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The Princess Diaries (Widescreen Edition)

The Princess Diaries (Widescreen Edition)

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Princess Mia........
Review: Mia Thermopolis thought she was just a normal,10th grader.She not popular or cool,just geeky....
Well,one day her grandmother comes to town and wants to see Mia, so when Mia goes to visit her,she gets the surprize of her life...her grandmother tells her that her father was the PRINCE OF GENOVIA!!!!!!!!!AND MIA IS THE PRINCESS,AND SHE HAS TO MOVE TO GENOVIA TO TRAIN TO BE THE NEXT RULER!!AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!Mia is Freaked!I mean,Gosh she's almost 16 and no one ever told her she was a princess!
Well,Mia makes a deal with her Grandmother,she will take Princess lessons for a couple weeks untill the royal genovian ball,then she will make her anouncement,to take the Royal crown,or Not.............Now she just has to survive untill then,sigh.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: youll watch it time and time again
Review: the best film of the year
mia is a geek with bad hair and her look needs to be thrown out
but after she meets her grandmother who is a queen and which makes mai a princess
her whole life changes she is given a make over which turns her into a beauty and the most popular girl at school but all this
comes with a price ........
i wont give it away but it great its worth the money

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Princess Diaries
Review: We own both types of this movie both the DVD and the VHS. My youngest daughter loves this movie. It's sweet and let's you see the possibilities of transforming an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan princess. The comedy during the transformation are very funny and well acted. Julie Andrews is as usual superb! We have purchased both versions, why, because it's just such a good movie to have. Makes you want to believe in fairy tales!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A charming, one-of-a-kind movie
Review: I saw this movie when it first came out, and it gets better and better every time I see it! It's unique in that it's a "teen" movie, but it's not a horror film or a gratuitous comedy (i.e., "Scream" and "American Pie"). This is a movie for the whole family to enjoy, and not just the kids. I'm 24, and it's one of my favorite movies!

Anne Hathaway is perfectly cast as "Mia", who discovers for the first time at age 15 that she is a princess and heir to the throne of a small European country. It's refreshing to see an actual teenager portray a teenage character in a movie (in fact, all the teen characters are portrayed by teens, including pop singer Mandy Moore and the always incredible Heather Matarazzo as "Lilly"). Mia reminds me of myself at that age--clutzy, frizzy hair, bushy eyebrows, awkward, geeky, and bad at gym class. In this way, the audience is able to relate to the character so well because she isn't perfect, and we've all felt that way at some time. Playing her grandmother the queen is the also-perfectly-cast Julie Andrews. Ms. Andrews just shines in this role, and she brings a good dose of class to the film. I'm sure many people who grew up watching her as Mary Poppins in the '60's will love seeing her in a Disney film again. She appears to really enjoy being in the film, and I hope she does more films for Disney in the future!

Speaking of Hathaway and Andrews...the two actresses do a WONDERFUL commentary on the DVD. This is by far THE BEST audio commentary I've heard on a DVD so far. Anne and Julie comment on the movie over a traditional English tea (which made me want to join them!) and fill the entire movie with lively banter full of antidotes and inside stories all the way until the very end of the credits (unlike most directors who run out of things to say half-way through the film and sound bored most of the time). The commentary is as entertaining as the movie!

Some movie critics criticized this movie for buying into the whole fairytale theme of "girls can be princesses" and that their self-worth is based on how they look. I thought it was just the opposite. Even after Mia is made-over, she still retains the same "dorkiness" as before. Anne Hathaway does a good job of keeping the character steadfast throughout. Plus, she only dresses as a princess twice during the movie--the rest of the time she appears as a normal teenager. Also, being a princess is portrayed in the film as a real job with great responsibilities, not just dressing up and wearing tiaras. This movie did a great job of transforming old fairytale themes ("Cinderella" and "The Ugly Duckling" come to mind) into a modern-day story.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Been there, done that
Review: This is a poor version of Pygmalion - so-so script, predictable, but Julie Andrews is classy throughout.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Whats not to love?
Review: This is a great film. Julie Andrews shines as usual, playing the elegant and sophisticated Queen of Genovia. Newcomer Anne Hathaway is charming as Mia Thermopolis, Genovia's somewhat clumsy and reluctant Princess. Terrific storyline (check out the books as well, they are wonderful). The extras on the DVD are a great added bonus. Dont waste a minute and buy this one today! Thank you Garry Marshall for another heart-warming film.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: drivel
Review: That sums this movie up. It is absolutely awful. An unattractive, clutsy girl is a princess who is suddenly beautiful? If you want a "real" fairy tale, a wonderful movie to inspire goodness and kindness and acceptance in children, especially girls who are waaaaayyy too unhealthily made aware of their looks and weight instead of their heart and deeds, then go watch Shrek and let this trash die. Sorry if I am hard on it, but that is my opinion. I am tired of this falsehood young girls are given at every turn. Come on, this is the 21st century. Give us something meaningful and of substance that can make even the ones who will NEVER look like supermodels love themselves for who they are.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Miracles Happen
Review: As a fan of Garry Marshall for many years, I see every one of his films for two reasons.
1. I know I'll love it (Exit To Eden is the one exception)
2. To find the "Garry Clan" the various people who have been in almost every single Garry movie.

Now this movie had a third reason, Anne Hathaway. I discovered Anne on the short lived TV Series "Get Real" where she played the genius, but rebellious Meghan Green on the only television show I have really ever seen that portrayed your REAL typical American family. I knew from that moment Anne would be a star, and it took a movie like this to make it happen.

I typically don't like movies where someone with glasses is considered a dork, nerd, geek, everything that makes someone as unpopular as one can possibly be; but this movie shows what you can become if you believe in yourself, not just believe in what you see in the mirror. Yes, Mia goes from a frizzy haired bespectacled girl to a beautiful young woman, but this movie goes beyond the exterior which is what I know will happen in any and all Garry Marshall movies.

The basic premise is, an unpopular fifteen year old girl is paid an unexpected visit by her paternal grandmother and discovers her late father was the prince of a small country, which makes her a princess and she has to make the personal choice on whether to continue her life in San Francisco or movie to Genovia and rule the country. While mulling this over, she is given a personal makeover on the outside, but never changes the sweet person she is on the inside.

You have your typical popular cheerleader, played by Mandy Moore and the best friend, played by Heather Matarazzo. Both characters are essential to the plot and effect how Mia (Anne Hathaway) feels about herself and the overall decision she makes when it comes to the rest of her life.

I don't want to say anything that would give the movie away, but this is not your typical teenage movie. The film is rated G, and there is really no language whatsoever and any fan of Pretty Woman will recognize not only people (Hector Elizondo, Patrick Richwood, Alan Kent; if you watch the commentary on the DVD Garry will explain to you whom all these people are if you're nor obsessive like myself and already know) but familiar scenes that are take offs from Pretty Woman, and the familiar undertone of the film itself: it's simply a fairytale, and we should all believe in fairytales once in awhile.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Cinderella tale...
Review: "The Princess Diaries" was a hip, funny book that was turned into an even better movie. In the book the story is set in New York and Mia's dad is very much alive and plays a central role in her becoming a princess. But in the movie (set in San Francisco) the story becomes much more touching when we see Mia finding her father's letter, or Mia remembering a special moment that they shared.

Mia (Anne Hathaway) is immensely likable as an awkward, clumsy teenager, and Mia's school could be any school, with its colorful assortment of bullies, jocks and cheerleaders. Lilly (Heather Matarazzo) is a genius, mouthy and outspoken, a perfect match for too-timid Mia who tries to be invisible. Mia's mom is a flighty artist who forgets to do practical things (grocery shopping, paying the bills), leaving Mia pretty much in charge, until Mia's grandmother Clarisse Rinaldi (Julie Andrews) swoops in and tells Mia that she is a princess.

Watching Mia's journey from high school nerd to Amelia, princess of Genovia (an imaginary European country between Spain and France in the book, or between France and Italy in the movie) is a joy. Mia is suddenly treated like a celebrity and her world is turned upside-down as her grandmother attempts to remake her into a beautiful, graceful, politically minded princess with often humorous results. Hector Elizondo plays Joe, Mia's chauffeur who gives her advice from the heart.

As if Mia's life wasn't complicated enough, she has a crush on Josh, the most popular boy in the school who is already taken by Lana (Mandy Moore). What's a girl to do? Watch the movie and find out!

"The Princess Diaries" is a family-friendly Cinderella story with a stellar cast, a great soundtrack, and a timeless message about being yourself and being the best you can be.

The DVD features audio commentaries and a number of music videos from the movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: fun movie, fun book
Review: Princess Diaries is a sweet movie about a teenage girl named Mia Thermopolis. She lives in San Francisco with her mom. She seems like a quite normal girl until she finds out that she is the only heiress to the throne of a little country in Europe called Genovia. Now that she's a 'princess', she is forced to take princess lessons with her strict grandmother (played wonderfully by Julie Andrews).
I enjoyed the movie. It's very easy going and sweet. But I have to admit that i liked the book much better. The book is very different from the movie (for example-in the book the whole thing takes place in NYC, but in the movie it takes place in San Francisco).
Anyway, the movie was great and i'm sure anyone who's in to fun and sweet movies should see it!


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