Cinderella Story 3

[Avenall Trejo]

ACinderella Story is a 2004 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Mark Rosman, written by Leigh Dunlap and starring Hilary Duff, Chad Michael Murray, Jennifer Coolidge, and Regina King. A modernization of the classic Cinderella folklore, the film's plot revolves around two internet pen pals who plan to meet in person at their high school's Halloween dance.

The film was released on July 16, 2004. While it was panned by critics, the film was a box office success, grossing $70.1 million against its $19 million budget, and inspired multiple straight-to-video films. Over the years, it has developed into a cult classic.[2]

Samantha "Sam" Montgomery is raised by her widowed father Hal, who runs a diner in the San Fernando Valley. Hal marries a vain and greedy woman named Fiona, who has twin daughters, Brianna and Gabriella. Hal later dies in the 1994 Northridge earthquake apparently without leaving a will, leading Fiona to inherit everything. Eight years later, 17-year-old Sam is tormented by her stepfamily, while the community faces a drought. Sam and her best friend Carter Farrell, an aspiring actor, are bullied by the popular clique at school, led by head cheerleader and mean girl Shelby Cummings. Forced to work at the diner to save money to attend Princeton, Sam is looked after by longtime manager Rhonda and confides in her online pen pal "Nomad", who shares her dream to attend Princeton to become a writer. Unbeknownst to Sam, "Nomad" is Austin Ames, the popular but unhappy school quarterback and Shelby's boyfriend, whose father, Andy, expects him to attend the University of Southern California.

Sam agrees to meet "Nomad" at the school Halloween dance and Austin breaks up with Shelby, although Shelby refuses to believe him. Fiona refuses to give Sam the night off to attend the dance, but Rhonda and Carter intervene. Rhonda gives Sam a mask and her old wedding dress to wear as "Cinderella". Dressed as "Prince Charming", Austin reveals to Sam that he is "Nomad" but does not recognize her under her mask, and they share a romantic dance. A masked Carter makes out with Shelby after defending her from the unwanted advances of Austin's friend, but is forced to drive Sam back to the diner before Fiona discovers she is gone. As they leave, Sam drops her cell phone, which is found by Austin, as he and the missing Cinderella are named homecoming prince and princess. The diner staff stalls Fiona and her daughters, and Sam arrives just in time.

The next day, Austin covers the school in flyers, hoping to identify the mysterious Cinderella and Carter is cruelly rejected by Shelby. Austin's friends present him with a crowd of girls claiming to be Cinderella, without success. He is accepted to Princeton but unable to tell his father and visits the diner, where Sam tries to tell him the truth. Brianna and Gabriella discover Sam's emails with Austin, realizing she's the mystery Cinderella. After failing to convince Austin that they are each Cinderella, the twins present the emails to Shelby, convincing her that Sam schemed to steal Austin away from her. At the school pep rally, Shelby and the twins perform a humiliating skit exposing Sam as Cinderella and she runs home in tears.

Sam finds her father's will hidden in her childhood fairytale book, revealing that everything was left to her, including the house and diner. As the rightful owner, Sam is able to sell her stepfamily's cars to pay for college, while Fiona claims to have never seen the will before, despite having signed it as a witness. Arrested by the LAPD and D.A., she makes a deal with the latter to work her debt off at the diner, now co-owned by Rhonda; her daughters, after retrieving Sam's acceptance letter from the trash, are also forced to work with her as bus girls. Andy accepts Austin's decision to attend Princeton. Carter lands a commercial and rejects Shelby for Astrid, the school's goth DJ and announcer. Austin returns Sam's cell phone and they begin a relationship, driving off to Princeton together.

Clifford Werber conceived a modernized adaptation of the Cinderella story due to its long-lasting appeal of being "the ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy" with "an underlying message of empowerment."[3]

Roger Ebert wrote that A Cinderella Story "is a lame, stupid movie, but Warner Bros. is spending a fortune to persuade [young audiences] to see it and recommend it".[9] Other critics panned the plot as "simple, lazy storytelling"[10] and "a dull rehash of the old girl-meets-boy chestnut".[11] They noted that its attempts to modernize aspects of the source material were gimmicky and led to illogical plot elements, such as a cell phone being the film's glass slipper and Sam looking too pretty and cheerful for an outcast.[12][11][13] Some particularly felt the use of a perfect teenager as a social reject delegitimized the moral of any average person believing in oneself.[11][13]

A Cinderella Story was followed by five direct-to-video films, each presenting a separate modern-day version of the Cinderella story: The sequels use the themes and situations that also borrow from the Cinderella tale, but do not contain any characters from the first film. Unlike the first film, the sequels also include musical, dance and holiday event themes.

That moment made me reflect: little signals like this had been happening since almost the beginning of RANGE (get ready for a little back story) and continue to happen (big props to our beloved Val Osier immediately to follow).

I started RANGE in April 2020 as a podcast that I hoped would get Spokane talking. Having left the Inlander almost eight years earlier, I also wanted to know if I, personally, still had a place in journalism.

A Spokane where everyone has the tools they need to make their voice heard to ensure their needs are met, and that this community we share is meaningfully better, more transparent and more equal than it has ever been.

Yet the production of the musical playing through August 20 at Broadway Rose Theatre managed to both dazzle and tickle me, and even brought a tear to my eye. I was right there with appreciative audience members of all ages.

It may help more reluctant audience members to put the show into context. The original television musical by the fabled duo of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein (think Oklahoma!, Carousel, The Sound of Music, and The King and I) premiered in 1959 starring Julie Andrews in the title role. The version that hit me in the sweet spot of girlhood premiered on television in 1965, and starred Lesley Ann Warren; I distinctly recall watching it any chance I got, so much so that the songs came back to me after more than four decades.

The show had been remounted several times before the version now on stage at Broadway Rose, which premiered as a revival on Broadway in 2013. In that version, the book was updated by Douglas Carter Beane to put some light meat on the bones of the story.

Good staging and direction holds the magic well. This 22-person cast capitalizes on the scale of its production numbers; it is full of capable dancers, the choreography is playful, and the action never drags.

Finally, the costumes here deserve a deep bow of respect. Lovers of beautiful gowns will have plenty to marvel about here; the designers here (Travis Grant, with Maine State Music Theatre) have taken seriously the task of building a dreamworthy world.

The audience response was enthusiastic. I sat next to an older couple who held hands and murmured appreciation throughout the entire show, and spent the hour following the show unpacking every detail with a very appreciative seven-year-old. Cinderella is based on an archetypal story, and even without aiming for depth, this musical stokes deep attachments. Even the most cynical audience members may find themselves wiping away a tear or two.

He is the Beast, allowing Belle to leave the castle because he loves her, even though it will mean his death. He is Rick in Casablanca, who prevents Ilsa from staying with him, because he is sure she will deeply regret it. Their love story ends tragically, but this act of sacrificial true love on his part is a major moment of its universal appeal.

So, in short, we get the Cinderella fantasy of the richest and most powerful man choosing Elizabeth, but then we get the Beast fantasy of Mr. Darcy completing his arc to become worthy and being chosen in return. And somehow Jane Austen keeps Darcy from becoming a Byronic or anti-hero, which often goes along with this fantasy (now you can contrast this with Casablanca and Beauty and the Beast, who had dark, Byronic heroes). Mr. Darcy is both worthy and unworthy at the beginning of the book, and it works because Elizabeth is both worthy and unworthy, too.

Synopsis: Katie Gibbs (Lucy Hale) connects with the son of a famous music director, Luke Morgan, (Freddie Stroma) through their love of singing. However, after getting caught by her abusive step-family, she is forced to help her step-sister lie and fake her singing ability so that she can get Luke to fall in love with her step-sister instead.

They essentially reverted back to everything that I hated in the first movie (cheesy conflict, one-dimensional villains that never have their motives explained, kindergarten-level comedy, girls vs girls mentality) combined with song and dance every five minutes.

At this point in time, I just want to advocate for an R-rated Cinderella Story so that the writers can truly shine and actually illustrate high school bullying. And also be able to make the Cinderella go Carrie on her step-family.

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The movies are not sequels of each other. Every movie has a different lead actress and lead actor. There are 6 movies, starring 6 different actresses. Hillary Duff, Selena Gomez, Laura Marano, Lucy Hale, Ashlee Hewitt, and Sofia Carson. There is no order for them because every movie is a different story line.

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