darthmaus

Now, I love stupid humor movies. Some of my favorites: Orgazmo, the South Park movie, the Beavis and Butthead movie, Shaolin Soccer, Dumb and Dumber, Old School. Anything by Kevin Smith, or Sam Raimi. I also love action and martial arts films -- the cheesier the better.

So you'd think that 'Kung Pow' would be right up my alley... but no. This one was a waste of time. The first few minutes are kind of amusing, but after that the gags are unoriginal and overdone. This is not a witty parody, and it's not even mildly entertaining. I'm not quite sure what the filmmaker was going for here, but the mark was missed by a mile.

It's just not worth it -- it's just not funny. Very, very disappointed.

This is not 'Terms of Endearment'. This film does not offer answers, explanations, or resolution, and as such I found it to be a very effective portrayal of the aftermath of a suicide.

It's not an enjoyable film to watch, but it's very much worthwhile. First off, the acting is fantastic. Philip Seymour Hoffman deserves all the raves he's getting for this role -- he's downright painful to watch. All of the supporting cast -- except for the mother-in-law portrayed by Kathy Bates, who is exhausted with her own grief -- brilliantly introduces nuances of discomfort. It's not overdone, but it's obvious that these characters are internally dealing with the question of how to deal with Hoffman's character Wilson, who has just suffered this terrible and shocking loss. The dialogue is consistently and realistically not natural, in keeping with the awkward position of the supporting characters and Wilson's deteriorating mental health.

I have seen this film criticized because Wilson's position is *so* dreary, that it may seem over-the-top, unrealistic. But, really, the character's wife recently shot herself. What bright spots were such critics expecting in this character's life at this time? I believe the writing of the plot is realistic in this regard.

Structurally, it's brave, risky, and effective. I felt alienated by the lack of explanation and resolution of Wilson's position. Not a positive emotion to walk out of a film with, but extremely powerful. The sparse soundtrack and the painfully sympathetic supporting characters all added to this feeling of alienation.

I've never seen the stage musical, so I don't have any opinion as to how well it was adapted from the stage medium, but as a film it was fantastic.

Not only is Catherine Zeta-Jones just mind-blowingly gorgeous, she can really sing. I had no idea, but apparently she used to do stage musicals before her film career took off. Rene Zellweger delivers a believable balance of naivete and ruthlessness as Roxy Hart. All of the performances were brilliant -- even Richard Gere, who I normally don't appreciate at all.

The most remarkable thing about this movie-musical is that it does not require one to suspend one's disbelief from dizzying heights -- the one near-universal fault among musical films, I think. The story is told in two parallel modes: one being with lifelike costumes and spoken dialogue, and the other being the show tunes belted out from outrageous feathered costumes. The latter mode is subtly placed as the Roxy's-eye-view of events, and because it is in her head there is none of the usual disorienting "...So they were singing and dancing, and now they're stabbing each other..." disconnects that movie musicals are prone to if they're not scripted, staged, and performed smoothly. This one *is* smooth, and it's just brilliant.

So even if you don't normally appreciate movie musicals, this one could have something in it for you. It's funny, cynical, witty, and visually beautiful, and it lacks many of the unfortunate traits that can turn lesser musical films into big cheesy non-sequiturs to someone who isn't a fan of the genre.