The recent resurgence of live action fairy tales has really caused me to sit up and take notice. I already have a love for period films in general, but now Hollywood is taking familiar fairy tales and putting the Grimm-ness back into them. It began with 2011’s ‘Red Riding Hood’ and will continue with the March 2 release of ‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.’ This isn’t a retelling of the classic tale with children and gingerbread houses. No, Hansel and Gretel have grown up and are now bounty hunters skilled at hunting down witches. Jeremy Renner of ‘The Hurt Locker’ and Gemma Arterton of ‘Clash of the Titans’ play the title roles.
Only two weeks later comes ‘Mirror, Mirror,’ the story of Snow White. I have loved the ABC series ‘Once Upon a Time,’ so I anticipate ‘Mirror, Mirror’ greatly! Julia Roberts plays the evil queen bent on snatching the kingdom out of Snow White’s hands. Beautiful British actress Lily Collins plays Snow White, who enlists the aid of seven fellow rebels. I doubt it well bear much resemblance to the Disney cartoon we grew up with.
The much-anticipated summer releases of ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ and ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ are for another article. Let me instead shift gears and talk about another movie I have been excited about since I first got word of it-‘The Raven.’ This plays right into my already mentioned obsession with period films. Add in John Cusack and Edgar Allen Poe and I am a goner!
I have loved John Cusack since ‘Sixteen Candles’ (1984) and ‘Better off Dead’ (1985). He always plays his roles in a way that is so endearing I fall in love all over again. As for Edgar Allen Poe, my obsession with him and his works precedes my love of Cusack. The first poem I ever memorized was ‘Annabel Lee,’ and his chilling stories such as ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ defined my childhood fears.
Luke Evans of ‘Immortals’ plays a detective who works in conjunction with Poe (Cusack) as they track down a killer whose crimes resemble Poe’s stories. ‘The Raven’ falls nicely into the week between ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Mirror, Mirror,’ making March a month of great cinema!