Hey folks, Harry here... I've noticed there's a group of folks that seem to be Debbie Downers about the idea of this Live Action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. That's fine, doubt. Hurl insults from the peanut gallery, but when you consder that this is being directed by Bill Condon... a truly great director behind such films as GODS & MONSTERS, CANDYMAN II: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH, KINSEY, MR HOLMES and DREAMGIRLS! He won an Academy Award for the GODS & MONSTERS screenplay and picked up another nomination for his adapted screenplay to CHICAGO that was magnificent.
His participation alone would have my interest. Hell, the last two TWILIGHT films he directed were the most crazy fucking fun of the entire series... especially that whacked as fuck birthing sequence. Jesus, more twisted than anything in CANDYMAN II. But you know what - there's more to the film that genius Bill. There's the cast!
Begins with Emma Watson as Belle, but then we've got Luke Evans' Gaston, Ewan McGregor's Lumiere (which I'm dying to see throughout the film), Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, Josh Gad as Le Fou ought to be brilliantly absurd... then... stop the presses - we get IAN MCKELLEN as Cogsworth! I mean. Seriously. How are you not fucking dying to see this? For fuck's sake, Kevin Kline is Belle's bumbling dad, Maurice.
Dan Stevens is The Beast/Prince - and I know most aren't very familiar with him, other than a few roles in things like THE GUEST - I did enjoy his turn in Nacho Vigalondo's COLOSSAL, though it isn't huge. Between BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and a recurring role in the FX TV show LEGION... this could be a big year from him, but he's my one big question mark on the whole thing.
I get it, you're exhausted with Disney mining their 2D Animated Classics - and not making any more 2D Cel animated classics. It's a genuine disappointment. Disney is doing so much right at the moment, that their inability to have drawings coming to life and entrancing us all is a failure. The market changed, the aesthetics shifted to CG, but more and more we're seeing that the traditional animators are still a key part of their CG films, but I miss drawn animation. It's kinda why I would love THE RED TURTLE to win Best Animated film. But that's another story.
I'm genuinely excited for this - and I love this poster:
Keep it cool,
Harry
