Entertainment

Our Next 'Corona Film Club' Movie Is 'Shrek'

Why not?
Ryan Bassil
London, GB
Shrek
Image: Dreamworks
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A VICE UK column that fills the isolation for those self-isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic​. We’re watching and discussing a film with readers every week.

Bruuuuuuuuuuh. It's the fifth week of self-isolation in the UK and I am more longed out than a Laffy-Taffy that's been stretched around the sun several times. Maybe you're feeling the same.

Luckily, the Corona Film Club is still here. As a reminder: that's our now long-running series where we – the VICE UK culture staff, and you, the reader – sit down and watch a film together. So far we've enjoyed a stupidly underrated Will Ferrell comedy (Blades Of Glory), some early Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach (Mistress America), a Studio Ghibli film about a flying pig (Porco Rosso) and a hot priest pondering the end of the world (First Reformed). Next up… he's big, he's green, he's Shrek.

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Yes, that's right. We are watching Shrek (the third).

The 2001 animated Dreamworks film is the slightly bizarre counterpart to the enchanting, sweet stuff Disney's Pixar Studios were pumping out at the time. The soundtrack veers into the manic side of happy, the donkey talks and the villain is a small angry lad whose name is essentially Fuckwad. Of course, the film ended up being meme'd countless times, the most recent being in this time of corona. It's a funny, deranged childhood (sequel to the) classic. But when did you last watch it?

If you, reader, would like to join in on the fun, then do thus:

  • Download Netflix Party for Chrome and join our official Corona Film Club viewing party on Wednesday the 15th of April at 8PM to share your thoughts in the live chat. We'll be sharing the link to our party on the VICE UK socials (@viceuk on Twitter and Instagram) on Wednesday, so look out.
  • If you'd rather view it in your own time, watch the movie and send your responses to the following questions to coronafilmclub@vice.com, before 12PM on Wednesday the 8th of April. Whoever submits our favourite review wins a 12 pack of Old Blue Last beer (which you can also now get delivered to your door btw). We'll let you know if that's you over email.

1) Is this film any good?
2) What's it about?
3) OK, but what's it *really* about?
4) What about the acting
5) Who's the director? What did they do here?
6) Best scene?
7) What's cool about it?
8) Does it illuminate anything about our current pandemic predicament?

Read our post-viewing article on Thursday on vice.com. We're also always looking for suggestions for future films, so make sure to send those to the Corona Film Club email too (the only rule is that the movie needs to be on Netflix UK). Roll on Wednesday evening.

@ryanbassil

*Due to unforeseen circumstances (Disney+ stealing original Shrek and also Shrek 2 from Netflix shortly after our decision to watch Shrek), we have no choice but to change the film this week from Shrek to Shrek The Third.