Disney to bring Cinderella back in live action

[flickchick85]

I adored whoever played Cinderella. She was so sweet but I understood her strength as well. Plus the prince was crazy hot. Cate of course is always great. So great that the audience got so into it! When cate yelled "I am her mother" I actually heard a lady scoff loudly.

Ha, on my 2nd viewing, I went at 10am on a Sunday morning because I thought that would avoid the crowd, but imagine my utter horror when it turned out to be a practically sold-out show full of children and their parents. I thought it would be an awful experience, but those kids were so enthralled and completely into the film that it actually made it an awesome experience. They laughed, gasped and applauded at all the right moments. And yeah, there were so many audible gasps at that "I am her mother" line I had to laugh a little.

This really is a wonderful film and was even better on 2nd watch. I'm actually tempted to see it one more time in theaters before it finishes its run, too.

 

[Snow Queen]

Oh, speaking of kids, I had this adorable little girl next to me that was really really excited for this. Little princess dress on and everything, it was adorable. She didn't know there was a Frozen short beforehand and there was just this big gasp from beside me when the title card popped up. Typically I don't end up with little kids there when I go to see films with them in the target audience because of when I go, but I was rather glad for this exception.

I think I'll have to go see it again soon.

 

[Silvermoth]

Oh, speaking of kids, I had this adorable little girl next to me that was really really excited for this. Little princess dress on and everything, it was adorable. She didn't know there was a Frozen short beforehand and there was just this big gasp from beside me when the title card popped up. Typically I don't end up with little kids there when I go to see films with them in the target audience because of when I go, but I was rather glad for this exception.

I think I'll have to go see it again soon.

Haha aw. I actually knew about the frozen short but I had forgotten about it by the time I went to see it so I also gasped when it started. It was a little bit embarrassing as I was seeing it by myself lol.

I wonder if those little snowball guys will make an appearance in frozen 2? Plus, how was Elsa able to alter her and Anna's dress like that? I mean she didn't just make a dress out of ice, she changed the colour and everything. Is she a reality warped now?

Ha, on my 2nd viewing, I went at 10am on a Sunday morning because I thought that would avoid the crowd, but imagine my utter horror when it turned out to be a practically sold-out show full of children and their parents. I thought it would be an awful experience, but those kids were so enthralled and completely into the film that it actually made it an awesome experience. They laughed, gasped and applauded at all the right moments. And yeah, there were so many audible gasps at that "I am her mother" line I had to laugh a little.

This really is a wonderful film and was even better on 2nd watch. I'm actually tempted to see it one more time in theaters before it finishes its run, too.

Haha so good!

My only problem, well not really a problem, is that I'm not sure Helena Bonham carter was exactly the right fit for the role. It might have been cooler to get someone a little plumper and mumsier like Kathy bates or Miriam margoyles or someone like that but I just love period dramas like this. It was so magical.

You know what else I loved about this? They didn't feel the need to tack on some stupid cgi battle scene at the end of it like sometimes they feel like. The ending and pacing was superb

 

[Silvermoth]

What was your favourite bit? For me it was the ballroom scene. The way the prince put his hand on cinderella's hip was steamier than the entire 50 shades of grey movie

 

[Snow Queen]

What was your favourite bit? For me it was the ballroom scene. The way the prince put his hand on cinderella's hip was steamier than the entire 50 shades of grey movie

My pizza and I tonight were steamier than 50 Shades of Grey.

And I think I may have to agree.

 

[flickchick85]

What was your favourite bit? For me it was the ballroom scene. The way the prince put his hand on cinderella's hip was steamier than the entire 50 shades of grey movie

Oh yes. That first dance was perfection. At that 2nd viewing I mentioned with all those kids, applause actually broke out at the end of that dance (and I think it originated from one of the dads, because I heard him behind me say, "nice!" before clapping, lol).

Other favorite scenes: Cinderella and Kit's first meeting in the woods. The dialogue there was wonderful, imo. When talking about the stag, I loved Lily's matter-of-fact delivery of the line, "We met just now. I looked into his eyes, and he looked into mine, and I just felt he had a great deal left to do in his life, that's all."

Also, the scene where Lady Tremaine confronts Ella with the glass slipper. Cate's whole monologue and then her delivery of "Why?! Because you are young and innocent and good and I..." was awesome. I really admired a lot of the restraint in the screenplay - it never felt too manipulative or like it was pandering or spoon-feeding to me...it said just enough to get the point across without crossing the saccharine line for the most part. And I think Branagh deserves a lot of credit for some excellent dramatic choices in the acting/staging.

 

[Snow Queen]

Those were another two fantastic scenes. I'd also like to toss in the scene where the king [BLACKOUT]dies. As someone said in this thread, it was a different thing to do to make the male lead so vulnerable and I thought it was really effective.[/BLACKOUT]

Oh and I loved the swing scene as well.

 

[flickchick85]

Those were another two fantastic scenes. I'd also like to toss in the scene where the king [BLACKOUT]dies. As someone said in this thread, it was a different thing to do to make the male lead so vulnerable and I thought it was really effective.[/BLACKOUT]

Oh yeah, the shot of them from above at the end of that scene is probably my single favorite shot of the film. Very affecting.

 

[Lord]

The feminist criticism of this version of the story feels like reaching to me. I saw it as a story about a character whose inherent goodness is constantly pushed and tested but who stays firm in her convictions (yeah yeah, courage and kindness) and displays tremendous strength and optimism in the face of constant, unwavering abuse. And she was always able to see past her own miserable situation to look out for those around her, too. That's not a weak character to me.

It's not like she was waiting around hoping for the prince to come rescue her, either. Hell, even when she desperately wanted to go out to the ball and see him, she had no clue he was a prince, or even a potential husband, really. She just wanted a brief escape from that awful home life for a social engagement with someone she met and connected with once. Basically, the girl just wanted a night out for some socializing, lol.

And yes, she is ultimately "rescued" from that life by marrying the king, but that happened to her directly because of who she was and her strength of spirit. I thought it was a really nice touch how the prince took on her mantra/philosophy as his own, subsequently convincing his father that he was finally fit to run his own kingdom (and life), thus compelling his father to give his blessing to marry for love. I think the main message young people would get from this film is that if you are a relentlessly good person then good things can happen to you. And I don't think that's a terrible message to send out at all.

It kind of bothers me that the only strong female characters that get praised in movies are the "ass-kicking" types, like the Ever After version of this character (which I also love) who fights back at every opportunity. For some people trapped or born into horrible circumstances, "fighting back" in the traditional sense is not a realistic option. THIS version of Cinderella displayed a much more subtle kind of strength - the ability to make the best of the situation she's been dealt, with pure resilience, courage, kindness and optimism, always looking for ways to improve it. She's able to find her own happiness while trapped in a circumstance in which many of us could not. I don't see how that makes for a bad role model.

But when things don't go her way, like when she was locked in the tower, all she does is dream awake about her good moments with the prince. Every time something happens, she just goes with the flow, not realy trying to fix a way in order to achieve her objectives.

The message was that if you're a good person, good things will happen to you, that's not exactly a bad message to send, but the way the movie presents it is just incredibly naive and dangerous, the protagonist is passive and goes with the flow, she was just lucky to have all the plot helping her.

What does she do when her stepmother pretty much enslaves her? She accepts it. What does she do when she's locked into a tower? She gives up and sings.

In the original, the plot was presented in a way that honestly worked much better, i mean, Cinderella was more ignorant and kept that way, kindness and hardwork was all she had, and when she was even more abused, she actualy had an emotional reaction. In this version she's portrayed as being a bit smarter, but does nothing with that.

Statements like this make me confused:

"While it might have been nice to see the new-model Cinderella follow Frozen '​s progressive, quasi-feminist lead, the film's naff, preserved-in-amber romanticism is its very charm."

Did these people even watch the original? Cinderella was more of a person in the original, she actualy felt it when something bad happened to her. She's way too passive for me to even consider "progressive".

Rob and Doug said some interesting things regarding this:

[YT]iCFuv3TSpFw[/YT]

 

[DarthSkywalker]

But when things don't go her way, like when she was locked in the tower, all she does is dream awake about her good moments with the prince. Every time something happens, she just goes with the flow, not realy trying to fix a way in order to achieve her objectives.

The message was that if you're a good person, good things will happen to you, that's not exactly a bad message to send, but the way the movie presents it is just incredibly naive and dangerous, the protagonist is passive and goes with the flow, she was just lucky to have all the plot helping her.

What does she do when her stepmother pretty much enslaves her? She accepts it. What does she do when she's locked into a tower? She gives up and sings.

In the original, the plot was presented in a way that honestly worked much better, i mean, Cinderella was more ignorant and kept that way, kindness and hardwork was all she had, and when she was even more abused, she actualy had an emotional reaction. In this version she's portrayed as being a bit smarter, but does nothing with that.

She does plenty with it. The actual acknowledgment of the situation allows for her to make an actual choice. And in doing so shows she isn't naive or just "going with the flow". You seem to see some problem with her sticking to her morals even in the face of bad situations. I see the opposite. I love that endurance, the proof that she cannot be broken. It is what makes her final scene with her stepmother work so well imo. Because as the rest of the film showed us, its genuine.

She also does do things when presented with difficult situations. She just doesn't do what some others would do. Which is why she is a better person then most. Though I do wonder, what do you think she should have done? Assault her stepmother?

 

[Silvermoth]

I didn't approach it from a feminism point of view. To be honest if I did I would probably agree that it's not exactly a portrayal of women at their strongest.

I approached it from an lgbtiq rights perspective. I really responded to a hero who was treated like absolute ***** but never became as cruel as the people around her (or him) and then did the ultimate in strength in lgbtiq pride. The right to fall in love with someone and show that love in public without being afraid or being made to feel terrible about it.

So many people fought and died for me to get to fall in love with the people I want to fall in love with and so I think cinderella is a movie of ultimate strength and fantastic heroism

 

[Lord]

She does plenty with it. The actual acknowledgment of the situation allows for her to make an actual choice. And in doing so shows she isn't naive or just "going with the flow". You seem to see some problem with her sticking to her morals even in the face of bad situations. I see the opposite. I love that endurance, the proof that she cannot be broken. It is what makes her final scene with her stepmother work so well imo. Because as the rest of the film showed us, its genuine.

But most of the times, her decision is to just acknowledge her fate and start dreaming awake, while being smarter in this version, it makes it even weirder how she doesn't do more to get out of this s***y situation. Being good and staying that way was not the problem, the thing is, she just acted way to passively to all the events around her.

She also does do things when presented with difficult situations. She just doesn't do what some others would do. Which is why she is a better person then most. Though I do wonder, what do you think she should have done? Assault her stepmother?

Well, if someone decided to lock me in a tower forever, i would on the very least scream. The Cinderella from the original Disney film actualy had emotional reactions.

There were some other examples i'm probably not remembering now, as i said, Doug and Rob's review was realy spot on:

[YT]iCFuv3TSpFw[/YT]

 

[Silvermoth]

She had emotional reactions. Remember when the stepmother ripped her mum's dress? That was a hell of an emotional reaction poor girl.

Maybe it's a british thing. I'm not sure where your from so I'll just assume it's america where the reaction to emotion is a bit different to the british stiff upper lippedness

 

[flickchick85]

Aaaand the half-billion mark is crossed.

http://pro.boxoffice.com/news/2015-05-06-cinderella-crosses-500m-worldwide

Cinderella is a $500 million worldwide hit for Disney.

The live-action fairy tale has now grossed $308 million outside of North America, due in part to a stellar run in China ($71M), where it recorded the biggest March debut of all time with $25 million. Cinderella was able to cross the box office milestone following a strong run in Japan, where it opened in April 25 and recorded the biggest opening day and opening weekend of the year for a Western release. Cinderella has grossed a total of $21.6 million to date in Japan.
Other top overseas performers include Australia ($16.5M), Italy ($16.5M), Brazil ($15.5M), and Mexico ($15.4M).

Disney's having an awesome 2015 at the box office so far. Wonder if Tomorrowland and Inside Out can keep it up. Not even gonna bother asking that question about Star Wars, lol.

 

[Silvermoth]

Oh just half a billion so far? I would have thought a film that good would have made at least a billion by now

 

[flickchick85]

Nah, this was never the billion dollar type of film. It was always trailing Maleficent, and that "only" made $758M. It just recently opened in Japan though, so it's still got some money to make. Maleficent also had almost double the budget of Cinderella, so there's that. Regardless, there's no denying it has done very well.

 

[Double B]

Saw this recently and loved it, despite all doubts in the casting. Colour me pleasantly surprised.

 

[Snow Queen]

Went to see this again today with a friend from out of town, loved it just as much as the first time :3 Nice empty theater too.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Nothing better then an empty theater.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I agree an empty theater equals heaven.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I agree an empty theater equals heaven.

Well, except for a theater with SPIDEY in it.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Well, except for a theater with SPIDEY in it.

I knew I was overlooking something.

 

[Snow Queen]

Nothing better then an empty theater.

Well, empty plus one. First time seeing a film with him so it was especially nice to have that theater to ourselves.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Well, empty plus one. First time seeing a film with him so it was especially nice to have that theater to ourselves.

 

[Snow Queen]

Not quite. Or remotely.