Cinderella
Kenneth Branagh directs Disney’s live-action remake of the classic tale CINDERELLA, with competent results. Lily James in the title role is as sweet as Downton Abbey‘s Lady Rose (I kept waiting for her to ask Cousin Robert to buy a wireless), and Game of Thrones‘ Richard Madden stares with blue-eyed longing as the Prince. (Is it wrong that I longed for their fairy-tale wedding to erupt into unparalleled violence?) The cast is littered with other recognizables, including Helena Bonham Carter doing her usual eccentric shtick as the fairy godmother…but it’s Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother who saves the day for us grownups, offering the most savage (and even a bit nuanced) period fashion-plate predator since Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons. Preceded by a not-quite-bearable animated short featuring FROZEN characters. –YSM