Kung Fu Panda

Last night, Christmas day, Jason and I wanted to see the new movie Valkyrie. When we arrived at the theatre, the parking lot was PACKED. Since it was pretty clear we weren't going to get good seats (we never manage to arrive early), we just turned around and went home. It was opening night and a holiday so we shouldn't have been so surprised. It was a good thing though as I had forgotten that I'd preheated the oven and taken out the Stouffer's lasagna from the freezer. Boy oh boy did I catch grief for that, and rightfully so.

So I popped the lasagna in the already hot oven, and we did pay-per-view and watched Kung Fu Panda. With Jason being a professional CG (computer graphics) artist, I am happy that we see most of the animated movies targeted for kids because I just love them. I am pretty sure that I've watched some animated movies more than most because of my son, Nick. He wanted a video playing at all times, so I can recite the words to plenty of animated movies including: The Incredibles, Monsters Inc., Ice Age, Cars, Lilo and Stitch, Shrek, Toy Story, Treasure Planet, and Finding Nemo to name just a few. Pixar and Dreamworks do simply amazing work and I look forward to each new movie either release.

Kung Fu Panda was simply adorable. I absolutely loved this film. The story was cute. The art style was appealing. The characters were beautifully well done. The humor was clever and spot on. Jason fell asleep partway through but when I told him this movie was one I could watch again and again, Jason decided to start where he left off and watch the rest of it and he wasn't disappointed. I immediately recognized Commander Vachir as the voice of Michael Clarke Duncan but I had no idea until afterward what a star-studded cast this film featured. Wow! Dustin Hoffman, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, and a few actors that had to be looked up on IMDB. I hope you have a chance to see this film.

I learned a piece of trivia too when Jason told me that Oogway's voice was Randall Duk Kim (the keymaker in the movie The Matrix Reloaded) and that Randall was one of the founders of my favorite theatre, APT (American Players Theatre), in Spring Green, WI. Every time I visit Wisconsin I will be sure to visit this amazing outdoor theatre at least once. If you are ever find yourself in southern Wisconsin during summer/early fall, I highly recommend that you take the scenic albeit long drive out to Spring Green, with a picnic dinner, a good bottle of wine and some friends to catch one of their outdoor plays. You won't be disappointed!