Angelina Jolie as Maleficent

In the canon of Disney evils, Maleficent ranks with the best of them.  Here's the first taste of Angelina Jolie in full costume for the 2014 live action re-staging of Sleeping Beauty directed by Robert Stromberg, who famously won back to back Art Directions Academy Awards for Avatar and Alice in Wonderland.  Simply titled Maleficent, Jolie stars alongside Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora and Sharlto Copley (District 9.)  I'm worried as a whole, but the casting of Jolie is pure genius, for she is simply terrific portraying a cartoon-- what with her curves, seductive line readings, and over-the-top celebrity-- she is a cartoon.  That's meant as a compliment.

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty from Pollen Digital on Vimeo.

 

Not the Disney classic, but the Australian film from director Julia Leigh, that comes with an avid endorsement from Jane Campion-- a very good thing.  This trailer to Sleeping Beauty, which will appear in competition at this years Cannes Film Festival, might just be my favorite 2011 teaser.  Evocative and deliberate, it quietly teases the rules of the game, but reveals absolutely nothing-- if Hollywood had any faith in their product at all, I'd advise them to do the same.  The drawback, at least as of this time, may be it's leading lady, Emily Browning, currently modeling the Kristen Stewart acting aesthetic of glaring in rapidly decreasing cinemas everywhere in Sucker Punch.