Shrek!

[adriennek]

Ok, before I post, let me explain something: I'm a mom, I have a 2.5 y/o and one due any minute now (aka: I can't stand being pregnant one more minute....) I think I've seen now a total of 3 movies since Matthew was born (Simon Birch, Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Emperor's New Groove-- WOO HOO-- FOUR!) So this tells you how often I get to a theater....

I can't WAIT to see Shrek! Am I the only one here anxious for this one to come out? I have not been this excited about a movie in a long time-- in fact, I rarely get too worked up about any movies, tbt. But this one just looks so damn funny that I can't wait.

I've already decided that I must see it, I'm going to be leaving the kids with Kevin so I can! (or else maybe I'll beg someone to watch them so we can go.) I'll nurse the baby right before we go and run home to nurse him/her again right after it's over (that's how I saw Simon Birch when Matthew was just a newborn.) But I'm going to do it. I can't wait.

I feel utterly silly about this, but I can't wait for this movie to come out

Adrienne K

[Alex S.]

Can't say that I am excited about Shrek (but then, how many people have seen me excited about anything?) but we will definitely be there opening weekend if we can.

But what I really want to talk about is Simon Birch. Don't you feel that Disney (through Hollywood Pictures) owes Matthew 113 minutes of Mommy-time? That was such a terrible movie (made so much worse since A Prayer for Owen Meany was such a good book).

Maybe you can claim those Mommy-minutes at City Hall.

[Napsto]

it's funny that somebody posts this topic because my name is steven SCHRECK of course it is pronounced SHREK so i am getting teassed but it is kinda of funny that i like disney but it makes fun of the disney company. ohh well!

[pheneix]

I can't wait for this movie. It looks like it will be a big hit, and the fact that it has "reportedly downright mean attacks on Michael Eisner" makes it all the better for me.

Pheneix

[rob]

I just saw part of the HBO First Look for Shrek! I have to say this looks pretty cool. They show alot of the animation techniques and tools, including a 3-d digitizing armature that I plan to buy when I have a spare $3 grand lying around. Sparky gets a lot of time on camera telling how great the film is.

[rob]

Have you noticed that Prince Farquaar (John Lithgow) seems to be based heavily on Michael Eisner?

[adriennek]

Originally posted by Alex Stroup
Can't say that I am excited about Shrek (but then, how many people have seen me excited about anything?) but we will definitely be there opening weekend if we can.

But what I really want to talk about is Simon Birch. Don't you feel that Disney (through Hollywood Pictures) owes Matthew 113 minutes of Mommy-time? That was such a terrible movie (made so much worse since A Prayer for Owen Meany was such a good book).

Maybe you can claim those Mommy-minutes at City Hall.

Actually, I do want to read A Prayer for Owen Meany because I actually liked Simon Birch. The only problem was that I bawled my eyes out in the movie theater. Not the best movie for the mom of a very newly born son.... Shrek probably won't have that effect on me

Adrienne K

[Alex S.]

It's possible that I am biased, having read the book before seeing the movie. A Prayer for Owen Meany is SOOOO much better than Simon Birch.

The movie was a terrible mauling of the story, though the kid who played Owen . . . er Simon was wonderful.

[3894]

Anthony Lane in the 5/21/01 NEW YORKER says: "for Shrek versus Farquaad we can apparently read Jeffrey Katzenberg versus his former boss Michael Eisner. There are lots of anti-Disney jokes here, from the punishment meted out to Pinocchio at the start to the tacky, ominous courtyard of the villain's palace, which could in a certain light be viewed as a ripoff of Disneyland".

[cstephens]

When I first saw the trailer for this film, I wanted to see it, despite some of the character voices in the film. However, if the film has as many Disney slams as everyone keeps saying, I might just pass. Humour is one thing, but a film filled with cheap shots doesn't sound all that funny or original to me.

[eric]

I don't think any of the Disney references were cheap shots or mean spirited. I think the underlying idea was to just take well known fairy tales and show them in a new light. It is no where near the hype we've been hearing. I think "The Simpsons" have been far more harsh (and accurate, I might add) in dishing out the Disney jabs. And I might also point out that the Farguaad "short" jokes are more self inflicting on Katzenberg ("I hate that little midget." - Michael Eisner).

[crusher_appa]

Just saw this movie yesterday and it is hilarious, they packed so many jokes about disney in so little time i'm goona have to watch it at least a couple of more times just to catch all of them. I strongly suggest any disney fan to go and see this.

[Tink]

Just caught the movie. It was laugh out loud funny. The Disney pokes were running rampant and the information kiosk at the castle was hysterical!!! Hey that Robin Hood guy sure was a pervert - if you were quick enough to catch it....

[rob]

We saw it Friday night. It was hilarous! Definately one to get on DVD

[JeffG]

. However, if the film has as many Disney slams as everyone keeps saying, I might just pass. Humour is one thing, but a film filled with cheap shots doesn't sound all that funny or original to me.

We saw the film this evening and you definitely should go see it if the trailers made it look like one you would enjoy. There was nothing at all in the film that I would consider to be a slam or a cheap shot.

The film is primarily a parody of fairy tales and most of the Disney jokes that some have been talking about really are just parodies of stories that Disney happens to have previously filmed. The only thing that really seemed to be >specifically< aimed at Disney was one short theme park parody sequence, but it wasn't at all mean spirited. In fact, it was the part of the film where I was laughing the hardest.

I know that there have been some press reports suggesting that either Shrek or the villain might have somehow been based on Michael Eisner as well as other stuff suggesting that the film is full of slams against Disney. I really think that it is a case of the press trying to somehow project the real conflicts between Disney and Dreamworks onto the film and construct something that really isn't there in the film itself.

In reality, this is really a very funny parody that is very good natured and even has a surprising amount of heart to it. I really enjoyed it very much and recommend it highly.

-Jeff

[AVP]

Originally posted by JeffG


We saw the film this evening and you definitely should go see it if the trailers made it look like one you would enjoy. There was nothing at all in the film that I would consider to be a slam or a cheap shot.

I know that there have been some press reports suggesting that either Shrek or the villain might have somehow been based on Michael Eisner as well as other stuff suggesting that the film is full of slams against Disney. I really think that it is a case of the press trying to somehow project the real conflicts between Disney and Dreamworks onto the film and construct something that really isn't there in the film itself.

-Jeff

A group of us went to see Shrek at the AMC Theaters in Downtown Disney Saturday night, and we absolutely loved the movie. When we got to the "amusement park" sequence, the audience was laughing so loudly that you would barely hear the film. Andrew leaned over and said "This is like watching Episode 1 in Berkley"

I think Jeff is right, and the rumored Disney / Dreamworks conflict theme is largely hype. You would have to really know the details of the whole Eisner / Katzenberg mess to be able to recognize the reported jabs in the movie. Any such references would soar right past most movie-goers. They're too busy laughing.

We all thought Shrek was hysterical, and I know my husband and I are definitely going back. We're hoping for a quick DVD release.

Adrienne VP

[Doc Krock]

Originally posted by AVP

We're hoping for a quick DVD release.

Since the movie was only released to theaters last week, nothing "official" about the DVD release has been released yet, but... (Rumor Alert)

Dreamworks was showing the trailer for Shrek at VSDA back in January, and they were talking about a possible Christmas 2001 DVD release. This pretty much fits into the typical 6 month separation between a current theatrical release and its home video debut, and it would be right in time for the holiday buying season.

The hype at the show was that the Shrek DVD release was going to be a special edition that would be "awesome." They didn't have any hard details, but they were talking about plans for a commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, etc. It actually sounded pretty typical to me, when compared to some of Disney's Collector's Editions, like the Toy Story box set, but Dreamworks may put a different twist on the content.

Regardless, I'd would expect it to compete strongly with Disney's CE releases, and given the cool set of goodies on Dreamworks' fairly old The Prince of Egypt DVD, I'd anticipate a great disc or 2-disc set. I'm sure I'll have some more information in a few months.

[Andrew]

Originally posted by AVP
When we got to the "amusement park" sequence, the audience was laughing so loudly that you would barely hear the film. Andrew leaned over and said "This is like watching Episode 1 in Berkley"

It was apparently loud enough that you didn't hear me, in fact.

What I said was, "This is like watching Star Trek IV in Berkley," a reference to the Bay Area setting of that film and how funny it was to see DreamWorks parodying Disneyland right there at Disneyland.

I loved Shrek. It was much better than Cats. I want to see it again and again.

-- Andrew

[crusher_appa]

This movie has to be one of the best movies i've seen in a long time. As I said before I highly recommend seeing it.

[Napsto]

thanks for the tip!

[TecTalker2K]

God bless us everyone.

[EandCDad]

Saw Shrek yesterday with my daughter (6). The jokes aimed directly at Disney are not a big part of the movie (but still pretty funny). The movie is hilarious but also quite poignant especially the relationships of Shrek to both the Donkey and the princess (if you haven't seem the film, that is not as perverted as it sounds).

I agree with Jeff G's analysis, that just because the film has Snow White, Cinderella, and other fairy tale characters doesn't make it a Disney parody. After Shrek leaves on his quest (basically the last two/thirds) of the film, the Disney stuff is forgotten and its basically a Hope/Crosby picture.

All in all, great film.

[Rick]

Anyone else notice how Fiona's moves are straight out of the Matrix?

[EandCDad]

I think that Matrix stuff is required for almost every comedy/actioner out these days (Scary Movie, Charlies Angles, etc.). Usually as a quick sight gag it works well.

[SimFan1985]

I saw Shrek a few weeks ago, and it is hilarious! I had heard about some Disney references, and I definitely saw some. The parking lot to Lord Farquaar's castle is remeniscent of Disneyland's old parking lot, and the entrance to the castle looks exactly like Main Street @ Disneyland, if you know what you're looking for. And maybe I was looking a bit too hard, but the dragon's castle looks just a bit like Sleeping Beauty's Castle. And the Matrix rip-off was great.