Shrek the Musical

"We have scoured the land tirelessly and have finally found the one treasure you most seek."
[Gasp] "A pretty pony."
"No, it's the magic mirror."

At the age of 7, young ogre Shrek is sent out on his own.  Years later he (d'Arcy James) lives in a swamp and is content with life on his own.  His peace and quiet is interrupted by the presence of fairy tales who were evicted from their homes in the kingdom of Duloc.  Shrek agrees to go to Duloc and convince Lord Farquaad (Sieber) to remove them from his swamp.  Along the way he encounters talkative Donkey (Breaker) who offers to be Shrek's guide.

Meanwhile in Duloc, Lord Farquaad is trying to create the perfect kingdom... he just needs to marry a princess so that he can be a real king.  He chooses Princess Fiona (Foster) as his bride, but he needs to send a champion to rescue her from a dragon.  He makes a bargain with Shrek: bring Princess Fiona back to Duloc and the swamp is all his.  Fiona has lived in the tower for years and has imagined her perfect fairy tale life, and Shrek is not what she was expecting.  Can everyone live happily ever after?


In 2002 David Lindsay-Abaire and Jason Moore started developing a musical version of William Steig's 1990 book Shrek! and Dreamwork's 2001 film Shrek.  In 2004 Jeanne Tesori came on board to write the music, with Lindsay-Abaire writing the book and lyrics and Moore set to direct.  In 2008 the show premiered in Seattle, and a few months and several revisions later, it opened on Broadway.  The show ran on Broadway from December 2008 to January 2010 (over 400 performances).  The show was nominated for 8 Tony Awards, but only won for Best Costume Design.  Brian d'Arcy James won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.  This is a filmed version of the stage show with most of the original cast.

I was a little skeptical about this show; could they really make this work?  I was expecting a disaster, but the cast list convinced me to give it a try.  Sutton Foster is one of my favorite Broadway actresses; she is incredible and I love all of her performances (both on stage and on TV).  And Christopher Sieber is always hilarious.  I found videos from the Seattle preview on YouTube and decided to give it a try.  I fell in love with the songs and the clips from it's move to Broadway.  I even pre-ordered the soundtrack, which I still love.

The cast is incredible.  Brian d'Arcy James is perfect as Shrek, bring a depth and pain to the character, while still cracking wise.  His performance in "Who I'd Be" is beautiful and the perfect way to close the first act of the show.  Foster is hilarious, especially in her solos on "I Know It's Today" and "Morning Person".  Daniel Breaker is goes over the top as Donkey, and sings my favorite song "Don't Let Me Go".  The fairy tale characters are funny as a group and deliver the catchy "Freak Flag" in act 2.  But the stand-out is Sieber as Farquaad.  He is over 6 feet tall and plays the character on his knees with little fake legs.  He is hilarious and has the best moments in the show, along with 2 very funny songs.

I love this show, it will never be a classic, but it is charming and fun.  In 2009 the show was recorded, but was not released until 2013 when the national tours had ended.  It was a smart move to film this (financially savvy).  It isn't appropriate for little kids, but older kids will enjoy it (one song ends with a farting/belching battle).

Shrek the Musical (2013) 131 minutes
Director: Jason Moore
Starring: Brian d'Arcy James as Shrek
Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona
Daniel Breaker as Donkey
Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad
John Tartaglia as Pinocchio / Magic Mirror
Marissa O'Donnell as Teen Fiona
Leah Greenhaus as Young Fiona
Haven Burton as Gingy / Sugarplum Fairy
Bobby Daye as Sticks / Bishop
Ryan Duncan as Bricks
Sarah Jane Everman as Ugly Duckling
Aymee Garcia as Mama Bear
Maya Goldman as Young Shrek / Dwarf
Colleen Hawkes as Fairy Godmother
Lisa Ho as Baby Bear
Chris Hoch as Big Bad Wolf
Denny Paschall as Peter Pan
Noah Rivera as White Rabbit
Jennifer Simard as Wicked Witch
Rachel Stern as Mama Ogre / Tweedle Dum
Dennis Stowe as Papa Bear / Thelonius
Jacob Ming Trent as Papa Ogre / Straw
David F.M. Vaughn as Mad Hatter / Pied Piper
Kristen Wyatt as Shoemaker's Elf

Cake (2014)

"Tell me a story where everything works out in the end for the evil witch."

Claire Bennett (Aniston) suffers from chronic pain.  A tragic accident left her with visible and emotional scars.  She is miserable and has alienated everyone from her life.  A member of her chronic pain support group, Nina Collins (Kendrick), commits suicide and Claire becomes fascinated by Nina.

She meets and befriends Nina's husband Roy (Worthington) and begins hallucinating conversations with Nina.  Her maid Silvana (Barraza) is worried, but continues to take care of her.  Claire is kicked out the support group and physical therapy, and her narcotics prescriptions start to get low.  Claire is left with difficult decisions: does she have the courage to live or does she have the courage to die?


I was intrigued by the film.  It received considerable buzz around awards season in 2014, and reviews lauded Jennifer Aniston's performance.  Despite the buzz, Aniston only won a few awards for the film, and did not nab an Oscar nomination.  Aniston delivers a deep performance, fully transforming into Claire.  She does not wear makeup (other than the scars and in one brief scene) and her hair is natural (no special styling).  You feel her pain and can't help but wish the best for this bitter character, especially as her story is revealed.  I loved Aniston in Friends, and have enjoyed many of her comedic performances.  It is nice to see her do something different and really display her acting skills.

The writing and direction is strong.  Writer Patrick Tobin created a powerful story, and director Daniel Barnz made wise decisions with the direction of the film.  The casting is excellent, with each actor bringing a new depth to the story.  Adriana Barraza is another standout, with a strong and heartbreaking performance.

A well-made film that can be uncomfortable at times, but is worth the payoff.

Cake (2014) 102 minutes
Rating: R for language, substance abuse and brief sexuality
Director: Daniel Barnz
Starring: Jennifer Aniston as Claire Bennett
Adriana Barraza as Silvana
Anna Kendrick as Nina Collins
Sam Worthington as Roy Collins
Mamie Gummer as Bonnie
Felicity Huffman as Annette
William H. Macy as Leonard
Chris Messina as Jason Bennett

50 First Dates

"I barely know you."

"Sweetie, you're sorta dating him."

"Sorry I'm not better looking."

Henry Roth (Sandler) is a veterinarian at an aquarium in Hawaii.  He is a commitment-phobe and has short flings with women from the mainland.  His best friend is a weed-enthusiast surfer Ula (Schneider).  One day when he is sailing around the island, his boat breaks down.  He ends up at the Hukilau Cafe to wait for the Coast Guard and notices Lucy Whitmore (Barrymore).  He returns the next day and has breakfast with her.  They plan to meet for breakfast again the next day, but the next morning she doesn't know who he is.

Henry learns that Lucy was in a car accident a year ago that destroyed her short term memory.  Every morning she wakes up believing it is the day of the accident.  Her father Marlin (Clark) and brother Doug (Astin) go to great pains to recreate the day for her.  The news does not deter Henry, who decides to win over Lucy each day.  Can they ever have a real relationship when Lucy doesn't remember him?


This is the second film collaboration of Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.  In 1998 they starred in The Wedding Singer, directed by Frank Coraci.  They enjoyed working together enough to star in this film and Blended in 2014 (also directed by Coraci).  This is my favorite of their three collaborations, and the only one that I own).

Like most Sandler films, the cast is filled with quirky characters.  Sandler's Henry and Barrymore's Lucy each have their own quirks that add to their charm (Lucy defending Henry has me rolling with laughter every time).  The rest of cast is populated with Sandler's usual co-stars and some feisty animals.  The animals (a couple walruses, some dolphins, and a penguin) were from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly known as Marine World) in Vallejo, CA, which is where their scenes were filmed.  Rob Schneider is funny as Ula, and less obnoxious than usual.  Sean Astin is ridiculous, but funny, as Doug.  Sandler's friends and regular collaborators Allen Covert, Peter Dante, and Jonathan Loughran all have small roles at the hospital, but each gets a good laugh.

A funny, off-beat romantic comedy that is worth checking out.

50 First Dates (2004) 99 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for for crude sexual humor and drug references
Director: Peter Segal
Starring: Adam Sandler as Henry Roth
Drew Barrymore as Lucy Whitmore
Rob Schneider as Ula
Sean Astin as Doug Whitmore
Blake Clark as Marlin Whitmore
Lusia Strus as Alexa
Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Joseph Keats
Amy Hill as Sue
Pomaika'i Brown as Nick

Let's Kill Ward's Wife

Ward (Faison), Tom (Foley), David (Wilson), and Ronnie (Carpinello) have been friends for over 20 years.  They regularly golf together and celebrate milestones together.  David, an out of work actor, is separated from his wife Amanda (M. Dominczyk) and shares custody of their daughter.  Ronnie is a womanizing personal trainer.  Tom and Ward are business partners.  Tom is married to Gina (Acker) and they have a young son.  Ward is married to Stacy (D. Dominczyk), and they have a young son named Ramone.  Stacy takes delight in making Ward suffer and is hated by all of his friends.

When Ward is not allowed to join their Father's Day golf game, his friends fantasize about killing Stacy.  At Ramone's first birthday, their fantasies accidentally become reality and Stacy lays dead on the kitchen floor.  With Ward's nosy neighbor Bruce (Grunberg), the cop, watching everything, can they get away with it?


I found this movie through AmazonPrime and the trailer looked funny, so I gave it a try.  This film marked the writing and directorial debut for Scott Foley.  Foley kept the cast in the family, with his wife Marika Dominczyk, her sisters Dagmara Dominczyk and Veronika Domminczyk, and his brother-in-law Patrick Wilson.  Also James Carpinello and Amy Acker are married, and their daughter also appears (along with the Foley's son).  The familiarity within the cast helps sell the chemistry between the group.

The film wants to be a dark comedy... and sometimes it works.  It is an interesting premise, and Dagmara Dominczyk's Stacy is definitely a character you hate from the beginning, and the script doesn't mind going to some dark places... but it isn't as funny as it seems to think it is.  The script could definitely go farther and still work.  And the ending could be stronger, but overall the script and acting works.  It was an interesting film.

Let's Kill Ward's Wife (2014) 82 minutes
Director: Scott Foley
Starring: Amy Acker as Gina
James Carpinello as Ronnie
Dagmara Dominczyk as Stacy
Marika Dominczyk as Amanda
Donald Faison as Ward
Scott Foley as Tom
Greg Grunberg as Bruce
Nicolette Sheridan as Robin Peters
Patrick Wilson as David

Please Kill Mr. Know It All

"Yeah, Albert's gonna make sure that little weasel has sung his last song."

"Weasels don't sing."

"What?"

"A canary sings, not a weasel. You're mixing your metaphors."

Sally (Chorostecki) is a writer, working on her first novel.  To pay the bills, she writes the advice column in the local paper under the pseudonym of "Mr. Know It All".  A celebrity (Tom Wilson) endorsement skyrockets the popularity of the column.  To capitalize on the success of the column the paper wants to publish a picture of the author.  Unfortunately Sally's best friend Patti (Pesic) lied about the identity of Mr. Know It All and everyone believes a man writes the column.  Sally sketches a handsome man she observes at the movies, and soon the sketch is everywhere.

Albert (Brown), the man in the sketch, is a contract killer.  He is one hit away from paying off a debt to the Mob Boss (Sapienza).  His job becomes more difficult as he is recognized everywhere, so he resolves to find and kill Mr. Know It All.  Meanwhile, Sally and Patti are under pressure to produce Mr. Know It All for an interview and begin a casting call to find a suitable stand in.  When Albert comes in the sparks fly, can Sally and Albert find love while hiding their real professions?


I stumbled upon this film on AmazonPrime.  It looked promising (even though I couldn't find a trailer) and I gave it a chance. The film is written, co-directed, and produced by Sandra Feldman.  This film marks her second time as a writer, director, producer (2009's A Touch of Grey), she is better known as a stunt woman.  Her co-director, Colin Carter, normally works in visual effects, and previously directed a documentary (2009's Fight for the Planet).

It is a quirky comedy, predictable and formulaic but with enough laughs to keep you invested.  Only five of the characters have names, and they are the only ones that get fleshed out, the rest function as specific types / personalities.  Despite that, the funniest characters are the clueless henchmen portrayed by Billy MacLellan and Pedro Miguel Arce.  They only appear in a few scenes, but definitely make an impression.  They have ridiculous conversations that completely miss the point, but their dynamic and chemistry is hilarious (especially towards the end of the film).  The cast are not well-known to American audiences, but they all work well here.  Lara Jean Chorostecki plays her character well, keeping her from veering into annoying.  Her Sally has a great deal of useless knowledge that she shares throughout the film, but never plays that to the extreme.  She has good chemistry with Jefferson Brown.  Brown has the difficult job of making Albert a remorseless killer, while still make the audience fall in love with him, which he makes to pull off.  Kristina Pesic and Cliff Saunders are hilarious as their best friends.

It is a little indie film that definitely won't appeal to the broad audience, but it was an entertaining ride.

Please Kill Mr. Know It All (2012) 87 minutes
Director: Colin Carter & Sandra Feldman
Starring: Lara Jean Chorostecki as Sally
Jefferson Brown as Albert
Kristina Pesic as Patti
Cliff Saunders as Bud
Al Sapienza as Mob Boss
Billy MacLellan as Henchman #1
Pedro Miguel Arce as Henchman #2
Dylan Roberts as One Legged Man