John’s Movie Musings

Don’t you just love to discover great, little-known movies?  Usually a friend will say something like, “You have GOT to see this!!”   That usually comes with an odd twitch in the eye that adds an unspoken subtext of, “or you’ll never see your puppy again.”  I embrace my friends’ recommendations, but I often wonder if they followed up their viewing with a ransom note.

Actually, we all love to give our friends movie suggestions.  Hell, it’s part of why this site exists.  We give our loved ones a bit of happiness when we share good movies.  So think of these reviews as “Free Hugs” signs.

By now you know Moon is one of these movies I’m talking about.  I was late to the party on this one and had several friends recommend it.  But as each person told me I needed to see it, they reminded me of what makes these little gems so special.  No one can say a damn thing about anything.  Remember when a friend said you needed to see Memento?  It probably went something like, “You need to see Memento.  It’s about a guy with memory issues and that’s all I’m gonna say.  I probably ruined it just by saying that much.”  For Moon, all I got was that there was this dude who was on the moon.

And that’s all you’re gonna get.  It’s on Netflix’s Instant Watch, so go take advantage of that.  Quickly.  Unless, you’re not attached to your puppy.

Grade: A

I caught Shrek 4 a couple of weeks ago on a whim.  I had a bit of time in Portland and there was this theater nearby called “The Living Room Theater.”  With a name like that, I had to check it out.  Every seat in the joint were those comfy leather ones you buy for your home theater.  And if that wasn’t enough, they served lunch and beer.  Granted, an Oregon stout (or two) may not have been appropriate at a noon show, but I was the only one in the place and well, it’s Shrek.  I figured a little libation would help the humor.

What’s your opinion of Shrek these days?  The original was pretty funny.  Shrek 2 introduced some funny characters, but Shrek the Third was forgettable.  They should have stopped there, but what else are Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy gonna do?  Dudes gotta eat.

Here’s the problem with Shrek 4.  How do you make it funny?  Stupid question, for sure, but Shreks 1 and 2 relied mostly on pop culture jokes.  Funny, but not by the time they hit DVD.  They tried to get original in the third outing and failed.  So for this one, they rip off It’s a Wonderful Life (not a bad thing) and focus the humor on…wait for it…Donkey’s singing.  /facepalm.  It gets so overused, I was begging Norbit 2 got greenlit so that Eddit Murphy won’t be available for Shrek 5.

All this ranting aside, Shrek: The Final Chapter, or Shrek: Forever After (whatever it’s called) is better than Shrek the Third.  Let’s just hope it’s the last.

Grade: B-