Shrek

All audiences should find something to enjoy in Shrek, a computer-animated film which, a la the musical Into the Woods and Rocky and Bullwinkle's "Fractured Fairytales," turns the fairytale world of the Brothers Grimm and Disney upside down. The film, based on the storybook by William Steig, revolves around the character of Shrek, voiced by Mike Myers, a smelly ogre who enjoys solitude. The isolation of his home, however, is threatened by the power-hungry, midget Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow '67) who forcefully relocates all the fairy tale characters from his theme-park-like kingdom to Shrek's swamp. In order to live in peace, Shrek strikes a deal with Farquaad: if the ogre rescues Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from her enchanted castle, the evil ruler will remove the new members of Shrek's swamp community. Add an incessantly talking donkey sidekick (voiced by Eddie Murphy) to the mix, and you have yourself one twisted, yet potentially hilarious fairy tale. And don't forget the film's extras: those favorite fictional characters of yours and mine. The film's trailer promises cameos by everyone from the Gingerbread Man, to Pinocchio, to Snow White, to the obligatory, fire-breathing dragon. Also be on the look out for the film's parodying of Disney, video games, and hit films such as The Matrix.

May 25

Pearl Harbor

Possibly the most widely anticipated release this summer, producer Jerry Bruckheimer's Pearl Harbor is a $135 million epic story about a certain air raid that plunged our nation into WWII. Like Titanic, it features a love triangle (between the very attractive Kate Beckinsale and hunks Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett), shots of ships sliding perpendicularly into the sea, as well as awe-inspiring special effects; where the movie should really shine, is not only the imagery of flaming wreckage littering the Hawaiian landscape, but also the truly haunting sight of warplanes flying so close to the ground that baseball-playing kids and laundry-drying housewives must duck for cover. As the two leading men, Hartnett and Affleck (who character is ridiculously named Rafe) play childhood best friends who happen to be daredevil fighter pilots. They inevitably fall in love with the same woman (Beckinsale), although their romance must take a seat to a backdrop of terrifying destruction. An exploration of emotion, the film looks to be about loss of innocence, both of America and of the participants, and can serve as a cautionary tale commemorating the nation's greatest military debacle. Early reports indicate that the love story-contrived and imbecilic as most Hollywood romances are-hits a new low in cliché-ridden gloppiness. If this movie falls flat, well, Matt Damon always was the better half of that friendship.