“L.A. Story” most certainly has some very funny moments but it is one of the most bizarre films I’ve encountered and I never really seemed to fit together; it’s pieces from different jigsaws and that’s a real shame because some of the humour here is fantastic.

In “L.A. Story”, Steve Martin (“Planes, Trains & Automobiles”, “The Pink Panther”) stars as a whacky weatherman named Harris, who is contacted by a talking billboard that wants to help him win the affections of a British journalist named Sara (Victoria Tennant). As the film goes on it just gets stranger, it’s sort of like “Groundhog Day” but really messy.

Steve Martin is really funny here but like Eddie Murphy (“Beverly Hills Cop”), he has a tendency to pop up in bad films. While this one isn’t bad as such it isn’t good either. Martin tries really hard here and does provide us with lots of funny moments but it’s too bad the in-between the chuckles there is utter confusion. The other characters were fairly boring, making the film seem very mediocre at times, and even the cameos by Patrick Stewart (“Star Trek: Nemesis”) and Chevy Chase (“Fletch”) don’t really add all that much.

“L.A. Story” feels at times like a satire of L.A. or at least what’ll be like in years to come as we get a hilarious scene where Harris partakes in a shootout on the streets of L.A. because it’s “Open season on the Los Angeles Freeway” according to the Harris character, other times it feels like a fantasy film with the talking billboard and it also feels like a sappy romantic comedy and seen in the rest of the film. The film is several different articles from several different newspapers glued together in the scruffiest manner and that’s a real shame because one of those articles is great but some of it is covered up.

“Kung Pow: Enter The Fist” is a very strange film. Like Woody Allen’s “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?” and Steve Martin’s “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”, this spoof film was made by inserting an actor and new scenes into an existing film. The original film was an obscure martial arts flick by the name of “Tiger & Crane Fist” (also known as “The Savage Killers”). What we get with “Kung Pow” is a bizarre movie that is terrible in so many ways yet still rather funny.

A martial artist (Steve Oedekerk “High Strung”) must avenge his family by defeating the evil Master Pain (also known as ‘Betty’). If he is to be successful in his quest, he must unleash his inner power and fulfil his destiny.

Steve Oedekerk plays the ‘Chosen One’, who is the main character that gets edited into the existing film. The Chosen One sometimes sticks his tongue out and there is a face on his tongue. Apparently, Oedekerk is mainly known for making parody short films involving thumbs with faces. Oedekerk also provided the new dubbing for virtually all the other characters in the film. The dubbing intentionally does not synchronise with the cast members’ lip movements. Many of the characters get amusing lines. There is also a cow that battles with the Chosen One in a totally ridiculous fight sequence.

“Kung Pow: Enter The Fist” is one of the most juvenile films ever made with lots of dumb jokes. Some of the special effects are impressive (the way Oedekerk is inserted into some scenes is relatively convincing at times) but other effects look intentionally cheap and nasty. The editing is often bad but that’s also sometimes done intentionally. Depending on how you look at it, this either a disastrously bad film or a surprisingly hilarious one. Somehow, I cannot help but recommend it.

“An American Werewolf In London” is a horror/comedy that has gained a cult following over the years. I went into with reasonable expectations that were completely crushed. I think that this is a really boring film, a rather disappointing werewolf movie and I just didn’t find any of it to be funny.

In this film, American students David (David Naughton “Hot Dog… The Movie”) and Jack (Griffin Dunne “After Hours”) are hiking around rural England when they are attacked by a werewolf. Jack is killed and now David apparently has been cursed. When the Moon is full, David will supposedly transform into a werewolf and go on a killing spree.

The characters in this film are really boring. The film is most famous for its transformation scene. While the effects done by Rick Baker (“Men In Black”) are impressive, the final werewolf form looks way too much like an ordinary wolf. I thought werewolves were meant to walk on two legs. There is also a nurse character, Alex (Jenny Agutter “Logan’s Run”, “Child’s Play 2”), who David falls for. She’s very forgettable. I was so disappointed by the English country folk that David and Jack encounter in a small pub. One of them is played by Rik Mayall (“Drop Dead Fred”) but he has nothing remotely interesting to do. I don’t even recall him having a line.

This film was directed by John Landis, who did make me laugh a lot with films such as “Coming To America” and “Animal House” but this is staggeringly bad. So many scenes are just purely awkward. I was frequently sat there waiting for the punchline and it just never came. The film also has a horrendously abrupt ending. The special effects remain impressive for a film that came out in 1981 but the rest of the movie is bland and pointless. It also makes the fatal mistake of referencing 1941’s “The Wolf Man” with Lon Chaney Jr. because that just made me want to see that movie again.

Instead of innuendos DreamWorks (the guys who brought you “Shrek” and “Madagascar”) have decided to make a kids’ movie that runs on family friendly jokes and slapstick humour on a bigger scale than a Norman Wisdom movie.

“Kung Fu Panda” follows the life of the blundering panda Po (Jack Black “School of Rock”), who works in a noodle restaurant but dreams of being ‘the most awesome kung-fu master ever’. When it is time to choose the “Dragon Warrior” Po interrupts and find himself accidentally being picked. He is then trained by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman “Meet the Fockers”) with Tigress (Angelina Jolie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”), Monkey (Jackie Chan “Shanghai Noon”), Crane (David Cross “Alvin and the Chipmunks”), Viper (Lucy Liu “Charlie’s Angeles: Full Throttle”) and Mantis (Seth Rogen “Pineapple Express”). After a turn of unfortunate events Tai Lung (Ian McShane “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”) escapes his prison. He then goes in search of the “Dragon Warrior” and seeks vengeance on his old mentor Master Shifu.

Jack Black makes Po who he is. I don’t just mean he makes the character Po the character Po, I mean he makes Po Jack Black so you might say Po is Jack Black. I like the amount of energy he gives to make the character more three dimensional. Dustin Hoffman is reasonably amusing as Shifu. Jackie Chan is sadly put in the position again where he does nothing and lets C.G.I. do all the work. Angelina Jolie is unmemorable as Tigress. David Cross is surprisingly funny as Crane. Lucy Liu is good as Viper. Mantis is boring as is the actor’s acting. Tai Lung is an amusing as well as fierce villain and he is voiced well

“Kung Fu Panda” is incredibly funny movie that’s full of lots of great jokes and slapstick action. The fight scenes are simultaneously amusing and breath-taking like lots of Jackie Chan style fights. Great movie for not just kids but parents to and thankfully no adult humour seems to be present in this DreamWorks movie.

The original film “Kung Fu Panda” was really good so I had some high expectations for the sequel “Kung Fu Panda 2”.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” continues what he would call ‘awesome’ adventures of a kung-fu panda named Po (Jack Black “Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny”, “Kung Fu Panda”) and his friends; Viper (Lucy Liu “Charlie’s Angels”), Tigress (Angelina Jolie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”), Crane (David Cross “Small Soldiers”), Monkey (Jackie Chan “Rush Hour 2”) and Mantis (Seth Rogen “Pineapple Express”) as they battle the Peacock (Gary Oldman “Dracula”) to stop his plot of taking control of China. Also, Po finds out more about his parents.

Jack Black is Po and Po is Jack Black. The two feel so alike it’s almost impossible to separate. He gives lots of energy and makes Po very much like himself. Lucy Liu is good as Viper despite her little dialog. Angelina Jolie is unmemorable as Tigress, who unfortunately has lots of dialog. David Cross is surprisingly good as Crane again despite his little dialog. Jackie Chan is unable to give his charm as only a few lines are there. Also why make a cartoon with Jackie Chan doing incredible things when Jackie Chan can do them in live-action form? Seth Rogen is poor as the weak character Mantis, who I find to be very uninteresting and isn’t redeemed by the voice acting. Gary Oldman is charismatic as the villain.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” is okay. The action didn’t feel like the humorous experience I was hoping for. What I mean is it didn’t have the slapstick vibe of the other title. The movie isn’t as funny as the original either. Also, I thought it was quite a dark kids’ movie. The movie really hints at a sequel and with numerous direct-to-video movies and a tv show I can see that being very likely to happen. If you have a young child who liked the first one then “Kung Fu Panda 2” is a good buy.

“Kung Fu Hustle” is an absurd film that mixes the martial arts, crime and comedy genres together. Lots of people seem to love this film but I really struggled to see the appeal. Visually, this movie is intriguing but a lot of the gags just came across as weird.

Set in Shanghai during the 1940s, Sing (Stephen Chow “Shaolin Soccer”, “From Beijing With Love”) is a wannabe outlaw that desperately wants to join a local gang known for wielding axes. The gang is currently locked in a battle with a housing complex where the residents have extraordinary fighting powers that they are using to defend their home.

Stephen Chow not only stars in this film but directed it and wrote it to. The Sing character is not actually in as much of the film as I was expecting considering it features so prominently on the posters. I just had no strong opinion about the character one way or another. There’s a romantic subplot involving him and another character but it’s criminally underdeveloped. I found most of the characters strange and none of them made me laugh. Lots of characters engage in ridiculously cartoony fights where they kick people through walls and run around like Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner.

The fight sequences are outrageous and sometimes fun to watch and the movie looks great at times. However, the jokes are just so weird. Maybe it’s a cultural thing. I imagine that people in China find this stuff hilarious but it just did not work for me at all. A lot get spoofed here including “Looney Tunes”, “The Matrix Reloaded” and even “The Shining” and it all feels very random. There are plenty of genuinely funny martial arts films out there. May I recommend Jackie Chan’s “Miracles” as that combines the action with crime and comedy.

“Krull” is a combination of sci-fi and fantasy and while it certainly does it better than something such as “Dune” yet it also is nowhere near as entertaining as “Star Wars”. It’s a real mixed bag of a film and while kids may enjoy it for the action and the effects, anybody aged ten or over will be in hysterics over the dialog.

In “Krull”, a prince, named Colwyn (Ken Marshall), and a group of miscellaneous heroes must join forces to save the planet of Krull from evil space invaders and rescue Colwyn’s bride Lyssa (Lysette Anthony “Look Who’s Talking Now”, “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”).

The huge problem with this is film comes in the characters and acting category. Each character is simplistically written and the actors give very forced British accents to them as they spout out lines that seem like they’re from a draft of script. The worst is a sort-of comedic relief character named Ergo played painfully by David Battley (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”). Some of the creatures are designed reasonably well but none of them really stick out in my mind the way the ones in “Star Wars” do. The other characters are quite dull and very easily forgotten.

The effects are good, the music is good and the action sequences are all good but it’s everything else where “Krull” feels underwhelming so in that respect it reminds me a lot of “Legend” and “Last Starfighter”. There are other movies similar to this such as “Star Wars”, “Star Trek II”, “The NeverEnding Story” and even “Enemy Mine”; all of which are vastly superior to this because along with the artificial element, they’ve also got the heart to carry the film forward. “Krull” is only really worth a look at if you want to hear some of the worst written and worst delivered dialog since the “Conan” films.

The mighty King Kong returns to the big screen in “Kong: Skull Island”, which might just be his best movie since the 1933 original. Intended to be part of the same universe as 2014’s “Godzilla”, “Kong: Skull Island” is a massive step up from that movie by delivering superior characters and more importantly, superior monster action.

In the 1970s, as the Vietnam War is coming to end, a team consisting of scientists and soldiers travels the mysterious Skull Island where they encounter King Kong. However, Kong isn’t the biggest threat on the island as the place is also home to a group of large lizard creatures.

John Goodman (“The Big Lebowski”) plays Bill Randa, a man trying to convince the world that monsters do exist, and he does a really good job. Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction”, “Unbreakable”) plays the bitter Colonel Packard and he’s great in the role. Tom Hiddleston (“Thor”) is okay as an ex-S.A.S. man. Brie Larson (“21 Jump Street”) is tolerable as a war photographer. John C. Reilly (“Wreck-It Ralph”) plays a soldier that has been stranded on Skull Island since World War II and he’s actually fairly amusing. King Kong looks very good in this movie but there’s also a ton of other monsters including the lizard creatures and a terrific spider monster. Unlike 2014’s “Godzilla”, where the star monster got little screen time, King Kong gets a reasonable amount in “Kong: Skull Island”.

There are some truly exhilarating action sequences in this movie such as an early one where Kong destroys a ton of helicopters. The film also has a great ‘70s look and feel; it’s largely helped by a great soundtrack that really gets you into the era. Although some will view this as a mere popcorn flick, I had a really fun time watching this movie.

“Knowing” is a fairly impressive film that combines the disaster, mystery and even science-fiction genres to create something interesting. There are parts of it that are genuinely riveting and others that are quite unsettling. It’s not a flawless film but I was very impressed with a lot of it.

A time capsule, which was buried five decades earlier by a school, is unearthed in Massachusetts. Inside is a piece of paper with a mysterious list of numbers. M.I.T.’s Professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage “Bangkok Dangerous”, “Next”) realises that the numbers give details of past and future disasters. Koestler tries to uncover the origins of the paper and also stop the catastrophes that are about to unfold.

Nicolas Cage is a great actor and he shows that as John Koestler. I like how the character goes from fearing that he might be paranoid to accepting that the numbers really do mean something. I was not happy with the performance from Chandler Canterbury, who played Caleb Koestler. Some of the lines the kid has just come across as a little weird. Throughout the movie, strange men appear. Exactly what purpose they serve is not made clear until the end of the movie and I think the big reveal is likely to divide audiences.

I like the mystery elements of the movie and the disaster parts are fantastic. We get to see some great scenes of large-scale destruction and the special effects are excellent. The performance from Nicolas Cage is also really a great addition to the movie. I was left unmoved by the film’s climax. I do not think that it is bad or anything like that but I would not have chosen the direction that “Knowing” goes in. Director Alex Proyas (“Dark City”, “I, Robot”) has made some great movies before and while this is not his best work, I really liked it.

“Béla Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla” might just be the worst film of the 1950s. It’s a diabolically bad movie that features the great Béla Lugosi (“Dracula”, “White Zombie”) Lugosi had it bad in the 50s, having starred in several of Ed Wood’s films (including “Plan 9 From Outer Space”) but this makes Ed Wood’s movies look like “Casablanca”.

This film is a rip-off the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis films (such as “At War With The Army”) as we see entertainers Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo (played by themselves) get stuck on a jungle island inhabited by tribespeople. They also encounter mad scientist Dr. Zabor (Lugosi), who sees Duke as romantic competition for the beautiful tribeswoman Nona.

I am not a fan of Martin and Lewis so to see a third-rate imitation of them is painful. Sammy Petrillo gives probably the most obnoxious performance I’ve seen in a film to date. Apparently, Petrillo stole so much from Lewis that Lewis eventually sued him. Poor Lugosi is given very little to do. I have no idea why Lugosi’ name is in the film’s title when he does not even play himself. The gorilla costume is actually not completely awful. It’s about the only thing in the whole movie that isn’t horrendous.

“Béla Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla” is annoying, it’s unfunny and it’s boring. It’s mercifully short but that’s as close as I’ll come to praise any aspect of this movie. If you wonder whether Lugosi could sink any lower than “Glen Or Glenda” then just look at this pathetic picture. I would have preferred if the filmmakers had just a made a documentary where Lugosi went to a zoo and met a real gorilla. Also, I will die a happy man if I never see another second of that awful Petrillo chap.