The Forbidden Kingdom

• Actors: Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Michael Angarano, Yifei Liu, Juana Collignon.
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC.
• Language: English. Subtitles: English, Spanish.
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
• Rated PG-13. Run Time: 104 minutes.

Blending historical chronicle, fiction, and commentary, The Forbidden Kingdom brings together the seemingly unrelated lives of a twentieth-century ship's radio operator and the sixteenth-century Portuguese poet-in-exile Luis Camoes.
Jacob Slauerhoff draws his reader into a dazzling world of exoticism, betrayal, and exile, where past and present merge and the possibility of death is never far away.

Born in The Netherlands in 1898, upon graduating from university Jacob Slauerhoff signed up as a ship's surgeon with the Dutch East India Company. H! e was at sea throughout his life, voyaging to the Far East, Latin America, and Africa.

Closed to foreigners for more than 30 years, Mustang, a tiny feudal kingdom in the Himalayas, has existed in virtual isolation from the rest of the world. Although politically part of Nepal, Mustang is linked by religion, culture and history to Tibet, and stands alone as one of the last pure Tibetan cultures existing today. In 1992 restrictions were eased. Clara Marullo and Vanessa Boeye were among the few foreigners who made the journey to Mustang. This book is an account of their journey, and a view of the society that exists there. With its photographs, it also acts as a visual record of the landscape in this country. However, this is an environment under threat. Now open to the West, the landsape and all that is contained in it is open to change, and the survival of Mustang's ancient traditions is questionable. The final part of the book examines the potential problems of! modernization and highlights the need to protect Mustang from! the inf luences of tourism.As the adventures of the lovable charlatan, gluttonous blackguard, and lecherous philanderer continue, Lieutenant Travers is off to the Philippines where he finds a treasure map that leads him on a series of predictably hilarious adventures.Fenny's off to the Philippines to help bring the rebellious natives to heel in a new tangle of decidedly unmilitary adventures.Jackie Chan and Jet Li star in this $25 million-grossing movie about two archivals who unite to challenge a warlord. Bonuses: commentary, featurettes, blooper reel, deleted scenes. Getting martial-arts superstars Jet Li and Jackie Chan together in the same action film is like a fantasy come true, even if The Forbidden Kingdom is more of a children's movie than an instant kung-fu classic. Yes, Li and Chan square off in a lengthy, acrobatic fight scene that is a lot of fun, though it can't be what such a scene might have been even a decade ago: careful editing now compensates for the 54-ye! ar-old Chan's slower moves and reflexes. Still, Chan doesn't disappoint as Lu Yan, a drunken immortal in ancient China who mentors a modern-day American kid, Jason (Michael Angarano), the latter having slipped into the past while in possession of a magical staff that belongs to the imprisoned Monkey King (Li). In order to get back to his own time and help an old friend (also Chan) wounded by thugs, Jason accompanies Lu Yan and a lovely warrior, Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei), on a journey to return the staff. Along the way, a (mostly) silent monk (Li, again), who has spent his life in search of the staff, joins their mission. He helps Lu Yan train Jason in fighting and adding more muscle to the party as it comes under siege from a violent witch (Li Bing Bing) and pathological warlord (Collin Chou). Screenwriter John Fusco (Hidalgo) and director Rob Minkoff (The Haunted Mansion) have made a slightly chintzy, Western version of a Chinese swords-and-sorcery tale. T! he gravity-defying, flying-through-the-air-while-fighting chor! eography looks pretty choppy and graceless compared to, say, the martial arts films of Zhang Yimou. But The Forbidden Kingdom is really aimed at kids, not aficionados of epic fight movies. On that score, the movie aims to please and does so for the right audience. -- Tom Keogh

Beyond The Forbidden Kingdom on DVD

The Forbidden Kingdom Soundtrack

Stills from The Forbidden Kingdom (click for larger image)

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Furry Vengeance

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• movie
• dog

Brendan Fraser has tussled with mummies and the devil, but he takes on a cuter enemy in this comedy from director Roger Kumble (Just Friends). As a real-estate developer, he moves his family from cement-filled Chicago to the nature haven of Oregon. But when he starts to take over the home of animals to build his new neighborhood, the creatures who live there reveal their wild side.Humans are out to destroy the forest in the name of progress, but the animals that live there won't go out without a fight. We've seen it before in films like Over the Hedge, but this time it's a green, eco-friendly company versus a very organized group of animals under the leadership of a clever raccoon. Dan (Brendan Fraser) is the project manager who has moved his family from Chicago to the middle of an Oregon forest to live on-site in the community's model home. His wife Tammy! (Brooke Shields) and son Tyler (Matt Prokop) aren't particularly happy about the move, but how bad can it be for one year? When unforeseen obstacles like an inconveniently located beaver dam threaten to slow progress and put the project over budget, Dan's commitment to eco-friendly methods is tested and his son dubs him a hypocrite. The animals start fighting back in a very organized, conniving way, but all Tammy sees is that Dan is beginning to go a little bit crazy. When phase 2 of the development is unveiled and the opportunity to head up the project, along with a considerable raise, is presented to Dan, he accepts without regard for the forest animals or his family. After suffering everything from a wet crotch resulting from a chewed sprinkler line to repeated skunk sprayings, a run-in with a swarm of bees, and an encounter with an insistently pecking crow that almost gets him killed, Dan begins to reconsider what's really important in life. This basic plot has been th! e basis of many similar movies, some good, some bad, but Fu! rry Veng eance is such a predictable, superficial gag-fest that it quickly becomes more tiresome than funny--trite doesn't really even begin to describe it. (Ages 7 and older with parental guidance due to some mildly rude humor.) --Tami HoriuchiBrendan Fraser has tussled with mummies and the devil, but he takes on a cuter enemy in this comedy from director Roger Kumble (Just Friends). As a real-estate developer, he moves his family from cement-filled Chicago to the nature haven of Oregon. But when he starts to take over the home of animals to build his new neighborhood, the creatures who live there reveal their wild side.Humans are out to destroy the forest in the name of progress, but the animals that live there won't go out without a fight. We've seen it before in films like Over the Hedge, but this time it's a green, eco-friendly company versus a very organized group of animals under the leadership of a clever raccoon. Dan (Brendan Fraser) is the project manager ! who has moved his family from Chicago to the middle of an Oregon forest to live on-site in the community's model home. His wife Tammy (Brooke Shields) and son Tyler (Matt Prokop) aren't particularly happy about the move, but how bad can it be for one year? When unforeseen obstacles like an inconveniently located beaver dam threaten to slow progress and put the project over budget, Dan's commitment to eco-friendly methods is tested and his son dubs him a hypocrite. The animals start fighting back in a very organized, conniving way, but all Tammy sees is that Dan is beginning to go a little bit crazy. When phase 2 of the development is unveiled and the opportunity to head up the project, along with a considerable raise, is presented to Dan, he accepts without regard for the forest animals or his family. After suffering everything from a wet crotch resulting from a chewed sprinkler line to repeated skunk sprayings, a run-in with a swarm of bees, and an encounter with an insist! ently pecking crow that almost gets him killed, Dan begins to ! reconsid er what's really important in life. This basic plot has been the basis of many similar movies, some good, some bad, but Furry Vengeance is such a predictable, superficial gag-fest that it quickly becomes more tiresome than funny--trite doesn't really even begin to describe it. (Ages 7 and older with parental guidance due to some mildly rude humor.) --Tami HoriuchiSometimes, four legs are better than two. Dan (Brendan Fraser, The Mummy franchise) just moved his wife and son to the woods to take a new job with a supposedly eco-friendly housing development. But the fur and Dan's temper is sure to fly when the local critters learn of the bleak plans for their forest home and stop at nothing to halt construction. Brooke Shields (TV's Lipstick Jungle ), Matt Prokop (High School Musical 3: Senior Year), Ken Jeong (Knocked Up) and Angela Kinsey (TV's The Office ) co-star in this comedy for the whole family.

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