Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda / Kung Fu Panda. US (c) 2008 Dreamworks Animations. D: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson. M: John Powell, Hans Zimmer. Original material: digital - ARRI Digital - 35mm film print 1:2,35. Voice talent: Jack Black (Po), Dustin Hoffman (Shifu), Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Ian McShane (Tai Lung), Jackie Chan (Monkey), Seth Rogen (Mantis), Lucy Liu (Viper), David Cross (Crane), Randall Duk Kim (Oogway). A Finnkino (Paramount) release, original English version with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Marko Hartama / Janne Staffans. Viewed at Kinopalatsi 5, 24 August 2008. - Coinciding with the Peking Olympics, a big animation with Chinese themes. The slacker panda conquers the fearsome, devilish snow leopard master, having surpassed the Furious Five (Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey) led by the guru Shifu. - Visually, the stylized dream beginning and the ending are impressive, but as soon as the main story starts with its more full digital animation, its semi-naturalistic texture feels mediocre. - I liked the Chinese motifs in the animation, but some of the mannerisms of speech and behavior of the current animation boom are getting tedious.

Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind / Be Kind Rewind. US (c) 2007 New Line U.S. D+SC: Michel Gondry. DP: Ellen Kuras - shot on 35mm (Fuji, Eterna, Reala) and video, even VHS - digital intermediate 2K - DeLuxe, Fuji - screened on 35mm film J-D-C-Scope 1:2,35. M: Jean-Michel Bernard. Starring Jack Black (Jerry), Mos Def (Mike), Danny Glover (Elroy Fletcher), Mia Farrow (Miss Falewicz), Melonie Diaz (Alma), Sigourney Weaver (Ms. Lawson). 102 min. Released in Finland by Sandrew, with Finnish /Swedish subtitles by Minna Nuutinen / Sanna Huldén. Viewed in Tennispalatsi, Helsinki, 12 April 2008. - Blatant digital intermediate look. - Quoting Maltin: "Odd but endearing film set in Passaic, N.J., where Glover's dilapidated video-rental store - supposedly the birthplace of Fats Waller - is an anachronism, outside and in. When he leaves Def in charge, nutty pal Black (who's become magnetized) accidentally erases all the tapes in the store, forcing the duo to reinvent the missing films (Ghostbusters; 2001: A Space Odyssey; The Lion King) with their old-fashioned video camera and the help of neighborhood allies." - "To Swede" means to make a zero-budget remake of a huge epic. - The do-it-yourself spirit is timely, although the vhs technology is getting obsolete.