#beauty and the beast 2017 review

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

I just watched the 1990s classic again, but poorly made!

The Story

If you have seen the original film, you have seen this film. But THIS version adds scenes that are either filler, or make plot holes the size of Mount Everest!

The film copy's the original word-for-word, which would be fine if they improved the film, but the ENTIRE film copies every angle, every character, every word. Just, everything. And nothing is improved. In fact, they ruined a beloved classic (while I don't think the original film is a masterpiece, I do see why people think so).

The Characters

They could of improved on the characters personalities and develop them more than the original did, but they failed to do that! Apart from Bell's father, none of the characters are memorable or likeable. In fact, what happened to Gaston?

In the original film, Gaston was a bit arrogant and full of himself, but he was still a likeable and redeemable character. In this film, they made him as horrible and unlikable as humanly possible. They made him even try to kill Bell's dad by tying him by a tree and feed him to wolves.

Why can't Disney make good villains, nowadays?

But the prince at the end looked HOT! Why can't there be more long haired guys in films? Gimme the Eye-CANDY!

The Special Effects

The CGI in this film looks like something made in 2007. 10 YEARS AGO! The CGI characters(especially the Beast) look like they were made on a REALLY small budget and look fake. This would be understandable if it was made by a small, Indie company. But this film is from Disney! I expect more from a huge company.

The cinematography is also really bad, when they are not copying the 1991 original, the camera angles in the new scenes are amateurish at best. Scenes are not focusing on important things long enough to lead an impact and the camera moves none-stop, making the scene a blurry mess.

In fact, the death scene of the villains is really bad as well! Instead of Gaston falling to his death by stabbing the beast and his hand slipping from the rail because of the rain, causing him to fall to his death (for one frame, you see skulls in his eyes! Very clever, Disney) like in the 1991 original. The "new" movie has Gaston shooting the beast from a far away pillar and the bridge he stands on collapses for no reason whatsoever!

A villain's death is by far the most satisfying thing in a Disney film. They find creative deaths that are caused by their mistakes with the hero not trying to kill them. But this death is not creative, it's just lazy.

The Songs

Want to hear drunk karaoke of your favourite songs from the movie? Have no worry! This film has that! And the original songs are average at best. Nothing memorable whatsoever in this film (other than the bad karaoke).

Final Thoughts

I am just puzzled why they re-made a film that didn't need remaking! They have plenty of money to make original films, and films that actually need remakes.

I am not against remakes, particularly when the original film is relatively unknown or the film can be improved by remaking it with better special effects. But the 1991 film DIDN'T need a remake!

I am not a fan of the original film (you can find the review on FILMCLUB's website), but I knew it didn't need remaking anytime soon.

And Disney is still making these cheap remakes of films! Can you STOP please and make original content that we have not seen before, or improve a classic film, like Robin Hood?

The Story 1/5 The Characters 1.5/5 The Special Effects 2/5 The Songs 2/5

Overall 1.5/5

Also, why is THIS film rated PG and not the original? The original had blood in it and this one didn't! So why is this version PG and not the original? They are practically the SAME film!.

I don't get the BBFC sometimes...

[princesssarisa]

All the reviews of the Little Mermaid remake so far have been focused on Ariel and Eric, and how both Eric's character and their romance are more fleshed out than in the original.

But they've given very little attention to the relationship at the heart of the original animated version: Ariel and King Triton.

The animated Little Mermaid is much more about Ariel and her father than it is about Ariel and Eric. The central character arc is King Triton's realization that he needs to let Ariel be free. This arguably justifies the fact that the original Eric is a slightly two-dimensional prince (although still a very likable and heroic one) and why his romance arc with Ariel is so simple and "fairy tale." Nothing else is needed, because the 1989 Little Mermaid is a father/daughter story first and foremost, a romantic love story second.

But if the remake foregrounds the romance more than the father/daughter relationship (I'm not saying it does, I don't know because I haven't seen it yet, but if) ...well, maybe that's okay.

Ideally, remakes and retellings should always bring something new to the story. I've recently been thinking about the changes the different iterations of Disney's Beauty and the Beast bring to Belle's character; namely, how the original 1991 animated Belle is more of a paragon (apart from her occasional rash mistakes) who doesn't need to change herself, but is validated and inspires change, while both of the two Belles who sing lyrics by Tim Rice (1994 stage and 2017 film) have more of a character arc of gaining a more nuanced, less black-and-white worldview, and of realizing that they don't need "adventure in the great wide somewhere" but can be happy in the here and now. I think both of those approaches to her character are fully valid, and it's interesting to notice the difference. I'm sure any thematic differences between the animated Little Mermaid, the 2008 stage musical, and the new remake can be just as interesting.

Besides, there's no father/daughter drama in the original Hans Christian Andersen story of The Little Mermaid. The Andersen story is more about the Mermaid and the Prince (and her longing for a soul), because it was inspired by Andersen's unrequited love for his friend Edvard Collin. The original Sea King is a minor, almost non-existent character.

If there's one thing I've learned from studying different retellings of fairy tales, it's that there's almost never a single, definitive theme that the story is inherently "about."

[the-plot-blog-thing]

(originally published on 4/6/24)

WDAS TAGTEAM REVIEWS MOVIE #62: WISH (2023)

It's not fair, y'know? It's just not fair....

If I had seen this movie BEFORE the internet decided to already pick it apart, and BEFORE we learned about its earlier versions, I would've just said "Eh, it's cute enough" and moved on.

BUT now that we DO know, I can only see this movie and think, what if?

First, the good: all the acting and singing is all very good. They were wise to actually cast actors who can sing, so we didn't get a Beauty and the Beast (2017) problem on our hands.

The animation is also great! I liked how it looked from the first trailer. The colors are vibrant, and the characters have a great feeling of weight and movement. I really like how the backgrounds look especially.

Now then, onto the bad: The songs are too long and too similar rhythmically. None of them have a strong hook, they just repeat the same lines over and over again hoping that they'll stick in your head. Spoilers: they don't. The animal song is probably the worst.

There's a plot point where Victor Garber's character's wish was to sing a song that inspires the world. That's the main plot point of the first third of the film, and by the end, we still don't get to hear the song. They cut a song sung by Victor Garber in favor of...nothing?

You could really tell that there weren't any Broadway songwriters behind this one....

The film also has too many characters. I chalk most of this up to Asha's friends, who are all parodies of the 7 Dwarves. Only 2 of them are actually important, combine that with the queen, the goat, the star, and Asha's mother and grandfather, it's just a struggle for screentime.

The references didn't bother me all that much actually, up until that last scene where it all got a bit much. I know they were trying to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the company, but the Once Upon the Studio short did that well enough.

Every scene just repeats the same information too many times, to the point where each scene drags a minute longer than it should. And for a 90 minute film, that's saying something.

I was bothered by how Magnifico was corrupted by the dark magic. The fact that he clearly had a tragic backstory, and his wife was worried for him, showed he must have at least still had some small shred of good in him.

But then the film just says "No, once you touch dark magic, you're evil forever!" and that just bothered me. I know we've wanted an outright villain in one of these movies again, but this was not it. Was he under the influence of an evil book or not? You can't have it both ways.

Look, we've all seen the animatics and concept art, and we all heard the interviews. This movie could've been much different and potentially way better, but we can't keep dealing in hypotheticals. We can only judge the movie we got, and this one was just ok.

Emperor's New Groove famously was a totally different movie before it became the comedy we know it as today, and while it's interesting to see what could've been, nobody thinks less of Emperor's New Groove because it isn't Kingdom of the Sun.

As such, I can only look at Wish for what it is, and as of now, it's only a

5.5/10: I wish that they learn and go forward from here

But next time is Moana 2, so who knows?

[redhatmeg]

Just so you know - these are not necesserily things I rewatch in Christmas/winter season. Just things that remind me of Christmas in some way.

[ethereal-originate]

Movie Review 🎬🍿 Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers (2022)

The movie is just a movie. I grew up watching the show as a kid and was excited to see something that was nostalgic to me. But however, it didn’t. It was like “oh”. The movie isn’t really about the “Rescue Rangers” it just Chip and Dale solving a mystery of trying to find their missing friend. I’m weirded out of Gadget ended up marrying with Zipper. It just weird. I don’t understand why the movie said Chip and Dale debuted in Rescue Ranger (1989) when they first debuted in Private Pluto (1943) The movie is full of cameos but it didn’t left a great impression as “Who framed Roger Rabbit” it just showing our faces on who is here in this money cooperation movie 🫤. Probably the most impression cameo is Sonic. And the main villain of this film is Peter Pan. Really? They choose Peter Pan as the villain? Couldn’t a villain is just some greedy cooperation man? It honestly doesn’t make any sense that how Peter aged but then 1 of the lost boy is still young. The movie doesn’t make sense with cartoons age, and the characters Baloo from “Jungle Book” become 3D but Lumière from “Beauty and the Beast” isn’t but however he in the live action in 2017? Why there can’t be 2 different versions of Baloo of 2D and 3D? It will be interesting if 2 different versions meet each other. What really cruel that Disney did, is that they are referencing to the actor Bobby Driscoll who the inspiration and voice of Peter Pan who entered puberty that Walt fired him which lead to his tragic downfall. Leading him to drugs addiction and sadly passed away at the age 31. Really cruel. I really wanted the movie to be the entire Rescue Ranger crew solving mystery together. If they want the movie to be like Roger Rabbit then I will like to see a movie/series about an cartoon that exists long time ago seeing new generations of cartoons (such as 3D and Anime) a hilarious joke of fandom, and a Villian could be a cancel, rejected or forgotten cartoon who want to revenge of the mistreatment in the pass and want the popular cartoon disappear. I will rate this movie like a 4 or 5 out of 10.

[asirensrage]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @chickensarentcheap!!! Thank you!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

53

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

764,479

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Oh god. Divergent. Stranger Things. Supernatural. Shadow and Bone. MCU. I have written for HP but not in a long while. Spartacus. Leverage. Jack Reacher. John Wick. Teen Wolf. Criminal Minds. Walking Dead. Lord of the Rings. Star Trek (2013). Beauty and the Beast (2017). Lost Boys. Sons of Anarchy. Knives Out. Naruto. Jujutsu Kaisen. Demon Slayer. My Hero Academia. Blade. Tokyo Revengers. True Blood. Whar Wars. From Dusk Til Dawn (TV series). Special mentions for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and others that I used in my SPN crossover fic.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

On Ao3?

Tammy Thompson Takes on the Upside Down (Stranger Things) Kudos: 1,226

The Art of Seclusion (Divergent) Kudos: 829

there's a heaven above you (don't you cry) (The Lost Boys) Kudos: 534

Barred (Shadow and Bone) Kudos: 415

It's Always Darkest Before the (Second) Dawn (HP/Shadow and Bone Crossover) Kudos: 357

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Eventually I respond to all. It just takes me awhile before I do it in large batches lol

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh god. For ones that are completed and posted, it's The Art of Seclusion. I have others that...will not have "happy" endings but they aren't finished or shared yet.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I have no clue. I haven't finished many outside of oneshots or series. It might depend on the reader. We'll see ;)

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

Not usually but it has happened. I had one person leave a review on AoS being very angry about my lack of warnings and promoting toxic relationships. They had a legit point about the warnings as I hadn't updated them in years despite the fic getting worse lol. I thanked them for pointing it out, updated my warnings and on my next chapter made a point of reminding my readers that the relationship wasn't healthy and not something to aim for. Never heard back lol.

9. Do you write smut?

Do I? 😃 You know it.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Not often, but yes. Caught in the Crossfire is a crossover with characters from multiple worlds coming into the SPN universe. It's Always Darkest Before the (Second) Dawn is on hiatus but it's a crossover between HP and Shadow and Bone.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. Someone took Tammy Thompson Takes on the Upside Down and posted it as their own...only changing the name Tammy to Sammy 😂😂 I've also had fics being posted under my name on sites I didn't approve of. I had to contact the site directly to make them remove it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. Someone translated Famous Last Words into...Russian? It's on Ao3 too.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes! I love working with ppl to write. I consider myself basically cowriting a bunch of fics with @vixenofcourse (even if sometimes she doesn't agree) because she gives me ideas for it. I cowrote Caught in the Crossfire with friends of mine, mainly the one who wrote all of Kelly's povs. (fun fact, she doesn't write fanfic on her own but she wrote that lol)

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

Me with everyone I love 😂 No, i have no idea. My ocs and their pairings.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

....

16. What’s your writing strengths?

No idea. Dialogue? Not sure what else... lol

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

DESCRIPTIONS. I find them the hardest....and don't ask me about describing my characters...

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I don't speak any other language well enough for that. I don't mind it, but usually I just write in English and show they're speaking another language somehow. If I do write in another language, I try to have the translations clearly understood.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Digimon lollll

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

ALL OF THEM! And all the ones I haven't posted! There are so many i could show you but they're not done and I agreed not to post new long fics if they're incomplete.

tagging: @ninjasawakenedmystar @nejires-hado @arrthurpendragon @elmunson @mabonetsamhain @kingsmakers @sxrvivc and anyone else interested.

[mandoreviews]

📽️ Beauty and the Beast (2017)

I was sure I had reviewed this movie before, but I guess not. I’m really surprised, though, because I’ve seen this a few times now. I honestly didn’t like it very much the first time I watched it. I even struggled to stay awake in the theater. I think the more I watch it, the more I like it. It’s definitely not my favorite Disney movie or even my favorite live action remake. The first time I watched it, I felt that they lengthened everything unnecessarily and added parts that just made the movie longer. I still feel that way about some parts, but I think I don’t mind as much because it’s more familiar to me now. I’ve gotten used to it. There are some cringey parts, too (i.e., the growl), but overall it’s not a horrible version of the story. I still prefer the original, though.

Sex/nudity: 1/10 (kissing)

Language: 1/10 (mild French exclamations)

Violence: 3/10 (fighting, shooting, some blood shown, one death shown on screen)

Overall rating: 7/10

[theteaisaddictive]

Fic Writing Review 2023 🌈

thanks you @jimmyandthegiraffes for the tag!!! and listening to me being so unhinged about A Certain Story in discord dms <33

Words and Fics (on ao3) 📚

words posted: 26,837!! holy fuck i didn't expect it to be that much but when it's all laid out like that i actually achieved this year lmao

fics posted: 2. would've been 1 but i added found what i was looking for to ao3 as a christmas bonus

first fic/last fic 😅: as always, it's Roses and Lavender (Beauty and the Beast 2017/Cinderella 2015)

Ships and Fandoms ⚓

i mean. roses and lavender is entirely about my belle/ella kit/adam agenda. but also i did post that belle/adam christmas oneshot.

Top 5 Fics by Kudos 🏆

considering that i only wrote one fic all year, roses and lavender wins by default; my all time fics by kudos, though, are as follows:

my heart has long been given to you (Cinderella 2015)

Ever Just the Same (Beauty and the Beast)

A Rose's Thorn (Beauty and the Beast 1991)

so near, nothing between us (Beauty and the Beast 2017)

As Long As You Hold My Hand (Cinderella 2015)

Top 5 Favorite Fics 💖

i do genuinely love roses and lavender, and since it's all i've posted this year it once again wins by default. i do have some fic that in my personal opinion is underappreciated, and those are:

pink in the night (Beauty and the Beast 2017/Cinderella 2015)

In A Crowd of Thousands (Beauty and the Beast, Anastasia 1997)

tightly knotted to a similar string (Beauty and the Beast)

tell me you can't bear a room that i'm not in (Jane Eyre)

hooked on all these feelings (Beauty and the Beast)

Fandom fic events

none lmao. i don't engage with the remaining batb fandom enough so it's my own fault dfglkj, that and spending three years writing a niche crossover

Projects for 2024

buckle up boys

NUMBER ONE: FINISH ROSES AND LAVENDER: i am so serious on this one. i love this fic dearly but the end is within my sight and i've been writing for so long.

the divorce fic: i've mentioned this in fits and starts already but basically the premise is thus: Belle realises she doesn’t love her husband. Slowly, he begins turning back into a Beast. working title MOUNTAIN GOATS NO CHILDREN DOT MP3. i have a playlist for it here. inspired by me watching the fairytale season of d20 and seeing gerald of greenleigh's whole deal.

finally start as the sun will rise: i've been wanting to write this for a while now, and i think 2024 might be the year for it? who knows. but i'm very excited to go back to the ejts universe.

hey what about the kitella gbbo au: YES I'M GETTING TO IT AT SOME POINT

i'm going to tag @cinderellasfella (unless you've already done this, in which case no pressure lmao) -- everyone else, if you see this and write fic, consider yourself tagged!

[strangledeggs]

The Best Albums Of 2017

(A note that extends to all of these lists which I will attach to the top of each: if you want to see a full review of any specific album on this list, or are wondering why a particular album did or didn’t make the top 10, or are wondering why an album you like from the year in question isn’t on this list at all, send me an ask about it and I’ll try and respond!)

The Top 10

DAMN by Kendrick Lamar

Brick Body Kids Still Daydream by Open Mike Eagle

Describes Things As They Are by Beauty Pill

Antisocialites by Alvvays

A Crow Looked At Me by Mount Eerie

4:44 by Jay-Z

Oversleepers International by Emperor X

who told you to think??!!?!?!?! by milo

Talk Tight by Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

Sleep Well Beast by The National

The Rest

Whiteout Conditions by The New Pornographers

Out In The Storm by Waxahatchee

Playboi Carti by Playboi Carti

Triple Fat Lice by Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman

The Underside Of Power by Algiers

République Amazone by Les Amazones d’Afrique

Resolution by The Perceptionists

The Official Body by Shopping

Drool by Nnamdi Ogbonnaya

Fin by SYD

Harry Styles by Harry Styles

Laila’s Wisdom by Rapsody

Life Will See You Now by Jens Lekman

Life Without Sound by Cloud Nothings

American Teen by Khalid

Dakhla Sahara Session by Cheveu And Group Doueh

Big Fish Theory by Vince Staples

1992 Deluxe by Princess Nokia

Veins by Homeboy Sandman

A somewhat weak year, if my (still-forming) shortlists for the years to follow are any indication – only 29 albums made the cut here. Some of the top 10 were surefire picks: “DAMN”, though not my favourite Kendrick (which remains To Pimp A Butterfly), has grown on me a lot to the point that I now see it as one of the year’s greatest achievements – a surprisingly coherent collection of solid-to-excellent songs with only the loosest of threads connecting them all in some kind of “concept”; “Antisocialites” is a beautifully-produced nonstop hook-fest of an indie rock album; “Describes Things As They Are” deserves a special mention for bringing one of the year’s most unique sounds to the table, even as it traces its clear influences back to artists as diverse as The Dismemberment Plan and Arto Lindsay (great “Prize” cover in there). Others I had to think harder on, and I switched out “Sleep Well Beast” for “Whiteout Conditions” at the last minute here, my main justification being that on revisiting each, it seemed to me that The National had never sounded better than on their moody, murmuring 2017 album, while The New Pornographers, despite delivering another worthy entry to their now-formidable discography, had.

In retrospect, this was an interesting year for hip-hop (though when isn’t it these days?) beyond “DAMN”: it marks the breakthrough success of Open Mike Eagle, the triumphant return of Jay-Z (but hold the antisemitism next time, OK?), the introduction of the chaotic Playboi Carti and the album that might stand as Princess Nokia’s most definitive statement so far. It also saw the final entry of Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman’s enjoyable “Lice” trilogy of EPs, a fascinating experimental effort by Nnamdi that still stands as one of the most distinct-sounding (if not necessarily consistent) hip-hop albums I’ve heard in recent memory, and the first albums by Rapsody and Vince Staples to truly impress me.

Though it might be hard to say exactly when “poptimism” broke critical establishment mainstream at this point (and I’ll probably write more on that later), this year also strikes me as notable for not including a whole lot of representative entries that would appeal to that crowd’s sensibilities – at least not on my list, meaning I didn’t see many capital-P Pop albums worth mentioning here. That being said, the top 40 stuff gets a couple victories here in the form of the two depressive-leaning albums by Harry Styles and Khalid (Khalid’s is the better one, if you’re curious).

Speaking of depressive (though the word actually feels inadequate to describe this one), “A Crow Looked At Me” gets a last word in here for being the most anomalous album on this list – I didn’t think I’d even like it until I tried it, upon which I found less of an album than a powerful, personal meditation on death and loss that somehow achieved poetry by constantly trying to avoid it. After listening to it the first time, I thought I’d never want to hear anything like it again – that is until I heard its follow-up from the next year.

[mygreatadventurehasbegun]

Top 5 popular movies you still haven't seen, top 5 movies with the worst costuming, top five comedies, top five movies other people generally dislike that you enjoy

Top Five Movies I haven't Seen:

Vivacious Lady- though I found it at my library yesterday, so I'm watching it tonight or tomorrow!

Deception- A Bette Davis/Claude Rains melodrama where he's the antagonist?? Yes, please!!

Pearl- After watching X a couple weeks ago, I definitely need to see Pearl! I had heard of it, of course, and was originally going to just watch that, since I heard good things...but X was available for free, briefly, and then I discovered that Pearl is a prequel! And it looks like such a cool horror flick.

Lawrence of Arabia- It's been on my list for a long time...but it's so damn long, that it's tough to find the time to watch it!

Deathtrap- It looks like such a fun mystery thriller! And it would be nice to see Christopher Reeve playing someone other than Superman.

Top Five Movies with the Worst Costuming

Little Women (2019)- I mean, I've written about my loathing for this movie and its costumes so many times, it's no surprise that this is number one.

Beauty and the Beast (2017)- Honestly, this isn't a critique of the entire film's costumes...just the two ball gowns, which clash so much with the rest of the fantasy 18th century clothing, and it makes me sad.

Phantom of the Opera (2004)- Another one where the costumes aren't atrocious...but you can tell that they just didn't have much of a budget. So when you compare them to the stage production, everything pales in comparison...especially because the lighting/cinematography is so bright and washed out that you can see everything. The costumes might have looked better if there were more shadows or darkness.

I honestly cannot think of two more movies where the costumes annoy me, so I'm going to make the last two TV Shows!

Reign- I have never seen this show...but...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that that is not how they dressed in the 16th century.

When Calls the Heart- this show is supposed to be set in the early 1900s.

Top Five Comedies:

The Philadelphia Story

How to Steal a Million

Clue

Drop Dead Gorgeous

The Princess Bride

Top Five Movies you enjoy that other people Generally Dislike

Phantom of the Opera (1943)- I feel like if you're a Phantom purist, you probably don't like this movie, as it changes too much from the book...and I've seen a lot of general "meh" reviews on the movie...I DON'T CARE, I LOVE IT SO MUCH

Drop Dead Gorgeous- Now, I don't think people dislike this movie, in general, but I can totally understand if people don't like it...this one is interesting, because I feel like if you grew up at a very particular time, you love this movie. But I feel like most people who watch it for the first time nowadays don't love it, because there are moments that...have not...aged well. The "r" word gets thrown around a lot...there's one side story where a white girl keeps referring to herself as Asian-American...I can see why it's not for everyone. But as a MN girl who was a teenager when this movie came out, there's no way I cannot love it.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers- Another movie that maybe hasn't aged that great...I feel like this one has a lot more "general dislike", and I totally get why...I just like it for the fun musical numbers and tone, while totally agreeing that on first viewing, there are definitely some issues...I mean, it's about a bunch of brothers that kidnap the girls they have crushes on. I mean, if you examine it, you can talk about how the character of Millie generally takes no shit from her brothers-in-law, and teaches them how to be decent people...but I mostly watch it for the choreography, lol.

Little Women (1949)- I wouldn't say this one is generally disliked; it's just usually put down lower on the list of LW adaptations. People who love the 1933 version call this one a tired retread, people who like the newer adaptations think this one is boring. But there is something about this one that I just love...and it is probably my personal favorite (while admitting that the 1994 film is the best film overall)

Tuck Everlasting- I don't think this film is necessarily hated, but I know it's very different from the book and it changes a lot/leaves stuff out, etc. And I think most people give it an "it's ok, I guess" review, and then promptly forget about it. But I saw this movie before I knew the specifics of the book, and I really enjoyed it. I still watch it every once and a while, and it gives me a bit of nostalgia...and I do think it's a very pretty movie...really nice cinematography and set/costume design.

*This last one was tough, cause I don't have that many "unpopular opinions" when it comes to movies...at least for films that I like (obviously really disliking LW '19 is an unpopular opinion)...so some of my choices were sort of "middle of the road".

[renyen808]

The Little Mermaid Remake Deserves to Exist

Hello everyone!! I don’t say this often, but I adored the live action remake of the Little Mermaid, which was released late May.��

(Credit: IMDb)

Now, I know how the internet itself feels about these remakes, so before we go into the review, I want to be transparent about my feelings when it comes to the live action remakes. 

My feelings are mixed about it. I sometimes don’t think they’re that bad. I can hear the booing as I write this, but I don’t believe they’re that bad. I think they’re bad when they don’t tell a new story. For instance, the 2017 Beauty and the Beast, although it did a lot from the animated version, gave Belle’s mom some sort of story and made Beast a bit more sympathetic. The 2019 The Lion King told the story word for word, so in turn, the magic is gone. I watched both of these in the theater by the way, and may I just say, the Lion King is my favorite animated movie ever, so you can sense my disappointment. 

The Little Mermaid is another favorite of mine. I loved the original, just the idea of being a mermaid amazed me. Especially living in Hawaii, I loved the water. Ariel’s voice was also incredible, being the best singer of all of the princesses. While Jodi Benson’s Ariel is timeless and will live on to inspire other girls to dream, Halle Bailey’s Ariel will do exactly the same thing, but for even more girls, girls that never saw the original and thought, that’s me.

(Credit: Digital Spy)

Halle Bailey as Ariel is the best part of the movie and it shows that director Rob Marshall made the best choice when it comes choosing our mermaid. She embodied Ariel so well, as this infectious, curious, adventurous girl who wanted to explore the above world. I love more so how the romance aspect was second to her true passion for the above world, exploration. Bailey did, in my opinion, the best job of elevating Ariel for newer audiences, showing that it is okay to explore on your own, take risks, and that you never need a man’s hand to be successful. In many ways, I prefer this interpretation of Ariel as opposed to the original because of its amazing message. 

The other characters are all great! Daveed Diggs as Sebastian was amazing! I already love Diggs as it is, so I was not surprised that he was great here too. I also loved Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. I know people were skeptical about her and I’m still on the side of she should have been played by a drag queen, but McCarthy did a phenomenal job. By the way, for my choice of performer for Ursula, it would have to be Ginger Minj. Awkwafina was good as Scuttle, though I have to say I would not feel comfortable if they made Scuttle the same way as the original. Jacob Tremblay as Flounder was okay, I was a little put off by his design still, but it didn’t ruin the experience for me. I was happy to see Javier Bardem in a role where he wasn’t the villain. I saw people say he was too strict on Ariel, but he’s the same way in the animated version. Jonah Hauer-King is incredible as Eric, taking a mid-tier prince into the top-tier charming man that Ariel deserves. Overall, all of the side and villain characters are incredible!

Established in my first movie review post, I rate things on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the absolute best, and 1 being the absolute worst. I don’t do 1 to 5 because I am afraid I will do some dumb rating like 3.3 out of 5. So, for consistency, I will only use whole numbers to rate things. 

(Credit: CNN)

For me, The Little Mermaid remake gets an 8 out of 10. The entire movie is magical, especially Halle Bailey as Ariel. From the minor characters to the changes to the story, and the timeless classics reimagined here, you will not have a bad time here. I will discuss some of my criticisms below, but it is mainly flow issues and drastic changes in character (*cough* Eric *cough), but I will share that with you later. Overall, it is a great watch for families and especially young girls and women, you will not regret it.

This is the end of my review, which means I am moving onto my spoiler summary below. For the remakes from Disney (and possibly DreamWorks), I will be doing something a little bit different. For these, I will be doing a Compare and Contrast with the original work. I want to do this because many argue that Disney doesn’t need to be making these remakes if the originals are still there. However, I believe that when we look at them side by side, sometimes the meaning is different, and in a way, they deserve to exist next to their animated counterpart. I know there will always be people that complain about not wanting to compare it to the original, but, this way I won’t be just retelling the whole story (since I am sure we all know the story) and that way, you can clearly see the differences between the two. So, with that, I am done with my explanation. If this is where you will be leaving us, I hope you enjoyed reading my review of The Little Mermaid remake. If you enjoyed reading it, share it with a friend who may also enjoy it. Comments are always welcome, but keep it nice. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and shouldn’t be attacked because of them. Thank you for reading! See you in the next post!

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! 

So, for our first difference, the remake starts out with a quote from the original story written by Hans Christian Anderson. It states “But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more”. This quote opening the movie gives us an insight as to why Ariel’s suffering throughout the movie is much more emotional than it was in the original. Benson’s Ariel was crying throughout the movie, and while you are upset for her, it never really showed how much it affected her because she was always crying. Bailey’s Ariel, however, never could cry, until the very end, when she was finally human. She suffered so much throughout, making her pain even more upsetting, showing that even though she feels heartbreak, she cannot show it, like a mask. In the end, she was able to shed a tear, and finally express her sadness. The movie also has Eric in the beginning as well, sailing the seas and stopping the men on board from killing an innocent dolphin.

(Credit: YouLoveIt.com)

The movie is pretty much the same up until Ariel’s sisters and Triton show up. The sisters’ names are different from the original sisters. In the original, all their names started with A: Attina, Alana, Adela, Aquata, Arista, and Andrina. They were, honestly, kinda snobbish. I didn’t really care for them in the original. I mean, they acted like sisters, but I don’t have any sisters. I am one, just I don’t have any myself, if that makes sense. Okay, moving on. In the remake, we have Perla, Indira, Karina, Caspia, Mala, and Tamika. Each mermaid has a different ethnicity and rules a different ocean, so they are not home in Atlantica all the time, unlike Ariel. The reason they are all there is different too, as in the original, Sebastian held a concert with all of Triton’s daughters, minus Ariel since she never showed up. Here, there is no concert, but they are there for the Coral Moon meeting. Ariel misses this as well. 

Bailey’s rendition of Part of Your World is fantastic here as well. It shows off her playful spirit while also holding a sense of longing that Ariel desperately has for the above world. I cannot gush about her enough, she was just the best choice! If you have not listened to it before, DO IT! Everything is the same, she saves Eric and she climbs the rock while singing the reprise, but it is actually a bit different from the original. See, in the original, Eric was reviving while Ariel was just admiring him. In the remake, Ariel had to use her siren song to revive him, ultimately saving Eric from drowning. 

(Credit: Classic FM)

Afterwards, we reach one of the most recognizable sequences from the original movie. The Under the Sea portion is one I had a few issues with. First off, the lyrics should have been changed here. We will see later that some of the original songs had their lyrics changed, so it was possible. However, here, they just chose to leave it in when none of it was happening. There is a part of the song, where Sebastian is listing off sea creatures playing instruments (i.e. newt play the flute, carp play the harp). None of that was happening on the screen though, and it was just Ariel riding a sea turtle’s shell. You could have done one of two things here: either replace the lyrics with something else, or you show the animals playing the instruments. We are not looking for realistic storytelling here, it is a story about a mermaid, nothing is realistic. Another thing is Ariel singing here. I know Bailey has an amazing voice, and I love hearing her, but this song is about trying to convince Ariel to stay, why would she just be singing along? It was just a weird character choice that I did not agree with.

(Credit: Digital Spy)

Eric, however, is one that made me very happy. He gets a huge expansion in the remake, and I love these changes. First off, Eric is not just some dull prince that is eye candy for Ariel. Here, he wants to help the people he is ruling over, wanting to make things better. He also has a sense of adventure and exploration, wanting to sail more than be a royal. He also has a mother here, an adopted mom, Queen Selina, played by Noma Dumezweni. His mother actually forbids him from sailing after the accident and in his dismay, he sings the first original song Wild Uncharted Waters. This song, on first listen, was just a mid tier song for me, but after listening to it more and more, it actually helps to see and understand Eric. With Ariel’s voice stuck in his head, he cannot seem to shake her and return to the life he once knew. He has a control over him that is unlike anything he has experienced before, it’s new and it is the key to him escaping this life he feels trapped in. Hauer-King’s performance as Eric is another great casting choice, he not only played Eric perfectly, he exceeded expectations.

During the scene with Ariel and her sisters, instead of them getting ready, they’re all clear debris from a fallen ship. Ariel’s absent mindedness is apparent to her sisters, and this plays out like in the original, except after Triton destroys Ariel’s stuff, the remake Ariel does not cry, though she is clearly in despair. 

Ursula in the remake is also different. Here, it is clear from the get go that Triton and Ursula are related, and that she was banished from Atlantica for fifteen years. McCarthy’s rendition of Poor Unfortunate Souls lives up to the original’s sung by the late Pat Carroll. This rendition, however, is not as sexualized and demeaning as the original was, with the remake choosing to omit that entire portion about men not wanting to hear women talk, or the importance of body language, which I was fine with. That is not the story they are trying to tell, and I can respect choosing to leave that out. Also, instead of signing a contract, Ariel was forced to pick a scale from her tail and throw it into Ursula’s cauldron. Another thing that was sneaky but also an intelligent way to get Ariel to not try to kiss Eric all the time was to give her a spell to make her forget. I love this twist because Ariel wasn’t just trying to kiss Eric the entire time, which I enjoyed, but it was aggravating at times to see her not try to kiss him.

When she gets her legs, Ariel is actually caught in the net of a local fisherman and taken to the castle as she sings an original song in her head called For the First Time. This song is an adventurous one, one that shows Ariel’s curiosity of this world that she has just been thrown into. She is getting ready to meet Eric, who has been frantically searching for the woman who saved him (i.e. Ariel), but when they finally meet, he is initially turned away due to her lack of voice. She is shown being upset, again not shedding a tear, and is initially heartbroken. Later on, she explores the castle and runs into Eric in his room full of items he himself has collected over the years, and they spend time together, with Eric explaining everything and Ariel showing him the secrets hidden underneath some of his collection. 

(Credit: Empire Online)

She and Eric go out, like in the original, where Ariel steers a carriage, and they make it to a market, where Jodi Benson ‘passes the torch’ to Halle herself. This scene made me tear up a bit, I am not going to lie. They also buy Eric a hat, and they dance with people in the courtyard. As they were making their way back, Scuttle steals Eric’s hat and leads them to a boat, where they row as Sebastian sings Kiss the Girl. Due to the forgetting spell, Sebastian is trying to convince Eric to kiss Ariel without Ariel realizing what is going on. We all know what happens here, and this is where I begin to have some issues. I know Scuttlebutt is here, and it is fine. That’s all I will say.

First off, before I talk about Vanessa, Ariel sings another reprise of Part of Your World here, and I think this is placed in the wrong part of the movie. I get that this song is supposed to show her heartbreak since she is seeing the guy she likes about to be engaged to someone else, but I honestly think it would have been better at the very end, when she was a mermaid watching Eric from afar. The lyrics fit better, it seems more sad because more than ever they are separated, and it just fits better here than right after learning about Vanessa. All in all, this was a misstep, and I feel it should be moved to where I suggested. 

Vanessa here is played by the wonderful Jessica Alexander, who makes herself very memorable for such little screen time. However, I am confused for so many reasons with her inclusion. First off, we have already seen how much Eric enjoyed having Ariel with him, and it is very clear that he is off put by this. I don’t really buy that he is hypnotized. In fact, I think when he first sees her, he is initially confused. I mean, I can relate bro so don’t worry. Secondly, her skin tone is nothing like Bailey’s skin tone, and I know he did not get a good look at her, but why couldn’t they choose an actress with a similar tone? I know it is cruel, but Halle has a sister. Overall, I felt Vanessa was way more forced here than in the original, and it just does not fit this story.

(Credit: Twitter User @aficianad0__)

I just have to bring up how much a king Hauer-King (ha!) is in this one compared to the original. As Ariel transformed back, he held her in his arms and tried to protect her, while the animated one just stood and looked at her, like what the heck dude? Protect her! You just found out she saved you and you just look at her like, Oh snap! You a fish, girl? What should I do?” Animated Ariel deserved better, ugh.

(Credit: The Canberra Times)

Anyway, everything happens the same from here on out, except, Ariel is the one to kill Ursula, not Eric. She is actually on the boat while Eric is being shot at from below, and I really enjoy this change. Remember, Ariel has her tail now, so she has to think of a way to use the momentum around her being out of the water to try and steer the boat. By the way, this sequence and Ariel saving Eric earlier was very hard for me to watch due to the strobing lightning effects. 

Everything happens the same, and my disappointment cannot be measured when I saw they did not give Ariel a new DRESS!! What the heck?! She only gets one dress from the movie when the animated one got three?! Ugh, I was so disappointed, but this ending did not disappoint. In fact, I’d argue it is better than the original.

In the original, we all know that she marries Eric and lives close to home in Eric’s castle. In the remake, however, I am not sure if they get married, I have no idea, but there is a ceremony, before Eric and Ariel begin to explore the world together. As they board the boat, Triton and Ariel’s sisters breach the surface to say goodbye, and I love this line from Javier Bardem, which says “You shouldn’t have had to give up your voice to be heard.” And at that moment, I cried. I cried so hard. Ariel finally sheds a tear, saddened about leaving her home and her family behind, but grateful that her father is on her side now. She embraces Triton before he pushes the boat away from them towards their ship, and that is the end. I love that they ended the remake this way as opposed to the wedding. The wedding would have actually been an insult to this rendition of Ariel and Eric and I really enjoyed that they get to explore now and live life the way they want to instead of living the ways of their parents. 

(Credit: DeviantArt User mintmovi3)

All in all, The Little Mermaid remake deserves to exist amongst the others. I have seen many people for different reasons trying to boycott this movie, whether that be for racist reasons, hating the remakes, and so forth. I will not tolerate racism in any fashion, and to everyone hating on the remakes, let’s not die on this hill where a fantastic actress of color just performed the best live action Disney Princess performance ever. Let’s not die on this hill, alright? Support this film, support Halle Bailey, support the amazing story they have made here! It is better than the rest, I promise!

With that, it is the end of my comparison and I thank you for reading this far! If you enjoyed reading my stuff, share it with a friend who may also like it as well. Comments are always welcome, but keep it nice. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and shouldn’t be attacked because of them. Thank you for reading! See you in the next post!

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I'm on my cinephile era now, here is the Letterboxd account to prove it

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So apparently there is something when you call the number. I guess it prob doesn't work outside the US? Anyone want to call and report back? 😎

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Elizabeth Rudnick

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his is the part I'm always the worst at—talking about myself! So as you've figured out, my name is Elizabeth Rudnick and I'm a young adult author. I'm also a Senior Editor at Disney Press in New York City. I've edited books based on movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and Prince of Persia as well as Miley Cyrus's memoir, Miles to Go, which was a New York Times bestseller (imagine if Tweet Heart was too!) and a total blast to work on. When I'm not working, I live in Connecticut with a big mutt named Jack Dyson (because he has the ability to suck up anything in his way) and have a habit of watching hours of mindless television. I like to think of it as research! (less)

Combine EditionsElizabeth Rudnick’s books

Average rating: 4.14 · 22,795 ratings · 2,612 reviews · 62 distinct works • Similar authorsBeauty and the Beast Novelization

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1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 starsMaleficent (Maleficent Novelization, #1) by 

Elizabeth Rudnick (Adaptor),

Scott A. Piehl (Design)

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1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 starsDisney Frozen: A Frozen Heart by 

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1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 starsThe Curse of Maleficent: The Tale of a Sleeping Beauty by 

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1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 starsCruella Live Action Novelization by 

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Academic Blog #5

Realism Comparison in Beauty and the Beast (1991 vs 2017)

We learnt about realism in our class and it is a very vast and interesting topic to discuss. So, today, in this blog post, I will be discussing realism between animated movies and their live action remake, specifically Beauty and the Beast from 1991 and 2017.

Analysis:

Disney Studio has been producing top quality animated movies for many decades now and this comes to no surprise, that for newer audience, Disney Studios is hard at work making remakes of their classic masterpieces like “The little Mermaid”, “Cinderella” and most famously, “Beauty and the Beast”.

The original “Beauty and the Beast (1991)” won Disney Studios 3 Academy Awards for “Best Original Score”, “Best Picture” and “Best Sound Mixing”. It was one of Disney Studios best hits. Disney decided to remake the original classic of Beauty and the Beast back in 2017 casting Emma Watson as Belle. Although the movie was a hit, there were mixed reviews about it. And just because it used real human characters does not mean it was realistic.

Now, I will compare one of the most iconic scenes of the movie, The Ballroom Dance. This is the scene of the movie where Belle wears her iconic princess dress for the first time and dances with beast. This is the scene we find out that Belle is in love with the Beast. The music, the choreography and the scene in general is just breathe taking. Below is the video of comparing the original 1991 movie scene to the 2017 movie remake.

In the 1991 version, we see Mrs. Potts singing with a very gleeful expression. Belle smiles at the Beast and they go down the stairs. They walk in the dinning room and have some dinner when Belle excitedly gets up and drags beast to the Ballroom to dance. The amount of emotion Belle shows when she puts the beast’s hand on her waist and dance. We see beast smiles and dances with joy. An emotional scene where Belle rests her head on the beast’s chest and the Beast smiles and all his servants; The clock, the candle and Mrs. Potts smile and cheer for him. The candle servant then motions the other candles to dim the light. This version of movie uses “Animation as Realism” strategy.

In the 2017 version, we see Belle (Emma Watson) smiles and walks up to the beast. They both go down the hall where Mrs. Potts start to sing. Here we see the two of them dancing. The movie uses the realism strategy of “Believability”, where movies use CGI, photoshop or other techniques to make the movie more believable. Beast character as a whole lack facial expressions. The servants, including Mrs. Potts, show lack of facial expressions.

Both version of these movies, while using different realism strategies, tell the same tale (which is old as time). But which seems to be more realistic?

The 1991 version is more likely realistic in my opinion, even though its animated and does not have living characters playing in the movie but as we know "animation 'penetrates' into areas which cannot be conceptualized and illustrated in other forms" (Wells, 2002). Its just, the animated version shows more exaggeration of emotions where Belle gets excited and drags beast to dance with her. How beast gets shy when Belle puts his hand on her waist. How all the servants and Mrs. Potts show emotions during the whole Ballroom dance scene. Beast falling in love and smiling while dancing. They creative an environment for the audience to get into, which can be seen as Immediacy,“a style of visual representation whose goal is to make the viewer forget the presence of the medium (canvas, photographic film, cinema, and so on) and believe that he is in the presence of the objects of representation” (Bolter and Grusin, 1999: 272-273).

The 2017 version is also very good and follows many realism strategies like Social Realism, where fiction is used to communicated real life conditions. The CGI and effects used in the movie, like the gloomy night and thunder around the beast’s castle, the beast himself and the rose wilting, drags everyone’s attention to the movie like they are living themselves. The strategy here is Hypermediacy, when elements of the medium make it impossible for us to forget (Bolter and Grusin, 1998).

Conclusion:

Personally, I think realism is where emotions are clearly shown and a lot of live action movies do it. Animated or not, emotions are the key ingredient for realism.

References:

Wells, P. (2019) Animation: Genre and Authorship. New York: Columbia University Press.

Bolter, J. D. and Grusin, R. A. (1998) Remediation: Understanding New Media. London, England: MIT Press.

Cinderella (1950) Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske [Feature Film]. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Beauty and the Beast (1991) Directed by Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise [Feature Film]. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Beauty and the Beast (2017) Directed by Bill Condon [Feature Film]. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

[o-the-mts]

50 Years, 50 Movies (2017): Okja

I will turn 50 in November of this year, so my project for 2023 will be to watch and review one movie from each year of my life.  The only qualification is that it has to be a movie I’ve not reviewed previously.   2017 Top Grossing Movies of 2017: Star Wars: The Last Jedi Beauty and the Beast The Fate of the Furious Despicable Me 3 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Best Picture Oscar Nominees and…