Three-fer Thursday Review: Kung Fu Panda, Juno, Iron Man

Three movies, five stars each.

Kung Fu Panda was an instant classic. Avoided the Shrek pop-culture in-jokes and just told a darn good chop-socky story, in the style of Kung-Fu Hustle (which was one of the inspirations). Jack Black dialed it down a bit and wasn't overly annoying. It was funny, had lots of action, and the animation was great (the dream sequence was especially clever, with hints of Samurai Jack. Bonus was the kids loved it too. Now you can't find the toys anywhere (fortunately, I was sneaky and got the toys before the movie came out). Viper and Oogway are particularly hard to find.

Juno is, of course, a bit different, and definitely not for kids. Still, though, it's charming in its own way. The titular character is a bit strange, but in that cool way that draws you in. Well cast, and well acted. A very touching film, with an ending that's heartbreakingly bittersweet.

Iron Man. Robert Downey, Jr is Tony Stark. Damn. Best Superhero movie I've seen to-date--better than Spider Man, better than any of the X-Men films, better than Batman Begins. Talk about perfect casting! Unfortunately, it suffers a bit from "Margot Kidder" syndrome--they could've picked a better-looking Pepper Potts (okay, I'll admit that Gwyneth is pretty in her own way). Nice set up for other movies too. Makes me wonder if they're leading up to an Avengers movie...

So far it's been a great movie-watching experience--three great movies in a row! Unfortunately, the next movie I'm watching is Jumper. Let's see how that turns out...

...and It's OVER!

Ha! Take that, Vic The Brick! Take that, "Machine"! Take that, bandwagon-Laker-Fan-flying-those-stupid-flags!

The Lakers quit once the lead got past 10 points. Kobe quit as well--he kept passing and didn't really try to assert his will.

Hey, my prediction was off by one game, but who cares? And "Machine"? Karma sucks, don't it?