I haven't watched Kung Fu Panda.  I don't normally watch kid's films. 

Concerning Tropic Thunder, I don't care for jokes that are racist or mean spirited toward mentally impaired people.  This is not funny as hell to me.

On topic.  I have heard from several people that have played the demo that the game is not impressive at all and would be a mediocre hack n slash if it weren't for all of the bells and whistles.

In revesrse order:

1 - the demo did not impress me (and I'm a big Tim Shafer, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, etc fan) as the gameplay was weak, although the dialogue and production values were very good.  From reviews I've read I'm getting the impression the demo doesn't convey the full title too well, but I'm still cautious as while other elements of the game may be great it sure seems basic hack/slash combat is weak.  Luckily I've missed J Black's recent, apparently weaker films, but I suspect based on the demo this may indeed be better than most of them in terms of dialogue and jokes

2 - Tropic Thunder was funny in places but uneven and did veer between genuine, and I felt acceptable, black humour, and weak toilet humour for the sake of it.

3 - Kung Fu Panada is okay in a very 'rip off' Disney kind of way, but if you like cinema I do have to urge you to put aside whatever you think of kids films and watch at least The Incredibles, Ratatouile and Up from Pixar.  They are simply great films on every level, and rightly critically lauded as such.  They certainly soar over most films with actors in them I've seen recently, including well made films - personally if I was certain Oscar winners right now I'd be counting myself lucky those films 'don't count' in the big categories.

Just another view.

Not precisely that, no.

The writing would need to be good enough that I do not care about the flawed gameplay, which was the case with Psychonauts. It's not the fact of Tim Schafer's name that would do it, it would be the quality of the project - one aspect can be good enough that I don't particularly care about the flaws. This also happened with KotOR2, which is one of my favorite games.

This game is full of win. I am ready

I actually enjoyed Kung Fu Panda a good deal, as I am able to enjoy silly Dreamworks-style movies and I like kung fu.

As to the bolded: I agree. On a related note, if UP doesn't get a nomination in at least one of the major categories, the Academy has lost damn near all relevance for me. Not that they had a lot, but there it is.

Kung Fu Panada is fun, but terribly shallow and I think the core message, which seemed to be 'if you really believe in yourself you'll be the best even if you have no skills initially, and in fact you'll become the best overnight vs people who've spent their whole lives being the best, etc' was a horrible message for kids - and indeed in general.  The animation was brilliant, the colours, etc. amazing and it was funny, but it's core theme to me represents everything that wrong about 'make it quick with no effort'.

Up though, was wonderful, not just funny, etc. on the surface, but thematically rich, poetic in places and deeply satisfying.  I look at Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up and am just amazed how tough Pixar make things for themselves, then come through with ease.  I mean, a kids movie with two old guys as main characters?  A main character who we see live most of his life in sensitive but unflinching detail in the openning 10 minutes or so, who has become a recluse since the death of his wife?  The average Hollywood Marking and PR exec would scream in horror and run from the room presented with recent Pixar premises.

You actually give Kung Fu Panda more credit than me: I didn't think of it as having a message at all.