Report Card----"Beauty and the Beast"

An odd thing happened to me as I was watching Disney's "Beauty and the Beast".  A half hour into it,
I fell asleep.  The next day, I felt I wasn't being fair to it.  So I watched again from the beginning.  This time I got through 45 minutes before I fell asleep again.  Something was amiss.  Later that day, I tried a third time, from where I'd fallen asleep.  That one was the charm.  It grew on me.  And it became entrancing.  And I loved it.  To quote Groucho Marx, just call me a sentimental old fluff.

On to the scoring:

Did you have any built in expectations about this film, and if so, were they met, or even exceeded?

I didn't even know if it was going to be animated, or live-action.  It was the latter.  It sure fills up the
screen nice.
B.

Is it interesting?

Once it gets going, very.
B+.

Compelling even?

Not quite.  It's still just a fairy tale.
B-.

Is it good storytelling?

Once you get past the humps.
B+.

Is it well written?

Yes.  And the music is terrific.
B+.

Is it well cast? Well played?

A whole mess of Emma's.  Watson, Thompson, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Audra McDonald,  all great, and those are only the ones I've heard of.
A+.
 

Well shot?

Extremely, exquisitely, as only Disney can.

A+.

Did the director put such a personal stamp on it so that no one else could have made it?

Any Disney house director could have made it, but well done, nonetheless.
A.

How long does it take to establish the film's locale and time period?

Immediately.  Once upon a time...
A.

Is it too long? Too short?

Trim the first 45 minutes.
B.

Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?.

Yes, and yes.

A+.

Is it predictable?

Totally.  

C.

Do you think about it after you've seen it?

No.  It's still just a fairy tale.  But a very well told one.
B..

Is it funny?

Often.
B+.

Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?

I would have never made it to a second or third viewing.  They would have thrown me out by then.
C.

Is it impressive?

Overwhelmingly.
A.

Overall grade: A.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books, "Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.

Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".

They are all compilations of blog entries that have since been removed from the blog.

So this is the only way you can find them.,

You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.

Check them out.

You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.

Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.

The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not e-books.

But they are available for people without Kindle.

I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.

If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@comcast.net

And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

Report Card----"The Post"

"The Post" is all about Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, with some of the same characters as "All The President's Men", two years prior to the Watergate Break-in.  

If you have a strong sense of history, it takes some of the tension out of the story.

You'd know that Katherine Graham and Ben Bradlee don't go to jail for publishing the Pentagon Papers.  So the result is a movie that strives for  unpredictability, and only succeeds with viewers
who approach it with no prior lack of knowledge of the subject matter.

On to the scoring:

Did you have any built in expectations about this film, and if so, were they met, or even exceeded?

Spielberg, Streep, Hanks, Bob Oedenkirk, what's not to like?
A+

Is it interesting?

Very.

A.

Compelling even?

Spielberg gets the most out of it.
A.

Is it good storytelling?

Excellent.
A.

Is it well written?

Very.

A.

Is it well cast? Well played?

All of the above.  I kept comparing Hanks to Jason Robards, from "All the President's Men"
Robards was a more convincing Ben Bradlee.
Streep and Oedenkirk were great.
A.

Well shot?

Extremely

A+.

Did the director put such a personal stamp on it so that no one else could have made it?

He always does.
A+.

How long does it take to establish the film's locale and time period?

Immediately
A+.

Is it too long? Too short?

About right.

A.

Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?.

Yes, and yes.

A+.

Is it predictable?

Totally.  See above.

C.

Do you think about it after you've seen it?

No.   I'm too old.
C.

Is it funny?

Here and there.
B.

Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?

Some bucks..  Not thirteen.
B-.

Is it impressive?

Very.

A.

Overall grade: A.

The younger you are, the more you can get out of it. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My books, "Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.

Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".

They are all compilations of blog entries that have since been removed from the blog.

So this is the only way you can find them.,

You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.

Check them out.

You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.

Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.

The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not e-books.

But they are available for people without Kindle.

I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.

If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@comcast.net

And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.