ANNIE remake will include some of the classics- Page 3
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics
Understudy Joined: 6/5/10
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#50
Posted: 8/26/12 at 1:09pm
honestly, i find the plot of annie a little farfetched even when all the participants are white, but maybe that's just me.
at this stage, without having seen or heard anything yet, it's still way too early to say whether the concept will be executed successfully or not, but just because the impetus for this idea is ridiculous doesn't mean the idea itself is. i wonder if people would be responding differently if the concept and creative team were the same but they were looking for a talented unknown for the lead.
Updated On: 8/26/12 at 01:09 PM
Featured Actor Joined: 5/16/03
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#51
Posted: 8/26/12 at 3:01pm
There is no need to change the time period.
They could add Bumpy Johnson & Queen Madame (Stephanie St. Clair)in the book, 1930 Harlem Gang Leaders for those that don't know.
It could be a nice story.
All the bigotry on here is late/tired and a waste of time.
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#52
Posted: 8/26/12 at 3:26pm@lidarose: I can't speak for everyone else, but in my case: YES! I'm all for the idea of different interpretation (especially of someting like Annie....). I'm all for the idea of a black Annie. Cool! But, really? Willow Smith? Oy vey, shoot me now.... :P But again, it seems some people here are very hung up over the race thing. :/
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#53
Posted: 8/26/12 at 3:50pmLook, if it's well done and people like it then it was a good idea. If it's lousy and nobody goes then it was a bad idea. At this point it's only *an* idea.
Understudy Joined: 6/5/10
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#54
Posted: 8/26/12 at 4:05pmi'm not crazy about willow smith either, though i'm sure they'll be able to wring an adequate performance out of her (depending on who ends up directing). but i'm intrigued enough by the rest of it--namely, emma thompson and jay-z's contributions, as well as future casting-- to overlook the fact that annie herself will be Just Okay, as there's no way it would get made at all without her and her father's involvement.
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#55
Posted: 8/26/12 at 5:29pm
If this were a stage ANNIE with a black cast, it would work. It worked for HELLO, DOLLY! (and less so for GUYS AND DOLLS, but that was the production's fault...)
Movies are a more realistic medium. Stage musicals put on screen really don't work quite too well. It's because audience are willing to suspend their disbelief MORE in a theatre than at the movies. Movies are, by nature, more realistic-- whether they're cliched or dumb is another thing. People have difficulty accepting a three and a half minute long song onscreen, and that isn't exactly true of the stage.
Look, I'm making valid points. Those of you claiming that the people critical of this project are racists are delusional. Aside from the obvious historical inaccuracies, people in 1933, black or white, would not being singing Jay-Z music. They wouldn't know what hip-hop is. It wasn't invented yet in the form we know it today. This is a vanity project for Will Smith and his untalented children. (I do think Mr. Smith is a fairly decent actor.)
Audra did a fine job in CAROUSEL, and in the TV movie of ANNIE, just to name two instances of colorblind casting. They didn't make note of her race (I think). This project will more than likely make note of Willow being black, which is not colorblind casting. Just a vanity project.
What would happen if John Travolta wanted to make a film of the musical (or novel, for that matter) RAGTIME and wanted to play Coalhouse Walker? I'm sure you'd all take offense to that.
And what if FDR in this film is played by a black actor? FDR is a historical figure, and this is a realistic story, black Annie and Warbucks or not. Would it be racist to say THAT'S a little ill-concieved, too?
TMR, by the way, your idea is a good one. If THAT'S what they want to do, more power to them. It would work well. But since they're adapting the (awful) 1982 screenplay from the Huston movie, it would take place in the Great Depression. So...
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#56
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:01pm
Jv92, one of your objections is the lack of verisimilitude of hip-hop in the 1930s. Do Jesus Christ Superstar, The Canterbury Tales and The Wild Party (Lippa) rub you the wrong way with their intentionally anachronistic musical styles as well?
This is not a criticism. I'm just kind of curious- I know people have responded both ways to these shows.
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#57
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:22pm
Yeah, I would say so. But those shows, maybe with the exception of Lippa's WILD PARTY, are so stylized. ANNIE is not quite as stylized. SPRING AWAKENING annoyed me for many reasons, one of which was because it was 1860s Germany and they acted like 21st Century teens. They dressed like them too. SUPERSTAR is so stylized that it doesn't matter THAT much.
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#58
Posted: 8/26/12 at 8:26pm
JV, your points are invalidated by the tired old argument about (insert white actor's name here) playing Coalhouse walker.
Basically what you're saying is that when a black actor plays a black role, that's fine, but a black actor playing a traditionally white role is somehow "artistically" bad, and you're insistence that it's all about the art and nothing about small-mindedness doesn't really fly.
I'm sure you think you're being equitable, because it sounds logical in one sense, but the truth is very different when you spend some time thinking about it.
Understudy Joined: 6/5/10
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#59
Posted: 8/26/12 at 9:19pm
what about moulin rouge? a film musical set in 1900 with music by elton john, nirvana, madonna, queen, the police, etc. that film has its detractors but it has just as many defenders, if not more. even if you don't agree with this kind of musical anachronism, it is not without major (successful) precedent.
i mentioned it earlier but i think the film idlewild is relevant to this discussion-- it is a depression-era musical with an all-black cast that combines period music with modern hip-hop, soul, and funk. if the issue is with how stylized these pieces are, we have no idea how stylized this interpretation of annie will be. i doubt it's going to be presented like a documentary.
idlewild trailer
Updated On: 8/26/12 at 09:19 PM
ANNIE remake will include some of the classics#60
Posted: 8/26/12 at 9:46pmI'm sorry, but this is just wrong. Willow Smith is someone we know about only because she is Will Smith's daughter.....there is really no reason for this to be happening.
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