Fairy Tales on the Silver Screen

Thank you so much The Book Rat & A Backwards Story for hosting this.

I don't usually post on the weekends, but I wanted to do a couple of special Fairy Tale Fortnight posts. (And I thought that because they're non-bookish - at least, mostly - that the weekend would be perfect to post them. Besides, my week is filled!)

I, like many other people, got my first exposure to fairy tales through the Disney animated movies.

Snow White, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid were all early staples for me - with Snow White being the one I've seen the most - but it wasn't until Beauty and the Beast that I started to love fairy tales. (I talked about my love for this fairy tale back in my April 3rd post.)

Since then I've watched a few other fairy tale movies.

Of these, Ever After is certainly my favorite. Between Drew Barrymore playing a Cinderella that was a lot more active - and physically fit - than most cinder girls, a 'Prince Charming' that wasn't perfect and a steller supporting cast, this is one that I still love rewatching.

When I originally saw Snow White on tv, I loved it. Upon buying it on dvd, I was less enchanted. The high points are a wonderful, charming Kristen Kreuk as Snow and a delightfully dastardly Miranda Richardson as the evil queen.

Beastly, while taking inspiration from my favorite fairy tale, certainly isn't without it's flaws. If you just give it a cursory glance, it's fun fluff. Any deeper though, and certain messages start to get a bit uncomfortable. (Especially for those of us that like fairy tales for the escape.) (And it kind of screwed up it's own tag-line...)

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister was originally a book - something I did not know until recently. (And by the same author as Wicked, no less.) It was actually a movie I enjoyed a lot, as it was told from the perspective of the less mean of Cinderella's stepsisters. (If I recall, the movie wasn't as frothy as this cover makes it look, either.)

Finally, am I the only one that's seen Sydney White? I mean, you're not missing out on much if you haven't seen it, but you could do worse for college fluff. (Bet those two words don't go together often.) This movie was fun, but I hit a certain point - like as soon as I met him - and I was starting to wish that the titular Sydney wouldn't get the 'prince'.

And now, what fairy tale movies have you seen? Were they good? Not so good? 'Why did I ever watch that?' worthy? How about the new Cinderella movie? Have you seen it? I'd like to, but I'm probably waiting til it hits dvd, so tell me if you think it's worth it. Any movie suggestions?