"Kung Fu Panda 2" (2011) Pre-release

Hello martial-artist-panda-loving readers!

With Kung Fu Panda 2 expected for release soon in the UK (10th June, 2011), despite seeing its release tomorrow at my local cinema, I think it's an ideal time to get a quick look at the flick and the events that took place in the first flick, perhaps my most loved non-Pixar CGI flick alongside Surf's Up (2006).

About
Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Main Stars: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dusitn Hoffman, and Gary Oldman
Studio: DreamWorks Animation
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
UK Release date: 10 June, 2011
Running time: 90 minutes
Release platform: 2D, 3D

In the News Today: Who's Really Retarded?

Secret filming caught patients being
dragged and slapped by support
workers

Hey reader,

Saw an alarming bit of news on the BBC today, which is an excerpt from its undercover TV documentary show, Panorama, which includes footage of the mentally handicapped in an institute, a place created to care for those who cannot do for themselves, being physically abused to terrible levels for amusement, and is paid for by us UK taxpayers.

This all happened at the Winterbourne View, Bristol, UK. Click below for more information on what happened, and to see the footage:

BBC News - Patient abuse caught on film labelled 'torture'

Panorama is airing in the UK on BBC1, 31st May, 2011 on BBC1 at 9pm - see it also on the BBC iPlayer.

"X-Men: First Class" (2011) Pre-release

Hello mutated film-watching reader!

With just a few days to the release of X-Men: First Class, I thought it would be an ideal time to reflect on the franchise so far with info on this one, and the story to what has released so far.

About

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Main Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Oliver Platt, and Kevin Bacon
Studio: Bad Hat Harry Productions, Donners' Company, and Marv Films
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
UK Release date: 1 June, 2011
Running time: 131 minutes
Release platform: 2D

Applying for a USA Visa

Hey travelling reader,

So anyone who has travelled to the USA since March 2010 knows about the visa system.

"The Hangover: Part II" (2011) film review

Hey drunkards!

A wedding in Thailand, and no bachelor night? Who has the roofies?!?

Here's a lil background on the film, and my thoughts of it too.

About
Director: Todd Phillips
Main Stars: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis
Studio: Legendary Pictures, Green Hat Films
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
UK Release Date: 26 May, 2011
Running Time: 102 minutes

Brief Plot
It's Stu's turn to get married, but he opts not to have a bachelor night after what happened in the events of the previous film, The Hangover (2009). However, he's getting married in Thailand and after being convinced to have a drink by a fire on the hotel beach along with Doug, Phil, Alan, and his fiancée's 16 year old brother, Teddy... waking up to Phil, Alan, Stu, Teddy's finger, and a monkey, in an unfamiliar place with a very familiar situation.

[Click for the Trailer]

Review

I loved the last film. It was clean adult laughs (minus the credits scene) at a stage in my life when going wild is a rare option, and it was awesome fun throughout. I wouldn't call it an original idea, but it was presented in a way that managed to really capture the heart of funny predicaments which ceaselessly proceed. It was a complete laugh! Then Todd Phillips did Due Date (2010), and after all the hype I felt after The Hangover (2009), it couldn't even touch the feet of the pedestal I had placed Hangover on. It was so similarly styled, and it had Galifianakis in it, a character who worked but I grew tired of in that film, as well as the rest of the jokes in Due Date. Despite all the fun I had in Phillips' earlier work (Road Trip, Old School, and Starsky and Hutch), this concerned me for Hangover 2.