Any die hard movie musical fan knows that MGM produced most of the greatest musicals of all time in the 1950s. The Arthur Freed Unit became the touchstone of musicals with productions ranging from The Wizard of Oz in 1939 to Bells Are Ringing in 1960. While the 1940s was a productive decade for Freed, the 1950s gave us some of the most beloved, classic musicals of all time.

Now, Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has taken two of these MGM classics, plus one from the Warner Brothers library, and has given them a good scrubbing for Blu-ray and the results are astonishing. Best of all, you can purchase your favorite film as a stand-alone disk or get them all in the new Musicals: 4-Movie Collection. The three new titles are The Band Wagon, Calamity Jane, and Kiss Me Kate. Warners has added Singin’ in the Rain as a bonus to the 4-disk set.

The first movie in the collection is The Band Wagon (1953) starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Nanette Fabray and Jack Buchanan. The story follows a nearly washed up Hollywood actor (Astaire) who decides to head to Broadway to see if he can untarnish his star in a big stage musical (shades of the Oscar-winning Birdman!). An egotistical director hijacks the frothy musical and turns it into a depressing version of Faust, ensuring a huge flop but the cast bands together to save the show.

The film is very entertaining, and it allows Astaire to take on a different character than we’re used to seeing from him. No top hat and tails this time around, but his dancing is still on point, especially in the scene where he dances with a shoe shine man (who was a real shoe shine man in New York). Cyd Charisse is stunning as always and is simply magnificent to watch in what was her first real starring role. The film also introduced Broadway star Nanette Fabray to movie audiences in what was, surprisingly, her only MGM musical. The movie also has a great score, but it’s most well-known for introducing “That’s Entertainment” as THE song about showbiz, supplanting the standard “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

The film looks terrific on Blu-ray. The image is bright and colorful but still has a film-like quality to it with an appropriate amount of film grain. The 1080p image(presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio) has not been completely scrubbed of any detail, and the soundtrack has been given a nice DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 remix that keeps the dialog and singing front and center, allowing the orchestra to swell, but never overwhelm, from the surrounds.

Bonus features include:

• Commentary by Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein
• Get Aboard! The Band Wagon (37:09) — A vintage “making of” looking at the production of the film with many behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the film’s stars, crew and family members.
• The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli (58:25) — An episode of the WNET series focusing on Minnelli.
• Jack Buchanan with the Glee Quartet (6:00) — Comedic musical short film starring Band Wagon c0-star Buchanan.
• The Three Little Pups (6:46) — MGM cartoon featuring Droopy Dog in a variation of The Three Little Pigs.
• Theatrical Trailer (3:14)

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How much is too much?

Based on common sense and experience, it’s not unreasonable to believe we have a pretty good grasp of what “too much” means. Between you, me and every other reader out there, we can attach a reasonable answer to the question in pretty short order.

Take common sense for example: We know when there is too much salt on our food, when it’s too cold to go outside without a jacket, when you’re too tired to concentrate on something. Pretty basic stuff.

On the flip side, the concept of “too much” is not so easy to discern when it comes to some of our television preferences … and especially so with our favorite shows.

Already in The Walking Dead‘s current season’s second half, there’s been a bevy of examples of excess. And many of them have elicited its fans’ displeasure. (This isn’t exactly news to anyone; the show has been doing so from its inception, a big part of its draw and watchability.)

Recent events have caused fans (read “angry villagers”) to wield their pitchforks and lit torches on a vocal little stroll down Main Street, U.S.A.

Too Much Immediacy

With the series leaving us last year mourning Beth’s untimely demise, the writers immediately offered an interesting episode (“What Happened And What’s Going On”) to start the second half of the season with yet another death, this time fan-favorite Tyreese. Coming so quickly on the heels of Beth’s exit, you could practically hear fans gnashing their teeth. Was this too much too soon? Are the writers that heartless? Do they get their rocks off pegging us with multiple deaths back-to-back, barely giving us time to breathe?

No, not at all. It was the perfect time. It kept things flowing and interesting and it keeps us on the edge of our seats. Not to mention it makes for good drama. And it’s not as if it hasn’t been done before — Dale and Shane were “offed” in consecutive episodes during season 2. The show’s Powers That Be aren’t setting any precedents.

But still … too much too soon? That’s what a lot of fans harped about on social media, blogs and other forums concerning Tyreese’s downfall. Just goes to show you can’t please everyone all of the time.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s those gut punches and their ramifications that keep the show’s comfortabilities at bay and our senses tuned. Me? I didn’t have a problem with it. It’s part of what The Walking Dead is. If you’re a fan, you come to expect the unexpected. So, no … it wasn’t too much.

Too Much Monotony

This is one of my pet peeves. And not about the show itself, but of the fans’ attitudes toward it.

To many, last week’s “Them” was filled with plodding and tiresome nothingness. Some of the things I read and heard? “Not much action.” “Boring.” “Little story.” “It’s as if the group was doing nothing but huffing it on down a highway aimlessly.”

And therein lies my peeve. Because there was so much more to the episode.

The group was fresh from a confrontation at Grady Memorial where they successfully won back Carol but lost Beth in the process. They were still reeling from Bob’s fate at the hands of the Terminans not to mention the ruckus of that particular house of horrors. And now? Tyreese is gone. The group, as a whole, is woefully affected on deeply personal levels, particularly so in the cases of Daryl, Maggie and Sasha whose feelings have been especially riven and rent raw as a result of the loss of their loved ones. But wait, there’s more: Throw in everyone’s depletion from lack of food and water and you have yourself a real party going on. Each person is spent to their cores. Does the situation cry for a splatter-fest fracas with the undead?

No. It calls for introspection and understanding of the characters, some healing of those frayed nerves, sometimes in the form of emotional outlet. In whatever form that outlet might take. And, again, that’s just what the writers gave us. They slowed the pace of the show for the greater part of an episode and, as an audience, got us to take a step backward and evaluate the position these emotionally crippled and physically exhausted folks are feeling.

It’s called character study. I applaud it. And I’m certain I’m in the minority.

Most fans want the action, the splatter, the danger … every single episode. And I get that to a degree. It’s all well and fine to get caught up in a show. I do it all the time. But in something like The Walking Dead there’s a whole lot more going on then just the blood and guts, which is my least favorite part. Getting to the heart of the characters and their interactions with others as well as the ramifications of their actions … that’s where the real meat and potatoes of the series is for me. As example, Rick’s introspection and decisions. Glenn’s lay-it-on-the-line common sense. Michonne’s rare, in-your-face sensibility. (We saw example of this big time in Sunday’s episode during her discussions with Rick.) Daryl’s seeming off-the-cuff outbursts which, when you dissect them, can often reveal more wisdom than knee-jerk reaction.

So is there too much monotony when an episode like “Them” comes along to slow down the pace? Hell no. It’s completely necessary to the story.

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Being a child of the late 60s/early 70s, I am an old school Scooby-Doo fan. You couldn’t get me up early during the week to go to school, but you can bet I was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to watch my cartoons. Scooby was always a favorite because it combined the wacky antics of Scooby, Shaggy and the gang with my other favorite things — ghosts and monsters, except not as scary as those old movies that I loved but scared me to death! Of course, the supernatural characters on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? were always some no-goodnik trying to get way with some crime that was always foiled by “those meddling kids.”

Scooby and the gang became entrenched in pop culture, spawning a variety of different series, a run of Scooby-Doo movies featuring animated guest stars like The Addams Family, Sonny & Cher, Phyllis Diller, The Three Stooges, The Harlem Globetrotters and many more. The idea of the “Scooby Gang” even carried over to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character has been kept alive on Cartoon Network/Boomerang and through a series of direct-to-video movies. Our own Kim Tibbs reviewed last year’s Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray. And now Scooby and the gang are back in Moon Monster Madness.

It’s usually never a good sign when a familiar character ends up going into space, an environment totally alien, literally, to the original concept (look at the alternately reviled/adored Jason X as an example). Take a character who spends most of the time solving earthbound mysteries and putting them on the moon to solve another mystery really stretches the concept, especially when the new city on the moon is basically just a stand-in for an earthly haunted house. But that’s what we have with Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness.

The basic plot has the Scooby gang winning a lottery to be the first civilians to fly with an egotistical Richard Branson type, Sly Baron, and a crew of professionals on a new spacecraft meant to usher in commercial space travel for the masses. Unfortunately, an alien starts to destroy the ship and they are forced to land on Baron’s moon base on the dark side of the moon (ZOINKS!), but the alien is not finished with them. Is the alien an advance scout for a possible invasion of earth … or is there something, or someone, else behind the attack?

Ridley Scott said that Alien was basically a haunted house movie in space, and Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness is just that. The moon base is simply a stand-in for the house and the alien is the typical ghost or monster that is trying to run the owners out. And if you know your Scooby-Doo lore, you will have to question whether the alien is even real especially with the red herrings of key characters always off screen during an alien attack. Could it be Sly Baron himself, or one of the other astronauts? You know those meddling kids will find out the truth.

The movie may not appeal to original Scooby fans, but a new generation not familiar with the old haunted house stories will most likely be dazzled by the sci-fi elements and animation. It should be noted, however, that very young children may be disturbed by some of the imagery, especially as the alien stalks Scooby and Shaggy, and during a sequence when each member of the group tells how they would avert an alien invasion. The animation goes very stylized at that point, with some videogame-style destruction and violence. The story also introduces a very intense rivalry between Daphne and Velma, and really paints Fred as a total doofus who never takes off his spacesuit or helmet, even inside the moon base!

What the movie does have going for it is the smooth, colorful animation (and it’s a shame Warner Bros. didn’t feel the need to release this one on Blu-ray) and the familiarity of the voice cast. Frank Welker returns as the voices of Fred (he originated the role back in 1969!) and Scooby, with Mindy Cohn doing a great approximation of the original Velma voice and Matthew Lillard reprising the role of Shaggy, which he did so well in the live-action movies. Guest voice talent includes Malcolm McDowell, Diedrich Bader and Mark Hamill.

The DVD also includes the short Space Travel Is Groovy hosted by Mindy Cohn. Cohn takes us behind the scenes at Space Camp to see how rockets are launched and space shuttles fly and land (although this is a bit dated now since the space shuttle program is no more). Everything is very simplified for the younger viewer, so adults may find the whole thing a bit tedious. But still, who doesn’t want to go to Space Camp?!

Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness may be a good way to introduce a new generation to the simple joys of Scooby-Doo.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided a DVD to CliqueClack for review. The film is available on DVD and as a Digital HD download.

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If there was ever a venerable children’s franchise that refused to die, Power Rangers may just be the one. What started in 1993 has now spawned a two decade long authorization of fun television programming, movies, video games, and countless action figures – and I have been with them every single step of the way. It’s been several months since I’ve penned an editorial for CliqueClack, but having Power Rangers back on my flat screen has rather reinvigorated me.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen … I’m back.

Power Rangers Dino Charge premiered on Nickelodeon on Saturday afternoon though if you’re a fan like me, chances are you probably watched the premiere episode one week early on Nick.com. At any rate, the first installment really set the tone for Dino Charge and based upon what was shown, fans and casual viewers are in for a ride. Instead of the typical totalitarian villain bent on conquering the planet, Power Rangers Dino Charge concerns Sledge, a vile intergalactic bounty hunter on the hunt for the Energems. Who could blame him? All powerful gems with endless energies aren’t exactly available on EBay or Amazon.com. However, there to oppose him are the Power Rangers, who in this series harness the dynamisms and strengths of the ancient dinosaurs.

As has become the norm of the Power Rangers series, the sole mission of our favorite spandex clad heroes is to keep the planet safe and they are armed with an incredible arsenal to help them do so. This season features the usual line up of five rangers – just like previous seasons – but instead of three young men and two young women, there is only one young lady this time. That’s actually pretty interesting considering that’s how it usually is in the Japanese program that the show is adapted from.

However, that’s not the only significant change. Anyone that reads my editorials knows that I’m a big supporter of diversity on television. And by big, I mean colossal. This is why it pleases me to see a team of ethnically diverse superheroes this season. We have Brennan Mejia, a talented and athletically fit Mexican actor portraying Tyler, the Red Ranger and leader of the team. We also have Yoshua Sudarso, a gifted Idonesian actor portraying Koda, the Blue Ranger – the one Ranger that I always used to be on the playground as a child. But perhaps most notable is the fact that fans of the series have now been treated to an African-American Pink Ranger, the first time this has ever happened in Power Rangers history.

Consider my mind blown.

As Shelby, the Pink Ranger, Camille Hyde brings a certain warmth to the role. Now, I know some enthusiasts probably don’t want to make such a big deal about diversity in a program that’s typically aimed towards children. However, the fact of the matter is that it is now 2015. The world is colorful. I commend the brains behind Dino Charge for choosing a cast of capable young actors that children will not only be able to look up to, but see themselves in. I personally feel that there is something to be said of the fact that the first episode predominately featured both the Red Ranger and Pink Ranger in leading roles. In fact, they were the only two Rangers given the chance to change – ahem, morph – into their superhero counterparts to take down a monster wreaking havoc. I have but one word for this – Awesome!

Perchance the same thing can be said about the writing of the show as well. I noticed a massive improvement in the script over the last season of the series, Megaforce. When watching Megaforce, I often found myself confused and unnerved by numerous plot holes and unanswered questions. However, Dino Charge seems to have a solid plot. The pilot episode did a hell of a job setting up the season and establishing the mythology for the show. It was a full ten minutes before the main cast members were even introduced – and the Green Ranger, one of the core members of the team, didn’t even make an appearance in the episode. That’s a bold move by Power Ranger standards. Heck, that’s a bold move by television standards period.

My only real complaint is that I feel Nickelodeon should have just aired the second episode after the first. I think a one hour premiere would have been more effective. However, if suspense is what they were looking to create then they have certainly done well. Make no doubt about it, I will definitely be tuning in next Saturday.

After all, if history is any indication, these Rangers are here to stay.

Hey, there! Keep up with writer Jaylen Christie by following him on Twitter @thesuperflynerd! Tweet him! He’ll tweet you back!

Over the past few decades one thing has become abundantly clear — television audiences love sociopaths. Whether it’s Scrubs‘ Dr. Cox, or the titular characters of Dexter, Sherlock, and House, America seems to love emotionally distant yet brilliant characters. Sometimes they push into psychopathic territory but they still end up fan favorites, sometimes they’re the hero, other times a mentor, and other times villains we love to hate.

Fox is betting on that affection for the new show Backstrom, they even gave it the tagline “Brilliant detective, total dick.” Unfortunately Backstrom comes up lacking in the brilliant department and very heavy on the dick. As of this article, there have been three episodes of the show so far, all three have been painfully uninspired and lacking any real charm. The only real stars in the show are Dennis Haysbert, of 24 and Allstate commercial fame among countless other projects, along with Six Feet Under and The Office star Rainn Wilson as Backstrom. The rest of the cast is made up of fairly unknown actors. There are some pretty faces in the supporting cast but no one really stands out as particularly memorable or special. No one sticks out as particularly bad either, just forgettable.

Fox seems painfully desperate to create the next House with this show but they come up severely lacking. Most shows in this vein try to show the audience that this terrible jerk is brilliant and that’s why people put up with his crap. From word one, the writers seem to have adopted a tell and no-show attitude. Backstrom seems dead set on telling us ad nauseam how smart he is while showing us that he actually just makes wild unsubstantiated guesses and is usually wrong. When he is right, more often than not, the success has nothing to do with real detective work and more with dumb blind luck. One character even suggests that Backstrom works on a higher plane, that he sees the world differently and when he suggests a man is guilty just because he’s black that Backstrom really noticed his body language and read into his soul but isn’t aware he’s doing it and that’s why he gives such ridiculous reasons for his intuitions. My eyes rolled so hard when I heard this I feared they would get stuck that way.

This shows a primary problem with the entire show, instead of slowly building our respect of this character, peppering in bits of his dickish behavior, they instead try to force us to respect him by telling us he’s brilliant while saying that we should find his terrible behavior funny and endearing. Plus they seem to be trying to seed in possible future plot points far too early. Several times, ancillary characters have made reference to Backstrom’s famous father, a perfect upright citizen who apparently abused him as a child. They are obviously setting up his father to enter the show eventually and be in contention with his son. Then on the other end we have a gay, thieving, son of a prostitute, who is also Backstrom’s roommate. How Backstrom knows his mother is left vague and one character even notes their similar appearance. Uh oh, looks like Backstrom will be dealing with an illegitimate child who he may or may not realize is his.

These are the kind of things most shows would wait until season three or four to get into, right around the time they start running out of ideas. Here we’re setting these up in episode two. Not a good sign of things to come. Plus the show is already treading the clichéd, “Hey! This jerk is really a well-meaning guy with a tortured past and a dark side.” If we never get to know him as a hard-assed cold-hearted genius and the writers start deconstructing him from day one, nothing they do will have any real impact. Rainn Wilson is really trying to make the character his but he just doesn’t have the charisma of a television lead. Scenes where he attempts to play up some sort of irresistible sexual draw are played seemingly straight but come off as a joke.

From uninspired writing to miscast parts, Backstrom is a misfire on every level. Its police procedural elements are boring and its comedic elements fall flat. Barring a complete overhaul in writing and tone, there’s little chance we’ll be seeing Backstom again next year.

THIS OFFER IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL.

CliqueClack has partnered with Open Road Films to offer readers in Washington DC an opportunity to attend a “run of engagement” showing of the new thriller The Loft starring Karl Urban, James Marsden, Wentworth Miller, Eric Stonestreet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Isabel Lucas, Rachael Taylor and Rhona Mitra.

Karl Urban and James Marsden star in the tense psychological thriller The Loft, the story of five married guys who conspire to secretly share a penthouse loft in the city — a place where they can carry out hidden affairs and indulge in their deepest fantasies. But the fantasy becomes a nightmare when they discover the dead body of an unknown woman in the loft, and they realize one of the group must be involved. Paranoia seizes them as everyone begins to suspect one another. Friendships are tested, loyalties are questioned and marriages crumble as the group is consumed by fear, suspicion and murder in this relentless thriller.

CliqueClack has four pairs of Admit Two passes for any DC showings of The Loft at any AMC theater in the area. Passes are good for showtimes Monday – Thursday only beginning Monday, February 2 (excluding holidays).

A random drawing will be held on Friday, January 30 and winners will be contacted by email. To be eligible, please read and follow the directions CAREFULLY. There will be no exceptions.

• Comment on this post with your idea of luxury.
• Include your FULL NAME (First and Last) and email address on the entry form (NOT in the comment box!). Double check your email address before submitting.
• ONE entry per person will be accepted. CliqueClack has the right to discard any duplicates or comments that appear to be duplicates. Multiple comments from a single person will result in complete disqualification. Keep these offers fair for everyone!
• Please make sure to set your email filters to accept email from @cliqueclack.com.

Passes are good for as long as the film is in theaters.

The Loft is rated R for sexual content, nudity, bloody violence, language and some drug use. The movie opens January 30.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzw7ds7JoT4

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL.

CliqueClack has partnered with Open Road Films to offer readers in Boston an opportunity to attend a “run of engagement” showing of the new thriller The Loft starring Karl Urban, James Marsden, Wentworth Miller, Eric Stonestreet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Isabel Lucas, Rachael Taylor and Rhona Mitra.

Karl Urban and James Marsden star in the tense psychological thriller The Loft, the story of five married guys who conspire to secretly share a penthouse loft in the city — a place where they can carry out hidden affairs and indulge in their deepest fantasies. But the fantasy becomes a nightmare when they discover the dead body of an unknown woman in the loft, and they realize one of the group must be involved. Paranoia seizes them as everyone begins to suspect one another. Friendships are tested, loyalties are questioned and marriages crumble as the group is consumed by fear, suspicion and murder in this relentless thriller.

CliqueClack has two pairs of Admit Two passes for any Boston showings of The Loft at any AMC or Regal theater in the area. Passes are good for showtimes Monday – Thursday only beginning Monday, February 2.

A random drawing will be held on Thursday, January 29 and winners will be contacted by email with further instructions. To be eligible, please read and follow the directions CAREFULLY. There will be no exceptions.

• Comment on this post with your idea of luxury. (“Boston” is NOT the answer we’re looking for.)
• Include your FULL NAME (First and Last) and email address on the entry form (NOT in the comment box!). Double check your email address before submitting.
• ONE entry per person will be accepted. CliqueClack has the right to discard any duplicates or comments that appear to be duplicates. Multiple comments from a single person will result in complete disqualification. Keep these offers fair for everyone!
• Please make sure to set your email filters to accept email from @cliqueclack.com.

Passes will be mailed directly to the winners. Passes are good for as long as the film is in theaters.

The Loft is rated R for sexual content, nudity, bloody violence, language and some drug use. The movie opens January 30.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzw7ds7JoT4

When you have created something, you have an attachment to it. For art, that is just as true. Not only that, but there is a conflict inherent in the creation of art; money versus substance. Sometimes you are lucky enough to have something that touches a nerve or interests a crowd, and that’s a great thing. But it’s easy to fall into enjoying success without thinking about why you were successful in the first place? Some might say that success implies quality, but others may assert that money isn’t everything. Sometimes art doesn’t stand the test of time because it wasn’t that good to begin with, or because it just only meant something once, but never again. Even so, every artist has one thing in common: They want people to know they were the creator.

Big Eyes is the latest movie from director Tim Burton and tells the true story of Margaret Keane, the artist of a very popular series of paintings of children with unusually large eyes. However, her husband Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) specifically took credit for the art and sold it under his name when the pieces came out in the late 1950s and 1960s. Up until his death, Walter insisted that he was the true artist, although the evidence against him was staggering. Margaret starts the story leaving her first husband and traveling with her daughter to San Francisco, seeking something she can’t yet define. Her work is noticed by Walter, who claims to be a fellow artist. After her work gets a lot of attention, Walter decides that nobody will buy a painting drawn by a lady. Heaven forbid!

So they sold work under his name, Walter schmoozing up the elite and monetizing the art, while Margaret slaved away in anonymity and craved acknowledgment of her own. Of course, art critics panned the drawings, but most people loved them and the Keanes became quite wealthy. Until Margaret could take no more of it, and no more of Walter’s increasingly unstable behavior. The movie tells this story, showing Walter to be a charismatic man with some serious, deep-seated issues, with Margaret trying to escape her mentality as a 1950s housewife.

Tim Burton’s interesting and unique visual aesthetics are nowhere to be found here, except for one particular scene that I won’t spoil. But in many ways, this could be directed by anybody of talent, because the movie doesn’t really have a recognizable style. Perhaps there’s something to that in the take on the big eyes children, but perhaps not. The story itself is dramatized, but interesting. I didn’t know exactly what would happen, so seeing the crazy twists and turns that actually happened were quite entertaining. There are moments of real drama here, watching Amy Adams do that “silent soulful” thing she does so well.

I particularly enjoyed her performance, although I also liked Christoph Waltz. I’ve heard some people complain about it, but I don’t get that myself. His character was odd, sociopathic at times, and the performance reflected that. I guess I just don’t get people sometimes. There are a few smaller parts filled by enjoyable, talented actors, like Krysten Ritter as Margaret’s best friend who’s being pushed away, and Jason Schwartzman and Terrence Stamp as art critics that despise the big eyes children pieces.

In the spate of two hour long prestige pictures at the end of the year, I was glad to see a movie under two hours that had a decent pace and kept me interested, for the most part. Perhaps we could’ve dipped more into the depth of certain parts of Margaret’s struggles and less on Walter’s marketing, but to me it works quite well. A few dramatic moments, some lightness, and a satisfying ending. Perhaps it’s not as interesting to look at as Burton’s other movies, but that’s really okay with me.

Disney, musicals and fairy tales. A match as perfect as peanut butter and jelly or wine and cheese. Add some Stephen Sondheim into the mix, and you have a very curious combination. Of course the new Disney cinematic musical Into the Woods started out life on Broadway and as far from Disney as one could imagine … and seven years before Disney even hit Broadway with its own musical fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast.

Sondheim’s take on some well-known fairy tale characters, like Cinderella, Rapunzel and Jack (of beanstalk fame), was more Grimm than Disney. Not many people realize that the tales we all know and love today, courtesy of Disney, are much darker and violent, and they don’t always end happily ever after. In Sondheim’s musical fantasia, our beloved fairy tales are close to what we know but with a little bit of a twist: a wicked witch is brought into the mix to stir things up after placing a curse on the home of the Baker and his wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt). Because of the misdeeds of Baker’s father (he stole vegetables and magic beans from the Witch’s garden), the house would forever be childless.

It’s up to the Baker to bring the Witch four items: a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, a cow as white as milk, and a slipper as pure as gold. You can pretty much figure out which characters the Baker and his wife will run into in the woods.

As we meet each character, their stories are certainly familiar enough and the film seems to reach its climax with the “happily ever after” wedding of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) and Prince Charming (Chris Pine). But young Jack’s misdeeds at the top of the beanstalk have brought giants to the land below, turning the happy day into tragedy as the land is destroyed, people are homeless and hopeless, and only the resilient spirit of the Baker seems to make the others want to make peace with the giants by returning the stolen items. But the giants want more than their golden egg and magic harp back … they want Jack.

With the arrival of the giants, the film’s bright, colorful palette turns dark and muted, as if dark clouds have come to cover the land. The characters become more human as well, and sadly, death will take some of them. It’s here that you have to wonder what the folks at Disney were thinking. Is it such a good idea for them to produce a film that treats many of its most beloved characters so badly? Parents should be warned that Into the Woods is not a children’s movie.

That being said, it’s nice that Disney has produced a fairy tale movie aimed at adults, and cast it with a who’s who of amazing stars. Blunt has already been nominated for a Golden Globe as Lead Actress in a Musical or Comedy and she is quite good. James Corden’s Baker my be the film’s true lead (and he acquits himself well, particularly with some of Sondheim’s more complicated lyrics), but Blunt’s Baker’s Wife is the film’s true heart and soul. She brings so much warmth and patience to her character that you can’t help but to fall in love with her. And Blunt also has a lovely singing voice, bringing tears to the eyes as she closes out the film with “Children Will Listen.”

Anna Kendrick can sing, for sure, but I really didn’t feel much for her Cinderella until she had a heartfelt moment later in the film at the ruined grave of her mother. She was much too flighty, but I did enjoy Christine Baranski as her Wicked Stepmother and Tammy Blanchard and Lucy Punch in the more broadly drawn roles of the stepsisters. Daniel Huttleston (Jack) and Lilla Crawford (Little Red Riding Hood) are major finds, giving great performances and tackling those lyrics with true professionalism. Pine and Billy Magnussen (Rapunzel’s Prince) deliver the film’s showstopping moment as they sing and try to outdo each other’s proclamations of love with the song “Agony.” The audience loved both actors’ hamminess, showing us what total douchebags these two princes really are. Mackenzie Mauzy is, unfortunately, locked away a bit too much in Rapunzel’s tower, and Johnny Depp shows up briefly as the Big Bad Wolf to leer lasciviously at Red Riding Hood. The role can come off as a bit creepy as he sings about the lusciousness of the young girl, but it’s all in quest of a meal and nothing else.

Of course, the biggest star of the movie is Meryl Streep (Golden Globe nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture) and she can really belt out those songs. She also seems to be having great fun playing the haggard, old witch (breaking her own rule of never playing a witch after she was offered three witch roles when she turned 40) and then gets to glam it up as the curse on her is lifted. Whenever she’s on screen, you just can’t take your eyes off of her.

The film, which was shot on location in England, sometimes feels and looks a bit too stage-bound instead of opened up for the screen, but it also adds more intimacy to the story than you can get watching actors on a stage. I suspect the minuscule budget Disney gave Oscar nominated director Rob Marshall played a big part in the almost claustrophobic feel of the woods (there are very few interior sets). Colleen Atwood’s costumes are also pretty amazing, appropriately regal and tattered, befitting the station of the character wearing them.

Is Into the Woods a perfect movie musical? That all depends on your taste in musicals. I’ve seen the stage version and I enjoyed the film much more. I think it was the music and the singing which drew me into the world more than it did with either stage production. I don’t think it rivals Marshall’s own Oscar-winning Chicago, but I enjoyed the movie very much. The only real negative impact the film may face is the downer of an ending. If you know going in that it’s not going to end happily ever after for some, you may not come out of it feeling so negatively about the rest of the movie. You have been warned.

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Refreshing! That’s the first word that came to mind as I walked out of the movie theatre after seeing the new movie musical Annie. Annie isn’t a new story, it’s an old story revamped with a funky fresh point of view. The story takes place in modern day New York City, and you’ll see a lot of changes; changes you can live with. There’s a diverse cast, Annie is no longer an orphan but a foster kid, she lives in a row house instead of an orphanage in the present instead of The Great Depression, and Daddy Warbucks is now William Stacks.

Annie follows a ten year old foster kid (Quvezhane Wallis) through her day-to-day interactions with fellow foster kids and foster mother all while in pursuit of her real parents. Annie tries to have an upbeat attitude, making the best of each situation even when she’s often disappointed by her lack of parental love. Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz) doesn’t make life any easier for her or the other girls in her care.

Wallis is an adorable Annie with just pinch of sass! She has a sweet voice and I especially like her singing “Opportunity.” I like that the writers connected the old with the new by having Annie do an oral book report on Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At times I thought her acting was a bit one-dimensional, that she should have had more facial expression and a little more zing; other times she seemed to nail it!

It took me a while to warm up to Jamie Foxx playing Will Stacks, the cell phone billionaire. At times the acting seemed stiff, especially at the beginning when he was handing out free phones and being a germaphobe; the spitting mashed potato scene was absolutely horrid! I slowly but surely warmed up to his character. Jamie Foxx can carry a tune though. Yes girls, he can really sing and bust-a-move too!

Diaz seemed a little miscast in this role as Miss Colleen Hannigan. This role has always been tailored for a crotchety older woman; Cameron came across as trashy and vapid instead of cranky and cantankerous. Her voice is not robust but she can carry a tune. I liked that Miss Hannigan had been a lost soul; she eventually found that she did care about Annie’s welfare. She was like the Grinch whose heart grew three times its size that day!

Rose Bryne played the attentive assistant, Grace, to billionaire Stacks. I liked when Grace joined Annie outside the restaurant showing so much compassion in such a simple act of waiting to see if her parents showed. Just being there talking and waiting with a little girl who hadn’t dared to give up hope of one day being reunited with her parents was one of the more heartfelt moments of the film.

Annie kept true to the original score with these important, milestone songs: “Tomorrow,” “Maybe,” and “It’s a Hard Knock Life.” The movie added an updated cool twist to “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You” and “Little Girls.” More importantly, they came up with new original tracks like “Opportunity,” “Who Am I?” and “Moonquake Lake.” I personally loved “Who Am I?” and “Opportunity” the best!

I genuinely enjoyed Annie. It was musical; it was light, and also educational. It was a movie for the whole family. The storyline had a decent flow to it; the musical numbers were enjoyable with lively dance routines, plus there were cool guest appearances by Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, and Rihanna! It was educational, because it helped to redefine today’s definition of family. There were also posters and Discussion Guides available so parents could open up a dialogue with their children on important issues facing today’s youth and families. Some valid question they asked were “How can you build a better tomorrow in your community?”, “What lessons did Annie teach her friends?” and “How do you handle life’s hard knocks?”

Kudos to the Annie cast for going above and beyond entertainment, for opening the door to something relevant!

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