Movie Info:
Writers: Gary Trousdale, Sean Bishop, Theresa Cullen, Bill Riling, William Steig
Director: Gary Trousdale
Cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Cody Cameron, Susan Fitzer, Christopher Knights, Gary Trousdale, Conrad Vernon
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount

Release Info:
Original Air Date: November 28, 2007
DVD Release Date: November 4, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $11.99

When I initially heard about Shrek the Halls, I had to groan. I figured this was just another movie to profit off a series that was dying with each and every film that was made in it. Don’t get me wrong, the original movie was brilliant. Two and three weren’t that bad either, but after three, it felt like it was about time for the story to be over. Apparently not, considering all of the original cast members came back to reprise their roles for this exciting, holiday special.

While Shrek the Halls is set sometime after the ending of Shrek the Third (the Shrek babies are still little), I actually think that this is actually better than Shrek the Third. I can’t imagine how the next two Shrek films are going to turn out. I had thought that this holiday movie would be boring and trite, merely because the third film was a declining version of the original two in the series. If four and five return to the humor level of one and two, they could be good. Shrek the Halls has given me hope of that, but, if for some reason they don’t, it will be just another wasted series of movies, made just to gain a profit.

The thing I like about Shrek the Halls is that it had humor, even some dirty humor (dirty diapers), but it wasn’t all stupid humor. The movie also had a lot of heart. Shrek reminded me of the lovable yet disgusting ogre he was in the first film. Shrek is a gross, nasty ogre with a bad temper who smells bad and likes anything completely disgusting. Shrek is incredibly likable despite these flaws. I didn’t feel that the third movie accurately captured Shrek in all his glory. Since this pretty much sums up Shrek in Shrek the Halls, I feel this movie should be more of an extension of the first two movies (though pertinent information from the third movie is helpful to understand how Shrek got all those ogre babies).

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Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.

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Movie Info:
Cast: Andrew McMahon, Norm MacDonald, Emma Roberts, Carly Baker, Patrick Fitzsymons, Morgan Jones, Susan Slott, Alan Stanford, Paul Tylack, Susan Zelouf
Rating: G
Studio: Weinstein Company

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: October 25, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $10.99

Going into a movie knowing that parents were complaining about it made me somewhat wary when I popped The Flight Before Christmas into my DVD player. I’m not one to listen to the crowd, but everywhere I looked on the web, I was warned. DO NOT LET YOUR YOUNG CHILD WATCH THIS. I’m always intrigued by what parents consider inappropriate for their kids. Apparently, most parents think The Flight Before Christmas is one movie young kids shouldn’t watch.

Well, after watching this, I can’t exactly agree. Seriously. The issue for most parents is that The Flight Before Christmas contains a theme in it that might make young kids cry. Apparently, a group of cartoon wolves want to eat Santa, take over Christmas and then eat little children when they visit their houses in Santa’s place. The latter part (you know, about eating children) doesn’t seem to be the troubling part. Parents think their young kids will cry because the wolves want to eat Santa.

You know what? I’d let my four year old nephew watch this. I don’t think he’d cry. In fact, since you can safely assume (this is a kids movie) that no Santa was eaten in this movie, it’s about as harmless as watching Wile E. Coyote try to capture and eat the Roadrunner. Look at all the hunters who try to catch/eat Bugs Bunny. He’s a pretty lovable yet kids realize that the bad guys probably aren’t going to catch Bugs. It’s just common sense. So, I don’t know why the prospect of cartoon wolves eating Santa is absolutely terrifying, since it’s pretty much the same concept.

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Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!