Calling all o-girls, o-boys, talking donkeys and swamp-dwelling fairytale creatures. Get ready to peel back the layers on a Shrek marathon for the story books.
The cinema that has previously brought you ambitious marathons of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter film franchises is going green. Put your onions out and dust off your Smash Mouth CDs to embark on a quest far, far away (to Randwick) for the Ritz’s Shrekrospective.
Go back to where it all began with the first Shrek (2001) film, before continuing the ogre love in with Shrek 2 (2004) and Shrek the Third (2007). There’ll be a 20-minute break between each screening which will feature what they’re calling a 'Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party'.
It appears the Ritz team said “that’ll do, Donkey” and called the marathon at the first three movies, given that there's no mention of the fourth installment, Shrek Forever After (2010), nor spin-offs like Antonio Banderas-fronted Puss in Boots (2011) or specials like the rather festive Shrek the Halls (2007).
Settle in for a comforting dose of nostalgia as you quote along to the adventures of Mike Myers’ sarcastic, Scottish-accented mean green machine and reflect on what aged well and what what aged weirdly about this early-2000s relic that hung around to create an empire and spawn a bizarre meme trend and a musical that hit the Sydney main stage in 2019. Just don’t think too hard about the logistics of a donkey-dragon romance yeilding offspring.
The Shrekrospective is coming to a swamp near you on Saturday, October 24. Tickets are $30. Starting at 2pm, the marathon will involve 303 minutes of ogre-tastic screen time. The Ritz asks all marathoners to kindly “keep brimstone-scented emissions to a minimum”. Book your ticket here.
What about enjoying some alfresco films? Moonlight Cinema returns to Centennial Park for its 25th anniversary in November.
