Movie: Shrek the Third and the previews before it.

Shrek_the_third

Let me tell you my favorite scene in the movie. Part of it appeared in the trailer, but it is even better fleshed out in the actual movie. (And me telling you this spoils nothing, so feel free to read).

Okay, our heroes need to get into a castle, the front gate of which is guarded by two sentient trees. Snow White appears in the clearing ahead of them and starts to sing. It has been established that whenever Snow starts to sing, the animals gather around her. So, while she performs her lilting song, all the woodland creatures scamper over to her. Then her lilting singing turns into the valkrye cry that opens Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. Under the thumping, driving beat, the animals attack the trees, pecking, scratching, and biting them.

I got goosebumps when this happened and I don't know why. Maybe because that was my Led Zep song. Or maybe because Snow is animated as a blue-eyed brunette, which is my "type". Or maybe because Amy Poehler does such a great job acting as her voice. Or maybe because I simply hate trees. But I simply loved this scene.

I liked the movie as well. I mean, not as much as this scene, but it was good. There were parts that dragged a little, but I thought there were parts that dragged on the other two Shrek's.

This one is a lot more kid-friendly. There were not as many jokes aimed at the adults in the audience. But these were replaced with a valuable message--just because people think that you're a monster or a loser doesn't mean you are. Don't define yourself by how people see you, but, rather, be yourself. I think kids need to have that example.

And Arthur's leadership style is not to settle potential conflict through violence, but rather through dialogue and discussion. Since Bush has the menality of the age group that composes the audience the makers aim for, maybe he'll learn something after watching it. But I doubt it.

So, summing up, Shrek the Third, I liked it.

Now, the previews:

• Bee Movie: The trailer featuring Jerry Seinfeld in a bee costume has, pardon the pun, garnered a lot of buzz. That wasn't the one I saw. This one was animation only. My knee-jerk reaction to it is that it's kinda bland. I mean, the concept is innovative, imagining the inner workings of bees and teh hive-mentality, but the plot is basically 'our hero wants to break out of the mold society has created for him and be free to do things his way", which isn't terribly original.
• Hot Rod: I'll say this, Andy Samberg's "Lazy Sunday" piece for SNL was pure genius. It worked on so many levels. But not everything he does works that well. This movie, as per the preview, appears to be him has a wannabe stunt driver, practicing become better. That seems kind of, eh? But then I read the description on IMDB:"Self-proclaimed stuntman Rod Kimble (Samberg) is preparing for the jump of his life. Rod plans to clear fifteen buses in an attempt to raise money for his abusive stepfather Frank’s life-saving heart operation. He’ll land the jump, get Frank better, and then fight him, hard." Now that's damn interesting.
• Transformers: This trailer looks cool. But, then again, every trailer for a Michael Bay movie "looks" cool. Doesn't always mean that the movie will be good. The trailer plays up the human element in the movie, explaining how Shia LeBouef's character bonds with the good Transformers. So, what I've seen of that bodes good for the movie. What I don't like as much is the way, to me at least, the robots aren't all that easy to tell apart. That could be really bad. I just have to wait and see.
• Ratatouille: I have a standing belief that Pixar can do no wrong. And so far, that belief has not been shaken. However, as blasphemous as this might be to say, I think their movie selection has become sort like a game of double dare: "I dare you to make a movie about the scary monsters under the bed, but make the monsters the good guys" "Well, I dare you make a story about a clown fish searching the ocean for his son, who is in an aquarium in a dentists office", "well, I dare you to make a movie about a family of superheroes, make them realistic and quasidisfuctional but still loving each other" "Well, I dare you to make a film where everyone is a car and race cars are professional athletes" "Well, I dare you to make a sympathetic story about a rat living in Paris who wants to be a cook." So far, it has worked. By the cynic in me thinks that it might not last forever. But even if they fail, they are taking chances. Which is what I love about them.
• Nancy Drew: Is it wrong that I actually want to see this movie? Maybe because the plot involves an unsolved Hollywood murder and I am reading up on unsolved Hollywood murders in preparation for my trip out to L.A. But I thought the preview looked cute, witty and funny. Anyway, I feel like I should go to my local police station and give them my name because I am two decades older and have the wrong chromosonal make up that Nancy Drew's target audience. I will say this, though. If you think comic book readers are hard to please, you should read some of the comments on Nancy Drew's IMDB page. Nancy Drew fans have got to have comic fans beat.