Warm Bodies

When R (Nicholas Hoult) meets Julie (Teresa Palmer) he feels something--other than the overwhelming desire to eat people--since he became a zombie. Julie is initially terrified of the zombie who has essentially kidnapped her but as she spends more time with him, she realizes that he's changing--his heart is literally beating again. But can two people truly change the world for the better? And who will believe that zombies can actually cure themselves?

Warm Bodies starts off with the main character R, delivering a sharp and witty internal monologue via voice over because he's a zombie (and zombies can't speak). Nicholas Hoult shows all the signs of an up-and-coming Hollywood superstar. Super-star girlfriend? Check. Role in comic book film series? Check. Leading man in zombie romantic comedy? Definitely check! Hoult brings a level of dedication and nuance that is quite impressive for such a young actor. Unable to use words for most of the film, Hoult effectively compensates in his voice overs and with a very physical performance on screen. Analeigh Tiptopn--most known for her stint on America's Next Top Model and the Steve Carell obsessed babysitter in Crazy, Stupid, Love.--is another welcome surprise. She brings a brightness and comedic timing to the movie that makes you wonder why she isn't R's love interest because--quite frankly--you can't take your eyes off her. Tipton easily outshines the leading lady of the film, Teresa Palmer. Palmer gives a adequate but forgettable performance. Although it wasn't entirely her fault. She wasn't given much to work with in the script.
   
Conversely, Tipton and Hoult's superior performances were largely aided by their sharp dialogue--thanks to writer, but also director, Jonathon Levine. Levine's dry sense of humor made regular appearances throughout the film but unfortunately it was not enough to support a plot as thin and unsubstantial as this. Much like Summit Entertainment's other paranormal love story (You might be vaguely familiar with it. It's a little movie called Twilight) Warm Bodies made the fatal mistake thinking that a movie can survive solely on the obsessive and slightly creepy teenage love between a human and someone longs to be human. This flaw was  is most obvious in the last five minutes of the film--which seemed unapologetically lazy and quickly slapped together. The ending is over-simplistic and inherently contradictory to the main themes of the film. Talk about disappointing.
  

 
In conclusion, Warm Bodies is a funnier and less cheesy version of the first Twilight film. There are no sparkly vampires in this movie but be prepared for a handful of creepy zombies and one oddly adorable zombie. Warm Bodies begins with a bold and quirky concept but quickly transforms into a bland and unoriginal love story. It is a smart film that suffers from too many cliches...but at least it's funny.
     
Watch the movie in theaters February 1, 2013! Chat with me on twitter! Check out my style blog! Are you excited for this movie? Leave a comment!

FTC: I was lucky enough to attend a screening of Warm Bodies before the movie was released. I have no affiliation with Summit Entertainment.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Iris is famous but no one knows her name. She is better known as the ugly stepsister. After the death of her father, Iris moves to Holland with her mother and sister, Ruth. Struggling to survive in a new country, Iris and her family eventually find a place to stay with a wealthy merchant. He has a wife and a daughter that is known for her beauty, Clara--the girl that is better known as Cinderella. The world is familiar with Clara's tale but is there any truth to it? How did a girl from Haarlem become a princess? With the help of a fairy Godmother? Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tries to set the record straight and tell what really happened that night at the ball.

Gregory Maguire is known for reimagining classic tales and giving them a more adult twist. He is well known for his novel, Wicked--which has had a very successful run through the novel's musical interpretation on Broadway. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister has a brilliant concept but the story only has echos of the Cinderella tale that most of us grew up on. To be honest, it would be difficult to know that Confessions was based on Cinderella without the title and the backcover proclaiming it to be a reimagined fairy-tale. It can more accurately be described as a historical fiction novel about a young girl growing up in 17th century Holland. There is more talk about tulips in this novel than that of princes, balls, glass slippers, and magic combined.

Most of the story takes place long before the famous ball comes into play. Maguire spends most of the novel focusing on the three girls as children--which isn't as interesting as it would seem. Maguire is a talented writer. His writing is easy and engaging but he spends almost too much time focusing on points that don't propell the story forward. It makes the tale feel stagnant and muddy. And although Iris is the observant child and her tale is supposed to add more insight and depth to the fairy-tale we all know and love, I found this novel underwhelming. Maguire brought nothing to the fairy-tale that elevated the story. Clara--the Cinderella of our tale--seemed distant and removed. It would have been more interesting if Iris had gotten to know Clara more. What was Clara thinking when she became the "cindergirl"? How did Clara deal with the loss of her mother? What happened with Prince Charming in that room at the ball?

All these questions lay unanswered but Maguire spent pages upon pages writing about the tulip economic crash in the 17th century. It seemed as if he were more interested in that historical event and the fairy-tale influence was added later to sell more copies. Maguire changed the protaganist of the tale and that was his first mistake. Clara was the more interesting and complex character. Her background was mysterious and her motives were unpredictable. Iris was bland--watching from the sidelines more often than actively particpating in the plot. Even Ruth would have made for a more interesting protaganist!

Maguire attempted to give an old classic new life but instead, he made Cinderella into a tale about four unlikable women and two unlikable men--Caspar gets a pass because he is the true prince charming in this tale. Cinderella is bright and happy but this tale is rather depressing. It isn't a happily-ever-after ending but neither is it very an inspirational or literary. It tries to be everything at once and in the end fails to be anything at all--well, other than bland and long.

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Snow White and the Huntsman

This is a story that on the surface everyone knows. As a young girl, Snow White (Kristen Stewart) lost her mother and her father, the King, was devastated. Shortly after her mother's death, the King met a beautiful and alluring damsel in distress. This damsel, Ravenna (Charlize Theron), proved to be more cunning than anyone expected when she murdered the King on their wedding night. Snow is sentenced to a life in the dungeon and Ravenna rules the kingdom with an iron fist. Snow White escapes and the queen sends a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth)  into the dark woods to retrieve the young girl.

From the looks of the trailer, Snow White and the Huntsman was sure to a fantastical, action-packed modern-interpretation of a well loved fairy tale. And as is often the case with these things, the trailer promised a lot more than the movie could deliver. It is titled Snow White and the Huntsman but a more apt title might have been The Evil Queen feat. Snow White. Charlize Theron is deliciously evil in this dark fairy tale. She radiates power in every frame and it doesn't hurt that she looks absolutely stunning at the same time. In the story, she may have had to worry that Snow White was the fairest in the land but everyone watching is wondering why. Theron--even as an old crone--possessed a quality of elegance that Stewart never seems to come close to matching.
 

The pacing of this movie felt slow and discontented. A lot of time was allotted to development of the evil queen's character--her rise to power and her struggle to kill Snow White--but Snow White and the Huntsman received surprisingly less screen time than one would assume in a movie named after the pair. The second half of the film was rushed--Snow White's revival, an epic battle, and Snow White's coronation in half an hour to make up for the slow pacing earlier in the film. This film also suffered from overcrowding. The Queen was given a brother, the prince a father, there were eight dwarves instead of seven, and a whole slew of other characters were thrown in for good measure. It's confusing and with every character vying for screen time it is hard to create a connection with anyone--much less remember their names. The dwarves were all played by brilliant British actors--it's a shame that none of them got to show off what they could do.

Visually, the film was fantastic. The special effects were breathtaking and impressive. But expensive special effects and Charlize Theron's performance can't overcome a poorly paced, poorly written film with inconsistent actors. Kristen Stewart tries her best--even giving us a British accent that was some what believable--but she doesn't wear damsel in distress very well. She doesn't really wear lovestruck teenager living in Forks, Washington very well but what do I know? I'm not a casting director.

This film takes a few twists from the traditional Snow White story that we all know and love. But other than the expansion of the roles of the Huntsman and the Evil Queen, many of these changes hurt the film rather than help it. I must admit that I watched this for the first time after the Kristen Stewart and Rupert Sanders cheating scandal erupted. I tried not to let that influence my opinion [to be honest I've never been a big fan of Kristen Stewart's work] but at least I don't feel guilty for enjoying the film that broke up Robsten.

I gave this movie two stars becausein my humble opinion there were only two stars in this film--Ms. Theron and the special effects team. I'll be the first one to admit that it's hard to recreate a classic and make it better. The screenwriters and director were a bit too ambitious--there was too much story to be told in two hours.

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