Shrek 2 - Hilarious

I saw Shrek 2 tonight the right way, in the company of giggling 5 year olds.

Cast of Shrek 2


This is quite possibly one of the funniest cartoons I've ever seen. Every moment is a gem, stylistically, technologically, and humoristically (oh! good scrabble word!). Antonio Banderas should win a slew of awards for his performance in this film. Nearly every scene with his character in it is snortcokeoutyournose funny.

I loved the animation, of course. But what I loved even more is how they introduced the new technological advances. Just seconds into the film, they demonstrate what they can do with skin tones, facial hair, eye expressions, etc... This alone should be enough, but they do it so blatantly that it reaches comedic effect. Bravo! The next new trick they reveal is done so over the top that the entire theatre burst out laughing. Hair. That's all that I need to say. Just too darn funny!

Like Shrek 1, this worthy sequel doesn't simply use music, it is infused with it. Music is central to the theme, the characters, and the telling of the story. The deaf will never appreciate this film, and that is a tragedy.

Here's a fun game, how many times did you see.....
1. Starbucks references (literal and sarcastic)
2. Movie parodies/sequences re-enacted in the film?
3. Storybook characters

Favorite subtle moment:
When the patrons of a Starbucks are compelled to flee for their lives, they all run directly across the street....to yet another Starbucks :-)

Summary
I loved this movie, I will own it, just as soon as the combo set comes out. It's well worth the $$ to see this film.

A brief moment of brilliance

China, 2003. I came across these remarkable photos revealing the spirit of China, in the most transitory fashion.

from R Todd King: "The temperature in Harbin reaches forty below zero, both farenheit and centigrade, and stays below freezing nearly half the year. The city is actually further north than notoriously cold Vladivostok, Russia, just 300 miles away. So what does one do here every winter? Hold an outdoor festival, of course! Rather than suffer the cold, the residents of Harbin celebrate it, with an annual festival of snow and ice sculptures and competitions. The festival officially runs from January 5 through February 15, but often opens a week early and runs into March, since it's usually still cold enough. This is the amazing sculpture made of snow greeting visitors to the snow festival in 2003."

A brief moment of brilliance

In Living Color!

This is simply amazingly cool. Using BloggerBot provided by Google (free), and a nifty IM client called Hello, you can post photos to your Blogger based blog seamlessly, smoothly, swiftly and smoothly. I am smitten by it :-)

Here's a test sample:

Sunflowers from the backyard - photo by Marni

Troy

Okay, I got to shirk my family duties for a night (a school night!) and go see the movie Troy with a buddy.

Thoughts & Perceptions
Brad Pitt is one incredibly physically gifted man. His body movements were exceptionally fluid and precise. I was completely amazed at how well he portrayed the "perfect warrior". His form was exquisite, with balance, poise, precision, agility and strength. I'm sure clever editing and camera work contributed to his performance, but it was so convincingly well done that I chose to believe that he is really that good.

Favorite moment: The fight scene with Hector outside the City gates.

Least favorite moment: Virtually all the 2 hours and 37 minutes that was not the fight scene in front of the gate.

Well, I guess the flaming balls of twine were cool, and I liked the way the Trojans pushed forward to halt and repel the advancing Spartans.

Technical Problems: Nearly infinite problems with the story will set any semi-knowledgeable viewers teeth to grinding in this film. Not least of which that they must have read a different book than me regarding this 10 year war, conveniently repackaged into 3 days of fighting with a 12 day intermission.

Where did they get all the wood? Seeming an endless supply of nicely milled lumber for the funeral altars, but the Horse was made of scrap wood? Where did they keep getting all the fresh grapes?

Careless moment: Hectors armor is covered in sharp metal studs, which he must have forgotten when he hugged his alien headed newborn child goodbye(have you ever seen a Turkish baby look like that?), the baby was nearly skewered right there on the spot, and starting crying in real pain as the poor actress playing the wife tried to console the little pin cushion.

Cheesiest Moment: Orlando Bloom in another big epic costume production, shooting a bow. He was He was believable as the wussy prince in this, but he was far more enjoyable as a swashbuckler in Pirates. I'm looking forward to seeing him mature a bit ( I sincerely hope!) in Pirates II.

The second cheesiest moment was any scene with Helen (Diane Kruger). What a vacuum.

However, I really liked Hectors wife, played well by Saffron Burrows. I actually felt a twinge of emotion when her husband was being slaughtered by Brad Pitt in the scene at the gate described above. Virtually the only emotion I felt during the entire movie. Sigh. If they had left off all the Gigantic battle scenes and the pillaging of Troy and all the various filler scenes, and just made a drama with a few tightly cropped battle sequences with no more than a dozen real actors at any time, the movie would have accomplished something.

But for now, the door is still wide open for me, when I make it to Hollywood.

Movies to Chew On

I love movies. I mean, I really really love movies. I have young kids, so I don't get out to the theater much anymore, but I've brought the theater home and have actually improved upon the experience.

Movies I've enjoyed recently:
- Love Actually - Is Alan Rickman okay? His speech seems to be slurring more and more with each role he plays.

- Something's Got To Give - I've a long way to go until I'm middle aged, heck, before I'm even 40. But for inexplicable reasons, I related too, and really enjoyed this film. And Amanda Peet...wow. When she's not being all geeky or an evil temptress, she can be amazing. Actually, I didn't mind her all that much as a temptress :-)

- A movie about an internet start up that gets out of control. The actor portraying the young CEO did an amazing job. My favorite scene is when he ends up in a Mexican jail at the end of a very bad day and the Official says, "It could be worse....but you sure drive a nice car. What's a car like that like to drive?" The CEO's response, the dawning of a hopeful smile, "It's very liberating."

- Spy Kids 3D. No not really, but I've watched it a zillion times recently. Like I said, I have young kids. I have to give credit to the Director, Robert Rodriguez. He is brilliant, and can make more movie with less (fill in the blank) than any director out there.

Time

I'm falling behind.

I'm supposed to be done with the next round of mockups for this site, but I've hit a snag with the navigation, been inudated with too many cool photos, and have been overwhelmed by events at work and at home.

I'm falling behind, and I've got that guilty hang-dog feeling.

This weekend will be different! This weekend I'll get it done.....probably. I hope it rains.

First Posting!

It's well after 11PM - I've been up for 21 hours now. I'm supposed to be working on SoaringUSA.com. But I'm avoiding it. I find myself captivated by the new Blogger website, recently massaged by Adaptive Path, and others.

So I'm avoiding working, and playing with this....if I go to bed now, I'm almost assured of a solid 4 hours sleep....if.