Just a flick of the pinky and *boom* TaiLang is gone. (Why didn't he do that earlier?) With TaiLang's defeat, the Furious Five bow to the Dragon Warrior, overturning their previous contempt for this flabby, big bellied, cute panda.

---

I finally found time to write this. Hope it's a fun read, it being not fresh in mind and all. But..uh... the metaphysics aspect of the movie does drive me a little nuts. I mean, we get it, can Dreamworks put it any cornier?

Starring: (the voices of) Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, Ian McShane

Director:Mark Osborne, John Stevenson

Screenplay: Johnathan Aibel, Glenn Berger

Cinematography: Yong Duk Jhun

Running Time: 91 mins.

Animated features, unless from the stable of Pixar and Disney, are very often overlooked as throw-away entertainment. Good for one watch, but never truly standing the test of time. Ask anyone to name an animated feature from any further than a year ago chances are the only film other than those from the aforementioned studios is that of Dreamwors first animated title, Shrek. While Shrek was undoubtedly very funny with its joke's at the expense of 'classic' fairy-tales' the thing that I felt jarred was the abundance of pop-culture references. Something which in my eyes means that it doesnt have the timeless qualities other animated films can have, Shrek is a fading memory in peoples eyes, Toy Story or Snow White it is not! Kung Fu Panda on the other hand I would certainly hope can, and will, stand that test of time. While sharing in Shrek's strengths it disbands of all of its weaknesses.

So no 'pop-culture' references, that i noticed, but an ever growing hit count of jokes as the film progressed, and refreshingly a lack of the usual poo, fart and pee jokes that writers all too often revert to in these crude times! We gegin with dreamworks logo, given an unusual yet clever spin and follow into a very well animated manga style intro. It turns out this serves as both a dream sequence and a way of introducing us to the Furious Five', highly skilled warriors whom have trained as the best kung fu warriors under Shifu. The array of characters is one of the films many strengths, Jack Black gives Po (the titular Panda), our 'hero' a genuine personality while making him possibly the funniest character Black has played, an achievement especially with his roster of past roles. The other standout voicework here comes from Ian McShane as villain Taio Lung, a snow leopard, giving Lung some real ferocity in his limited screentime. Dustin Hoffman also makes an impression, making Shifu more than just the obligatory mentor. The rest of the cast round out each charcter perfectly, its just a shame that most only have a few lines. Of the 'Five' its Seth Rogen's (Mantis) unmistakeable tones that stand out, particularly in the acupuncture scene, one of the films comedy high-points. If anyone lets the side down its the two female parts, whilst not entirely their fault (the script gives them little to do) both Lucy Liu and Angelina Jolie are lacking in the spark that everyone else injects.

The voices however would be nothing without a good script to breathe life into and, whilst not the most original narrative, Kung Fu Panda feels like the freshest animated (certainly CGI) effort in years, yes better even that Pixar's recent efforts, with the exception of the excellent Ratatoille. The story builds, providing the right amount of tension, humour and obligatory morals, without hammering them home. What the script also does is supply a number of set pieces that while easily writeen could well have fallen flat on screen. As it is though they are soem of the best action sequences i have seen in any film, live action or animated, truly exhilerating and exceptionally well choreographed, imagine The Matrix without ANY contraints of actors as played out with a number of different animals ranging from a mantis to a crane, every one of the fighting animals have their own style to fit their animal abilities (imagine a kung fu fighting snake!) this gives the fight scenes real scope and this is scope that is fully explored.

The China displayed in the film is stunning and in every new CCI animation improvements seemed to be mined but here we really do feel like this is something unseen before, the style, look and pacing of the film is differnt, never dragging and always yearning for more, the escape by Tai Lung from his epic prison was a standout for me and demonstrates all of the films strengths in one scene, the setting, the sense of character, the choreography, the humour. Its not often I go away from an animation wanting more, but this was certainly the exception to the rule.

VERDICT

A classic example of something fresh and new, the best use of CGI animation since Finding Nemo and truly puts Dreamworks animation in the same class as Pixar. Let's hope the rumoured sequel is go, because i left the cinema with a huge smile on my face yearning for more, it achieves the feat of being both the funniest, and best action film of the year so far.

Starring Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogan, David Cross, Lucy Liu and Jackie Chan

Produced by DreamWorks

Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris

Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

I can genuinely say this movie is equally as good as Wall-E. I think DreamWorks, with releasing Kung Fu Panda, is really giving Pixar a run for its money. Finally, I have a reason to respect Steven Spielberg.

Po (Jack Black) has always had dreams of being a kung fu master, however, in reality he's in charge of taking over his father's place in the family business. The Jade Temple's supreme master, Oogway, announces a Dragon Warrior is needed, and Po thinks he finally has a chance. Little does he know, but he falls (literally) into the position. With no training, Oogway's oldest student and current master, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), must teach Po the art of kung fu before his former student/evildoer, Tai Lung (Ian McShane), reaches the city and takes the Dragon Scroll. With the help of the Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross) and Monkey (Jackie Chan), Po finds within himself what it takes to be the one and only Kung Fu Panda.

Just for the record, I love Jack Black. I think he's an incredible actor who gets pigeonholed into the goofball roles way too much. This movie is proof that he can do just about anything. And, in true Jack Black fashion, he sings a version of "Kung Fu Fighting" for the credits at the end. As usual, Dustin Hoffman was great as well and gave this film a unique touch with him as one of the main characters. An unlikely voice contributor, but a great one.

Essentially, if I was a little more mentally unstable, I would get a Kung Fu Panda chestpiece done. If I was 5-years-old, I would have every piece of merchandise this movie offered. I would literally claw my way to McDonalds to get every fucking happy meal toy, just as I did when I was a wee-tot.

...In fact, I might just do that.

Kung Fu Panda is great and gives us adults (I use this term loosely) something as well as the kiddies.

En 2004 un director francés llamado Michel Grondy se sacó de la manga una pequeña joya titulada “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” que seguramente asociaréis enseguida con su horrible título en español “¡Olvídate de mí!”. Esta película, aderezada por el magnífico guión del siempre sobresaliente Charlie Kaufman, me hizo que creer que más allá del mundo del videoclip (en el que Grondy se codeó con los Rolling Stones, Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack y alcanzó las más altas cotas de creatividad con Björk en "Human Behaviour", "Army of Me", "Isobel", "Hyperballad", "Jóga", "Bachelorette" o “Declare Independence”) existía un talento innovador.

Poco puedo comentar de “Human Nature” (2002) o “La ciencia del sueño” (2006) porque las he ido posponiendo ante el temor de perder ese buen sabor de boca que me supuso “¡Olvídate de mí!” en la descubrimos que Jim Carrey sabe hacer algo más que descoyuntarse los huesos faciales y que Kate Winslet sigue siendo igual de maravillosa lleve el pelo del color que lo lleve.

Sin embargo, sí he sucumbido a “Rebobine, por favor” (2008) y la he visto. No sé muy bien qué le ha pasado al bueno de Michel, pero su última película me ha dejado a cuadros y no precisamente de admiración.

Mike (Mos Def) trabaja en el videoclub del señor Fletcher: un antro que está a punto de ser demolido y en el que todavía se alquilan películas VHS. El señor Fletcher (Danny Glover), gran admirador de Fats Weller (pianista de ragtime, estilo que marcó el nacimiento del jazz), deja unos días la tienda a cargo de Mike para investigar cómo modernizar su negocio y así evitar la demolición. Durante su ausencia Jerry (un sobreactuado Jack Black), amigo de Mike, intenta sabotear la central eléctrica de la localidad, pero recibe una tremenda descarga que magnetiza todo su cuerpo y cuya consecuencia más inmediata es que las anacrónicas cintas VHS del señor Fletcher queden inservibles.

El arranque de la historia es lo más estúpido que he visto en mucho tiempo y el accidente en la central roza el ridículo más espantoso y eso sin olvidar que Jack sobrevive (por arte de magia) a una descarga de esas características. Sin embargo, la destrucción de todas las cintas da pie a algunos de los momentos más divertidos de la película, puesto de Mike y Jack deberán ingeniárselas para mantener el negocio a flote y no se les ocurre otra cosa que realizar su propia versión de esas míticas películas que han desaparecido bajo el magnetismo de Jerry. La primera de ellas es “Los Cazafantasmas” y el hilarante rodaje de la misma no tiene desperdicio (atención a los rayos para atrapar fantasmas fabricados con espumillón) a la que le siguen otras como “2001, una odisea en el espacio”, “Men in Black”, “El rey león”, “Robocop”, “Paseando a Miss Daisy” o “King Kong”. Podéis encontrar más información sobre estos “cutre-remakes” o “suecadas” en el post de Karelia.

Esta idea original rebosante de buen humor pronto se agota (como no podía ser de otra manera) y Grondy deja paso a una parte final ñoña y sensiblera (con mensajito incluido dirigido a las multinacionales cinematográficas representadas por Sigourney Weaver) que deja mucho que desear.

He ido leyendo alguna que otra opinión de lo más extremista sobre “Rebobine, por favor” y, la verdad, es que lo he pasado como nunca: desde los que creen que se trata de un homenaje al cine (¿?) en la línea de “Cinema Paradiso” hasta los que se han ofendido (¿?) por la (supuesta) parodia de “2001, una odisea en el espacio”. ¿Quién da más?

Lo que está claro es que Grondy lleva a cabo un divertido homenaje a esos videoclubs plagados de cintas VHS con las que muchos hemos crecido y de donde hemos bebido gran parte del cine de los años 80 y 90. La pena es que el envoltorio que rodea a dicho homenaje naufraga irremediablemente convirtiendo a esta película en una oda al aburrimiento.

En cuanto a los intérpretes poco que comentar, puesto que ninguno de ellos ha acabado de convencerme. Únicamente mencionar a Mia Farrow (que parece que siempre interprete el mismo papel) gracias a la cual se desencadena la memorable idea de las “suecadas”.

En fin Michel, tal vez resolver un cubo Rubik con los pies no te ha servido como catarsis para desplegar tu obvio talento, así que la próxima vez prueba a resolver un sodoku con la nariz que igual nos sorprendes con alguna genialidad.

Trailer en español

Para ver la ficha de la película, pinchad aquí

Briony  

There is no charge for awesomeness.

And so it begins. :-)  What a ride!  I loved how it was funny -- Jack Black definitely brought all his talent to bear -- while staying true to the kung fu genre; it had something for everyone.  My favourite character was Oogway: I could've watched that moment when he stopped Tai Lung in his tracks a dozen times in a row; so awesome!  Plus, the second scene under the sacred peach tree of heavenly wisdom... so kung fu!

The whole premise was great too: they hinted at how it would go down partway through, but it still made for a great finale; I don't know if believable is the right word, but it was certainly a great story that was told well.

The art was amazing too.  (I've just added the book to my wish list.)  The villains in the opening reminded me of a coffee table book my parents had when I was growing up; it was full of caricatures of jungle animals, ending with the lion, of course.  I wish I could remember the name of it; searches on "king of the jungle art book" were as useful as you'd imagine.  It was a parody, though, 'cause these animals were messed up: the hippo was wearing a ballet tutu, the rat (O.K., maybe characterizing the book as 'jungle' was my first mistake) was smokin' a cigarette, the lion was sittin' on a throne -- no, not the throne; it wasn't that messed up -- munchin' on a drumstick, I think... And a bunch of them had dirty T-shirts on, or maybe it was just the heavy black that outlined them and permeated every page.  But it was the beady eyes in Kung Fu Panda that brought me back to that book; the small, beady eyes in overly large faces.  It was a disturbing book, actually; probably why I still remember it.  Strange.