Beastly

      You know that saying “the third times a charm”? Well I find that to be true of movies sometimes.  There are some that can actually catch me a little off guard the first time.  Just a little different than I expected and, not sure what to expect other times. I have watched Beastly (2011) three times in the last forty-eight hours.  I liked it more each time.  I had to watch it three times because that is what it took for my brain to process it all.
       Beastly isn’t a new and different story.  It is Beauty and the Beast set in modern day New York.  My girls and I had a lot of fun comparing it to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.  At one point Kyle/Hunter needs a “thinking thing”, something he can do for her.  We said he should give her a library.  He doesn’t, but he does give her the equivalent. It is kind of interesting how they were able to tell the story in modern day New York but keep to the traditional Beauty and the Beast storyline.  Kind of fun actually.
      Alex Pettyfer (I am number four, Tormented) plays Kyle, the would be prince.  Watching his character change through out the movie is one of the neat things about the Beauty and the Beast story.  Alex does a great job and by the end I really liked him as the Beastly character, scars, tattoos and all.  (I am assuming if you are reading this you have seen the trailer or at least posters or DVD covers and you know how Kyle looks) Vanessa Hudgens (High School musical, Bandslam, Sucker Punch) plays Lindy, Kyle’s love interest.  There was a bit of a surprise for us, we didn’t know that Neil Patrick Harris (How I met your mother, Doogie Howser M.D.) was in it.  He was wonderful as usual.  We all really like him. Mary-Kate Olsen (Full house, New York Minute) plays the goth witch who casts the spell on Kyle.  She was very believable and I am not taking a jab and I don’t mean anything bad by that.  It was a good role for her, she owned it.
     The music for Beastly was really good as well. The soundtrack goes along with the movie so well. I really like it when the music complements the story and this one does just that. Right from the very first song, Vanity by Lady Gaga. Every song just fits so well.  The score is also amazing.  The second time watching Beastly I paid a lot more attention to the music. There was a very familiar sound to the score. Turns out Marcelo Zarvos  (Remember Me, The Door in the Floor) wrote the score. He also wrote the score for Remember Me which I absolutely love.  He is  a Brazilian Pianist and composer and his music is beautiful.  

(By the way, I have read I Am Number Four.  Pretty good read.  It successfully filled in those gaps that the movie left.  It is very different than the movie but I think they did all right transfering it to the big screen. They kind of can go together which is about all you can hope for when a book is made into a movie.  It will never be the same, but it should add to the book and not take away from the reading experience)