I saw 'SHREK' today.....

[kellibelli]

Loved it!

Mike Myers was perfect, Eddie Murphy was a good donkey too!

My fave scenes include the torture of the 'Gingerbread Man' by Lord Farquad(sp) (pronounced Fark-Wad) - really funny stuff!

The plethora of fairy tale characters makes me want to purchase the video so I can examine it more closely. It was hard to see all of the action in some of the crowd scenes.

I think I enjoyed it even more since I saw on ET that Chris Farley (RIP) was the original Shrek, and you can see how they modeled the character after him. I loved Chris Farley.

The kids loved it too, I highly recommend it for the whole family.

Anyone else seen it?

What did you think of it?

[MikeG]

I took the kids to see it today as well. Claire (6-3/4) loved it and Andy (4-1/2) got a little antsy with 15 min. or so left.

I thought it was hysterical and will definitely see it again and will buy it when it comes out for sale.

[DynoSaur]

I also went to see it. By myself, as I'm a large, antisocial childlike person

Funnier than hell. Eddie Murphy killed me, Mike Myers was cool. I was literally laughing so hard I was crying at the end. A donkey with Eddie Murphy's voice singing "I'm a Believer" has to be seen to be truly appreciated, and Snow White slapping Cinderella in a fight over a bouquet at a wedding is just priceless.

Everyone should see this. Well, except with those of you with no sense of humor

[Amedeus]

I loved it myself. The whole matrix, freeze frame kicks are getting old though.

[Gozu Tashoya]

I saw it a few weeks ago. Loved pretty much everything about it. The scene with the Gingerbread Man in the dungeon cracks me up.

[Zebra]

I saw it. I liked it. Some good moments. I did like most of the rock and roll soundtrack but some of their choices were kind of strange.


When I got to this thread the thread above it was 'What the most embarrasing thing you have seen?"


So that was pretty funny.

[Chickenhead]

In general, I thought that the movie was good. I lost control of myself during the gingerbread interrogation scene. Eddie Murphy's flatulence jokes did get a little repetitive.

[aoty]

I saw Shrek the other day too. I didn't feel ripped off, but I certainly didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of you seemed to.

Things I didn't like: Mike Myers's scottish accent (please give that impression a rest... "Fat Bastard" as Shrek), fart jokes, cliched Matrix gag, un-amusing cameos by "Disney" characters.

Things I did like: Eddie as the donkey (Very funny!), beautiful animation, good soundtrack, "Oh, you're a GIRL dragon!"

Overall, I felt the Shrek tried a little too hard to be endearing. The characters grow on you but still lack the charm of Toy Story 1 & 2, Bugs Life, and Ants.

3 out of 5 stars.

[simply_cats]

I saw Shrek last night and loved it Everyone has commented on Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers, so I will give it up for Cameron Diaz I laughed from start to finish, but them I am easy to entertain.

I'd reccommend it, but I'd hardly call it a kids movie.. can't wait to own it!

[MilTan]

I partially agree with aoty in that it wasn't quite as good (and certainly didn't suck you in as much) as Toy Story or its sequel. However, it was a very good movie, and quite well done.

You really can't begrudge Dreamworks/PDI the flatulence jokes. After all, this was ostensibly a kid's movie. While the story itself was so-so (typical fairy tale schlock), the enjoyment was all in the details. You can't help but chuckle at the Disney jabs, and the sheer number of well done pop-culture references was just a joy to experience. Best scene in the movie (very minor spoiler warning): the attendant at the entrance to the castle running his way through the twisting entrance line trying to get away from Shrek.

[silent_rob]

I saw it yesterday with a few friends and loved it. A really great movie. I saw an interview with Myers and he said that they originally wanted him to do a Canadian accent (so glad they went with the Scottish one; I really liked that, actually).

SPOILER-ISH











I thought the seeming allegory of Disney as the evil prince was pretty dang funny. How his castle was set up like Disneyland, and him locking up all of the fairytale creatures.

[rjung]

Originally posted by MilTan
I partially agree with aoty in that it wasn't quite as good (and certainly didn't suck you in as much) as Toy Story or its sequel. However, it was a very good movie, and quite well done.

Count me in as well -- while Shrek certainly scored high with the gags and laughs, it didn't quite match up to the Toy Story movies in terms of ... well, "heart", for lack of a better term. I thought the emotional/romantic aspects were rather formulatic and predictable, and didn't really connect with the characters other than as filling comedy roles.

<hijack>
I'm ready and willing to attribute the difference to John Lasseter, who was head writer and director for the Toy Story movies. The man is a true storytelling genius, and IMO the biggest talent Pixar has.
</hijack>

Funniest Shrek scene: tough call, but I'll give it to Lord Farquad's "information booth", just for the puppets' song-and-dance number.

[hypergirl]

I saw it today. I just got home from it in fact. Add me to the "loved it" list. The animation was great and Eddie Murphy was hillarious. My boyfriend kept calling the dragon Figment, but Figment is purple not pink.

[Bill H.]

silent_rob wrote

I thought the seeming allegory of Disney as the evil prince was pretty dang funny. How his castle was set up like Disneyland, and him locking up all of the fairytale creatures.

There's a rumor afoot that Farquad is Ed Eisner, who once said of 5 foot 4 inch Katzenberg, "I think I hate the little midget."

I saw it this weekend too with my son and some nephews and nieces. Good movie. It's amazing how good they're getting with animation.

[pepperlandgirl]

I absolutely loved the way the movie ended.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!



















I guess I had been conditioned for so long (haven't we all?) to believe that only beautiful people were allowed to fall in love and live happily ever after, that the movie really touched me. When they did a spoofe on "Beauty and the Beast" and she didn't change I was thrilled. Half of me knew that she wouldn't change. The other half was afraid that she would.

[BlackKnight]

I saw it the other day with a friend of mine. We both thought it was pretty good.

My general thoughts:

It was very predictable, overall. Even some of the jokes were predictable.

I think the movie tried a bit too hard to be funny at times. Luckily, this wasn't very often.

The music for the movie is both appropriate and diverse. It's quite nice.

Lovely animation and, well, "mood". The dark, dangerous castle felt appropriately dark and dangerous, for example.

I kept thinking throughout the entire movie, "This is for kids?!?" Sheesh, can you just imagine a bunch of children mispronouncing Farquad to their shocked parents? Evil evil evil.

SPOILER MATERIAL

My favorite scenes are the gingerbread-man torture scene, and the blue-bird egg scene.

[Olentzero]

Went and saw it yesterday with Mrs. O, the Tzeroling, and two of her friends.

The kids, apparently, loved it. Mrs. O was more equivocal than I about it, though we agreed it had moments but little "heart". The love story was a nice angle - the bit when they first set up camp was good, didn't telegraph the twist at all (unless I missed something). The bit where Farquad meets his doom was a tad unnerving (see SPOILER below) but the balloon scene was an absolute hoot!

I guess we'd give it 3.25 stars (3 from Mrs. O, 3.5 from me.)





















**SPOILER** I have the heebie-jeebies about people getting eaten whole. The scream after the first bite just added to it.

[Hamadryad]

I loved it, laughed my ass off, particularly during the Gingerbread man/Farquad "Muffin Man" exchange (whole theater: quiet. Me: giggling - GIGGLING - hysterically).

spoiler alert, of course: I think she was cute, even as an ogre....and when they kept referring to her in that guise as "hideous" it rang wrong to me. She WASN'T hideous...she was heavier, had a bigger nose, her teeth weren't perfect...but *not bloodydamned well hideous*. I understand the point they were trying to make, but I thought they could have NOT hammered on "hideous" when she damned well WASN'T.

"Eat me!" *ptooie* .... hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee

[Jman]

I also loved this movie. I laughed out loud so many times I lost count. I too, loved the gingerbread man scene, and I thought the Robin Hood scene was a riot as well! Shrek's fight in Farquaad's castle also had me rolling, with the WWF spoof.

I plan to get the DVD when it is released. Great film.

Jman

[Narile]

I was actually somewhat disappointed at the whole 'She's really an ogre by night as well' thing. The love story would be just as well done without having her turn into an ogre, which I think kind of says 'The reason she could love him, is because she also thinks she is ugly'. I am glad however, that the didn't cop out like Disney would have, and have him turn into a human in the end.

Overall, a movie well worth the money I spent to see it.

As for the Matrix spoof, I enjoyed it because it *was* a spoof/jab at the Matrix, rather than an attempt to cash in and be neat. I love how, in the middle of the fly around, when she is floating there, time is stopped, and she takes a second to adjust her hair before kicking.

[monster]

I loved this movie! My favorite part was the Match Game segment, and when he picks Princess Fiona...

<queue music>

“If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain...”

[saepiroth]

::SPOILER!::
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ok, i saw the movie yesterday and i just have one question; how, exactly is the relationship between the dragon and the donkey going to work? even just skipping over the species barrier (it IS just a cartoon- species don't count!) how could the work around the sheer difference in scale?
i know it's a just cartoon, but I want to know...
feel free to elaborate in detail. (heh heh heh...)

[mobo85]

Originally posted by Bill H.
silent_rob wrote
There's a rumor afoot that Farquad is Ed Eisner, who once said of 5 foot 4 inch Katzenberg, "I think I hate the little midget."

Most reviews have compared Farquaad to the head of Disney, who is actually named Mike Eisner.

[Feynn]

I went on a date yesterday with this lovely young lady named Alex. She wanted to go and see Shrek which is understandable since she is only three and isn't into movies like Bridget Jones' Diary (excellent) which mommy and I saw on Tuesday night.

We had a great time with her sitting on my lap and munching popcorn as we laughed and I answered questions about the action going on. The gingerbread man really cracked me up as did many of the adult oriented humour and references.

At the end of it all Alex said "that was a great movie, can we buy it?"

I gave it my thumbs up as well and would recommend this movie to any dad who wants to take his daughter out to the movies.

[RickJay]

Originally posted by Feynn
...like Bridget Jones' Diary...

[hijack]

Jones's! JONES'S! THE POSSESSIVE OF JONES IS JONES'S!

[/hijack]

This hijack minirant brought to you by someone named Jones. Note that they did get it right in the title of the movie.

[pesch]

It was all right. Maybe I'm getting jaded, but a movie that relies on cultural references for most of its jokes is an easy shortcut to writing comedy. Maybe watching Disney getting bashed for years hasn't helped either, although I loved the way they did it. Did you notice the "F" on the prince's flags were in the old Disneyland font? And I did love the wrestling match.

Eddie Murphy was great, given the material he had to work with. Especially liked "We're gonna stay up all night and tell guy stories, and in the morning I'm makin' WAFFLES!" and the whole sequence about parfeits being the most perfect food in the whole damn world.

The "eat me" line and the "wipe your (ass)" lines kinda bothered me, but only for my son's sake. (Hey, I'm a parent, what am I gonna say?)

And what can I say about Cameron Diaz? I'm developing a heavy crush on her.

Worth going to see, by all means. Far more than P**** H*****. But don't expect "Toy Story."

[capacitor]

The animation was better done than what Pixar did so far. I didn't find the story too predictable as some do, unless you conditioned yourself to believe that the narrative will do the opposite of a conventional fairy tale, which surprisingly I didn't do. Perhaps that added my enjoyment to the film.

The ending sequence was great. Ironic that an ogre that wanted to be alone will never find himself alone again.

Just one quibble: where are the pina coladas, man? I want soem myself.

[seriousart]

Truth be told, I was kinda disapointed.
I've really been looking forward to this movie for a long time, so maybe my expectations were too high.
Thought the big laughs were too far apart, though the story lagged less after the introduction of Cameron Diaz's character.
There were definately some really big laughs of course.
Personal fav: The abandoned eggs/ breakfast scene & the dragon punching out the last window in the otherwise trashed castle.

By comparison, this movie still can't touch Bug's Life or the Toy Story movies for story telling and aesthetics. Sure, Shrek's animation may have been technically superior, but Pixar's movies have still been more beautiful, with more visually appealing characters as well. The same company also made Antz, which also suffered from similarly unappealing characters and fewer big laughs.

All that critcism aside, I still enjoyed the movie quite a bit, just not as much as I had hoped too.

I'm really looking forward to Pixar's "Monsters Inc." due out this Christmas season. Let's hope I'm not setting my expectations too high for this as well.

[The Bad Astronomer]

We watched Shrek yesterday, and rented (semi-coincidentally) Charlie's Angels. A Cameron Diaz-fest! CA cracked up both me and my wife, and it was funny to see how many of Cameron Diaz's body movements and gestured were animated into her Fiona character in Shrek.

[GargoyleWB]

I loved the musical references that only the adults would ever understand, like the "pina coladas". When the Donkey grabbed Shrek and started "You've got to love her, squeeze her, gotta gotta gotta gotta..." I busted a gut crying

And did anyone see, at the end musical number, one of the women in the crowd doing the "Elaine" dance? Funny!

[jab1]

I saw Shrek yesterday. I'd give it four stars out of five. The scene where they turned a frog and a snake into balloons is where I lost control.

Maybe it's the fault of the theatre where I saw the film, but much of the movie seemed too dark to me in comparison to the TV commercials.

Yeah, people will definitely be watching this movie frame-by-frame at home.

My favorite part was the Match Game segment

Actually, monster, it was The Dating Game.

The female ogre looked like a green Oprah Winfrey.

[Sengkelat]

My wife (who's pursuing a vetrinary degree and loves animals) laughed herself to tears at the balloon scene. I thought it was pretty horrible, myself. But the rest of the movie was good.
I thought the trailers portrayed the movie as more of an adventure than a comedy. It came off as little more than a vehicle for a lot of jokes, sort of like Airplane. It didn't really matter how the story came out. But, that said, I was a little disappointed that it was so predictable. A very pat ending, indeed.

And how can they go on and on about how appearance doesn't matter, but continually mock Farquad for being short? Sheesh.

Anyway, in all I give it two thumbs up. Very funny, and Eddy Murphy makes a great jackass. My favorite line was when he gets zapped by the pixie and starts to levitate. Ah! Heeheeheehee.

[Rysdad]

The balloon scene took me out completely, and the "Try a Little Tenderness" song was superb. The Robin Hood River Dancers were pretty amusing, too.

4.5 out of 5. Loved it.

[jab1]

Okay, someone explain to me why Robin Hood had a French accent.

[Badtz Maru]

Originally posted by Hamadryad
I loved it, laughed my ass off, particularly during the Gingerbread man/Farquad "Muffin Man" exchange (whole theater: quiet. Me: giggling - GIGGLING - hysterically).

spoiler alert, of course: I think she was cute, even as an ogre....and when they kept referring to her in that guise as "hideous" it rang wrong to me. She WASN'T hideous...she was heavier, had a bigger nose, her teeth weren't perfect...but *not bloodydamned well hideous*. I understand the point they were trying to make, but I thought they could have NOT hammered on "hideous" when she damned well WASN'T.

"Eat me!" *ptooie* .... hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee

So I'm not the only one. I thought she was pretty cute as an ogre too - I'd do her, if I wasn't married of course.

[Dr.Pinky]

Biggest laugh at the theater I went to see it at:






"That'll do, donkey; that'll do."

(cripes, does everybody have a 3 year old? Personally, I hate "The Pig Movie" (said in the same tones as "The Scottish Play") for opposite reasons; one makes me cry, the other makes me weep.)

Abraham Lincoln didn't die in vain.
He died in Washington DC*.

(In the Fnord Theater.)





*FST

[Flutterby]

I loved Shrek! I found the whole thing hilarious though I think I missed some of the references like the "You've got to love her, squeeze her, gotta gotta gotta gotta..." thing Gargoyle mentioned Heck I'm only 18 you can excuse me for that.

As to the teasing about him being short.. I got that they weren't teasing the fact that he was short but the fact that he was trying to compensate for being short. Like when he was riding up to get the Princess he looked like an average sized guy but then he got dragged off the horse and it showed that his 'legs' stayed on the horse. It was all that he was overcompensating (as well as you could take he was doing it for something else too *ahem*)

I think that the best part was the Gingerbread Torture scene as well.. that was just too hilarious. The whole 'Muffin Man' bit had me giggling too.

"Do you know the muffin man?"
"The muffin man? Who lives on drury lane?"

*giggles again*

[cykrider]

Overall I loved this movie. I've seen it twice and I plan on buying it.

However, the only thing that I didn't like was the idea of linking ugly with fat. Why couldn't they just make her turn green and add the funny ears? Just because I'm lean and about 5% body fat, (I'm a cyclist what can I say?) doesn't put me in the running for People's 50 most beautiful people. Fat doesn't equal ugly people!

"You've got to love her, squeeze her, gotta gotta gotta gotta..." I'm 19 and I didn't get this either, anyone care to explain?

[DrFidelius]

I'd hardly call the Princess fat. I don't think she was more than a size 14 when ogreish. That's still smaller than The Wife has been since I first met Her, and She's beautiful.

Oh, and kids, it's from a song.

[Flutterby]

I guessed it was from a song the way Donkey said it. What song though?

[Marvel]

What I loved best about "Shreck" was the twisted humor - the Gingerbread Man's "Eat me!," the exploding bird followed by fried eggs, and best of all the frog balloon. I first saw it with my husband on opening day (where I ran into one of the law professors at the law school I work at - turns out he and his wife are big kids too) and then took my two eldest nephews to see it. I loved it, my 7 year old nephew LOVED it, and his 11 year old brother didn't laugh as loudly as we did but assured me he dug the flick.

SPOILER!!!
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I noticed the first time I saw the movie that at some point the Three Bears became two - Mama was missing. I didn't notice what became of her until the 2nd viewing. Remember the scene where the prince is making the magic mirror rewind and show the princess video over and over? At the beginning of that scene, notice the bear skin rug - its wearing a pink bow!

Patty

[YWalker]

Hamadryad,Badtz Maru, and cykrider, you all mentioned my major objection to the movie. I actually thought she was a pretty cute ogress --- but then we all get reminded that anyone who isn't thin is obviously hideous. (And, like the Disney tradition of Little Mermaid, Pocahantas, etc., Fiona wasn't just thin --- she was at a thinness unattainable by actual humans, and stacked to boot.) And can I get some of those clothes of hers, that always fit perfectly no matter what size she happens to be at the time?

I also wasn't thrilled by the gratuitous use of bad language --- I thought the "kiss my (ass)"/almost mooning sequence in the song they heard when they entered the castle was totally uncalled for, as well as a "damn" stated by the donkey, in what is obviously intended to be a movie for children. Why toss those in, and prevent this from being a G movie?

I thought it was visually stunning, though. I took my 5 year old and several of his buddies to see if for his birthday today, and they all enjoyed it. (Especially the flatulence killing the fish routine.) I enjoyed it too, except the not-too-subliminal message that equated being overweight with being hideous left me slightly depressed.

Oh, and the Gingerbread Man's finest hour was at the wedding reception at the end. I was almost in tears.

[Phantomkat]

I absolutely loved the movie! Comparing Shrek to A Bug's Life or Toy Story is like comparing apples to oranges. The latter two movies, both of which were great, have to have heart and a moral. They're wholesome movies intent on bringing laughter and encouragement. Shrek is far more pointed in its satire of various aspects of popular culture. The love story was not the only thing going on. Granted, they could have developed the background story of the fairy-tale creatures more but *shrugs* what can you do?

The bad language did not bother me, as it did others. I can understand why it would bother parents but it was made relatively clear from the commercials, as well as that Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy were in it, that it was not a kids movie on the Disney level.

*SPOILERS*

I really liked that Robin Hood, Monsieur Hood, was French and that he liked getting...head (as his merry men said). That cracked me up! The muffin man part was also great!

Fiona's final form was the best logistically because had she stayed a small human any kind of physical relationship with Shrek would have been very impossible or very painful. I knew she'd end up that way in the end at the beginning. But that's just cause I'm that smart! *rolls eyes*

[Kakkerlak]

I feel eerily uncomfortable cheering the movie, which I enjoyed a lot for a computerized 90-minute Beauty and the Beast, but I'm kinda wierded out that three college kids at WSU were killed Monday night coming back from a showing out in Idaho.
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Spoiler
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That cheeriness aside, I fell out of my chair laughing when the Disney kiosk with the dancing dolls proclaims Farquaad's kingdom to be named... "Duloc".

Here's the in-joke as I see it. Notre Dame is sometimes called the "Catholic Disneyland". The university's full name in French means "The University of Our Lady of the Lake" and the student conduct manual (not a particularly sporting document) is called "Du Lac". Sounds like an ND joke to me ! I wonder if any of the producers or writers were ND grads (or Michigan grads for that matter).

[jab1]

Originally posted by YWalker
I actually thought she was a pretty cute ogress --- but then we all get reminded that anyone who isn't thin is obviously hideous.

No, we were reminded how shallow the townspeople were. They really weren't all that different from Farquad; they had the leader they deserved.

The fairy-tale characters had no problem with the ogress. You noticed that Shrek and his bride go back to the swamp to live, right? Why would they want to live in a kingdom full of narrow-minded jerks? We're meant to identify with Shrek, the princess and the rest of the put-upon fantasy characters, not the townspeople.

can I get some of those clothes of hers, that always fit perfectly no matter what size she happens to be at the time?

If magic can make her body change size, why can't it do the same for her clothes?

Why toss those in, and prevent this from being a G movie?

To increase ticket sales. "PG" movies do better at the box office than "Gs". It's cynical, but there you are.

[rocking chair]

saepiroth, re : the dragon/donkey thing it would be magical, perhaps in flight? or the same way a 7"6" guy married to a 5'0" gal work things out.

i enjoyed this movie way more than i thought i would. i was very glad they didn't go with the "disney" ending.