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My Little ANNIE (2014) Review

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Jordan Catalano
#1My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 10:38am

I can't believe I liked this movie. I still don't understand why it was "necessary" to remake it, but damnit, I think it works (for the most part). I'll start with what I think didn't work. First up is the music. There's just not enough of it here. When a musical doesn't have any songs for 20 or so minutes and then someone breaks into song again it always seems odd. There's really only a handful of songs sung "live" by the cast in the film with the remainder of the songs prerecorded and used over montages and other scenes. This film really could have benefited from adding back in the additional music that was cut. But what music is in the film is good and for the most part everyone sounds in good voice.

Secondly, this films Hannigan is pretty awful. I do have to say I think it's not all Cameron Diaz's fault here, she was completely miscast. She's too "nice" of an actress to play this weird kind of mean. It's just not believable, but that's pretty much all the screenplays fault, not hers. It's just a ridiculously underused, underwritten character here.

But the rest of the cast is actually pretty wonderful. Wallis as Annie is just delighful. She comes across as a REAL KID with none of those annoying child actor-isms that so many of them have. She sounds great and is as charming an Annie as I think anyone could ever want. Foxx as Stacks is equally great in a role that could very easily be overacted and hammy. But honestly, to me, the standout is Rose Byrne. She's just so damn wonderful and gorgeous and sweet and rainbows and unicorns and every Lisa Frank adjective you can think of. I want her to adopt ME.

Look, this ANNIE is different. We all know it's not the ANNIE we all know and love and that really bothered me before I saw this. And I know there will be a lot of people who will be bothered by that even after they see this new one. But for an updated take on the material, the final product, to me, is charming, funny and just really delightful. And yeah, I even cried at the end.

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disneybroadwayfan22
#2My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 11:06am

Thanks for the review! Looking forward to see it with my sisters!

degrassifan
#3My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 1:09pm

I pretty much agree with your review. It's not a masterpiece by any means, and it won't be winning any awards anytime soon, but I thought it was a cute and funny musical. Some parts actually made me want to tear up. The "Opportunity" scene was the stand out to me! And yes, Rose Bryne was delightful!! Some of the celebrity cameos surprised me (in a good way). I'm alluding to the "Moonquake Lake" scene. My Little ANNIE (2014) Review

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Musical Master
#4My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 1:22pm

Thanks for the review and I always knew that Wallis was going to be a really good Annie that isn't "cutesy" but a real kid. But I will agree that Diaz is a huge miscast and this version's Hannigan was going to be poorly done, if the role was played by Kate Hudson or Sandra Bullock maybe the material would've been less bad.

I might see this eventually but I'll be seeing BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES and INTO THE WOODS instead.

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Someone in a Tree2
#5My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 3:08pm

Ok, this is alarming. I want to know who kidnapped the real Jordan Catalano and gave us this feel-good wimp of a reviewer in his place. Everybody's talented, everything's charming. Sure. Maybe it's the triptofan in his system...

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Jordan Catalano
#6My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 3:14pm

Lol.

I'll let you in on a little secret about me - One of my favorite things in the entire world are sappy Hallmark commercials. I could watch them non stop for hours.

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n2nbaby
#7My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 3:28pm

My grade is a little lenient because I really enjoyed Rose Byrne and Quvenzhané Wallis, they were much better than the material that was given to them. Jamie Foxx wasn't terrible, though he was hit or miss throughout the majority of the movie. The real disaster here is Cameron Diaz. As someone who usually likes her performances, she was just absolutely god awful her. She had an accent that was on and off, her performance was just all of the place in general. It was completely embarrassing. With all of that being said, this was a completely boring film and it was very poorly directed. None of the musical sequences are exciting and they feel like TV commercials, the auto tune on the cast is so bad they sound like robots. Ugh.

D

This is going to get trashed by critics.

Fantod Profile Photo
Fantod
#8My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 3:43pm

Thanks for the review. I'm glad it's not as awful as people thought it was going to be. I'll check it out when it comes out around here. May I ask how you got to see the movie almost a month in advance?

Updated On: 11/29/14 at 03:43 PM

Showface
#9My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 3:44pm

Was there a screening? I thought the film did not premiere until the 18th...



Updated On: 11/29/14 at 03:44 PM

theatergoer3
#10My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 4:51pm

A screener leaked online a few days ago. It could have been that or they may have been a screening.

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rosscoe(au)
#11My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 5:38pm

I hated everything about it, Wallis is such a little spoiled bitch in this, I wanted to slap her off the screen, nothing about this worked for me.. But also I am not the target audience for this.


Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist. Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino. This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more. Tazber's: Reply to Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian

Jordan Catalano Profile Photo
Jordan Catalano
#12My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 5:39pm

An actor friend of mine showed it to me. I assumed it was his academy screener.

Fantod Profile Photo
Fantod
#13My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 5:44pm

Very cool!

ArtMan
#14My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 8:39pm

Fantod, if you register with Gofobo you can be eligible to attend advance screenings in your area. After registering, studios, like Sony, will send you emails for their screenings, also.

ArtMan
#15My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 8:39pm

Double Post Updated On: 11/29/14 at 08:39 PM

smallvillefan16
#16My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 9:47pm

Which songs are background songs, and not actually song on screen? We know that 'Smile' and 'Moonquake' are background...anything else?

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darquegk
#17My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/29/14 at 11:25pm

I'm surprised that Diaz disappointed you. Ever since "Bad Teacher" and maybe before, Diaz has traded her sexpot ingenue image for a sort of pleasantly grotesque femininity. I would have thought that a methy white-trash Miss Hannigan would be right up her alley.

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JP2
#18My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/30/14 at 12:09am

That's unfortunately not how the role is written/acted.


I'll agree she's the weakest link. The rest of the cast is actually pretty delightful, with Wallis and Byrne being the standouts. I agree, it needed more songs, but the ones that were there were fun. Opportunity being the highlight.

I think my biggest issue is with Will Gluck. I adore Easy A and Friends With Benefits, but unfortunately the humor of those films doesn't translate well to family-friendly PG fare.

All in all, I'll take my little sister to see this. She'll probably love it.

Updated On: 11/30/14 at 12:09 AM

degrassifan
#19My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/30/14 at 12:23am

It's not that Cameron Diaz was bad. She was working with the material she was given, and the screenplay was pretty bad. As for the songs, I think they could've definitely updated "NYC." The new song in place of "NYC" was pretty forgettable. Also, "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" was an update I didn't like when I first listened to the soundtrack, but it became my favorite of the old songs after watching the film. "Opportunity" was definitely the highlight though.

FindingNamo
#20My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/30/14 at 1:40am

I never understood the predisposition against this. I recall the first set picture of the little girl and her backpack and the dog and ______________ being the first out of the gate to say the movie "looked terrible."


Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none

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HorseTears
#21My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/30/14 at 3:58am

Any Razzie predictions?

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Scripps2
#22My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/30/14 at 5:10am

Pleased to read this.

I never understood the negativism either.

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HorseTears
#23My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/30/14 at 5:17am

The negativism? Maybe it has something to do with clips like this...




Good God.

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SNAFU
#24My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/30/14 at 6:46am

Damn, just seeing that has made it a sure thing, I will never see this film.


Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

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rosscoe(au)
#25My Little ANNIE (2014) Review
Posted: 11/30/14 at 7:04am

Jamie Foxx should get a razzie for this, it really was jebus awful


Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist. Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino. This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more. Tazber's: Reply to Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian