MOVIE- Beauty and the Beast

PG (2:09)

Wide release 3/17/17

Viewed 3/21/17 at Carlisle 8 with Ella
IMBd: 7.9/10

RT Critic:  70  Audience:  86
Critic's Consensus:  With an enchanting cast, beautifully crafted songs, and a painterly eye for detail, Beauty and the Beast offers a faithful yet fresh retelling that honors its beloved source material.

Cag:  3.5 Liked it, especially the music

Directed by Bill Condon

Walt Disney Pictures

Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline, 

My comments:  I was really looking forward to this, and took Ella after dinner at the bar at Applebees.  We settled into our comfy reclining seats with great expectation.  Was it as wonderful as we expected?  Unfortunately, not for either of us.  I loved the music.  And the actors.  But the animated spectaculars dragged on and on for me.  Ella got scared in a couple of places.  She told me she was going to have nightmares, and covered her face at one point.  So afterwards, in the car, I asked her about it. Spoiler alert:  In the scene where Belle and the Beast are transported back to Paris where she was born and her mother died had no meaning for ten-year-old Ella.  She didn't understand any of it, and the picture of the doctor with what she described as a "duck mask" was really, really creepy to her since she didn't understand the context.  She told me she felt much better after I explained what a plague was, did, and why they had to get the baby out of there fast. Emma Watson is adorable, and I loved Kevin Klein as her father.  But yes, unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  The fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle's enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast's hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.

MOVIE - No Strings Attached

Just delightful
Released 1-21-11 DVD 5-10-11
R (1:50)
Sat. 3-26-2011 at Kolb Cheap Theater...alone
RT; 49% cag 91%
Director: Ivan Reitman
Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman, Kevin Kline

Okay, I laughed out loud, I giggled, I grinned, and I rarely wiggled in my seat. This movie was a charmer. Okay, you know how it's gonna end -- and you're happy to be on the ride that gets you there. The perfect movie to cheer up an otherwise sad day.

Emma and Adam met at camp when they were 14 and kept bumping into each other for then fifteen years. Now Emma (Portman) is training to be a doctor and Adam (Kutcher) works on a Glee-like television production and after an unexpected one-morning-stand decide to be "friends with benefits." That's as far as it goes, no commitments.

These two have great charisma. They enjoy each other, their eyes sparkle, they make a really wonderful pair. So as she pushes him away and he pines for her, as they jump each other's bones and deal with his charming actor-father (Kline) who is now dating Adam's ex, as their various friends deem to give advice - well, just sit back, grin, and enjoy. It's just plain fun. Not deep. Not particularly thought-provoking. Pure entertainment. Hurray!