Perhaps the best thing about Kung Fu Panda is that it's an action comedy that doesn't skimp on the action. Dreamworks Animation's latest effort may stick out a little on the Red Carpet at Cannes -- where it's screening out of competition -- but it's certainly a well-made kid's film that earns high points for how directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne clearly crafted and contemplated its look and feel with ambition and style. Anyone can make a computer-animated cartoon with fuzzy animals doing kung fu; you have to be at least a little inspired to make a computer-animated cartoon featuring fuzzy animals doing kung fu in widescreen Cinemascope. ...

Kung Fu Panda opens with a rousing, stylish action sequence, as a narrator (Jack Black, in full-on Tenacious D exposition mode) explains how "Legend tells of a legendary kung fu warrior whose kung fu skills were legendary. ..." But then, the heroic panda we've seen unleashing paws of power on the big screen ... wakes up; it was just a dream. Then Po the panda (Black), whose dreams of kung fu glory are the counterpoint to his unsatisfying life, gets ready for his day of helping his father Mr. Ping (James Wong) sell noodles to the people of the Valley of Peace.

Last week I told you about the ComingSoon.net report that Max Makowski had been hired to direct the upcoming big screen adaptation of 1970s TV series Kung Fu. (You remember that show: it starred a bald David Carradine, pictured.) Now Variety is weighing in with additional details. Makowski replaces Allen and Albert Hughes, who had been signed to direct. I speculated on the reasons why they may have jumped ship; Variety says they are busy preparing to film The Book of Eli for Warner Brothers. We already knew about that deal; it's the post-apocalyptic drama Erik Davis told us about in May.

Adding credence to my thought that the brothers may not have been happy with the Kung Fu script rewritten by Cory Goodman, Variety also reports that the "project is out to writers in order to get the script ready to go before a possible strike." Goodman's script may have been great, but maybe not completely in tune with what the Hughes Brothers wanted. Or, maybe they preferred the "lone hero" at the heart of The Book of Eli to Caine, the lone hero of Kung Fu.

In any event, Makowski reportedly intends to give Kung Fu an edgier take than the series. Does that mean less philosophy and more ass-kicking? In his review of the first season DVD box set, Stuart Galbraith of DVD Talk noted: "By today's standards, the martial arts sequences only look silly. They have no vitality or authenticity." I'd love to see some dynamic action scenes in the new Kung Fu, but not at the expense of the life lessons imparted by the Shaolin temple monks to young Caine. We'll keep an eye on this one, grasshopper.

Yes, grasshopper, it may be true: the movie adaptation of the 1970s Kung Fu television series appears to be moving forward. Christopher Campbell reported last November that Allen and Albert Hughes (Dead Presidents, From Hell) were slated to direct the movie. Production was to start some time this year in anticipation of a 2008 theatrical release to tie in with the Beijing Olympics. Cory Goodman was signed to do a rewrite of the original script by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman. Now ComingSoon.net is reporting that Max Makowski has been hired to direct.

Does that mean that Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures liked the rewrite, but the Hughes Brothers did not? Did the Hughes Brothers jump ship in favor of another gig? More than likely, the official answer would be "creative differences" or "scheduling conflicts." If the report is true, what will Max Makowski bring to the project? Born in Brazil, Makowski now lives in Hong Kong, according to an indieWIRE profile that ran when his crime film One Last Dance screened at Sundance in 2006. The plans are to film Kung Fu in China, so his background would be a plus. Makowski has also directed episodes of the TV spy show The Agency.

Bruce Lee came up with the original idea and wanted auditioned * to star as a Shaolin monk wandering the American West. Instead, David Carradine got the part of "Caine." Carradine was fine; the show itself never transcended the episodic formulas of its time, but was distinguished by solemn philosophical touches and a message that martial arts were not primarily about beating people up -- Caine always restrained himself. ComingSoon.net says a new casting call has gone out, looking for "a handsome mix of East (Chinese/Asian) meets West (American)," which is discouraging to read. Thirty years after Bruce Lee was denied, a Chinese actor is still not preferred for the part?

* UPDATED: Without specifically citing a source, commenter "pvitari" says that Ed Spielman came up with the original idea. (Perhaps this is supported by the DVD that "pvitari" mentions, which I don't have.) I should have indicated that my source was IMDB, which lists Lee as co-creator and cites Lee's widow as their source. Wikipedia has more information and two more sources. To avoid confusion -- and pending further investigation -- I've modified the article.-- PM.

After going six years between projects, Allen and Albert Hughes are finally starting to make their comeback. Having begun their career directing African American-themed films (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents), the Hughes boys went in a completely different direction back in 2001 with From Hell, then disappeared from the spotlight in search of better material. And according to Variety, they've finally found it. Warner Bros. has tapped the Hughes boys to helm Book of Eli, a post-apocalyptic drama to be produced by Joel Silver, Susan Downey and Erik Olsen. Not exactly what you'd expect from the Hughes Bros., but I imagine they're looking to expand their repertoire ... and I dig it. Written by Gary Whitta, pic is said to follow a "lone hero" who fights his way across a wasteland in an attempt to protect a book that may protect the key to saving humanity. (And no, I do not believe it's a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.)

But that's not all for the brothers; in addition to this post-apocalyptic treat, they've also signed on to helm a film based on the very real life of that lunatic mafia hitman known as The Ice Man (aka Richard Kuklinski). Not only that, but Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have brought the boys onboard a big-screen version of the classic TV series Kung Fu, which will be based off a script penned by Cory Goodman. Is it just me, or do these guys seem obsessed with killing and/or fighting? Where's the love? Where's the romance? If it were up to me, I'd like to see the Hughes Bros. helm a film that incorporates everything they've done in the past ... except make it a romantic comedy. Strike that -- make it a romantic comedy set in post-apocalyptic Detroit and call it Love is Hell in Da Hood. I'd see that.

When I was growing up I was a huge fan of martial arts movies and Kung Fu movies, in particular -- still am, actually. Maybe its because we didn't have cable and only got a few channels with the rabbit ears perched on top of our 20' television. Fortuately, two of the channels we did get were 5 and 13 from Los Angeles. Back in those days when -- believe it or not -- there were only three TV networks, channels 5 and 13 were independent and showed pretty much whatever they wanted. One of the things they showed frequently were martial arts movies.

In fact, channel 13 even had a weekly showcase for these movies called "Kung Fu Theater" complete with over-done sounds effects and out-of-sync dialog -- what many people refer to today as "chopsockey" cinema. During that time I watched many fun movies including The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Five Deadly Venoms and several films featuring the great Bruce Lee, including Game of Death and the classic Enter the Dragon. So, as a big fan of martial arts films and well-choreographed fight scenes with guys kicking the crap out of each other, I was pretty interested to see this Double Viking article featuring the top ten mano-a-mano fight scenes of all time.

Some of the fights they list in their top ten include Rocky vs Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, Neo vs Agent Smith in The Matrix and one of my personal favorites: Nada vs Frank in John Carpenter's They Live. While I do agree with most of the choices, I'm not entirely sure about the order. I might have placed Nada vs Frank higher on the list due to its shear brutality and the fact that both the actors, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David, did their own fighting without the aid of stunt doubles. Still, a pretty good list and, with the included videos, a great way to see some terrific fights scenes. Enjoy.

What's your favorite movie fight scene?

It's been five long years since Albert and Allen Hughes gave us Hell -- From Hell that is -- and though they have been busy with television projects, it is time they got back to the big screen. Well, their next project has now been confirmed as the long-awaited adaptation of the TV-series Kung Fu. For those unfamiliar with the show (I admit, I've never seen one episode), it featured David Carradine as a Shaolin monk who is forced to flee China and ends up in the American wild west.

A script was written for the movie version by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman, both of whom worked on the show, but it will be rewritten by Cory Goodman, who also wrote the upcoming Andrew Douglas film Priest. There is no word on casting yet, though Carradine will have to be involved somehow, but Warner Bros. is planning for a 2008 release to coincide, and hopefully garner a promotional tie-in with, the Beijing Olympics.

Considering The Hughes Brothers had been trying to get this job for past two years, they hopefully know what to do with it. Though we don't know who the other filmmakers were who wanted the gigs, I have to wonder if Quentin Tarantino was interested, at least as a writer or producer. After all, he has paid homage to the series through dialogue (Pulp Fiction) and casting (Kill Bill's title character is played by Carradine).

The tie-in part of the story makes me wonder if Hollywood will be putting together any other martial arts films around the same time. We still haven't heard the full stories on the Bruce Lee biopic Martha wrote about last summer, or the mysterious Rob Cohen-directed, Bruce Lee-starring film that Erik mentioned last month. And maybe Kung Fu Hustle 2 is on hold for this very same reason. Okay, I doubt it. The Olympics and cinema may already be linked enough by the promotional videos being shot by Oliver Stone, Giuseppe Tornatore and Majid Majidi.

Any fans of the show care to chime in with your opinion?

Thanks to Samuel L. Jackson, even those of us who never watched the show are familiar with at least one character from the 1970s TV series, Kung Fu. What's surprising, really, is that it wasn't made into a movie right after Pulp Fiction came out -- if they would have hired a flashy, name director, you know the theaters would have been packed, at least on opening weekend. Instead, the series has been sitting around ever since the rights reverted to story creator Ed Spielman more than five years ago (when they still owned the property, Warner Brothers briefly thought about a movie, but nothing ever came of it).

Now, finally, the movie is coming. Legendary Pictures (a newish, WB-based company that has a first-look deal with the studio) recently optioned a screenplay written by Spielman himself, along with series writer Howard Friedlander, and has revealed that the film's content will be very familiar to fans of the series: According to a Legendary exec, the movie will "explore the events on which the TV show was based and the origins of the main characters." Though there's no information available on how soon this might be in theaters, casting is bound to cause a minor internet frenzy -- I can't wait for the "WHAT?! That guy can't hold David Carradine's proverbial jock!" forum posts.