WCBE 90.5 FM: "It's Movie Time" - "Shrek 2," "Troy," "The Battle of Algiers"

“It’s Movie Time” with John DeSando & Clay Lowe
WCBE 90.5 FM
“Shrek 2,” “Troy,” “The Battle of Algiers”
Aired: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, May 21, 2004
WCBE streams live at: www.wcbe.org

John
"Shrek 2" is the fairy tale of all fairy tales . . .

Clay
“Troy” is a glorious visualization of Homer’s immortal epic . . .

John
“The Battle of Algiers” could be "The Battle of Baghdad" . . .. . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:
It's Movie Time in Mid-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC UP AND OUT

DeSando
I'm John DeSando.

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe.

HIT CD: “SHREK 2,” (CUT 1: “ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE” ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER FOR

Clay ("Shrek 2")
John, in “Shrek 2,” the green ogre is back, as is his sassy donkey, and as is his ever-so-charming Princess Fiona. Though her babe-of-a-body still gets chunky at night[, because of an evil spell,] Shrek continues to love her, I wonder why?

Gone, however, are Shrek’s favorite swamps with their long grasses and foul gasses. Gone are the once-upon-a-time landscapes of thickly tree’d forests. And gone is the fire-breathing dragon who once captured the Donkey’s perfidious eye.

In their place is a fairy-tale suburb, resembling Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, ruled over by Fiona’s mom and dad, the King (John Cleese) and Queen (Julie Andrews).

“Shrek 2” IS as clever and witty as ever, but for me “Oh, dear, Oh my,” the Hollywood in-humor has stripped away some of its Fairy Tale charm.

MUSIC UP, THEN CROSS FADE TO CD: “TROY” (CUT 3 “ACHILLES LEADS THE MYRMIDONS” - BEGIN CUT AT 04:35 IN) THEN UNDER FOR

John (“Troy”)
In fact, it's even more charming, but at your age that you even LIKED it is a miracle.

Clay
At my age I'm lucky to be my age.

John
I HOPE you liked "Troy" with popular actor hero Brad Pitt playing classical warrior Achilles well enough that it will henceforth be shown by classics departments as the definitive tale of The Trojan War. When Pitt as Achilles says he did not engage Hector in the first meeting because it's too early to kill princes,' I was won over by the arrogance and superiority of the hero AND the actor.

Homer would be happy with this version: The spirit is for the ages,
thousands of years later, when men still go to war for reasons other than
love, occupy other countries at great peril, and die inexplicably happy to
have their names emblazoned on memorials while families cope with profound loss.

"Troy" is a blockbuster to complement a summer of real war and conflicted citizenry.

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP, THEN UNDER AGAIN FOR

Clay (“Troy”)
John, “Troy” is no Baghdad, but the setting is nearly the same, as are the central themes: the ruling gods will have their way and it’s the mere mortals who end up fighting their battles and having to pay.

Aging Priam (Peter O’Toole) with his watery blue eyes, the bearded and angry Agamemnon (Brian Cox), and the bulked-up Brad Pitt, who plays Achilles as a surfer dude with an attitude that just won’t die.

Honor, pride, arrogance and greed, John, you’ve got to love the honesty of those self-reflecting Greeks. And you’ve got to love “Troy,” it’s solid, moving, compassionate, and wise.

MUSIC UP, THEN UNDER AND OUT

John ("The Battle of Algiers")

Clay: "Wise" would be the best adjective to describe the re-release of the 1965 black and white "Algiers." This smart film shows the decade
leading to the liberation of Algeria from the French in a powerful story about Muslims asserting their rights through violence, hiding, and plotting in the Kasbah. It is a convincing story of a people who do not want to be occupied.

The torture of the Muslim prisoners is the most poignant relevance to the
recent scandal in Iraq. The justification--to gain life-saving
information-- is classic "ends-justify-the-means" logic still being used by
great nations. In fact, the Pentagon reportedly had seen this film during
the first days of the second Iraq War; some say they learned nothing from the film, which is an unforgettable study of occupation and defeat.

Clay (Continues)
Folks, “The Battle of Algiers” has already slipped out of town so you’ll have to look for it at your favorite video store or library. It’s a must-see.
But enough of fairy tales and monstrous wars, it’s grading time.

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

John
Hooray!

HIT DRUMS

Clay
“Shrek 2” gets a “B” because it’s as clever as ever but lacks some of its original charm . . .

John

"Shrek 2" earns an "A" because it includes ALL of pop culture . . .

"Troy" earns an "A" for an ACHILLES ACTOR who's NOT an ASS . . .

Clay

"Troy” gets an “A” because it’s always noble and never ASININE . . .

John
"The Battle of Algiers" is an "A" because it's so good Washington learned ALMOST nothing . . .

Clay
“The Battle of Algiers” gets an ”A” because Arabs aren’t always on the wrong side of history .. .

John
Clay, wish me good luck, I’ve got to go write my web review of “The Lost Skeleton of Cadaver.”

Clay

Good luck, indeed, John, recommending this movie to our listeners WOULD be a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

I'm outta here.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT CD: “Shrek 2” (CUT 5: “FUNKYTOWN”), THEN UNDER FOR

Richelle:
The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is produced by Richelle ntczak in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus 106.7 FM in Newark, WYSO, etc. Reviews on the web, etc., etc.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

Copyright: John DeSando & Clay Lowe, 2004