Sunday, March 27, 2005

apples and oranges

the last movie review post (black on feb 20)from me was also the last movie i saw. i broke the fast with a rather unsavory hindi flick that almost forced me to decide to go movieless for another month before shrek 2 with its tantalising graphics and pun-a-minute style saved me.

'fun' starts off with a song , one with lyrics firmly set in the badhan-ic pentameter,which dictates at least 2 pairs of rhyming lines ending in 'badhan'. the daring baring female dancer/heroine(?) in the song pretty much sets the tone for the movie. shrek 2 starts with a retelling of the fairy tale story where prince charming goes to rescue his princess from the dragon .instead he finds a wolf in women's clothing something the makers call a 'wolf with gender issues'. while the first continues in the same tone trying not to waste the ample hired skin, the second takes rhetoric and pun and makes them funnier. 'fun' deals with 3 women who decide to swap hubbies during a new year holiday in order to have some...er..how do u say it....fun. while shrek 2, which also deals with unstable marriage, is the normal, regular story of an ogre going to visit his human in-laws where the kind father-in-law hires a spanish speaking cat assassin to kill him.

the comparison sadly has to stop here, i can no longer shame shrek by doing this. shrek 2 is a pop-culture trivialist's dream come true. the detail in each scene is so intricate that if u paused to study it you'll rack up quite a fortune in late fees and thats only the visual component. someone has to invent a kind of slow motion for voice, using which you'll be given some time to repeat in your mind, understand the whole line and laugh out loud before the next joke hits you. i had to keep my loud guffaws in check lest i miss the next joke.it was like fast and furious except that vin diesel is a donkey and he rides a joke machine. that was a bad joke, i can assure u shrek doesnt have any.

shrek 2 rocks, fun sucks...if someone tries to lend you 'fun' , sever all ties, remove them from your messengers and block their mails. if a stranger offers you shrek 2, take them home, introduce them to your parents and place them in your pooja room or if u dont have one, for whatever politically correct reason,send them to the video shop for more such flicks.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

i remember my Shrek 2 viewing experience (in theater). There was a miniscule audience, who either had a very bad sense of humor or quite simply didnt get it. End result being I got quite tired of being the only one laughing at all the subtle jokes in the movie. My mirror neurons totally went to sleep!
`Hyps

Anonymous said...

Congrats Maanida for being shortlisted on Sulekha. Not really a surprise, but a pleasant news indeed. Congrats again.

On a related node, you have an extremely good chance in making it big in a movie review column for the "Desi Times" or some other newspaper. (Just in case you get tired of epic or want to make some money on the side)

Good luck,
-Unhygenix

catcharun said...

hypes: an alternate source of amazing humour can be found bottled up at your grocers...a drink or 2 shud be enough to cause ur mirror neurons to reflect each other multiplying the fun by a million
unhygenix : i cud be noble and say i wont write for money or that ur comment is payment enough or some cliched shit like that..i wont.
movie reviewers in desi times dont make it big..i cannot picture myself in a couch saying " shrek 2 vin pachhai bhoodam, intha vaaram naangam idatthil" ..but that would be quality indian programming eh?

Anonymous said...

nice try...I think I would end up losing more neurons :)...not enough to go by in the first place, my friend
`Hyps

Anonymous said...

nice try...I think I would end up losing more neurons :)...not enough to go by in the first place, my friend
`Hyps