«It's a mess, but I still love it...»
What's not to like?
The singing is spotty, the musical numbers are all over the place, the little girl is highly annoying, the film is borderline preposterous and Albert Finney looks bored but we never are (bored that is). The great thing about `Annie' is that no matter how bad it really is you can't help but like it. I've seen this movie a hundred times (granted I was very little for the majority of them) and I could watch it again tomorrow (bet you're bottom dollar).
There are a few versions of this classic story, but this one is my favorite (even if it is the worst as many claim). It's the one I grew up on so maybe I'm a tad biased, but whatever, I enjoy it immensely.
The film tells the story of orphan Annie who escapes the clutches of the evil Miss Hannigan when billionaire Oliver Warbucks decides to let an orphan live with him in his mansion for a week; and Annie is that orphan. After a week of fun and games (and singing and dancing) Oliver decides (with a little prodding from the lovely Grace) to adopt Annie, but there is a problem. Annie is waiting for her mother and father to come back for her, and so Warbucks decides to help her in every way he can to find her parents. What Hannigan and her evil brother Rooster have in store for Annie (and Warbucks) is another story all together.
Okay, so like I said, the singing is spotty (Finney, I love you but really?) and the dance numbers are somewhat spastic (some are great, some are ridiculous) but it all works and it is all entertaining, no doubt. Little Aileen Quinn is an annoying little child and a really bad actress but she can sing (if that really was her) and her renditions of `Tomorrow' and the like are really nicely done. Albert Finney, like I said, is bored. He yells a lot and sings out of key but I just love him. Really, the best thing about this movie is Carol Burnett who is all sorts of hilarious in this movie. She give Hannigan the right balance of well intentioned cruelty to make her a character you love to hate.
I will say that some of this movie is far from appropriate for children, especially when Tim Curry and Bernadette Peters (I love her here too) are on the screen (they tend to get rather risqué) and there is some language that I didn't remember but all in all it is something that your children will love (my daughter, too young to really pay attention, was captivated by the singing).
Embrace it for all its faults and relish in the campy qualities it possesses. Sure, there are a million other musicals that are far better than this one, but honestly, what's not to like?
[Tuesday, December 30, 2008]
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«Okay Version»
Having spent a month & a half performing in the orchestra for the stage version of Annie, I thought I'd enjoy seeing how the movie version compared to what we did. I was disappointed, to say the least. Especially since John Huston (one of my favorite directors) was at the helm.
To me, Annie is family fare, and this movie had some elements not appropriate. There was one expression of profanity, the remainder were some suggestive dance sequences I was embarrassed to have my daughters see. And considering my daughter was an orphan in the play we did, she was taken aback at some parts of the movie, too.
And the time the movie was made showed its dated-ness. I thought the musical sequence where the driver (an Asian) and Punjab (an Indian or Pakistani played by Caribbean Geoffrey Holder) dance was stereotypical in its portrayal.
We found the Disney version, which I hope is closer to what we did.
[Tuesday, December 30, 2008]
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«Get the Kathy Bates version»
This version, which was released in 1982, is out of date, not as entertaining and not as appropriate for very young children as the 1999 version with Kathy Bates. In this version, Carol Burnett is drunk and mean, the dangerous scenes are a little too scary for little girls, and the dancing makes me embarrassed to have lived through the 80's. Still, it's a fun, classic movie and I wouldn't say it's bad. I just think the Kathy Bates version is so much better and I would buy that one first. Our three little girls love it!
[Thursday, December 18, 2008]
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