Scared Shrekless

I "Scared Shrekless" 5* - First Halloween for kids Felicia, Fargo and Fergus, scare humans to get candy. Shrek declares ogres to be the kings of Halloween. Donkey disagree, proposes contest of scary stories, king last one left. Contest Dare
Shrek leads the guys to Lord Farquad's old haunted castle. Haunted Duloc

1 The Bride of Gingy 4* - On a dark and stormy night, Gingy asks Muffin Man to make a mate, and overloads the sugar quantity "tampering with forces far beyond your comprehension". Bwahaha. (Spoiler: Lightning enlivens girl cookies who wants to stay "together forever", killing Gingy. He said story true, so runs away.) Bride of Gingy

2 Boots Motel - Donkey takes Puss to Motel, and narrates danger to Puss. Mwahaha.
(Spoiler: Puss keeps revising story to nail Donkey. Pinocchio squirts water on Puss, who runs.) Trailer

3 The Shreksorcist 4* - babysits possessed Pinocchio, whose head spins, vomits.
(Spoiler: Jiminy Cricket was the voice in his head. Pinocchio runs.)
... waiting for Farquad's ghost
(Spoiler: Fiona and kids inside suit of armor scare Donkey, who runs, so ogres winners.)

II Thriller 4* - Shrek screams at singing nuns. So, leaving theatre, Donkey starts spontaneous musical outburst others join.
(Spoiler: Corpses rise from graveyard. Hamlyn Piper turns everyone into zombies, forces Shrek into line dancing with the rest to Michael Jackson-ish melody. Shrek wakes from nightmare, performance hasn't started.) Shrek Thriller

III Puss in Boots 5* "These Boots are Made for Walking" - Antonio Banderas in studio, feet move too, takes reality from animated pairs following cat lip-synching. Banderas Boots Walking

IV Previews - same as precede show
Puss in Boots - Antonio Banderas flies split-leg over sharp spire like S5 Dr Who
Kung Fu Panda 2 Po - and Five Dragon Warriors face his "old enemy - stairs"

V Worlds of Dreamworks Animation
1 Shrek - video I'm a Believer, dvd trailer The Whole Story: Shrek, Shrek2, Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After, Donkey's Xmas Special
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3SXbMhfHWM Shrek I'm a Believer Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMAeEM0lqu0 Shrek2 trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aZXVzUQGA4 Shrek 3 trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zr4XptiJh4 Forever After trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPTsPykYcok Shrek Xmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSNRDzzCs8 Donkey's Xmas
2 How to train your Dragon - video Fly High, dvd trailer How to train your dragon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcF2ZWtiNw Dragon Fly High Song
3 Kung Fu Panda - video Kung Fu Fighting, dvd trailer Secrets of the Furious Five, game Kung Fu Panda World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3aTU-IJ8c4 Panda KungFu Fighting Song
4 Madagascar - video I Like to Move It, Move It, dvd trailers 4 Penguins: Op DVD, Happy King Julien's Day, New to the Zoo, I was a Penguin Zombie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxcd4gNTAwo Op DVD trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34z5DGZMf_s Move It Song
http://www.putlocker.com/file/E1A1B06594D53626 Julien's Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlA71AwKC4Y New to the Zoo
http://www.putlocker.com/file/FDE1EE434D0FBFE0 Penguin Zombie
5 Megamind - video Megamind, dvd trailers Megamind, Button of Doom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsrQH7itJCg Megamind Rap Song (I like Bad to the Bone better)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOzJRkw56Zs Button of Doom Round1 (picture reversed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMN15filY5o Button of Doom Round2

viburnium
Aron Warner Wolf

Salt 5*

Preview. Salt is senior CIA agent (Angelina Jolie), trusted until a senior KGB mastermind says she is a deep-cover mole. She knocks down anyone in her way, all the way to the protected president. She is the best, but for whom? My eyes get wider until forced to blink back tears when she finally finds her kidnapped beloved husband. According to DVD extras, the original scene was too nasty. Slow or fast, death is pain for those left behind to mourn. Humor, twists, run, and fight, fight, fight. Hoo-rah. Although the plot allows for sequels, pace faster, closer, harder than R.E.D., so unlikely.

The Recruit 4*

Preview. Most of 4* is for watching Colin Farrell. Clayton apparently fails rigorous CIA training, partly because he falls for Layla. Al Pacino knows how to play a creepy older mentor who says he knew the boy's dad, a CIA hero, then asks Clay to seduce the girl (ick) and carry out a secret op.

I grew up on Get Smart, crawled under couches playing superhero with my brother, so I fall for this stuff. But who is the good guy here? Bang-up shoot-up ending. What a ride.

The Adjustment Bureau 2*

2* for original twist. Preview. Plot builds slow, boring till first fast chase. Clever honorable Dave Norris (Matt Damon) meets entrancing British accent Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt). Imprisoned by big bad guys in black, they run. NY lawyer congressman, frontrunner senatorial candidate headed toward presidency after speech is inspired by chance few minutes and kiss from likewise- promising modern dancer-choreographer. First date sex? The action propels us past doubts, disbelief, trust, six and thirty-six month skips, instant commitment.

Can they attain their ambitious goals together? Suspense pulls us along. Who are the supervising guardians, revealing increasingly greater powers, their Chairman? What do they want? What is their Plan?

Based on short story "Adjustment Team" by Philip K. Dick, expert in twisty scary scifi premises and endings, could be big question destiny v free will, becomes romance trumps resistance. I was more lost in their "normal" than when perceptions shift. American rah-rah genuine politickers (eg TV interviewer Jon Stewart). Boy banter with pal Charlie (Kelly). Giggly first date flirting.

Director Commentary:
Director idolizes NY - I don't. Public Library looks like a public library to me, not a supernatural HQ. Unlike The Tourist featuring Venic,e with side of Paris, this film became less the more I re-watched.

I missed subtleties when finger gesture spills coffee, lines move in book, hard tumble no effect, picture frame adjusted off. Sunbeams are glances from/ of Chairman - who knew? Connections I did not see. British accents coincide Emily Blunt heroine and Terence Stamp as Thompson, heavy villain. Actress had never danced, trained hours; body looked professional, yet still had double.

old DVDs list

Newest DVD list

Abduction - Taylor Lautner

Adjustment Bureau, the

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple v1 (Geraldine McEwan) 2006 s2 e1
Vicarage, Extras: Library, Announced, Paddington

Agatha Christie Marple "Blue Geranium" (Julia McKenzie) 2010 s5 disc3 ep3
Agatha Christie Marple "Sleeping Murder" (Geraldine McEwan) 2006 s2 e1
Agatha Christie Poirot, see Poirot below

Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence v1

Alien Armageddon

Alvin & the Chipmunks 2 Squeakquel

Animation Express
Battle: Los Angeles

Bend It Like Beckham 2002

Captain America

Cars 2 - spy Mater in Europe

Cars Life 2 - Sparky on Route 6

Catch me if you can

Children of Men

Columbiana

Clash of the Titans

Cowboy Legends TCM - John Wayne, Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry

Cowboys and Aliens

Dakota

District 9

Doctor Who TV s5 - #11 Matt Smith

EarthSea

Eragon

Farscape

Father Brown

Fifth Element

Firefly s1

Flintstones Viva Rock Vegas

Galaxy Quest

G.I. Joe 1: Rise of the Cobra 5* for video game too

Gift of the Night Fury

Gnomeo & Juliet

Green Hornet

Hamish Macbeth s1

Hanna

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows 1

Heavenly Creatures

How to train your dragon

Hugo

I am Number Four

Ice Age Xmas

Igor

Immortals

Inkheart

Iron Man 1 - Robert Downey Jr

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Jumper

Killer Elite - Jason Statham

Lightning Thief, the

MacGyver 2 TV films - Atlantis, Doomsday

Matilda

MegaMind

MI-5 aka Spooks s1

Mickey, Donald & Goofy: The Three Musketeers

Miss Marple v1, see Agatha Christie

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee Returns aka & the Big Bang

New Tricks s1

Oz: The Great and Powerful 2013
ParaNorman

Paul

Penguins of Madagascar: Operation DVD

Pirates of the Caribbean 4

Poirot s10: Mews, Waverley, Blackbirds (David Suchet)

Primeval TV v1 s1 s2

Primeval TV v2 s3

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

Puss in Boots - Antonio Banderas

Rabbit-proof Fence

Recruit, the

RED

Red Dawn 1984 original

Red Dwarf S1

Salt

Scared Shrekless

Sherlock 2010 - Cumberbatch

Sherlock Holmes 1 - Downey, Law

Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars

Sherlock Holmes, Memoirs of

Shrek Ever After

Sorcerer's Apprentice, the

Spooks aka MI-5 s1

Spy Next Door - Jackie Chan

Star Trek 2009 (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto et magnificos)

Sucker Punch

Tangled

That's What I Am

Thor

Time Bandits

Timeline
Tommy and Tuppence, Agatha Christie's v1

Tourist, the

Toy Story 2
True Grit 2010

True Story of 3 Little Pigs and Other Stories

True Story of Puss 'n Boots, the

Unknown

Vampire's Assistant, the

Watch

X-Men First Class

dvd Unknown

dvd 3* "Unknown" 2011 stars Liam Neeson as an American professor Martin Harris who leaves his cool blonde wife Elizabeth (January Jones) at the conference hotel, to fetch briefcase left at airport. But, rescued from a cab accident by driver Gina (Diane Kruger) puts him in the hospital, unconscious for three days. When he returns to the hotel, he finds his wife has a different husband (Aidan Quinn), who shows up later at another meeting, with exactly the same knowledge as our protagonist.
In dvd Taken 2008, the former CIA agent uses skills and contacts to rescue his teenage daughter, kidnapped by international prostitute traffickers from her first overseas trip. Terrifying. If I had seen this before my first trip to Europe, I might never have gone. Again, we root for him, now seemingly without those resources.
But he has flashbacks to his wife with dark hair, and I guessed the surprise, including predictable romance. Still a fast action thriller with quick deaths, long fights, and big explosions.

Stars: Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Aidan Quin

Sherlock Holmes 1 2009 5* - Downey, Law, McAdams

In honor of the 2011 Downey/Law sequel Game of Shadows, I'm catching up on Holmsian books and films. Fast, furious, fun, frenetic, and authentic, including the soundtrack. Doyle's scholastic, almost pompous, duo are here mischievous rambunctious boys. The method, buildings matched to symbolic animals, is unnecessarily tangled, best reduced to Holmes deductions from Lord Coward's clothing ruffles for the climax confrontation site and solving the ginger midget's conjuring tricks.

Open scene is hot double-barrelled chase and fight to capture Lord Blackwood mid-murder in a Gothic romance sacrifice ceremony. I've seen the whole before, but only recall fights, chases, and explosions, and enjoy enough for more - costumes, architecture, nuances. Clever film effects and sound show the detective's intense focus on detail, and the worst flame-bath effectively pierces and dulls our hearing too. Holmes reasons away devil magic and resurrection with science. Although the final fate of the villain in a storm does suggest divine retribution. I could do without the recurring Poe raven. After repeated watching, I guess it to be the called-for devil demanding his due.

The dim soft gray-brown palette evokes early photographs, suits smoky Victorian London, a character herself; the conversational style is reminiscent of the books. "Give me problems. Give me work." "food for thought" Dialogue and decoding scratches on a watch are straight from "The Sign of Four". Details, such as boxing, martial arts, inventions, untidy flat, VR initials gunshot into the wallpaper, attention to detail, conceit, and wit "fast women and slow horses" are true to Doyle. Various cases lend quotes, some in different context. The greatest adaptation differences are to do with the women. In Sign of Four, the men meet Mary together without conflict or jealousy. Irene Adler, bright in crimson satin and lush lips, is tempting competitive love interest.


Spoiler:

The doomed multiple murderer warns Holmes of a larger web, is hanged, and appears to rise from the grave, replaced with a body sought by the fascinating Irene Adler, employed unwillingly by the arch-villain Moriarty, a hint for the sequel.

R.E.D "Retired Extremely Dangerous" 5*

Preview. Retired Extremely Dangerous CIA assassins are targeted by CIA. Against Willis (Die Hard 1-5+), Freeman (film Wanted Fraternity leader), Malkovich, Mirren (part Russian), Brian Cox (says Helen's love interest 1974 TV) as retired KGB, not even villain Richard Dreyfuss has a chance.
Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren

A bit of quiet chat, then bang-up action scenes, blood, death, lots of tongue in cheek fun. That barely out of diapers Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) would fall for bald senior stretches credibility too far despite her romantic love of adventure and danger and his gooey inside being both clearly delineated. I get so tired of useless whiny females, at least the older trained one holds up (although she does need male rescue).

Commentary by an ex-insider says CIA wouldn't use draw guns or be overtly in charge on US FBI territory, but do have greater training in explosives, ambushes, and moving targets. DVD extras expose LSD abuse, and similar agency crimes patterned in the film. .

0* for #2 sequel = big yawn, forced ten minutes. Since local library volunteer service forbids shut-ins to borrow DVDs, had to stretch morals, find on internet. Sound track from theatre audience snickers are desperately weak. #2 is not funny, not silly, just boring, predictable. Willis's sweety Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) even more useless this time around, cannot handle loaded gun, despite warning stares straight at villain the Frog (David Thewlis - Remus Lupin in Harry Potter), jealous of supposedly Russian Miranda (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Could not push past 1/2 hour. Add to #1 same cast yields nought. Already knew casting can ruin anything, now know casting cannot save anything.