Shrek 4: The Review

Shrek Forever After [2010]

Shrek Forever After Movie Poster

So, I don't just like to watch action films or adult-rated films. In fact, every now and then I like to branch out and see a kid's movie. And I rate kid's movies differently than I do movies for teens or movies made for adults. Why? Because not all children films are really made for adults. This is definitely not one of them.

Synopsis:

This is a movie about the character's you've come to know and love from the first three Shrek films. It starts out with a birthday party for the three ogre children Shrek and Fiona had and slowly Shrek becomes more and more angry at the life he's living. Finally, he just wants to break away and is granted the opportunity when handed a magical contract by Rumpelstiltskin. Well, as anyone could have guessed, the contract has two sides to the deal and so the rest of the movie is about getting the contract null and void (to put it in the simplest of terms).

The Verdict: 3 / 5 Stars

Unlike the first film which had a really nice, new flavor to it (something different that was about the same old, so it goes), this movie didn't have that sort of charm. And since the second movie (Shrek 2) is in my opinion the best one yet, there was a lot on the table. Unfortunately, the plot line was so predictably the same and the fantasy land that it's based in just wasn't played up the way it should have been. So I felt like there was a lot left to be desired. For instance, in Shrek 2 they really play up the fact that Far Far Away is a hip, cool town. They play up the characters, they really work on the theme of the fairy tale, and because of that it has the same charm the first one had but with just more of it. This one did not exactly have that. In fact, it was like they made up their own charm instead of working with what fairy tales told.

Beyond that, the plot was as basic as it could get. You knew when everything was going to happen, you knew there wasn't going to be any plot twists, and you knew who the bad guy was and what he was going to do. In fact, the plot was so easily laid out for anyone over the age of 6 that it really hurt the story. So I would have loved in they would have reworked it to add in some sort of twist that would leave me thinking about it in the end. Too bad.

And if that's not bad enough, I felt like all the characters weren't played up very much in this one. It was a new movie all about Mike Myers instead of about the entire cast. I think that's what really made the charm of the second one was the large ensemble of people in it that all played an astounding part. But this movie, with the exception of the cook (that I liked) there wasn't much of a cast to be had. Donkey was Donkey, Puss in Boots was fat, and Fiona played up her usual sort of character. So it would have been nice to have seen more of the side characters come in, maybe develop them some more. I think that's what was missing and why I subtracted another star.

My personal feelings? 3/5 stars, as in it's worth it for the kids to see.

To Answer my Friends Question

My friend asked me a simple question when I secretly sent her the last chapter, which was of course, "Are you being sexy and writing more again?" (Words may have been added or removed to dramatize that last sentence) My simple answer to those that read this blog is yes. Yes I have continued writing my story again and yes I am finding it very much enjoyable. Maybe its just something about the month of July that gets me all writing happy, maybe I'm just kind of in the mood for something kind of horror-struck (Actual horror content of this novel to be decided/determined/decimated). I think its a combination.

I've moved onto chapter ten, which has the most original title ever, though I'm not ready to post it yet so tough luck to all those kids caring (That's like what, three and a half of a stump. Man I have an awesome fan base). Unlike previous chapters, chapter ten is a little bit of everything. Things move forward, plot moves forwards, things are introduced, plot moves forward, things get closer to chapter eleven, plot gets faster, things get faster, people get faster, faster gets faster, and so forth. I know that's not telling much, but I literally just got off of a chapter that was like full-pace run (wait, that sounds wrong) and had to actually slow it down to capture the moment. I know, that goes against everything I said I was going to do, but now we pick it up again since the next chapters are more about the ending. That's right, the past chapters were really all a nice set-up and now comes the action-packed, thrilling ending where suddenly thoughts I had come to closure and thoughts I want to leave open... well obviously stay fairly wide open.

And that's where Book 2 comes in... which will of course be titled (that's the actual title... screw the public I want something weird and eye catching). In continuing this blog to continue with my writing, I will now change scope to be different. First of all, the count at the bottom of the blog will be of what I've written since the last blog followed by the current total. Why am I changing this? Because I don't really want to go through the math of figuring out how awesome I've been doing each month and I'm still very much busy and unable to spend time on such things. Instead I'd rather rant (that's what blogs are for). So I'll try to post updates on a regular basis (which for me is what... once every three months maybe except for when I first started) and I'll try to keep the word-counts up to at least 1,000 words, which is about a page and a half of microsoft word single space writing. To my friend, this is good considered its about 10,000 words to a chapter (roughly) and 40,000 words until the end of the book (un-roughly).

So lets get that pace-maker back on and roll through some pages!

Tonight's Count: 1,536
Total Words: 100,511

Post 61 or Chapter 9 Finished

I think its interesting, for the past chapters of the book I've been writing at least 10,000 words. Now I'm actually pulling that back because what I'm really heading for is for something that will resemble what I meant for it to be from the get go. With chapter 8 I really was able to change the pace and the direction, but with that same change in pace/direction I also need to move onto the faster style.

Things happen, they happen much faster, and they probably will continue to happen at that speed for most of the rest of the story. The characters are down, the plot is set up, and its time for things to just unfold naturally. As such, I feel a shorter chapter to get the characters from point A to point B is what's needed.

Now with that said, I don't think that chapter 9 is in anyway less important than previous chapters. It just had a small point to make and a few things to collect, then its time to move on. That's how these things work sometimes. And I honestly thought about continuing it into the next area, but I felt it might be better as its own little thing. In my re-read of the story, I might do the same with previous chapters to make them go faster.


Anyway, onwards to chapter 10...

Words since last word thing: 1512
Total Words: 98,975

Day Two of the No Video Games Program

And so I failed to make 5,000 words in my wake of what was yesterday (I don't honestly count it to be the next day until I sleep, the only exception of which being that I need the number of words completed before everyone else considers it to be the next day at midnight) and I haven't played video games yet. This of course makes me sad, because I love video games.

SO I started the program again today, 5,000 words to start playing video games. I figured that it helped me get 4,700 or something words yesterday so it wasn't a complete failure and already today I've made headway towards the final goal. Also, I might have to work a little faster if my friend calls me and wants to play and five... Anyway, it seems to be working really well so I think I'll keep this program in action. Next month I might keep it but I will lower the amount required each day so that I don't finish in the first eight days and then wait to play all month long. I'm not saying 5,000 words isn't a bit too much, just that I've gone into crisis mode and need to fix the problem that video games has caused this month

On a different note, the evolution of chapter 8 goes well. I've had a lot of interesting things to write about and kept the pace fairly forward for someone who is basically alone in the world I am describing. That's about as much as I can say, really. Actually I'm really looking forward to what happens after this chapter, there are some funny thing I want to say and some interesting points to make before the next stop on the list.

Well, gonna take a small break and then hop back on it.

Words for the Month: 9,206 / 40,000
Total Words: 89,265

Final Day of the Month

Today is the final day I can write for my book, and in less than twenty four hours I will have finished the first month with my book. I'm not done yet with this month though, I still have a few thousand words to write before I can call it achieved. I thought it just needed to be said that I am almost there and I've almost achieved something for the first time.

A little bit more than 3,000 words to go and I have a lot of stuff I want to write about. This should be easy.

I'll post again when I finish...

Words for the Month: 36,829 / 40,000
Total Words: 36,829

The Great Disappearance

Oh my god, I just completely let this blog slip for a few days. If anyone wants to know why, I would start by blaming Laurel. Anyway, whenever I last left this blog I had this big plan to just write a whole bunch and get all caught up and make everyone happy. That never happened. Instead, I went off and apartment shopped with my friend (of which we found absolutely no apartments that were under $5 per month so I could afford it. Screw you world...) and then while I was up in Boulder I decided to go see a few of my friends (like Laurel). We saw a movie and ate dinner and hung out and it definitely was [underline]NOT[/underline] a date. Seriously, we had another friend with us the whole time who just made the whole situation weirder. And yes, I know that the underline did not work there, but I felt it was important to make that note very much apparent.

Then I went and stayed at a different town in a different house all by my awesome self. It was wonderfully quiet and I probably could have written thousands of words there. Except there were a few problems. For one, I had a very large television in front of me and it was very distracting with all the 1080p high definition glory. Oh yes, I very much played video games on it and was very happy because of all the things I could see. Also, there was internet, so I played my very new video game which is for my computer.

All and all, I was distracted for the last two days or so and was completely unable to write anything. I was so distracted that for a while there my pleasure gland inside my brain said "no, don't do work, that's lame! Instead, play video games and watch awesome television and make cupcakes" (no cupcakes were ever made). It was wonderful and relaxing. It also put me VERY VERY far behind schedule. So new plan, get the F%@$caught up to date and complete this on time before I have to make weird rules and exceptions that no one will like except me. And for once I don't want to do that! SO I'm not done writing tonight (especially since its like four AM almost and tomorrow is free bagel friday. Oh I love you bagels) and I am going to try and kick out AT LEAST another 2,000 words. And by the way, that's after you see the massive amount of words I magically was able to perform tonight. Something happened, I don't know what, and it triggered a lot of writing. For instance, this ridiculously long update where I tell you absolutely nothing of interest. Hmm... maybe I'll do that now.

More plot developments, more hints and hints of hints, more stuff happens, and *gasp* someone does die... sorta... Also, I magically finished chapter 3 (unedited) and am now moving onto chapter 4 (holy cr@p my hands are failing me as I try to type all of this). Wish me good luck, though I already have some awesome and amazing stuff planned. Seriously, was going to bed last night (which was two nights ago now) when I suddenly came up with a BRILLIANT idea for what to do. Wrote it down that's how good the idea was, fans will be amazed for generations.

Also, look at how awesome the number of words I stopped at is...

Words for the Month: 34,443 / 40,000
Total Words: 34,443
Total Pages: 47

Ah Yes, the Fun of the English Language

Just to be clear on my retarded sleep schedule, I woke up at three in the afternoon today. I have slept every night on time, yet for some reason my special internal clock said that last night I should not go to sleep until after five thirty in the morning. So I didn't. Then I do get some rest and BAM, out forever.

I woke up tired (because sleeping for long periods of time, like lets say ten hours, tends to do that) and wanted to just take a nap. Instead I forced myself to get up and wonder where the hell everyone in my house was. I managed to eat something, then went back to my room and worked on email or something. About four or four thirty I found my brother and called my parents. Made dinner. Fun. Then time passed with me playing my new arcade game. (I recommend it, it's called Limbo and only available on the Xbox. Though it was short, which disappointed me.)

Well, got into the spirit of writing a little bit later (after everyone was asleep and I could focus better) and decided to write because my friend had just gotten online. She was reading the second chapter, unedited and barely finished, and I was started the next chapter. She gave me some advice, to which I gladly too most of it and made some quick changes, and then we talked about the book for a bit. That's what friends are for.

So where am I going with this ridiculous story. Well look at the time now, four in the morning and I am not tired at all. Curse you insomnia for giving me the ability to live in a 28 hour day instead of our 24.

Okay, back to what this completely strange, I-don't-know where it's going sort of blog is going. I'm going along, writing my book, when I suddenly realized that the English Language sucks. Who the hell made words that sound like other words but are spelled differently. Seriously, that stuff pisses me off and we as people should have made them different long ago. Nothing is equal, not even people, so why are words so damn hard to spell. And now I lost sight of what this blog is about.

Lets just talk about the story since I'm going off onto to many random tangents. The plot thickens, people do stuff, things happen, characters are awesome, more characters are weird, even more are evil, and then less actually turn out to be evil. There you go, update for today completed. Now I'm gonna just go back to writing because that world makes sense to me right now, even if my writing doesn't.

Words for the Month: 23,176 / 40,000
Total Words: 23,176

Characters

Whenever I make a character that I find interesting, just the way they talk or how they act, I get really excited. I become even more so when I am the one that came up with that person. They usually feel a little bit more real, their reactions a little more unpredictable, and it makes for a fun read. Well, just finished making a character like that.

I think what I like about making characters that I tend to find interesting, not exactly the lovable type always though, is that my friends who do read these stories end up liking them as well. Its just a mysterious flavor I guess, but I seem to be good at making people that seem real, yet different from one another.

I'm trying not to give anything away with this, and from what I'm saying I've probably created more confusion than anything. Perfectly. I'd rather have an audience confused about what the hell I'm talking about then an audience who can see and understand where I might be going with this. It gives me a little bit more room to work, I personally think.

As far as writing goes, I've been feeling great these last couple of days and sort of experimenting my way through the words. There is a lot of description in trying to describe stuff (no really?) and so the details come as if out of nowhere. I guess the harshest part about describing a place I'm not sure the character will revisit is putting all this effort into making it feel real only to have in vanish into the fog of the past. On the other hand, making it feel real takes words, gets the reader more interested in the strange things I personally pick to describe, and makes it easier for a movie to be made based on the original idea I had in my head. Of course, I honestly don't plan on movies being made from my stuff (because in all cases I tend to stop writing after a week. Its a surprise I've made it more than 10 days now. I have a post a day and this is my eleventh post I think?)

Also, at the rate I am going I will be able to accomplish my monthly goal and maybe then some. I've been writing more words a day then I need to (and I keep planning on doing this, its a safety cushion). 

Words for the Month: 15,515 / 40,000
Total Words: 15,515