Little by little this holiday weekend we put up the tree and our other holiday decorations. The cats love the tree and can be found frequently batting ornaments from the branches when they aren't in alien kitty mode:
Of course we could only put up unbreakable ornaments. All my glass treasures are put away for the foreseeable future. We also decided to mix some of our holiday lights and figures with the kid's Lego Harry Potter castle, so it's Christmas at Hogwarts with Snape and Harry. The video really shows off the lights and castle:
And who could forget Shrek, who is still a big favorite of the kid's. Once again he is hanging out with Rudolph and his crew.
Cat people may be crazy, as Puss tells master thief Kitty Softpaws, but they can also propel a movie to the #1 box office in the country, to the tune of $34 million. Puss in Boots proved this past weekend that it is more than just a spin-off from the successful Shrek film series — it is well on its way to becoming a successful franchise on its own — with an ending definitely left open for a sequel (or two or three.)
If there are indeed more Puss movies to come, that would be fine for star Antonio Banderas, who is obviously having the time of his life portraying the feline swashbuckler. His delight came through loud and clear in his very expressive voicework.
Audiences first met the character of Puss in Shrek 2, when he was introduced as another comic foil to Shrek (Mike Myers), much to the dismay of Shrek's original sidekick Donkey (Eddie Murphy), who told Puss that the position of "annoying talking animal" was already taken. Puss won over Shrek and everyone he met, pretty much stealing the movie from the ogre and his friends.
No matter how bombastic his boasting may get, Puss is never too proud to pull out "the look"
when he's in a tough spot and needs to win someone over.
Banderas was the perfect choice to play the tricky Puss, and the role quickly morphed from a French cavalier to a more Zorro-like bandit. He was encouraged to not only bring his own personality to the part, but his humor as well, as he told blackfilm.com (about Shrek 2):
If there is a word that defines this type of movie, and not just the second one ... is wit. I think that's the type of humor that they are trying to create.
Puss in Boots is witty. And silly, but it's not so much a comedy as an action-adventure, super-hero origin story. We learn through flashbacks how the kitten Puss was raised in an orphanage, where he met and befriended Humpty "Alexander" Dumpty (a very funny Zach Galifianakis). Humpty and Puss are outsiders, and they bond over Humpty's dream of finding Jack's magic beans and climbing the beanstalk to steal the Giant's golden eggs. But boys grow up. Puss moves on from the dream but Humpty doesn't. The two have a falling out, and through a series of misunderstandings Puss is accused of a crime he didn't commit. He flees, becoming an outlaw. Years later Humpty enters his life again, with a new ally, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), and the same old dream, to steal the magic beans, which he has tracked to be in the possession of bandits Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thorton and Amy Sedaris). But can Humpty and Kitty persuade Puss to join him on their quest?
Jill: [as she dangles Puss over a canyon] Is it true a cat always lands on its feet?
Puss in Boots: No! That is just a rumor, spread by dogs!
Puss in Boots mixes the fairy tale world from Shrek with bits of Zorro and Sergio Leone westerns to create a fun back-drop for the fearless feline. You may never think of Mother Goose the same way again.
Directed by Chris Miller (Shrek the Third) Puss in Boots is a good-looking film (as surely Puss himself would agree). We saw it in IMAX and it was truly impressive. The 3D looked the best I've ever seen it, with objects really appearing as if they were in front of each other. The sheer size of the screen highlighted the detail with which every hair on Puss had been rendered, the little bumps and imperfections on the surface of Humpty's shell, even dust motes floating in the air.
Dreamworks's Glendale studio worked with Indian animation company Paprika Animation Studios (which also created Scared Shrekless), and the results are indeed impressive. But beautiful images aside, Puss in Boots wouldn't work without the power of personality, actor and character. Audiences have come to love Puss. He is strong and interesting enough on his own to carry the movie without any of his old Shrek chums. Hopefully there will be more films to come featuring the feline hero.
None other than Guillermo Del Toro is an executive producer on the upcoming Puss in Boots movie, "The reason I wanted to become so involved with "Puss" is because I came in and I was thinking, 'It's gonna be a spin-off of a Shrek ... with the ambition of narrating a great Sergio Leone Western combined with a heartbreak story of friendship against an ever-changing landscape that went with great agility from a Western, hardcore tone to a huge hijinks adventure to an incredibly delicate landscape of fairy tale lore. I was absolutely transfixed by this." — from Hitflix
This is a Shrek-friendly household. My daughter's first word was "Shrek," I think. There's something about the green ogre and all his pals that just delights her. Puss has always been a favorite of mine as well, and I love Antonio Banderas's self-mocking Zorro-spoofing character. This could actually be a load of fun.
I can't believe how much I liked Tangled. Our plans for the day took a different turn than originally planned, so I suggested taking the kid to see the latest output from Disney, loosely based on the Rapunzel fairy tale. I settled down to endure, I mean enjoy, another princess movie. Although Disney twisted the original fairy tale a tiny bit to make their new heroine join their princess sorority, that aspect of the tale is the least important. Tangled is not just a fairy tale, but a sassy animated action-adventure, with lots of comedy and a minimum of songs.
This will sound like blasphemy to many, but we had just seen Beauty and the Beast for the first time recently, and apart from the Jerry Orbach "Be Our Guest" number, I really didn't care for it. It's just a matter of taste, but I didn't like Belle's voice. I'm a huge fan of fairy tales, but have always felt that the message of Beauty and the Beast is pretty messed up—Belle supposedly comes to love the Beast no matter what he looks like, but oh what a relief when he is turned into a handsome prince at the very end, just in the nick of time before any bestiality might occur. Talk about the opposite of Shrek, who loves Fiona no matter how she looks. Beauty and the Beast is close to the original fairy tale of course, and the animation is superb, but Angela Lansbury aside, it just wasn't my cup of tea.
But back to Tangled. There are some great scenes and characters. Rapunzel trades barbs with a cute thief (not a prince!) in the best tradition of romantic comedy. Maximus the amazing horse almost steals the movie. And a musical number in a tavern is clearly inspired by Monty Python, which is always a good thing in my book. Tangled is definitely more in the tradition of the Shrek movies than Disney's recent Princess and the Frog. And we all love Shrek around here. The animation is first-rate. We saw it in 3-D and it wasn't too gimmicky. It did give a nice sense of the characters being three-dimensional at times, but it would work just as well in 2-D.
I was happily surprised that I wasn't the only one who felt she was seeing something special. As the movie ended the whole audience broke into applause. I can't remember the last time that happened at a movie I attended, certainly not a "cartoon." I'm actually looking forward to seeing it again, before the holiday season is over. The kid won't even have to twist my arm.
It's been a week of meals and it looks to continue. Oh well, November is never the month to start a diet. On Thanksgiving I brined my first turkey and glazed it with roasted garlic, honey and thyme. It was incredibly moist, but I think the natives were expecting more of that traditional roast turkey flavor, so the chef liked it best. My pumpkin honey pie and homemade cranberry sauce were crowd pleasers.
Today we went to Crazy Buffet for lunch, a local favorite of my daughter's. She loves buffet-style restaurants—being able to hop up and down every few minutes, as well as the independence of getting her own food. I get a kick out of watching what she picks. As this is an Asian-fusion buffet, she gets to sample all sorts of items, but she usually goes for sushi, chicken sticks and fresh fruit. And of course the plentiful dessert bar ...
Tomorrow our cousin is supposed to visit and we are planning a Sunday dinner of fried artichokes and spaghetti and meatballs and homemade garlic bread. And I might concoct a parfait with some of the leftover cranberry sauce.
You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious!
... Parfait's gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet!—Donkey, Shrek
The mantra for the rest of the weekend: pace yourself.
We watched the latest Shrek holiday special, Scared Shrekless, this week. I actually love that they are continuing to make shows with these characters—but short form, not movie-length. The latest Shrekfilm was OK, and was enjoyed by my Shrek-obsessed daughter, but the long-form script ideas were showing their strain. This special was episodic, so it could even be broken up into shorter cartoons, a la Looney Toons.
What might put some people off by Scared Shrekless was the subject manner. Shrek and his friends all try to out-scare or out-gross each other by telling spooky Halloween stories. Anyone hoping to plop a small child in front of the television and then walk away would have been in for a rude awakening.
Shrek has always been a little gross, a little creepy, and very curmudgeonly. Probably why I like him. The Shrek of the movies is not even as nasty as the Shrek from the classic book, but he has always stayed true to his eyeball-eating, swamp living, mud bath bubble-blowing self. The stories were all riffs on classic horror films. And shouldn't Halloween be a little scary?
Gingerbread Man Gingy told a Night of the Living Dead/Bride of Frankenstein-like story (this was the only one that scared my daughter, just a little) of gingerbread love gone wrong. Donkey and Puss-in-Boots relate a Psycho-inspired adventure. Shrek's show-stopper was The Exorcist redux, with Pinocchio as the creepy, head-rotating kid. It was all good fun, and I'm sure the clever puns were mostly enjoyed by adults, and I'm O.K. with that.
I don't know about my daughter, but I'm certainly looking forward to what horrible holiday Shrek might tackle next. Bloody Valentine's Day perhaps?
My first visit last week to a Florida DMV office was hellish, both in temperature and in customer service. The DMV is universally recognized as one of life's worst experiences—right up there with route canal—but this office could give the most sadistic dentist a run for his money. This completely disorganized place had folks lined up, trickling out of the building. Yes, outside, in Florida, in ninety degree plus heat. And that was at nine in the morning. Just imagine what it must be like as the line snakes longer, in the baked-in heat of a long afternoon. Not to mention that they are running first-time driver's tests in the same parking lot. Really smart.
No
I had to wait in line for almost an hour before I could even say what I was there for, or get a number to wait to be seen by someone. Almost an hour before being told I didn't have the correct paperwork. Some folks got to wait as long or longer to be told they were in the wrong office altogether. Apparently this office doesn't do car registrations, even though it's supposedly a DMV.
After coming from the land of forms to fill out, Washington, D.C., the paperwork required for a Florida license seemed a little heavy-handed, if you ask me. A potential Florida driver must show up with his/her social security card and/or current driver's license and/or U.S. passport, plus two proofs of residence, etc., etc. I guess the high amount of over-70 population coupled with the proximity to the edge of the country makes them a little more demanding or nervous. But as a civil servant I was more than a little surprised when they ignored or sneered at my federal government I.D. and D.C. driver's license—D.C. uses a person's Social Security number as the driver's license number. But that's not good enough for Florida. But I tried to keep my cool as best as I could after standing outside in that heat, in that line, and gritted my teeth, shrugged and decided to return the following week with enough forms of ID to choke the disinterested clerk.
It was impossible to tell from their maddening website what services were offered by other Florida DMV offices not far away from this location, but I tossed the dice this morning and decided to try a different office—and what a difference. I walked across a shaded outdoor courtyard into an air-conditioned government building and was kindly directed by the security guards to the correct office. The smiling lady at the front desk immediately assessed my needs and gave me a number and asked me to take a seat and wait to be called. I pulled out my iPhone to settle in for some time-killing web-surfing or solitaire, when a moment later I was called to window 4. The young woman who helped me was friendly and apologized for the wait as she processed my driver's license, registration, and temporary tags. After I posed for my photo she asked if I wanted to see it, and when I asked her if it looked OK she turned her computer screen to show me and said I had a very nice smile. I practically walked out of there whistling a happy tune with cartoon bluebirds tweeting around my ears.
Yes
I much prefer this Twilight Zone DMV and I hope I never, ever have to go back to the other stupid, mean and naughty one. Ever.
If this conversation seems silly to you (and it is) it is also a wonderful and welcome relief from "Owwww . . . my tummy hurts" and the thousand variations on that theme. Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate to be sick but that is nothing compared to how much I hate the sound of my daughter in pain and knowing there is nothing I can really do about it but ride it out with her.
Our tree is still in process, but I am very impressed with my daughter's holiday scene/rampage, featuring Shrek, Rudolph and just about anyone else willing to take part in the holiday mayhem (with our recently acquisition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art advent calendar, as a backdrop.)
Ho ho ho! Look out, Burl Ives's snowman is on the move!
I haven't see the Love Guru (nor do I plan to), but I've been scratching my head wondering - what the heck happened to Mike Myers? Did someone tell him he was the new Peter Sellers? He obviously had been watching The Party. But he's not even close. He needs to leave the Sellers catalog alone. They didn't exactly hire him for Casino Royale. And I will personally come after him if he goes anywhere near Dr. Strangelove, After the Fox or Being There.
I understand about being an Anglophile. Myers is definitely trying to play off his British roots. The first Austin Powers rocked, making fun of the swinging 60's Michael Caine-esque super spy with horrible teeth. But the movies got steadily worse as they progressed. And his other character, Dr. Evil, became more fun than Austin. Horrifyingly, he has recently announced that he plans a #4 to honor his late father. I'm afraid it will be, like so much of his potty humor, #2.
I saw Wayne's World the other day and it was still a lot of fun. I won't mention the sequel - it's not worthy. Myers should steer clear of sequels, unless they're animated. Shrek remains a fun character, even if it is a milder riff of his brilliant portrayal of transplanted Scotsman, Stuart Mackenzie, the best thing about the mostly lame So I Married an Axe Murderer. Anthony LaPaglia was fun as a wannabe Serpico in that mess of a movie, too. But being able to do a passable Brit accent doesn't automatically equal funny. Which is why Dr. Evil worked. He's funny (in the first movie) because he's evil - and loves it. Not too far from Myers's portrayal of Steve Rubell in 54. Indulge in the evil, Mike Myers. But quit spewing sequels. Unless it's Shrek, which also happens to feature Eddie Murphy's best work. Maybe ever.
was OK, and was enjoyed by my Shrek-obsessed daughter, but the long-form script ideas were showing their strain. This special was episodic, so it could even be broken up into shorter cartoons, a la Looney Toons.
, but he has always stayed true to his eyeball-eating, swamp living, mud bath bubble-blowing self. The stories were all riffs on classic horror films. And shouldn't Halloween be a little scary? 
] is cute"
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Still recovering from my tummy trouble, we had an easy day, with an interesting movie marathon: Back to the Future, Shrek, Stardust, and Enchanted.
...for a great parade, great friends and family, great food and fun, great hopes for our future - simply a great day.
I haven't see the Love Guru (nor do I plan to), but I've been scratching my head wondering - what the heck happened to Mike Myers? Did someone tell him he was the new Peter Sellers? He obviously had been watching The Party. But he's not even close. He needs to leave the Sellers catalog alone. They didn't exactly hire him for Casino Royale. And I will personally come after him if he goes anywhere near Dr. Strangelove, After the Fox or Being There.
