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Reviews
Hot Fudge Show (1974)
Recently celebrated on Detroit Public TV
This educational show focused on emotions, interactions, and relationships. It was produced at Detroit's ABC affiliate and syndicated in 90 markets nationwide. This past week, Detroit Public TV had a 1-1/2 hour clip show as part of their pledge drive. Wow, the memories that resurfaced! While I remembered the show, there were segments that I'd forgotten about but remembered instantly a soon as they'd begin ("Hot Fudge HOLY MOLEY!", Detective Tomato and the pies in his face).
For more on the Public Television special, do a search for "Hot Fudge Comin' Atcha Concert"
Shrek (2001)
Disappointed After Raves
First of all, I find DreamWorks' animation to be ugly. The characters' motions are utterly amazing, but the rendering of faces is awful. I didn't see Antz because the ads made my eyes hurt. Pixar has the sense to stick to characters that fit the available technology.
Second, after all the raves I expected a well-written, clever film. What a let down! Can anyone tell me what the point was of having all the fairly tale characters? They played absolutely no role. And what was Farquar's motive for banishing them to the swamp? Not even the shallowest of reasons is given. Not even, "He's evil and doesn't like fairly tales." In more able hands, a brilliant parody of fairy tales could have been crafted. Instead we get a fairy tale with farts and a slight twist at the end. Brilliant.
There are a few good gags that hint at what Shrek could have been -- a few Disney references ("He can fly!", the Beauty & the Beast ending, the "It's a Small World" information booth), the bluebird scene. It could have been a smart skewering of Disney movies, and it had a world of possibilities with the fairy tale characters. Sadly, it passed on all this potential and went instead for butts, burps, and just a bit of language -- you know, for kids. Some uninspired fairly tale jokes to make adults think it's being clever, and there you go, success.
Oh, and deduct 4 stars for using the painfully tired "Matrix" joke.