Been browsing
IMDb a lot lately looking for something to be excited about, and found this last night:
A CG-animated comedy about a lazy, irreverent slacker panda, Po (Voiced by Jack Black), who must somehow become a Kung Fu Master in order to save the Valley of Peace from a villainous snow leopard, Tai Lung. Set in the legendary world of ancient China, this is the story of Po, our unlikely hero, who enters the rigid world of Kung Fu and turning it upside down. Po ultimately becomes a Kung Fu hero by learning that if he believes in himself, he can do anything.
Jables, Dreamworks animation AND kung fu? This has real potential. Hopefully it will be more like Shrek than Shrek 2: Retread Boogaloo.
Also, there are apparently 2 Beowulf movies in our future (both of which, hopefully, will be better than the
sci-fi disaster with Christopher Lambert... even
Rhona Mitra in a metal bikini couldn't salvage that one).
One has been released in Canada, Iceland and the UK and is on its way to NY on July 7 of this year. Only recognized two names on the IMDb cast list, Stellan Skarsgard (as King Hrothgar) and Sarah Polley (as Selma, who I don't remember from the poem), but the rest of the names make me think that there will be an authenticity factor at play here. So much for the idea that every actor in a movie based on an epic poem, or any classic literature really, has to have a British accent.
The other is an American production due out in 2007 with Anthony Hopkins (King Hrothgar), Angelina Jolie, Brendan Gleason, Crispin Glover and John Malkovich. Star power notwithstanding, my hopes aren't as high for this one. Perhaps I'm just preparing myself for the Hollywood-ization of another epic. I'm guessing the Icelandic Beowulf is going to be the grim, realistic-feeling version where the Geats don't know kung-fu, and this one is going to be over-produced, CGI'd and slick. Plus there's very little chance of seeing Agelina nude as she's only credited with a voice part. Perhaps I shouldn't be so cynical. IMDb shows the movie to be in post-production and that
Robert Zemeckis directed. If he incorporated special effects judiciously, this one could be worthwhile... but King Hrothgar will have a British accent. Ahhhh, compromise.
*****
I am still spending a good bit of time going over Season Six of The Sopranos in my mind and have come up with several fond memories, some of which I have written about here. Most of what occurs to me, though, is more missed opportunities for good storylines. Remember the Hasidic Jew with the hotel who didn't want to honor his agreement with Tony in Season One? That was a good plot point for several reasons. First, Tony's human side was explored in his conversations with Melfi about being called a "monster." Yes, there was extortion, torture and plenty of situational comedy involved, but the predominant theme was that the actions of a mobster weren't perpetrated by a cardboard cutout... Tony had feelings. Same with the Davey Scatino bust out in Season Three. It showed that not only did Tony have feelings but also that his actions had repercussions unrelated to possibly being caught by the Feds. These arcs, and others like them, lasted for several episodes each, endearing Tony to us as a human, not just as the mysterious oath-taking, Saint-burning, finger-pricking, gregarious guy who could spend his nights in a strip joint conducting bee-za-nees, sleep through lunch, eat cold cuts in his terry robe and then dish out vigilante justice to those who disrespected him or his "thing." My subconscious pieced all these Sopranos memories together today while I was driving home from work and I also remembered Tony's meeting with the Cajuns this season. That could have been a gold mine for writers and fans alike. Being Katrina-based it was topical; it gave Tony a chance to "send a message" in some creative way that would allow the writers to show they aren't recycling Goodfellas and the Godfather as so many before them have, and might have even given Cagney, Jr., a chance to take out some of his frustrations from this season with a ball peen hammer. Did we get to see any of that? Of course not.
Why do I torture myself this way?
If you don't know, now you know...
