Annie (2014)

So basically you think Hannigan should take a level in menacing for this adaptation?

I dunno, I feel like the forced modernity ups the level of patheticness for this interpretation. What was irritating when the musical was first staged is rote now, and most kids can probably relate to adults who try to hard to be hip.

I'm really of the opinion that making Hannigan a nuanced, threatening villain would be character derailment.

edited 9th Mar '14 11:24:04 AM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

It looks like it will right up there with the recent Mama Mia film, 2005's The Producers, 2004's The Phantom Of The Opera, and Rock of Ages.

Sort of how how you also thought making Mr. Peabody the definitive father of Sherman wouldn' t change their dynamic whatsoever back when it was announced, huh?

edited 9th Mar '14 11:39:57 AM by Mattonymy

You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.

Mamma Mia made metric gigafucktonnes of money at the box office, on dvd, on blu-ray and on streaming download sites like Itunes and Netflix.

I don't see this film doing the same.

@Tam Of course, my mistake.

You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.

Yeah, fair enough. Could just be the horrible delivery of the line that's irking me.

The last hurrah? Nah, I'd do it again.

That's different, though Peabody adopts Sherman from an orphanage in the very first short so I'm not sure where the idea that this adaptation only just now made him his definitive father came from.

My opinion at the time was that Mr. Peabody would gradually warm up and start treating Sherman less like a lab assistant and more like a son. It'd be a character arc for him. And that, largely, came to pass, although in a muddled and underbaked way.

If Hannigan over the course of the film gradually becomes more dangerous and menacing, fine, but I'm saying that her not being that from the beginning isn't a bad thing and is in keeping with the source material. Moreover, Hannigan's patheticness has demonstrably been able to be compelling and keep a movie-length plot moving in the past, where as the most Peabody's cold, clinical demeanor has been shown to keep moving is a five-minute short.

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Except the show never made any outright proclamations that Sherman was Peabody' son. In fact, if you watch the first episode, he goes to great strives to tell him this is not the relationship that will work and instead their dynamic is much like a pet or sidekick. The "adoption" was more or less a direct inversion on the pet relationship.

The reason why the film failed and I can see this film not working in regard the same to the drastic changes in Hannigan' character, is that by changing something as seemingly simple as the adoption parameters or having Hannigan come across as inane, drastically changes the relationships withe the rest of the characters. Now instead of seeming like an overworked, annoyed and child hating disciplinarian, Hannigan feels much more like an inexperienced social worker who simply has to work at this job. Similar to Peabody- he has to be humanized which sacrifices a ton of his charming sarcasm to Sherman in the process.

edited 9th Mar '14 12:58:19 PM by Mattonymy

You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.

Not unlike the original. Remember the "Little Girls" song? Or how she's threatened with how tough it is to be out of work in this economy?

Besides, she's still pretty blatantly an asshole, regardless of why she's there.

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

See, in the original version, she was still an asshole, but one that you could take seriously as a schemer (which was a pretty big part of her character). In this one? Cameron Diaz's portrayal of her (or maybe it's just the seemingly awful script) makes her seem like a teenage girl. In fact, now that I think of it, she reminds me of Kristen Stewart's babysitter character from Zathura (a decent movie with some issues, such as Kristen Stewart's babysitter character).

But, then, after seeing Bad Teacher, I am not at all convinced Cameron Diaz is at all suited to any role like this at all. She should've stuck to voicing Fiona in Shrek stuff.

Honestly, this movie looks like it'll be a really mixed bag. Nothing that'll ruin the musical for me, since although I do remember seeing it a few times as a kid, I have no real emotional attachment to it. But if this trailer is any indication, the script seems obnoxious. The only remotely amusing thing I saw in there was the line at the end ("I don't like you in Harlem, why would I like you on Facebook?"^note Side note: Why would she ask him to like her on Facebook? Wouldn't she ask him to add her as a friend? Why am I even trying to make sense out of a very clearly shoehorned in joke?), and even that had a painful setup. The music disappoints me. To be honest, I was expecting completely rewritten music, like, new songs and everything, not remakes of the songs from the original musical. That just makes the rewritten script even more jarring. They could modernize it, sure, but if you're gonna keep the music, why not also try to at least keep the spirit of the original show?

And is it just me, or did it seem like Qui...the little girl playing Annie's vocals were really overprocessed in that clip of "Tomorrow"?

edited 15th Mar '14 12:45:19 PM by Odd1

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

We could just call her QW if her name is getting too complicated to retype over and over.

quvenzhane wallis

ophelia, you're breaking my heart

Yeah, I'm never gonna remember how to spell that.

Also, technically, it's Quvenzhané.

...How do you even pronounce that name?

edited 20th Mar '14 7:44:33 PM by Odd1

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Who cares? I just want to hear John Travolta try saying it.

The IMDB board for this movie sure is scary. An alarming amount of people seem to have confused fictional comic strip characters for historical figures.

The IMDB boards for most films are scary, especially when identity politics are involved. 'S why I left.

edited 18th Nov '14 9:58:27 PM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

I don't want to look because I can already guess what it'd be. (HINT: It's not racial tolerance!)

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

ophelia, you're breaking my heart

I wished this was about the comic. At least we could've seen Annie in the war with her brigade...

It's a film based on a rap song that sampled a song from the 1982 film. No one cares or will care.

...I hadn't actually considered that. Maybe that's why Jay-Z is handling the music for this.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

That's why they made it? <n<

I doubt that's why they made it.

Still, if that is, so what? Doesn't matter why a movie was conceived. What matters in the end is whether the final product is good or not. Hell, Kevin Smith wrote his latest movie Tusk just based on a weird Canadian "roommate wanted" ad, and some people are hailing that as his best work in years.

edited 29th Nov '14 9:18:12 PM by Odd1

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

I've seen the film.

There is a lot in it that's going to make people angry. (It opens with a white ginger Annie doing a tap routine to the boredom of her classmates, for gods sake. And it has a character named Harold Grey who's a liberal anticorprate philanthropist. It's blatantly baiting the audience.)

I don't care. I loved every minute of it.

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

I loved the original version back in the day, but my taste in movies has often been criticized, so you liking the film isn't any guarantee that anyone else will.

When exactly is it supposed to be out again?

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.