After the reception we were allowed to pick up our special Dreamworks/Paramount goody bag, a process so intricate involving repeated showings of ID and the getting of special stamps on our conference "passport", I was certain the bags must contain reliquaries of Jack Black himself, or perhaps a real panda. Instead there were boxes of Kung Fu Panda fortune cookies and a t-shirt for Mike Meyer's new film, The Love Guru. Thank god they had such tight security on those things.

Security at the Panda screening was tighter than the airport, complete with pat downs and ushers wearing night vision goggles to catch unauthorized Blackberry-ing. There were mumblings in the audience over who might show up, and various Jack Black sightings were widely discussed. Dreamworks pulled a fast one on us though and instead of Jack Black, we got Mike Meyers and Jessica Alba, there to promote The Love Guru (Ah so, suddenly the gift bag becomes much clearer). Both Alba and Meyers appeared to be about 5 months pregnant, although only one of them apparently is. We got a sneak peek at The Love Guru, which looks equal parts amusing and gassy, although I personally believe that Meyers' film career peaked at So I Married an Axe Murderer so I may not be the best judge.

Kung Fu Panda was actually not 100% finished for the screening last week, so the cut we saw was actually about 90% completed movie and 10% combination of partially animated scenes and still story boards. Even watching this unusual unfinished cut, it's clear the movie is great. If you're a parent no doubt you've already heard about Kung Fu Panda and are resigning yourself to go. No need to resign yourself. Go happily. This movie is, to re-animate the zombie of cliches, fun for the whole family.

Jack Black voices Po, a clumsy panda destined to inherit his (inexplicably avian) father's noodle soup shop. Po is also a secret fanatic of kung fu and an avid follower of The Furious Five, a legendary band of kung fu masters that keep his valley safe from the evil Tai Lung. Will Po accidentally stumble in to a kung fu career? Will he struggle to convince the Furious Five of his value? Can he possibly defeat the evil Tai Lung who, voiced by Ian McShane, is possibly the scariest animated wild cat since George Sanders' Shere Khan? Here's the thing about Kung Fu Panda. It's not just an awesome family cartoon. It's a plain old awesome kung fu movie. Seriously, it has everything. Go without fear.