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weepingtudor
Reviews
Shrek Retold (2018)
Absurdly engrossing, brimming with twisted, artistic flare.
The rise in popularity of the Shrek franchise has reached new heights. Shrekfest, a yearly celebration of the films now takes place and appears to get bigger every time. Only last year's was different. A Crowdfunding campaign to help recreate the entire first film with over 200 film makers, (mostly comprised of animators) was afoot. Devised by festival creator Grand Duffrin, this was no mean feat. After all, Shrek is love...Shrek is life...
Fan made reworks of cinema are nothing new, Be Kind, Rewind with its "Sweded films" bringing the premise to a newer, larger audiences back in the late 2000s. More recent animated fan collabs include the reimagining of the The Dover Boys, a classic Looney Tunes short, with numbers animators. This feels like the appetiser before Shrek Retold, having a vitality in its variety.
As for recognisable artists there were a few I spotted. Christine W. Chandler (known better as the infamous Chris Chan) has an extended, hand drawn section leading up to Shrek tackling Farquad's men. Uncle Joe got a stint leading up to Shrek getting the arrow removed from his behind in the Joe's typically queasy, CGI mess of a fever dream. The familiar Australian artist Michael Cusack had a minuscule moment when Shrek and Donkey cross the bridge to retrieve Princess Fiona, barely enough to process on the screen. Anthony Fantano had a bash in one scene and Romanian animator Andrei Terbea carried out a tiny snippet of the concluding wedding scene.
Patience might be required for this Shrek, though you are rewarded with some wonderfully crafted animations, even if they are fleeting. Some live action segments don't always hit the mark and a vlogging section was trying to be cleverer than it really was. Tonal shift in styles, cause vast processing fatigue for the run time, a sort of optical whiplash for the viewer. It still remains faithful to the themes of the original story, tackling conventions and how to make your own destiny. It's perhaps one of the finest things on YouTube. Through with its viral success and potent meme credentials, just don't expect it to be at your nearest multiplex anytime soon.
The now famous music from the film also gets reimagined to great effect. Smash Mouth's 'All Star' becomes a sincere folk number opening the film, in the now mega memed moment when Shrek storms out of his porter potty. 'I'm a believer' gets an 80s twist in a funky cover in an end to the film that's hard to resist. David Liebe Hart's certainly gave a unique rendition of Leonard Cohen's eternal song "Hallelujah", with bizarre puppets and an all round easy vibe through out. If they get the green light for Shrek 2 Retold, I'd certainly be up for an ensemble rendition of I Need A Hero for Shrek 2.
This is one for the curious, lovers of Shrek, fans of animation or those who just like weird online material.
Eighth Grade (2018)
Essential viewing for every young person today.
Growing up is never easy. Ask anyone and they will tell you the woes of childhood, creeping into adulthood. It's different for everyone, though there are telling similarities between us all.
Comedian Bo Burnham knows a thing or two about viral success. Here in his directorial debut, he offers up a telling portrayal of those intensely awkward years. At times feeling like a slice of real life, his script is also filled with absurd dialogue from teenagers and the desperate, at times cringe worthy attempts for adults to connect with them (I scoffed when the Principal who dabbed). The performance of Elsie Fisher as Kayla Day is what makes this film so special, who utilises Burnham's words, with a highly relatable photo realistic vision. We feel for her in her uneasy moments, with one right of passage after another throughout the film. Her advice on her YouTube channel paradoxes her real life encounters, though she does try and practice what she preaches.
Fisher is so real in these moments, we empathise because we went through similar endeavours: the crush at school, the desire to make more friends etc. The optimism she expresses through her videos make her shine for the brief time she films them. Whilst her views on Youtube appear minimal, it appears to be the act of actually doing the videos that creates catharsis for her in order to deal with the everyday. We see a brief moment of her playing cymbals as part of the terribly out of tune brass band. Perhaps this demonstrates her skill in being the loudest part of the players, yet also the most accessible, a statement about her as a person.
Some questions we might never know within the film. Where is her mother? Why did Olivia, her older helper in school leave her with a male friend? Would she really go through with sending a nude picture to her crush? Though perhaps not knowing makes the film more allusive. It's refreshing to see a single dad (played by the fascinating Josh Hamilton) working through the trappings that come with a teenage daughter. The scene with an older boy making a pass Kayla, is a heightened moment of unease, an issue which does not find resolution, nor do we see Olivia again, someone who should have looked out for Kayla. The extra sting is here is just how well Kayla and Olivia hit it off as friends, leading to her being introduce to her gang of friends.
The choice of music is also inspired. Mostly comprising of Anna Meredith, we also get nostalgic trip from Enya, though the blasting club music is what piecers through the film adding absurd moments of soaring drama. On line stays with you though. She would end each video with "Gucci!" and does the Ok hand sign over her face, summing up the superficiality of being a YouTuber and also the branding in which they choose to create for themselves.
Atoll K (1950)
Just another fine mess and Laurel & Hardy's last.
We all know and love Laurel and Hardy. Their short films are icons of the period, brimming in slapstick, absurd humour. Though what happened when they made their last feature film together?
Whilst the 2018 film Stan and Ollie exposed the comedians friendship, pushed to breaking point, Atoll K is a bizarre film by anyones standards. This being their final feature, it was in constant trouble when being made and its shows in the final product. We see the duo inherit a boat and discover a new island. With a motley crew of a captain, a castaway and a singer, they soon form their own country. There are some pretty funny moments. The Hardy making a sandwich out of Laurel's hand is centrally one of the finest moments of comedy in this weird film, the smashing of plates right after is what makes this a moment special. The castaway stealing food during a meal scene aboard is another highlight.
Sat in the audience, I observed some scenes got little to no laughter. The random moment we discover their dog on the island is a lobster and Hardy's many bops to the head run out of steam pretty fast. Some other times we all appeared to near roar with laughter. The fuss made over its productions mars the film with terrible dubbing of the French and Italian actors who make up a sizeable part of the film. There are nods to island capers like Robinson Crusoe, though plenty is being said about politics as well. The taxes/duties this newly formed country is expected to pay makes a good point about what makes up a government and also a society.
Suzy Delair (still alive at the age of 101) makes a great vamp, Chérie Lamour, who shines in some moments. Though the dubbing is perhaps most cruel here during her songs, to pander to English speaking audiences. Its also too long (four different versions of the film are at various lengths) and would have fared better as a shorter feature. You can just feel the uncertainty of the film due to its awful creation. You know this to be true when the film also went by Utopia and Robinson Crusoeland, a marker indicating the uncertainties of the production which lied within.