Annie-Movie.net

This website was created to specifically promote the 2014 version of the movie Annie starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, and Cameron Diaz. This American musical comedy-drama film directed by Will Gluck was a contemporary adaptation of the 1977 Broadway musical, Annie. Yup, it's been 37 years since audiences were first introduced to the red haired orphaned little white girl. The story lines are different, so if you are planning to rent the DVD of the 2014 movie expecting to see just a simple, freshening of the 1977 story line, you might be disappointed. I happened to like the updated version of Annie, as did my two daughters. Even though I have seen earlier iterations of Annie including the Broadway show, I went with an open and uncritical attitude, wanting just to be entertained. The particular day I went to see the movie was memorable for additional reasons. It was my twin daughters' birthday. I probably should have bought them Annie logo t shirts, but since I know they are Batman fans instead gave them stylish Batman t shirts from https://www.moonatmidnight.com/batman-t-shirts.html and while I was on the site I bought a Batman sweatshirt for myself. The twins are at an age where they have decided that they want to look different from one another, so I bought their t shirts with two different colors and designs. For Lea I selected a Batman and Robin Team t shirt in black and for Lyla, I chose a Batman and Robin Wingman t shirt in red. My Hush Logo crew neck sweatshirt was the least obtrusive of the three designs. I have to say the adults with their kids waiting to get into Annie at the afternoon show we attended smiled when they saw us in line. We would have been a great advertisement for a Batman movie, that's for sure.

The songs are still there . No wait....unfortunately 2014’s “Annie” was poorly conceived with mediocre new songs and shockingly bad adaptations of the old songs like “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” according to some critics. It might have been more interesting if the director had just kept all the original songs and had them delivered by the characters in rap. (On the other hand, one critic gushed: "songs are ten times better than the ones in Into the Woods., " Really!)

The opening scene promises sharp commentary about class-divide, but the film really doesn't deliver. Maybe, but just know that the adorable red-headed Taylor Richardson in the opening of the film is not just any cutie-pie. Richardson was the child star who played Annie on Broadway! As one Rotten Tomato critic lamented: "the flick that follows mostly gives us a cocky, fully-formed child, broadly shticked-out adults, a musical-ness that comes across as show-offy, and almost no political savvy." The critic then goes on to write: "the movie’s denial of Annie’s blackness is not just part of its naive portrayal of NYC as beamishly melting-pot but a marketing ploy to make Annie seem more contemporary, urban and cool to a more-than-just-white-girls demographic (especially when Wallis sings duets with Foxx)."

I don't know if you would be better off seeing the live action 1982 film version by the same name starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, and Carol Burnett, which was adapted from the Broadway musical. Most of you older folks will know that the 1977 Broadway show was based on the 1924 daily comic strip by Harold Gray called Little Orphan Annie. But did you know that the comic strip was a spin off of the main character called Little Orphant Annie, in James Whitcomb Riley's short poem, "The Elf Child" ?

Well, even though the critics didn't love the film giving it a dismal 30%, the audience was more forgiving giving it a 60%. Not great, mind you, but the audience members who gave it 5 stars in their reviews obviously thought it was great.

Not wanting to leave on a down note, I have included reviews starting with the worst ratings and then moving up  to some of the more positve 4 & 5 star reviews. Ultimately the final vote goes to you the viewer.

Audience Reviews

1/2 Star rating

Horrible Auto tuned garbage... Lazy choreography and phoned in performances... Watch the Original Annie again instead!

+++

1 Star

Horrible . Just horrible

+++

2 Star

I pity the people who saw this instead of Into the Woods. I pity those who actually thought this was better than Into the Woods. Most of all, I pity myself for watching this. I would warn y'all about spoilers in this review, but it isn't worth it.​

+++

A 3 star review

In the past few days, critics have had a grand time running all over the new film version of Annie with a steamroller. It's an easy movie to pick on. It's corny. It's flawed. It's too long. The musical numbers are, for the most part, forgettable. Plus it has the single worst performance of Cameron Diaz's career, which I'll get to in a moment. But the movie is what it is. It's fun. It's bright. It's Annie. It's exactly what you expect.

+++

From a 3.5 star review:

The film is produced by the team of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith along with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Beyonce Knowles who served as executive producers. …… this new version of "Annie" is very kid friendly and the musical numbers are great. Ms. Wallis' performance is dead-on target, but the rest of the acting falls just short of the mark.

+++

From a 3.5 star review:/p>

It's not the Annie that we grew up with, but our kids didn't grow up with that movie. They are growing up in a world without "orphans" and only foster kids. They are growing up in an entertainment era where unique is very catchy. Making music with more than just a traditional instrument. I think they did a great job putting this movie together, taking the story the older generation grew up with and updating it to get the younger generation involved also.

+++

Moving up to a 4 star review:

I have to admit I didn't hate this nearly as much as I expected to. In fact, if Cameron Diaz hadn't been cast, it would have actually been a really great updated version of a classic musical. I wasn't entirely sold on the new music and Jamie Foxx could never win me over to the extent that Albert Finney or Victor Garber did, but overall, it was really fun and I'm excited that it will bring the concept of musicals to a new audience.

+++

And a 4 1/2 star review:/p>

I think the critics who don't like this movie are just plain wrong. Recasting Annie as a modern black child could have been done badly, but here the implications of a black orphan in a modern context gave the story a depth that the original Annie lacked. No doubt it would have been terrible if they had just shoehorned a black actress into the part, but instead the entire movie was rewritten to create a modern sense of dialog, music and city culture. It was well done./p>

It is true that the story is an unrealistic fantasy of rags to riches, and greed giving way to love, etc. But that's true of the original Annie as well. I give the writers and musicians who re-imagined this story full credit for fleshing out cartoon characters and giving them history and depth, and also for updating the music and lyrics in a way that is true to the original while also being true to the musical style and social message of hip-hop.

+++

Finally, the 5 star reviews

This makes me want to get up dance and sing. Truly heartwarming, family friendly, and the most action packed musical ever.

+++

Better still ,this 5 star review.

I've seen the reviews and I would like to make one point clear. This is an Annie remake. Therefore, obviously, it won't be like the other two Annie that really did not re-invent the wheel. I took my daughter to see this film and she absolutely love it. My daughter saw the live Annie play first, then saw this movie. This is a children's movie. If anyone should really give a review for this movie, it should be them. Look at the movie for what it is, which is its own version of Annie. Appreciate that as an adult, don't compare, and let your child enjoy this fun filled movie.

+++

As I started out saying: This was the website that was created to specifically promote the 2014 version of the movie Annie. Once the movie faded from its theatrical release, this website's purpose was finihe. The site's domain registration expired and Annie-Movie.net disappeared from the web.

Recently I discovered that the domain was available, so I bought it with the goal of recreating as much of its original content as possible from archived pages. I did not want someone else to purchase the domain and re-purpose the site for something that had nothing in common with the original Annie-Movie.net website. Yes, that happens all the time.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAGE CONTAINS SELECTIVE ARCHIVED CONTENT FROM THE ORIGINAL SITE.

Since the site will not be exactly as you remember it, please be indulgent.

Now let's take a nostalgic stroll back to 2014 and the release of Annie.

Annie-Movie.net