Acclaimed TV Series "Years of Living Dangerously" Returns Sunday, Oct. 30th

Season Two of the Emmy Award-Winning and Critically Acclaimed Series "Years of Living Dangerously" Set to Premiere Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 8/7c Exclusively on National Geographic Channel

New Season Scheduled to Air Just Over a Week Before the Presidential Election; Will Move to Regularly Scheduled Time, Wednesdays at 10/9c, Beginning Nov. 2, 2016

Full Lineup of Passionate Hollywood Actors and Producers Raising Awareness of the Effects of Climate Change Includes Jack Black, Gisele Bündchen, Ty Burrell, James Cameron, Don Cheadle, America Ferrera, Thomas Friedman, Joshua Jackson, David Letterman, Aasif Mandvi, Nikki Reed, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ian Somerhalder, Cecily Strong, Sigourney Weaver and Bradley Whitford

WASHINGTON & BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--US News and World Report has declared that “the 2016 presidential election may be America’s last chance to elect a leader who will halt climate change.” National Geographic Channel (NGC) (@NatGeoChannel) today announced that the second season of the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously will premiere on a special date and time — Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 at 8/7c — just over a week before the presidential election.

Years of Living Dangerously will move to its regularly scheduled time, Wednesdays at 10/9c, beginning Nov. 2, 2016. The new season of the critically acclaimed series will air exclusively on NGC in 171 countries and 45 languages. For more information, visit yearsoflivingdangerously.com or our press room at foxflash.com, and follow @NGC_PR and @YearsOfLiving on Twitter. Link to view trailer here and downloadable here: http://files.natgeonetworks.com/_h1WgmoGwlsiATR.

    National Geographic Channel Announces Airdate for Season 2 of Years of Living Dangerously and Releases First Trailer

Produced in collaboration with The Years Project, Years of Living Dangerously once again features some of Hollywood’s biggest influencers who are passionate about environmental issues, and it reveals emotional and hard-hitting accounts of the effects of climate change from across the planet.

The full list of season two correspondents includes Jack Black, Gisele Bündchen, Ty Burrell, Don Cheadle, America Ferrera, Thomas Friedman, Joshua Jackson, David Letterman, Aasif Mandvi, Nikki Reed, executive producer Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ian Somerhalder, Cecily Strong, Sigourney Weaver and Bradley Whitford. They give first-person accounts from locations — some shockingly close to home, others in far-flung corners of the globe — where the effects of climate change are most prevalent. They cover crucial issues, like severe hurricanes, deforestation, the solar energy crisis, climate migrants, historic droughts and the rapidly increasing extinction rate of our planet’s wildlife. The result is a gritty and raw look at not only how our species has impacted our planet but also how we can save it for future generations.

The first season was hailed as “the most important television series ever,” “unexpected, character-driven stories” and “compelling, and frankly terrifying.” Years of Living Dangerously won the 2014 Emmy award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and was executive produced by James Cameron, Jerry Weintraub and Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with Emmy-winning “60 Minutes” producers Joel Bach and David Gelber, and climate expert Daniel Abbasi.

Season two episodes and stories will include:

Years of Living Dangerously: A Race Against Time (wt)
Featuring David Letterman and Cecily Strong
Premieres Sunday, Oct. 30, at 8/7c

The energy market has an estimated global value of $6 trillion — a number that could be greatly affected by an increase in renewable sources, especially solar. In his first television project since retiring as host of CBS’s “The Late Show,” David Letterman travels to India for the first time to find out what the world’s soon-to-be most populous country is going to do to expand its inadequate energy grid, power its booming economy and bring basic electricity to 300 million citizens who have never plugged in. Letterman interviews the prime minister, travels to rural villages where power is a luxury few can afford and finds out why the U.S. may play a key role in India’s energy future. “Saturday Night Live” cast member Cecily Strong travels to Florida and Nevada to investigate what’s blocking the growth of solar energy in the U.S. — and she gets the real story from industry insiders and a retired commissioner now willing to tell their stories.

Years of Living Dangerously: The Rising (wt)
Featuring Jack Black and Ian Somerhalder
Premieres Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 10/9c

If nothing is done to curb carbon emissions, Miami is in danger of being underwater by the end of the century. Jack Black is there to find out if and how the city and other low-lying coastal areas can survive rising seas. He finds a political and business community in denial and talks to a few lone legislators, residents, activists and scientists trying to do something before it’s too late. Ian Somerhalder journeys to the Bahamas to investigate the future threat of superstorms, caused by rising sea temperatures, whose devastating effects could reach biblical proportions. At the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, he joins scientists on a deep dive to explore blue holes, underwater caves that have collected the remnants of past storms for centuries.

Years of Living Dangerously: The Battle in the Woods (wt)
Featuring Gisele Bündchen
Premieres Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 10/9c

The battle to save the Amazon in Brazil — the “lungs of the planet” — is the ultimate race against time. There are ever-increasing threats from cattle ranching, drought, deforestation, massive hydroelectric dams and illegal mining. Supermodel and activist Gisele Bündchen travels to her home country to see the extent of the damage and investigates what’s being done to save the rainforest for all of us. Deep in the Amazon, she joins the national environmental police on a mission to put an end to illegal deforestation; in Alta Floresta, she meets with Greenpeace for a flyover of the forest, which reveals huge patches of deforested land, logs piled high on trucks and barges, drought-stricken fields, burnt rainforests and vast cattle ranches that were once lush, thousand-year-old tropical rainforests.

Years of Living Dangerously: A Better Way Forward (wt)
Featuring Ty Burrell and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Premieres Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 10/9c

Almost one-fifth of all carbon emissions in the world come from the transportation sector. Actor Ty Burrell takes to the road to see the environmental revolutions being made in electric vehicles (EVs) and automated vehicles (AVs). Burrell visits Silicon Valley to learn about AV advancements and hear how big automakers are pouring major capital into AV technology. In Atlanta, where some of the country’s most generous EV incentives were recently killed, Burrell makes a visit to see the effects and hear firsthand from EV advocates. Action hero, politician, climate crusader and Years of Living Dangerously executive producer Arnold Schwarzenegger sets out to explore the military’s relationship with a changing climate, including how our armed forces are dealing with an increasing number of climate-related disasters and how the military is working to reduce its own carbon footprint. Schwarzenegger travels to Kuwait to visit soldiers and travel in a fuel convoy (where more than 3,000 soldiers have been killed or injured since 9/11). He learns how serious a threat the military perceives climate change to be, talks to top-level military leaders and meets the brave men and women who are dealing with climate change threats and disasters on the front lines.

Years of Living Dangerously: The Uprooted (wt)
Featuring Tom Friedman and Don Cheadle
Premieres Wednesday, Nov. 23, at 10/9c

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman investigates the increasing population of climate refugees — migrants forced to leave their homes due to climate change-induced sea-level rise, natural disasters and destroyed livelihoods. He travels from the COP21 climate conference in Paris to the Sahel region of a parched and war-torn Africa, where he hears from refugees themselves. He explores this new wave and what the future may bring. Actor Don Cheadle is on the ground in California, where the worst drought in 1,200 years is devastating the nation’s most populous state and the world’s seventh-largest economy. He investigates how Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is fighting the drought while also fighting climate change. Along the way, Cheadle meets a scientist who warns of a global water and food crisis as well as a family of farmers whose lives may never be the same as they struggle to find water in the parched Central Valley.

Years of Living Dangerously: Warming and Winning (wt)
Featuring Joshua Jackson and Nikki Reed
Premieres Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 10/9c

Joshua Jackson investigates the one place on Earth where the impacts of climate change are most profound yet practically invisible: the oceans. Josh travels to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to look at the devastating impacts of ocean warming on the world’s largest reef system, and he explores the predicted impact of ocean acidification. In the Philippines, he looks at the impact of climate change in a place where hundreds of millions of people rely on healthy reefs for food, income and protection from storms. Actress and activist Nikki Reed explores what some believe to be the ultimate solution for climate change: putting a price on carbon. She joins a group of passionate students at Ponoma College in Southern California on a mission to put it into action and travels to Vancouver, a carbon-pricing success story, for a sit-down with the mayor.

Years of Living Dangerously: Saving What’s Left (wt)
Featuring Aasif Mandvi and Bradley Whitford
Premieres Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 10/9c

Animal species around the world are disappearing at an alarming rate, and climate change is only worsening the trend. Former “Daily Show” correspondent Aasif Mandvi sets off on a quest to understand just how much of a threat climate change poses to endangered species. He travels to Kenya’s wildlife preserves to meet the people on the front lines of conservation efforts, discovering that increased drought and irregular rainfall are compounding poaching and loss of habitat. Meanwhile, “West Wing” star Bradley Whitford travels to Capitol Hill to explore the growing movement to get Republicans to admit that climate change is real and to commit to doing something about it. He tells the story of Jay Butera, who has spent the past 10 years lobbying Republicans on climate. For Butera, it’s not about brow-beating lawmakers with facts; it’s about providing solutions they can get behind to forge a bipartisan majority to act. Whitford follows Butera and some of the members of Congress he’s convinced, to see if this movement can be sustained.

Years of Living Dangerously: Uprising (wt)
Featuring America Ferrera and Sigourney Weaver
Premieres Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 10/9c

Even though coal plants are shutting down across the country, coal remains a major source of energy, and burning it emits toxic pollutants and climate-altering carbon dioxide. America Ferrera journeys to Illinois, where a still-functioning coal plant is creating tension between those who want to shut it down and those — like the local mayor — who want to keep it open. She meets a group of activists fighting hard to close it in favor of an option that can provide clean energy and green jobs. Sigourney Weaver explores China’s explosive economic growth and the impact it is having on the environment not just locally but on a massive global scale. In New York, she sits down with the former U.S. ambassador to China before traveling to Hong Kong and China to see whether the world’s biggest polluter is fulfilling promises to reduce emissions — even as its populations and industry continue to grow.

For previous episodes and more information, visit yearsoflivingdangerously.com and follow @YearsOfLiving on Twitter.

Years of Living Dangerously is produced for National Geographic Channel by Years of Living Dangerously LLC. For National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Robert Palumbo, vice president of production is Matt Renner and president of original programming and production is Tim Pastore. For The Years Project, executive producers are Joel Bach, James Cameron, David Gelber, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Weintraub and Maria Wilhelm; co-executive producer is Jon Meyerson; supervising producer is Ellin Baumel; and senior producer is Sydney Trattner.


About National Geographic Channels
Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channels US are a joint venture between National Geographic and Fox Networks. The Channels contribute to the National Geographic Society’s commitment to exploration, conservation and education with smart, innovative programming and profits that directly support its mission. Launched in January 2001, National Geographic Channel (NGC) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the debut of NGC HD. In 2010, the wildlife and natural history cable channel Nat Geo WILD was launched, and in 2011, the Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo was unveiled. The Channels have carriage with all of the nation’s major cable, telco and satellite television providers, with NGC currently available in nearly 90 million U.S. homes. Globally, National Geographic Channel is available in more than 440 million homes in 171 countries and 45 languages. For more information, visit natgeotv.com, find us on Facebook at facebook.com/NatGeoTVUS or follow @NatGeoChannel on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jack Black to Make Special Appearance at the 87th Oscars

Jack Black To Perform At The Oscars®
The versatile actor, singer and comedian Jack Black will make a special appearance at the 87th Oscars, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today. The Oscars, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will air on Sunday, February 22, 2015 live on ABC.

"Jack Black is a complete original comic voice and we're beyond thrilled that he has agreed to join the Oscars show in a very special sequence" says Zadan and Meron.

Black has starred in such films as “High Fidelity,” “Shallow Hal,” “School of Rock,” “King Kong,” and “Tropic Thunder,” and is voicing the title character in “Kung Fu Panda 3,” his third turn in the animated feature series. He also is the lead singer and guitarist of the comedy rock duo Tenacious D, which he formed in 1994 with Kyle Gass.  Black has made three previous appearances on the Oscars, most recently as a presenter at the 81st Academy Awards.

The 87th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscars, produced by Zadan and Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Sony Sets "Goosebumps" Movie for March 2016

JACK BLACK STARS IN GOOSEBUMPS DIRECTED BY ROB LETTERMAN ALSO STARRING DYLAN MINNETTE AND ODEYA RUSH

Principal photography has commenced on Goosebumps, starring Jack Black. Rob Letterman directs the film from a screenplay by Darren Lemke and Mike White and a story by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski and Darren Lemke, based on the Goosebumps book series published by Scholastic and written by R. L. Stine. The producers are Neal H. Moritz and Deborah Forte. Executive producers are Bill Bannerman and Tania Landau. The film will be released on March 23, 2016.

Also starring in Goosebumps are Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Amy Ryan, Jillian Bell, Ryan Lee, and Ken Marino.

In Goosebumps, upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach’s comes when he learns that Hannah has a mysterious dad who is revealed to be R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series. It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange… he is a prisoner of his own imagination – the monsters that his books made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Zach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it’s suddenly up to Stine, Zach, and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong.

The production films in and around Conyers, Madison, and Atlanta, Georgia, notably in the counties of Morgan, Rockdale, Cobb, and DeKalb.

Scholastic has sold over 350 million Goosebumps books worldwide in 32 languages since the series introduction in 1992, earning critical acclaim and dominating global best seller lists. R.L. Stine has been recognized as one of the bestselling children’s authors in history.

The production’s creative team also includes director of photography Javier Aguirresarobe, production designer Sean Haworth, editor Jim May, and costume designer Judianna Makovsky.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT 
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

Review: "High Fidelity" is Endearing, Refreshing (Happy B'day, Nick Hornby)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 68 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

High Fidelity (2000)
Running time:  113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and some sexuality
DIRECTOR:  Stephen Frears
WRITERS:  D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg (based upon the book by Nick Hornby)
PRODUCERS:  Tim Bevan and Rudd Simmons
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Seamus McGarvey
EDITOR:  Mick Audsley
COMPOSER:  Howard Shore
BAFTA Award nominee

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: John Cusack, Iben Hejejle, Todd Louiso, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joan Cusack, Tim Robbins, Shannon Stillo, Joelle Carter, Lili Taylor, Alex Desert, and Bruce Springsteen

The subject of this movie review is High Fidelity, a 2000 comedy, drama, and romance from director Stephen Frears.  The film is based on the 1995 novel, High Fidelity, from author Nick Hornby.  High Fidelity focuses on a record store owner, who is a compulsive list maker, as he recounts his top five breakups, including the one that just occurred.

After seeing Identity, I decided to go back and see some John Cusack movies that I hadn’t seen.  I can call them “John Cusack movies” in the sense that Cusack’s personality pretty much dominates almost any film in which he stars.  He’s presence is simply quite dynamic and magnetic.  When he first came on the scene, many predicted that he’d be a huge star, and for some reason, his star isn’t as big as it should be.  However, few actors of his generation have a combination of tremendous acting talent and the sense about him that the camera loves.  Some have one or the other, but having both is rare.

In High Fidelity, John is Rob Gordon, owner of Championship Vinyl, a record store the specializes in collectible LP’s, emphasizing vinyl over compact disc, although the store does have a selection of hip and cool cd’s.  As the movie begins, his current girlfriend, Laura Lydon (Iben Hejejle) is leaving him.  So Rob, the film’s very dominate character and a compulsive list maker recounts his top five breakups, all the while trying to regain Laura’s companionship.

The film is based on a novel by Nick Hornby (the film About a Boy is also from one of his novels) and co-written by four writers including Cusack.  Although the film has a director with a pedigree, Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters), and a Hollywood hotshot as one of its screenwriters Scott Rosenberg (Con Air), this is John Cusack’s show.  In the beginning, the character Rob is a little hard to take.  It’s easy to see why he’d have problems with women, although Rob seems to think that his problems stem from his girlfriends.  Cusack builds Rob Gordon slowly, layer upon layer, before our eyes.  Rob talks a lot, and quite a bit of him is a mystery, but Cusack brings us in really close.  He totally breaks the mythical fourth wall between fictional character/performer and viewer, and though Rob remains something of an enigma, we learn enough about him to love him and to root for him.

There are quite a few interesting characters in the film that we don’t see more of because this is Rob’s show.  They might strengthen the story, but the storytelling is still excellent solely because of Cusack’s Rob.  Laura remains as elusive as Rob is, so we might need her version of High Fidelity to get her side of the relationship.

The film is funny, touching, and in its own quirky way, very romantic.  The supporting performances give Cusack’s Rob room to do his thing and give us enough to make Rob’s environment beyond his musings interesting.  High Fidelity could have been a disaster because in many ways, Rob ain’t going anywhere.  He doesn’t have any plans, and he is unsatisfied with his life, but not enough to do something – to act, so we could have brushed him off as a loser.  I didn’t because I want to hear every word he has to say.  Kudos to Cusack for making Rob so endearing and this film so refreshing.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2001 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (John Cusack)

2001 BAFTA Awards:  1 nominations:  “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg)

2001 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actress” (Lisa Bonet)

Updated:  Thursday, April 17, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Will Smith Wags "Shark Tale" to Success

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 203 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


Shark Tale (2004)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild language and crude humor
DIRECTORS: Bibo Bergeron, Vicky Jenson, and Rob Letterman
WRITERS: Damian Shannon, Mark Swift, Michael J. Wilson, and Rob Letterman
PRODUCERS: Bill Damaschke, Janet Healy, and Allison Lyon Segan
EDITORS: Nick Fletcher with Peter Lonsdale and John Venzon
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: (voices) Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Martin Scorsese, Ziggy Marley, Doug E. Doug, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Pastore, Peter Falk, Katie Couric, and Phil LaMarr

The subject of this movie review is Shark Tale, a 2004 computer-animated comedy film from DreamWorks Animation. Shark Tale stars Will Smith as a worker fish and Jack Black as a vegetarian shark who take advantage of a gangster shark’s death.

Oscar (voice of Will Smith) the fish lives in the low end of the reef. He works at a whale (think car) wash, but he’d like to be a rich, famous somebody. Lenny (Jack Black) is a vegetarian shark, but his father, Don Lino (Robert De Niro), a shark mob boss, wants him to be tough so that he can run the family business with his brother, Frankie (Michael Imperioli). Oscar and Lenny & Frankie have an accidental encounter that leaves Frankie dead. Through a series of unfortunate misunderstandings, Oscar gets credit for killing Frankie and becomes known as “the shark slayer.” Oscar befriends Lenny and the two help each other; Oscar gives Lenny a place to hide, and the shark helps the fish perpetuate the myth of Oscar being a shark slayer. However, all that wealth and fame make Oscar forget his roots, and he fails to see that his friend Angie (Renée Zellweger), has been there for him all along. And his troubles only get worse when Don Lino comes looking for the shark slayer, and Don Lino isn’t awed like everyone else at the reputation of the shark slayer.

I could never imagine Disney using African-American or Black subcultures as a stylistic basis for one of their animated films, but DreamWorks does just that with Shark Tale. The computer-animated tale uses lots of hip hop attitude and music and a little of its slang, mostly through the performance of actor Will Smith. The film isn’t hip hop heavy, but Shark Tale has enough hip hop-ness to be noticeable.

Hip hop aside, Shark Tale is a very entertaining film, mostly on the strength of Will Smith’s performance, and Smith seems to chose material that he has to save on the strength of his personality. Is that some kind of martyr complex? Shark Tale isn’t all that well directed or written. The film is well cast; even famed movie director Martin Scorsese surprises with a small but wiry voice over performance. However, Scorsese, like everyone except Will Smith, has little with which to work. The film, especially on the writing end, treats the cast like window dressing, but still, the supporting cast gives inspired performances as window dressing.

Shark Tale’s premise, both Oscar’s plot and Lenny’s subplot, are actually effective and intriguing; both however are glossed over. Oscar has some serious self-confidence issues, and Lenny is certainly…a fish out of water with his family. The script focuses on jokes over the substance of overcoming obstacles. Still, Shark Tale is very entertaining, and visually, it’s a vast improvement in the quality of the computer animation over other DreamWorks computer animated films.

So how does Shark Tale compare to the Oscar®-winning, Finding Nemo, which is also an undersea tale? Finding Nemo has more heart, and the screenwriters took time to delve into the character issues and the humanity of the players. Shark Tale creates obstacles for the characters and then sweeps everything under the rug, whereas Nemo saw the characters through heartaches all the way to victory. While it may come up short on that end, Shark Tale still deserves credit for what it does right. It lets a charming film personality and movie star do his thing, and boy, does Will Smith do his thang.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2005 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Bill Damaschke)

2005 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “BAFTA Children's Award-Best Feature Film” (production team)

Review: "The Holiday" is So Lovable (Happy B'day, Nancy Meyers)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Holiday (2006)
Running time: 138 minutes (2 hours, 18 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content and some strong language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Nancy Meyers
PRODUCERS: Bruce A. Block and Nancy Meyers
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dean Cundey (director of photography)
EDITOR: Joe Hutshing
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

ROMANCE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach, Rufus Sewell, Edward Burns, and Shannyn Sossamon

The subject of this review is The Holiday, a 2006 romantic comedy film from writer-director, Nancy Meyers. This Christmas/Holiday-themed film focuses on two women who trade homes after each suffers some romantic heartbreak.

Two women who live 6000 miles apart and have never met find their lives in the same place. In Los Angeles, Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who directs movie trailers, realizes that her live-in lover, Ethan (Edward Burns), has been unfaithful. In London, newspaper writer Iris (Kate Winslet) has been in love with Jaspar (Rufus Sewell) for three years, and now he’s about to marry someone else. Amanda and Iris meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the (Christmas) holiday.

Iris moves into Amanda’s large house in sunny California. She befriends Amanda’s neighbor, Arthur Abbot (Eli Wallach), a legendary screenwriter, now retired, who peps up her spirit and encourages Iris to befriend Miles (Jack Black), a film composer and acquaintance of Amanda’s. Meanwhile, Amanda moves into Iris’ small cottage in the snow-covered English countryside where she finds herself charmed by Iris’ handsome brother, Graham (Jude Law). However, both women soon find old issues creeping into their holiday cheer.

Nancy Meyers, writer/director of the delightful chick flick Something’s Gotta Give, delivers The Holiday, another fluffy film confection best served on a holiday winter evening. After an awful start in which Kate Winslet babbles a dry opening narration, The Holiday rights itself with lovable characters. To that end, the four leads don’t so much deliver great performances as they deliver great big dollops of charm every time they appear on screen.

The Holiday plays to the female audience, but this is also the kind of pure gooey entertainment that, during the holidays, can ensnare the unsuspecting heart of any guy who is a romantic at heart.

7 of 10
B+

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

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Review: Original "Ice Age" is Still Cool

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 70 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Ice Age (2002) – computer animated
Running time: 81 minutes (1 hour, 21 minutes)
MPAA – PG for mild peril
DIRECTOR: Chris Wedge with Carlos Saldanha
WRITERS: Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson, and Peter Ackerman; from a story by Michael J. Wilson
PRODUCER: Lori Forte
EDITOR: John Carnochan
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ADVENTURE/FAMILY with elements of drama

Starring: (voices) Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Goran Visnjic, Jack Black, Cedric the Entertainer, and Stephen Root

The subject of this movie review is Ice Age, a 2002 computer-animated film from Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox. This adventure comedy and talking-animal story follows a woolly mammoth, giant ground sloth, and smilodon (a saber-toothed cat) who go on a journey to return a human baby to its parents.

As the ice age encroaches upon the land, a mismatched trio of prehistoric critters: Manfred “Manny” the mammoth (Ray Romano, who gives a low key but commanding voice performance), Sid the giant sloth (John Leguizamo, a show stealer as usual), and Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary) become reluctant guardians of a human infant. They embark on an epic, but perilous and sometimes hilarious journey to return the infant to its tribe. Diego, however, has mixed loyalties, as his pack lies in wait to spring a trap for Manny and the baby.

Ice Age, produced by computer animation studio Blue Sky Animation for 20th Century Fox, was the first blockbuster computer animated feature not produced by Pixar (Disney) or PDI (DreamWorks). The film also earned a 2003 Oscar nomination for “Best Animated Feature” (which went to director Chris Wedge). If the film has a secret to its success, it’s actually two things: high quality computer animation and story. Creating computer animation that doesn’t look clunky, but instead looks like eye candy apparently isn’t easy. Pixar remains the gold standard, but after a rough start DreamWorks Animation (formerly PDI) is producing some colorful and unique looking works. Ice Age looks like the work of a studio that has been at computer animated features for a long time, although Blue Sky at the time had been making computer animated shorts and computer-generated characters for films like Alien: Resurrection and Joe’s Apartment. Other than the chunky looking adult humans, the animation in Ice Age is smooth and pleasant to look at, but most of all, the characters have character.

Cute looking characters mean nothing if they leave the audience cold. Manny the mammoth and Sid the sloth especially are lively and engaging. The animation allows both Manny and Sid’s faces to exploit the performances by the respective voice actors. Sid has a physicality that reminds of a really good physical comedian, and Sid is as animated as John Leguizamo’s hilarious and inventive voice performance of him. The saber-toothed tigers seem a bit stiff for the kind of animal they likely were. Their faces aren’t quite menacing, and they pose more than they move.

However, animated films are all sound and fury without a good story. It’s not enough that an animated feature is funny, and Ice Age does have much wry and witty humor (with some clever nods to pop culture and nice comic relief in the form of a character called Scrat). Ice Age is an engaging tale about lost souls coming together and working together to do something that is more important than their individual failures and yearnings. United they are far mightier than they were alone, and the cause (returning the human infant to his father) isn’t so much noble as it simply is the right thing to do. Anyone who believes in family and friendship can identify that, and such a goal moves beyond group alliances.

This is an all-inclusive message that embraces both traditional and non-traditional families (whatever those are). It’s a good message and a heartwarming story that makes Ice Age more than just empty, family entertainment product. Add the fact that it is often quite funny and witty, and Ice Age is a winning picture.

7 of 10
B+

Sunday, April 09, 2006

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature” (Chris Wedge)

"The Muppets" is Muppet-ational

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 25 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Muppets (2011)
Running time: 103 minutes (l hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild rude humor
DIRECTOR: James Bobin
WRITERS: Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller
PRODUCERS: David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Don Burgess
EDITOR: James Thomas
COMPOSER: Christophe Beck
Academy Award winner

FANTASY/COMEDY/FAMILY/MUSICAL

Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, and Jack Black and The Muppets: (voices) Peter Linz, Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel, Tyler Bunch, and Alice Dinnean with Emily Blunt, Whoopi Goldberg, and Zach Galifianakis

The Muppets is a 2011 live-action, musical comedy and fantasy film from Walt Disney Pictures. This Oscar-winning film stars The Muppets, the puppet characters created by the late Jim Henson, specifically the characters that appeared on the television series, “The Muppets” (1976-81). This film finds The Muppets reuniting to save their old theatre from a crooked oil tycoon.

Walter (voice of Peter Linz) is a man born as a Muppet. He lives in Smalltown (presumably a small town in the American Midwest) with his brother, Gary (Jason Segel). Gary has planned a vacation to Los Angeles with his girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams), for their tenth anniversary, and he invites Walter along, so that he can tour the Muppet Studios.

Once in L.A., the trio finds the studio lot abandoned and Muppet Theatre decrepit. Walter happens to overhear Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), a greedy oil tycoon, plotting to seize control of Muppet Theatre, which he also plans to destroy. Walter, Gary, and Mary travel to the mansion of Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmore), and convince him to reunite The Muppets. Kermit wants to put on a telethon to raise the ten million dollars needed to save Muppet Theatre, but The Muppets have not performed together in years and are scattered around the country. Even if Kermit reunites his friends, no television network thinks that The Muppets are still popular or relevant enough to give them the television time they will need to raise so much money.

With the release of The Muppets last year, I got a chance to rediscover my love for these characters. I watched the first television series, The Muppet Show, during its original run and later, in syndication for several years. I must say that I’m pleased with this new movie, which was critically well-received and performed well at the box office. For the most part, these are still The Muppets that I knew and loved and still love.

The new songs are better than I thought they would be. The beguiling, Elton John-esque “Man or Muppet” (written by Bret McKenzie) won a best original song Oscar, but I prefer two other McKenzie-penned songs. “Life’s a Happy Song” and “Me Party” (co-written by Paul Roemen) are the kind of catchy tunes that can stand on their own as lively jingles outside The Muppets (or even be used in another movie).

Early in the film, I found the characters played by Jason Segel and Amy Adams intolerable and intrusive. I was only a little more tolerant of nouveau-faux Muppet, Walter. As Segel’s Gary and Adams’ Mary recede more into the background and take their place as supporting characters, they grew on me… a little. Besides, I find it hard not to like Amy Adams. Truthfully, Gary, Mary, and Walter seem like minor gateway characters that create the contrivances which in turn bring The Muppets back into the picture. By the end of the movie, I liked that the new characters were part of the film.

Of course, the best thing in The Muppets are The Muppets. Whenever they’re singing and dancing and squabbling and trying to keep their stuff together, The Muppets have their mojo, and their mojo is back. By the end of The Muppets, I was sad because I wanted the movie to be longer.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2012 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Bret McKenzie for the song "Man or Muppet")

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Review: "Bob Roberts" is Timeless and Always Timely (Happy B'day, Tim Robbins)

TRASH IN MY EYE No.170 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Bob Roberts (1992)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R for momentary language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tim Robbins
PRODUCER: Forrest Murray
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jean Lépine
EDITOR: Lisa Churgin
Golden Globe nominee

COMEDY/POLITICAL

Starring: Tim Robbins, Giancarlo Esposito, Ray Wise, Gore Vidal, Alan Rickman, Brian Murray, Harry J. Lennix, Merrilee Dale, Tom Atkins, David Strathairn, Jack Black, Lynne Thigpen, Helen Hunt, Bob Balaban, with John Cusack, Peter Gallagher, Susan Sarandon, James Spader, and Fred Ward

It’s October 1990. A radical folksinger named Bob Roberts (Tim Robbins) becomes a right wing, Pennsylvania senatorial candidate running against an old-school liberal named Senator Brickley Paiste (Gore Vidal). Bugs Raplin (Giancarlo Esposito), radical writer/editor/publisher of the an independent muck-racking newspaper, the Trouble Times, tries to expose Roberts’ alleged ties to the savings and loans scandals and assorted CIA drug-smuggling and gun-running conspiracies of the late 1980’s. British filmmaker, Terry Manchester (Brian Murray), captures this and all the events that follow Roberts’ campaign, in a documentary through which the movie audience follows Bob Roberts’ narrative.

Tim Robbins scathing satirical comedy was probably preaching to the choir and converted in 1992, in particular to moderates, liberals, and leftists frustrated by 12 years of Republicans being in the White House. Still, the film’s blend of campaign antics, singing, music videos, and political scandal made it arguably the best comedy of the year. Robbins performed a rare trick. Wearing three hats: writer, director, and star, he still managed to make the film as much about the American political landscape of the time as it was about Bob Roberts. For all the preaching, the movie is just plain funny, and is in the tradition of that most famous faux documentary film (or “mockumentary”), This is…Spinal Tap. In fact, the film even has a scene that is a sly homage to Spinal Tap (Roberts and his campaign staff wandering through the bowels of a building trying to find their destination).

Robbins, who received a 1996 Golden Globe nomination in the category of “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical,” is brilliant as the reptilian, Bob Roberts, who is the kind of rich man that likes to act as if he’s just an ordinary guy – the common man. He blends folk and populism into a slick huckster that says all the right catchphrases to appeal to wealthy conservatives and also to the middle class and working class white people (and some Uncle Toms) who still chafe over the changes wrought by the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, the anti-Vietnam War protests and other social movements of the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Also quite entertaining are the folk songs, written by Tim and his brother David Robbins (who also composes the film score), which are full of dead-on right wing, ultraconservative, Republican vileness, venom, misinformation, and propaganda. Plus, each diddy has an uncanny ring of truth that in a way appeals even to moderate and liberal sensibilities.

The film also has standout performances by Giancarlo Esposito as a relentless fringe media reporter and Ray Wise as Robbins’ always-on-the-ball and rarely caught off guard campaign handler, Chet MacGregor. Brian Murray provides a steady, soothing voice as the documentary filmmaker/narrator who keeps everything linear and in order so that the audience understands what’s going on. Look for a small gem of a part by Jack Black, as an intense Bob Roberts acolyte. Actually, all the performances have so much verisimilitude that they, along with many others elements of this film, make Bob Roberts uncomfortable to watch. It hits too close to home, and Americans don’t want anyone, including other Americans, pointing out their blemishes, especially when Americans are well aware our dark side – so much so that they’re trying to keep them in the closet, so to speak.

The surprising thing is that 13-years later, this film is still as funny as it was in 1992. In fact, its socio-political commentary (about right wing politics, sound bite political campaigns, slick, ready-for-TV candidates, shadow governments, “illegal” or trumped up foreign wars and covert operations; and slow moving, old school liberal politicians unable get their message to voters or make themselves appealing to voters) is truer today than it was then, making Bob Roberts something rare – a visionary political film both timely and timeless. Even when it becomes surreally bogged in conspiracy towards the end, Bob Roberts keeps it real. It reminds this Louisiana boy too much of the almost successful U.S. senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns of a former Klansman and how popular this racist was at both his and my old alma mater, Louisiana State University.

9 of 10
A+

Monday, November 07, 2005

NOTES:
1993 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (Tim Robbins)

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Review: "Kung Fu Panda 2" Brings Awesome Back

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – PG for sequences of martial arts action and mild violence
DIRECTORS: Jennifer Yuh
WRITERS: Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger
PRODUCER: Melissa Cobb
COMPOSERS: Hans Zimmer and John Powell

ANIMATION/MARTIAL ARTS/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Gary Oldman, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Haysbert, and Danny McBride

Kung Fu Panda 2 is a computer-animated film from DreamWorks Animation. A martial arts, action-comedy, it is the sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2008 animated film, Kung Fu Panda. The sequel is every bit as good as the original, but the action and fight scenes in the new movie not only surpass the first film, they are also better than anything yet seen in computer-animated films.

Following the events of the first film, Kung Fu Panda 2 finds Po (Jack Black), the giant panda, living his dream as the legendary Dragon Warrior. He protects the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the legendary Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Monkey (Jackie Chan). Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) wishes to continue Po’s lessons by helping him pursue inner peace.

However, Po and the Furious Five must race stop a powerful new enemy, Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), the exiled son of the late Peacock Emperor. From Gongmen City, Shen plots to unleash a powerful new weapon that threatens to destroy kung fu and help him conquer China. For Po, however, there is something familiar about Shen and his murderous army that paralyzes him whenever he faces them. Suffering from bad dreams, Po must delve into his past, the place he doesn’t want to go. If he doesn’t, Shen will win.

I must admit to being in love with great martial arts fighting scenes. I could watch the fight sequences in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and even Ninja Assassin on a continuous loop. The fight scenes are what really won me over with Kung Fu Panda 2. It’s still hard for me to believe that computers can create this kind of character animation and movement with such precision and dynamism. I don’t know if I should call it high tech virtuosity or art as the illusion of life. Kung Fu Panda 2 has some of the most beautiful animation I’ve ever seen and rich hues and colors that sparkle.

This movie is not all about the visual spark, however. Kung Fu Panda 2’s story has heart and also the kind of compelling character writing we’ve come to expect from Pixar’s films. Po’s struggles with identity and his origin and the fear that engenders are genuine to the point that you might start worrying about him as if he were a real person. I can say that same thing about Lord Shen, a thoroughly fashioned character and the kind of complicated, complex adversary usually reserved for films seeking Oscar nominations. Gary Oldman does a splendid job in his voice performance as Shen, emphasizing that while Shen is the contrast to Po, they also have similar issues.

Anyone who tells you that Kung Fu Panda 2 is more of the same may not quite be full of crap, but they’re more than half full. This is a sequel that is a continuation of the original’s excellence, and Kung Fu Panda 2 is one of the year’s best.

9 of 10
A+

Sunday, May 29, 2011

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Review: First "Kung Fu Panda" Kicked Butt

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 43 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – PG for sequences of martial arts action
DIRECTORS: John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
WRITERS: Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger; from a story by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris
PRODUCER: Melissa Cobb
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Yong Duk Jhun
EDITOR: Clare De Chenu
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Raymond Zibach
COMPOSERS: Hans Zimmer and John Powell
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/MARTIAL ARTS/FANTASY/FAMILY

Starring: (voices) Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Dan Fogler

Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 computer-animated, martial arts, action comedy movie from DreamWorks Animation. It is the story of a lazy, genial giant panda who dreams of greatness and suddenly finds it thrust upon him.

Kung Fu Panda is set in ancient China, specifically the Valley of Peace (a fictional place), which is inhabited by talking animals. That is where you will find Po (Jack Black), a giant panda who is also a kung fu fanatic. He lives with his father, Mr. Ping (James Hong), a goose and a noodle maker. Mr. Ping, who does not care for kung fu, owns the most popular noodle restaurant in the Valley and wants to one day pass the shop down to his son, Po, who would rather become a kung fu master.

Po gets more than he expects when a kung fu master, the elderly tortoise, Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), suddenly and unexpectedly chooses him to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Po is the prophesied Dragon Warrior! However, the man chosen by Oogway to train Po, the diminutive red panda, Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), is unwilling to believe that Po could be the Dragon Warrior. Even Shifu’s students, the legendary Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Monkey (Jackie Chan), don’t believe in Po.

Po will have to believe in himself and make his dreams of becoming a kung fu master into reality. Shifu’s former student, the vengeful and treacherous snow leopard, Tai Lung (Ian McShane), is headed to the Valley of Peace, and it will be up to Po to defend everyone from him.

I consider Kung Fu Panda to be the best film from DreamWorks Animation, to date. Virtually everything about this film is done to perfection. Every voice actor is just right for his or her role, but I must single out my favorite, the wonderful James Hong as Po’s lovable father, Mr. Ping. You can imagine that he does a really good job to get singled out, considering Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, and Ian McShane are superb in their respective rolls. Everyone brings his or her character to life in a way that matches topnotch performances in live action pictures.

The films by Pixar Animation Studios are so good that it is easy to forget that DreamWorks has become the co-gold standard in computer animated films. While Pixar excels in scriptwriting and storytelling of their films, DreamWorks has come to surpass them in software and tech. Computer-animated films generally do not have the character animation and movement on display in DreamWorks films, particularly those released during the last three years or so.

Kung Fu Panda moves like a Looney Tunes cartoon short – with the chaos of a Road Runner cartoon and the madcap comedy of a Chuck Jones Bugs Bunny short, but it does everything faster; the movement is so much more complex. The most important thing, however, is that Kung Fu Panda is just a great story about a lovable wannabe hero; he must put aside his slacker ways and psychological issues to be the hero he always wanted to be. Po the hero succeeds and along the way, his story, Kung Fu Panda, also reaches the summit.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2009 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (John Stevenson and Mark Osborne

2009 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film”

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

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Review: "The School of Rock" is Sweetness Playing Edgy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 251 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

The School of Rock (2003)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some rude humor and drug
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater
WRITER: Mike White
PRODUCER: Scott Rudin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rogier Stoffers, N.S.C.
EDITOR: Sandra Adair
Golden Globe nominee

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman, Adam Pascal, Lucas Papaelias, Lucas Babin, Jordan-Claire Green, Veronica Afflerbach, Miranda Cosgrove, Joey Gaydos, Jr., Robert Tsai, Angelo Massagali, Kevin (Alexander) Clark, Maryam Hassan, Caitlan Hale, Cole Hawkins, Brian Falduto, James Hosey, Aleisha Allen, Zachary Infante, Rebecca Brown, and Jaclyn Neidenthal with Frank Whaley (no credit)

Dewey Finn (Jack Black) is a wannabe rock star kicked out of his own band. Dewey has also been mooching off his roommate, Ned Schneebly (Mike White), a substitute teacher, for years, but Mike’s girlfriend, Patty Di Marco (Sarah Silverman), wants Dewey out of the picture if he doesn’t pay his rent. In need of cash, fortune favors Dewey, when he answers a phone call meant for Ned. Dewey, pretending to be Ned, poses as a substitute teacher at an exclusive prep school. Upon discovering that the students in his particular classroom are quite musically gifted, Dewey tries to turn them into a rock band with himself as the leader. His goal is to enter the upcoming Battle of the Bands contest and win the $20,000 prize. Of course, there are complications.

The School of Rock certainly seems out of place in the filmography of director Richard Linklater, the fine director behind such fabulous films as Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Dazed and Confused. However, that this feel-good, warm-hearted, family-friendly comedy actually feels very good, is simply warm-hearted, is nicely family-friendly, and is funny is a testament to Linklater’s skill. This could have been yet another mediocre flick about a rebel who sneaks into the system and teaches the kids (the Socrates motif) to feel good about themselves, believe in themselves, and unleash their creative skills and talents. Yes, it is just another one of those films, but it works because it’s entertaining and ultimately doesn’t seem so contrived.

A lot of the credit goes to Jack Black. His performance is one of sustained madness that is a shaky house of lies built upon a flimsy foundation. Black isn’t just another funny fat guy; he’s also a movie star with an intriguing film personality. So far, he’s basically played the same person, but there is something about him that works on the big screen, even when you realize that the characters he plays are selfish and sneaky suckas. He has a look on his face and a mean glint in his eyes that suggest he deserves watching; for some reason it works.

The School of Rock is not without it’s problems. At times it seems too contrived and too long. The narrative seems bogged down in the classroom when the entire school begs to be examined, especially Joan Cusack’s uptight and anal school principal Rosalie Mullins. Ultimately, Dewey Finn is let off the hook too easily, but it leads to a sweet finale, so I can cut The School of Rock some slack.

7 of 10
B+

NOTE:
2004 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Jack Black)

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Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Kung Fu Panda 2 Set For May 27 2011

Press release:

 

DreamWorks Animation Presents

 

KUNG FU PANDA 2

 

Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Victor Garber

Filmmakers: Produced by Melissa Cobb, Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Synopsis: In KUNG FU PANDA 2, Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will Po be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

Release: May 27, 2011

This film has not yet been rated -CREDITS NOT FINAL AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE

VISIT THE OFFICIAL SITE: http://www.kungfupanda.com/