Annie (2014)

Plus, Annie is a musical about an optimistic orphan who gets adopted by a rich man during an economic depression. It happens to be made during an economic downturn.

I'm betting the idealistic Rags to Riches format won't go over too well in these times.

edited 30th Sep '13 9:35:42 PM by Sharysa

And the public isn't as eager to root for the rich now, given Occupy Wall Street and all.

edited 30th Sep '13 10:30:56 PM by Tuckerscreator

@Corr I'd be more sympathetic, but we're not ganging up on a rap mogul. That's kind of outside our pay grade.

On the other hand, there's been talk of race lifting Annie since I was a kid. It's a political thing. And I guess we're in no position to complain from that standpoint.

Annie was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, so I'm actually excited for this and horrified at the same time. Hopefully it'll be good.

BEHOLD! Tis a life that is hard and knock.

Can we have this film minus the child star? Like yon Garfield minus Garfield thing? Because what I could bring myself to watch of that trailer made me actually chortle only once, when Cameron Diaz did that wee rant about taste. That was quality.

Bit like Tom Cruise's character in Tropic Thunder, Diaz could just end up robbing the whole film from under the titular star's nose to an embarrassing amount.

Well, I've seen the movie now, and it was terrible.

So, was Diaz decent at least?

How have you seen the movie when it doesn't come out until December 2014? The trailer is just okay until that girl starts singing. She has a very nice voice.

edited 6th Mar '14 1:06:24 AM by lexicon

Once again I wonder if Barack Obama will be appearing in place of FDR in the original play. And whether he'll be played by himself, Will Smith, or Denzel Washington.

That trailer basically showed the whole movie, and it doesn't look like it's bringing anything new or interesting to the story. The whole thing is resting on a gimmick, and it's not a particularly clever gimmick. The new version of the songs sound lazy, and Diaz is a terrible Miss Hannigan. There's nothing threatening about her at all.

edited 6th Mar '14 1:02:47 PM by Mort08

@Sharysa You do realize that the original musical was released at the height of the Carter malaise, right?

Oh man, I'm really looking forward to this. Partially because it looks like it's gonna be just as gleefully absurd as the original, partially because I find myself liking the new versions of the songs catchy despite myself, and partially because a massively popular adaptation is what got the comic uncancelled last time.

aw man. this looks like fun.

Hmm, this looks to me to be another vanity project on the same sort of level as that After Earth thing, and I have the sneaking suspicion that it will be equally successful. I.E. not very.

Except Will Smith pulled his daughter out of the project like a year ago, sooo....

So? It's not a requirement of a vanity project for Will Smith's kids to be involved - Mr Beyoncé Knowles is still involved along with whatever top level celebrity that he's hooked up with.

And the omens are still bad.

Generally a vanity project is one for whatever celebrity's cooked it up. Jay-Z was brought in after this was already going to b be a thing that was happening, likely more because of how well Gatsby did than any sense of "let's promote Jay-Z."

If Beyoncé is involved and campaigned on Jay-Z's behalf, it's not something I can find a source on.

edited 7th Mar '14 9:29:15 AM by Wackd

Ugh, Cameron Diaz made me cringe. While I wasn't exactly a giant fan of the original, at least I know they'd never make a character say "Exactly, Girlfriend. Exactly."

Being seventy-odd years removed from the traditional setting I'm sure the original Miss Hannagin used some cringeworthy slang as well we've overlooked.

edited 9th Mar '14 10:39:10 AM by Wackd

er, No. I still think that's an overall stretch to say the least. It makes her seem way too air headed and valley girlish than actually threatening.

edited 9th Mar '14 10:52:11 AM by Mattonymy

Miss Hannigan, at least in the 1982 version, drinks and overspends, and the only reason she's a problem for Annie is her relationship to Rooster. Even then she's defeated with a plea for the bathroom and a good stamp in the foot.

She also seemingly has no power over the orphans—they walk all over her seemingly without punishment (literally), disobey her rules about singing all over the place, and invade her personal space. The one actually menacing thing she does is threaten to send Sandy to the sausage factor and she takes her sweet time with that too. They seem to clean more because they find her shouting irritating than anything.

The only real threat she presents to them is economic—her selfish use of the orphanage's money means they have shit food, tattered clothing, and crummy housing, and they rightfully hate her for it. But Hannigan herself is never really menacing. Mostly she's just pathetic.

edited 9th Mar '14 10:59:51 AM by Wackd

But that still doesn't make that portrayal warranted. You could find a flimsy justification for anything, but as we've seen in recent films, that still doesn't necessarily make it a good performance or interpretation.

My sister adores the older film and is raging about this movie. She nearly bit my head off when I said that it doesn't look bad. Not good either, mind you, but not bad. Just kinda... forgettable, really. Though we both agree that Cameron Diaz is not a good fit for Miss Hannigan.

Three things that stood out for me:

1) Cameron Diaz… stop. Just stop. She seems to be trying way too hard, and it's just… ugh. Also, the writing for her. That George Clooney "joke" made no sense. And yay. Shoe-horned in Facebook references. Gotta keep up with the kids these days… yo.

2) I know it's an adaptation of something that already did this, but the whole "aloof father figure comes to care about the little kid" thing needs to stop. They even had the balls to include the line "Sometimes what you're looking for is right in front of you", and said it with no hint of irony.

3) It looks pretty watch-able. I like Jamie Foxx for the most part, it looks a solid performance. The little kid doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out, so that's nice. I like the songs from the original. Foxx's lines at the end of the trailer were kinda funny.