Beauty and the Beast

[Drunk Monk]

I liked it too but with reservations. Emma - I watched her grow up and polish her acting chops - the worried eyebrows, the indignant petulance, the exasperated denial - now she's developing her fine neck muscle articulation which I find quite engaging. Belle = Hermione - the ballroom gown reveal at the staircase top was identical to HP (HP factor 2 btw - the Emmas). The big numbers felt more broadway than the cartoon. Did not care for Beast or Gaston. Beast was uselessly cgi - given the look, prosthetics would have served better. Gaston just fell flat for me - I feel ya on the creep factor KB but o think I prefer the caricature. Kline was good - luv his work - he'll always be Otto to me. It was the ultimate Disney death as everyone checks out and the transformation reminded me of Shrek. The sword fights were disappointing too. All that being said, it had some fine moments. Emma played the library scene well enough to remind me of my experience of Trinity's long room. There were some satisfying additions to the cartoon. The controversial gay scene was funny - ironic that it drew so much ire because it's really short, easy to edit out and given the underlying psychology of the tale overall (worst case of Stockholm syndrome ever) so dismissible. My bottom line is that I'm so attached to Cocteau's version that all others are bogged down in that wake.