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Cinderella is one of the stories I have a weakness for. I love it. Always have and always will. This is why I had to check out the version on DVD with Julie Andrews. It was the first version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella done for television.

This version is not perfect in regards to its transfer to DVD; as most TV programs weren’t recorded and kept in the 1950’s this was definitely recorded off a playback, but it still holds all of its charm. Julie Andrews is a perfect Cinderella and watching her reminded me of how much I miss her musicals. I think I may be watching a few more of her films soon.

Cinderella: Julie Andrews
Fairy Godmother: Edie Adams

I watched Penelope again today; this movie is adorable and I think it hold up on repeat viewings. This is a fully imagined fairy tale that is light hearted and fanciful to its very core.

Watching the movie again I have to say that Catherine O’Hara as Penelope’s mother is perhaps my favorite character in the movie. She is so meddling, overbearing and frivolous that she is the perfect antithesis to the wicked stepmother in Cinderella. She has some of the best lines in the film and is perhaps one of the best comical mothers I’ve ever seen on screen.

I must also commend the director Mark Palansky. Too often there are fantasy films where the unique worlds are just not unique or realized enough, but in Penelope this is a complete, whole world that is one of the most adorable, realized worlds that I have seen on film since a movie like Pitch Black. I would like to see another movie come out of his imagination.

Jessica Wilhern: Penelope, just one man, one man.
Penelope: And he'll run too! They always run. Why can't you accept that? For seven years I've been watching them run. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? Do you?
Jessica Wilhern: I'm sorry, but we just can't quit.
Penelope: We can, because no matter how much I want to believe there's one man who won't run away, one man who... who...

On a whim I ordered Only You from Netflix, I was pleasantly surprised. Faith is a little girl when she plays the Ouija board with her brother and asks it who her soul mate is, Faith gets the name “Damon Bradley”; as a teen she goes to a fortune teller and gets the same name which further enforces to Faith that a man named Damon Bradley is a powerful force in her future.

Now in her 20’s Faith is an English teacher who is engaged to be married, not to a man named Damon but to a podiatrist and the only ones that still know about Damon are her best friends including her sister in law Kate. 10 days before the wedding a friend of the groom calls Faith to cancel his RSVP because he has to go to Italy and it turns out his name is Damon Bradley. Faith decides to impulsively fly to Italy and track down Damon so she can at least get a look at him before she marries the podiatrist and Kate tags along. What follows is an impulsive journey that leads Kate to her real soul mate, but what she doesn’t know is that this man may not be Damon Bradley.

What is so enjoyable about Only You is that it feels like a classic Hollywood film from the 1950’s; the lovers are a perfect match, the conflict is complete and real, and the film is steeped in classic movie references. Just from my first viewing I recognized homages to Cinderella, Casablanca, Roman Holiday and a few others.

I must also say that as much as I really love Robert Downey Jr., I really rented this movie so I could see Bonnie Hunt. Ever since Jerry Maguire I have been in love with her sarcastic, no nonsense style of comedy and she is probably one of my favorite actresses. In Only You Bonnie does not disappoint and if I could choose a sister in law I would want one like her.

While this movie probably plays more to women than men I do have to say that this movie is a very fun watch, and an all around good, light-hearted film. Eventually, I see Only You being added to my DVD collection.

Director: Norman Jewison
Writer: Diane Drake
Faith: Marisa Tomei
Peter: Robert Downey Jr.
Kate: Bonnie Hunt
Giovanni: Joaquim de Almeida
Larry: Fisher Stevens
Damon Bradley/Harry: Billy Zane

Faith Corvatch: Why couldn't we just have arranged marriages in America?
Kate Corvatch: Yeah, at least you could spend the rest of your life blaming your parents instead of yourself.

Since I was a little girl I have been fascinated with Cinderella; the Disney version has been my favorite classic Disney animated film from my childhood. Everyone knows the tale of Cinderella, whether that is because of the Disney film or one of the many versions of this fairy tale that exists.

I can say from many years of being fascinated with fairy tales that Cinderella in the Disney form is very different from the original tale. Sure in all versions Cinderella is an oppressed step child who meets and falls for the prince, but especially in the Grimm tale the ending alone is much more dark and disturbing. However, I am not one of those people that believe in following fairy tales to the letter so this change doesn’t bother me; to me fairy tales are the one type of story that I accept in many different forms, it all adds to the fairy tale mystique.

In his version of Cinderella Disney created a beautiful tale of a rags-to-riches princess that has enchanted girls since 1950 and will enchant generations of girls for many more years.

Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske

Cinderella: Oh, that clock! Old killjoy. I hear you. "Come on, get up," you say, "Time to start another day." Even he orders me around. Well, there's one thing. They can't order me to stop dreaming.