Ever After @25: A Timeless Cinderella Story

by Cláudio Alves

A quarter century ago, Hollywood remade the Cinderella story as it often does. Only this time, the fairytale was without fairies or any inkling of magic beyond the mystery of love. And Leonardo da Vinci, of course, for he's something of a wizard figure in the restyled narrative in which Perrault's classic tale is reworked through the Grimms' imagination and 1990s 'girl power' impetus. Da Vinci is also the movie's Achilles Heel, a miscalculation by the writing team of director Andy Tennant, Susannah Grant, and Rick Parks. Not that the misfortune wrecks the picture – Ever After is too charming for that. 

Indeed, the Drew Barrymore vehicle remains an entertaining period rom-com all these years after its release, its strengths only glowing brighter in retrospect. How can one resist Jenny Beavan's costume designs, George Fenton's impassioned score, Anjelica Huston's sharp spin on the evil stepmother archetype, and so much more? This Ren-Faire Cinderella deserves celebration…

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Mulan Teases. Maleficent Flies Again.

by Nathaniel R

It isn't enough for Disney that they have the top four box office hits of the year thus far (Endgame, Captain Marvel, Aladdin, and Toy Story 4) with The Lion King still on the way to make it a top five. No, they'd now like to remind you that they still have movies coming in 2019 and will also be dominating 2020. In the past 24 hours or so Maleficent: Mistress of Evil got another trailer and Mulan delivered its first teaser and poster. That's all after the jump...

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Tribeca 2019: "White as Snow"

Jason Adams reporting from the Tribeca Film Festival one last time...

The sins of the flesh have always been right there on the surface of Fairy Tales, waiting to be ravaged by sex and by violence, by finger and by claw. Crooked old ladies morph into comely lasses, and ripe red lips are ready to be plucked and plundered. Snow White didn't move in with seven little dudes by mistake -- whatever our imaginations can imagine, whatever wishes our hearts can make, they're all within reach for a price, endless sleep and poisoned apples. Anne Fontaine's White as Snow is just the latest in a long string of movies soft-coring up our princess fantasies...

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Storytime with Michelle Yeoh

♥︎ her. Wish we had kids to plop down in front of this. 

10th Anniversary: Laika's "Coraline"

by Timothy Brayton

Coraline, which opened in theaters ten years ago today, was groundbreaking in all sorts of ways. It was the first feature made by Laika, soon to become a cultishly loved, critically praised animation studio with an Oscar nomination for every one of its four films (a fifth, Missing Link, is set to open in April). It was one of the first films in the most recent 3D fad to demonstrate a real sense of the emotional and narrative possibilities of using stereoscopic effects, and it was only rarely equaled in the years following. It represents an extraordinary leap into a brand new mixed-media animation style that I refrain from calling "revolutionary" only because nobody else but Laika seems to be interested in experimenting with it.

The truly special thing about Coraline is not that it achieved any of these things. Plenty of films invent new stuff. What's special – downright miraculous, even – is that Coraline feels just as fresh and bold in 2019 as it did in 2009...

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