Earlier this month I had the pleasure of taking in a matinée for an advanced screening of Beauty and the Beast. I've been dying to share my thoughts about this film starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast ever since. The magic of Beauty and the Beast begins right away when we are whisked into the world of Prince Adam before he became the Beast.  I loved seeing this aspect come to life in all its gorgeous detail with the set and costumes. From there we are taken to Belle and her provincial village. Here we find our heroine yearning to break free from her life in a small town.  It's also where the audience gets its first look at how much more independent and multi-dimensional our characters are versus their one-note animated predecessors.  To me, this made the film even … [Read more...]