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The Princess Diaries (Widescreen Edition)

The Princess Diaries (Widescreen Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Princess Diaries was better than I expected.
Review: The movie is very entertaining--very humorous but it also has some depth. The acting is great. It kept me interested the whole time. I saw it with a friend and we both loved it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Comic Gem!
Review: This movie is a gem in the pile of coal. Be sure to catch this one on the big screen or buy or rent it once it's out. It is a throughly entertaining ( though oftentimes quite frivolous) enactment of the Meg Cabot novel. A sweet confection spun out of pure sugar, this taffy-type film will charm and delight you. Although terribly predictable 'fairytale-ish' it will bring a smile to your face, I assure you. Full of a magic innocense, it is a jewel to behold among the cruder, jaded films of today. In my opinion, this is the only movie worth seeing at the theater now. Believe me, you won't be disappointed, however, maybe you'll tire of the unrealistic and bizarre storyline and sometimes syrupy-sweet dialogue. Here is the bone of the story: A frizzy-haired geeky ninth-grader, Mia Thermopolis, with eyebrows that resemble two bushes ( here's a quote from the movie pertaining to them:'If Brook Shields married Groucho Marx, their baby would have your eyebrows.') is coping with being the 'invisible one' at school. For instance, after two years, her principal still doesn't know her name. And, she's always being 'sat' on at lunch and totally ignored in class. Then one day, her grandmother,played beautifully by Academy-award winning actress Julie Andrews,(who, by the way, has never bothered to communicate with her grandchild these fifteen years) calls up and invites her to her lavish hotel suite while she's staying in town. When Mia arrives, she's told that she is the sole heir to the 'Genovian' ( a small imaginary country in the heart of Europe)throne.' Come on, give me a break here. Like that would ever happen. See what I mean by unrealistic and frivolous? And then it's such a struggle for Mia to decide wether she will accept the honor and become rich and famous and popular or remain the dull, geeky nobody she is. Again, come on. Either this girl needs a brain transplant, or she is just playing hard to get with grandma.Also, what kind of a grandmother would neglect her grandchild for fifteen years, never lifting a finger to even meet her. And, why is it Mia's mom never informed her of her royal heritage? Because she wanted 'to protect' her. You see Mia's dad ( the prince) died recently before the movie begins, and so her mother has kept her lips zipped so not to disturb or hurt her daughter, anyway that's what she says. What a lame excuse. But, anyway, what can you expect from a Disney movie?

Mia lives with her eccentric but fun mom, Helen, a painter who's a little stuck in the seventies and wears tie-dies and pops 'paint ballons' with needles for artistic inspiration at home in a rundown firehouse ( yes, it has a pole to slide down on for a dramatic entrance, and Mia's favorite means of transportation to the kitchen) and is best friends with Lilly ( whose brother, by the way, has his eyes on Mia.) The two are inseparable, but when Mia gains newborn attention from the rest of her classmates after the sudden discovery of her blue blood, it stirs some trouble between the pals. Finally, though, Lilly admits to being a little jealous of her friend's good fortune and popularity and asks forgiveness. During this time, Mia receives 'princess lessons' at her grandma's and undergoes a crash course at etiquette. Definately a klutz, it is a very trying time for both grandma and tutor. When her social skills improve considerably, her grandma is pleased, except with one thing. Mia's appearance.Definately not princess material. Now, here's the heart of the whole show. The makeover. Yes, the geek goes from rags to riches in just one afternoon. A little tweazing of the eyebrows and the addition of lipstick, eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner, rouge, pantyhose, new dress and shoes to replace the old knee socks and boots, and straightening of the hair, and Mia makes a real beauty. Actually, she had a knockout smile and sparkle before the makeover ever occurred, and mega-wat eyes full of expression and glitter. Anyway, to go on . . . Now, to get to the juicy part, Mia has a bad case on the most popular boy at school, the Backstreet Boy-wannabe, Josh Bryant ( played disgustingly well by Eric von Detten) who has just dumped girlfriend, naturally the most popular girl at school, Lana, part of a hip Phe-phi-pho-phana girl group ( played effectively by pop-sensation Mandy Moore.) When Josh takes sudden interest in Mia and asks her out to the beach party, she gets these weird fantasies about her 'future' with him. Such as, she confides in her mom about her wild hope that she will get her first 'foot-pop' kiss. " You know, like in those real old romance movies, when the girl gets her first kiss, her foot pops up," she says.Whoopee! Me,too, me,too! Give me a break. You'll probably kick somebody in the butt. They should put a message on the screen: 'Don't try this at home kid' while Mia does a karate chop on some innocent passersby. Real cute, Mia. And of course, her mom laughs at her. Oh, well, there's still hope for you, Mia. Hang in there. However, being a princess, she's mobbed by reporters and cameramen everywhere she goes. When she goes to the beach party, she's a vulnerable target for the media. Of course they come in helicoptors and surround her, shouting on loudspeakers to mock her, ' Don't be shy, Princess! We won't hurt you. Come to Daddy!' She and Josh run from the vicious reporters to a lifeguard shack and lock themselves in. And of course, Josh tries to pull a mushy kiss on her, but she actually refuses, saying, ' Uh, Josh, this isn't very romantic', when the camera zeroes in on her foot being caught in a fishing net.When he suggests a 'good ole foot massage', she smiles wearily and raises her foot onto his lap and says, gratefully, ' That would be super', but he pushes it off and instead raises his own onto hers, returning,' No, actually I meant, massage my foot.' Mia's brows quirk. She's getting the message at long last. End of scene. But, when 'the coast in clear' they slowly emerge from the shack, only to be jumped at by dozens of reporters. Then Josh forces her to do a full-on tongue make out infront of the crowd, whereas cameras click and questions buzz. Mia finally understands that he was not being nice by asking her out at all, but only wanted some of the limelight for himself. When she runs to exchange her swimsuit for her sweater and jeans, Lana intercepts her, with a phony sugary-sweet smile, 'It's alright Mia. I've got your clothes ready for you inside the booth. Don't worry, I'll protect you from Josh and those mean cameramen. Now hurry and get dressed before they find you. By the way, I always liked you, you know. Maybe we could be friends from now on. I never liked Josh, really. It was all for fun. Nothing serious.'Again, too trusting, Mia enters the booth and begins dressing. While in the process of getting into her clothes,Lana motions slyly to the newspeople, whispering, " She's out of her swimsuit. Get your film rolling!", and dumps the booth over, revealing a shocked Mia, struggling to hide herself behind her towel. There, maybe that's smartened her up. By the day of the grand ball she's ready to give up the responsibility of princess and run away, but discovers a letter written to her from her father in a diary, regarding the sacredness of the position offered to her. The letter compells her to attend the ball afterall, and to invite her true love, Michael, her best friend's brother to escort her. By the finale, she has learned who her real friends are and what really matters. And to crown it all, she gets her first 'foot-pop' kiss in a glistening flowing chiffon gown with tiara and all from Michael ( Robert Schwartsman) in the royal garden engulfed in a vivid splash of moonlight.And, she tells him with a sweet smile,"You were the only one who saw me, even when I was invisible." Anne Hathaway steals the show in the role of Mia, and will steal your heart,too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Movie of the Year
Review: Best Movie for all ages. Spite the cynics panning this movie I found it to be more than mildly funny and not at all boring. Obviously it's not going to win an Academy Award for Best Picture (although it really should) or is Julie Andrews going to win for Best Actress (also deserves the award). I went into this movie with no expectations, which made it the best movie of the year. Anne Hathaway's performance was fabulous as well as cute and Julie Andrews was amazing as usual. The movie was witty, cute and entertaining throughout. Don't listen to the panned reviews, see it for yourself.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: this is entertainment
Review: This has to be one of the best all time movies. It brings a laugh to everyone. I think nothing and nobody could make this more entertaining. Between the Princess and Joe this top of the chart entertainment for the whole family.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best disney comedy
Review: the princess diaries is the best disney comedy since the 98 version of the parent trap which i thought was a 6 star movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I have to agree with the others . . .
Review: This movie was so refreshing and delightful. I took my elderly mother and my eleven-year old daughter, and all of us thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I only wish more movies were made like this one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 3 1/2 actually
Review: This looked like a cute movie, but it turned out to be a little unhumorous and a tad too long. I'm a big Gary Marshall fan. So, I wanted to see this. Some of the scenes reminded me of "Pretty Woman" ( when she gets lessons on how to act like a lady), but not as funny. I'll admit that it did have some funny parts. Anne Hathoway did a great job, too. The best part was Hector Elisondo. He was very funny in his scenes. For a "G" movie it had an awfull amount of kissing. It also clocked in at around a little less than 2 hrs, which I thought was too long. But it did have its funny moments. If you want to see a cute movie w/ your daughter, than see " The Princess Diaries."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Princess Diaries
Review: This movie is the crown jewel of Julie Andrews career. With an all star cast and the best plot, this movie could bring a smile to any person 2 years to 150 years old! This movie has earned 6 stars out of 5! This is must see smile guarntee movie!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but REALLY predictiable
Review: This is a cute movie, and pretty much ends at that. There are a couple mildy funny parts in the movie, which was fun to see being that I was not in the mood to see an indebth movie the evenging I viewed this. Like I was, you really have to be in the mood to see this movie if you are over the age of 13, or else you will just get annoyed and agitated throughout the entire showing. I would definatly not recomend this movie if you are looking for an origional or remotly deep showing, but I do think it is a movie that most would enjoy.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: uuuuum.. book anyone?
Review: By itself, the princess diaries was a pretty good movie. But the book is so wonderful, my expectations were way too high. The two basically have different plots! None of the same humor was used either. And Julie Andrews is NICE! In the book Mia despises her grandmother. (Grandmere) Is a crazy phyco woman (but in a humorous way), and in the movie she is miss loveable U.S.A. There are some funny parts, but if you are going to see the movie because of the book, I'll say it is a dissappointment.


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