New Annie Movie: MN Exclusive Screening - Check out the MN reviews! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

This is the thread for the lucky MNers who attended an Exclusive MN Preview Screening of the new Annie movie – at Cinemas December 20!

Read all about it here: www.anniemovie.co.uk/

Annie Movie Synopsis
Academy Award® nominee Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who’s also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they’d be back for her someday, it’s been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything’s about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) – advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne) and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) – makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he’s her guardian angel, but Annie’s self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it’s the other way around.

Check out the trailer here:

The film features Jamie Foxx as Will Stacks, Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie, Rose Byrne as Grace, Bobby Cannavale as Guy, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Nash, David Zayas as Lou and Cameron Diaz as Miss Hannigan

So, if you attended a screening, please share on this thread...

1. Who you attended the screening with - including ages of DC
2. Your overall summary of the film
3. What was your DC's favourite part of the film? Who is their favourite character and why?
4. Out of 5, how many stars would you give the film? How many would your DC give it? (5 is highest and 1 is lowest)
5. What was your overall experience of the screening?
6. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Annie to friends and family? Why?

As an extra thank you, everyone who adds their feedback will be entered into a prize draw where 5 lucky winners will win a Sony WX350 Camera worth £239 and an Annie Goody Bag!

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

We loved the new Annie movie, we are huge fans of the original and was so pleased with the remake, read the review of my little likely lass and what she thought littlelikelylads.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-new-annie-movie-review.html

Thanks for lettknf us attend this. We had a fantastic time despite the fact it was about an hours drive and Ds2 vomited on the way :(

1. Who you attended the screening with - including ages of DC Me, my mum, ds1 (10) and Ds2 (8)

2. Your overall summary of the film We all love the original so were a little apprehensive as remakes are often a let down. However we all loved it. The way it was turned into a modern tale was really good as we weren't sure how well that would work. Overall it was a lovely feel good family film :)

3. What was your DC's favourite part of the film? Who is their favourite character and why? They both liked Annie the best because she was cool and funny. Their favourite bit was when she saw the picture of herself on the billboard and said "my hair is gigantic"

4. Out of 5, how many stars would you give the film? How many would your DC give it? (5 is highest and 1 is lowest) Mum and I would both give 4. The boys would give 5.

5. What was your overall experience of the screening? Brilliant. The cinema was easy to find and the parking was free (always a bonus). The water and popcorn was a nice treat. I especially liked that the popcorn was bagged so we knew it was fresh. The cinema was warm and we could see the screen. Even Ds2 who often needs a booster cushion to sit on at our local cinema.

6. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Annie to friends and family? Why? Yes we would. We like the modern twist on a classic tale. And the fact that they had used the original songs just with updated tunes.

Oops forgot my photo!

I attended with my two sons, aged 5 and 3, and my friend with her 3 year old daughter, at the Glasgow screening.

Overall summary of the film: We all really enjoyed the film. Considering it wasn’t animated, the film really held the attention of our children. I think the music helped with this, and the kids have been singing the songs ever since! I did feel that the film was a little too long and my youngest son was definitely getting restless over the final 10-15 minutes.

What was my DC’s favourite part of the film: the climax where Annie is in the car with her ‘parents’ and Mr Stacks is following in the helicopter. My friend’s daughter clapped after every song, so I think her favourite part was the music. Their favourite character was Annie, no competition... although one of my kids also loved Sandy. I thought Jamie Foxx was excellent, I loved the mashed potato scene and he made me laugh at many other moments too.

Out of 5 – I’d give the film 4. I laughed out loud at a few different things, thought the musical side was really well performed and incorporated into the movie, the actors were a real class act and I’d recommend this film to others.

Overall experience of the screening: disappointed that there was no Annie signage at the cinema as we would have taken some photos of the children if there had been (I see now from another Glasgow posted that there was a poster but we completely missed this; perhaps something more obvious outside the particular cinema for future screenings?). There was also an issue with one of the bags of popcorn being out of date. Other than that, everything went smoothly and the water and popcorn were a lovely treat. Great seats and legroom too.

Hi we, myself, dh, dd5, dd2 and ds 7 month all watched Annie today. I thought it was a great, up to date, remake. Very funny in places and a great family film. One of my best bits was Mr Stacks with the.mashed potato, dh was when Annie went to Mr Stacks penthouse for the first time and my daughter loved it when they rescued Annie. She was on the edge of her seat. Dh would give 3 stars, me 4 stars. I would definitely recommend this to my friends. A lovely feel good movie. I just wished all the songs were easy to sing along too

Hope you don't mind I've namechanged for this as I don't want to out myself!

I attended with DD (13), DFD (10), friend and her DD (8)

I was a bit worried about my foster child seeing this film, as I was worried it might be a bit close to home for her. She absolutely loved it. We had a great conversation in the car on the way home about whether I should get fountains and screens with kittens on in my spare bedroom. We agreed I'd just buy a helicopter!

We all really enjoyed it and would give it 5 stars. My DD's favourite bit was when they were tracking Annie using Twitter and Instagram. Friend's DD loved Annie and thought she had a great voice. I liked all the in jokes that referenced the first film. Also having recently been approved as a new foster carer last year, I enjoyed watching Stacks have his home study!

I wasn't sure going in that we'd enjoy it. Sometimes remakes can be a bit pointless, but we all agreed it was actually better than the original! High praise as we're all big fans of the original.

My only criticism is that Sandy isn't on screen nearly as much, and a lot of the good and funny scenes with the dog were missing. He was very cute though!

The screening was great. No problems. Apologies to whoever had to sweep up the bag of popcorn I dropped all over the floor!

Sorry I won't be posting a photo.

Oops forgot the final question:

I won't be waiting for it to come up in conversation to recommend it. I've already started telling people!

1. Who you attended the screening with - including ages of DC

Myself, dh, dd aged 9 and ds aged 12.

1. Your overall summary of the film

Good. So pleased the songs were in it. Loved the up-to-date take on it. Thought the Will Stacks character (Jamie Foxx) was, at times, hysterical, real laugh out loud comedy, very 'Will Smith'. The end was very poignant, funny and exciting, I did shed a tear. Lots of funny bits from supporting characters too.

On the down side, thought some of it was a bit schmaltzy, everyone looked a bit too happy, healthy, popular all the time; the house the orphans lived in was too nice; there wasn't enough contrast between the good and bad moments.

1. What was your DC's favourite part of the film? Who is their favourite character and why? Favourite part: When Rose Byrne punched ... Favourite character: Jamie Foxx. He was a really complex character, good and kind under a very 'let's make money' front. Cameron also was surprisingly good at being a mean drunk, love that she can make fun of herself.

1. Out of 5, how many stars would you give the film? How many would your DC give it? (5 is highest and 1 is lowest)

4/5 Surprisingly, my 12 year old son really loved it and said 10/5!

1. What was your overall experience of the screening?

Good. Liked the free popcorn and water. Staff very helpful and friendly.

1. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Annie to friends and family? Why?

Yes. It had the songs, which is the best part of Annie. It was funny and it had a happy, positive ending.

Dh and I went to the screening this morning with ds1 (13), dd (11) and ds2. We all really enjoyed it - it was ds1's school play in Y6 so we knew the original very well (and I used to have the LP of the original show so I am a BIG fan). I think they've done a really good job of updating the story and the songs, although the purist in me longed for a bit more of the original Little Girls and Easy St. Ds1 liked the cool NY locations and funny bits, ds2 liked the street dance type numbers, and dd loved it all, especially all the girls together bits (with 2 brothers, she loves the idea of living with girls). She has been singing The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow all afternoon and really wants a bedroom wall that shows baskets of kittens on demand. What I was impressed with was how much there was in it for the adults - dh and I laughed a lot at the early 90's bands references and some of the more grown up humour.

The film sagged a tiny bit after the first half, but overall we would give it 5 stars as it was great fun and kept everyone entertained.

The screening was find, easy to find and everyone was very welcoming.

I would recommend the film to friend with kids about ds2 and dd's age, and a bit younger, for sure.

We went to the Wimbledon screening today with my daughters aged 5 and 8. It wasn't really my thing although I like Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx - I think the acting was much better than the writing which basically served to connect the songs.

The girls loved every minute of it though. "Mum, I want to be Annie because then I can have a dog!" I also had to promise them I'd buy the DVD when it comes out.

Rating: I would give 3/5, daughters 5/5.

The screening itself was very well organized and the kids were very happy with the popcorn. House lights were left on for the first minute or so.

Thank you for inviting us, it was a great family experience.

Attended with ds (6) and hubby

Good film, not quite what I was expecting - very modern and up to date. Perhaps some of the references were not PG. Perhaps 20 minutes too long...

Best bit were the song and dance sequences - favourite was a hard knock life

4 stars out of 5

Screening was well organised. Enjoyed lots of popcorn - only way to improve wouldve been to offer a choice between sweet and salted!

I would recommend it but perhaps more for the girls rather than boys.

1. Attended the Glasgow screening with my DH and DS1 (10) and DS2 (8).

1. We really enjoyed this feel-good family movie. Of our group, I was the only one who had seen the original version of Annie, so the others didn't quite know what the story was about. This did not feel like a re-boot, I found myself surprised that the movie had a real original feel. We all loved the singing, but were especially engaged by the comedy. There were a lot of 'laugh out loud' moments, not just from us but the whole cinema. Lots of family friendly gags, plus the odd adult themed one liners (Michael J Fox's 'tape'). Cameron Diaz was again at home in a comic role, giving her own spin to the OTT Miss Hannigan. The movie was paced well, and I'm so glad we got to see it on the big screen.

1. My DS's both thought the cleaning scene was hilarious (I have threatened to employ some of Miss Hannigan's tactics!) and Annie was of course their favourite character as "she was funny and sang well".

1. Both my DS's and I give Annie a solid 4/5.

1. The screening was brilliant. Liked the lack of adverts and thought the free water and popcorn was fab! Lots of very well behaved kids at the cinema, despite many of them appearing to be quite young for this type of movie. Glad I've signed up to Showfilmfirst - will try to get to other screenings through this now.

1. I would recommend Annie to anyone who had kids over the age of 5 or 6, though it's funny enough to recommend to adults too!

Thanks so much for our tickets! My 2 DDs (10 & 8) and I thoroughly enjoyed the film and the girls felt very special that they were seeing the film before everyone else.

The film was a great re-interpretation of the original move with great versions of the original songs and some lovely new ones too (although the old ones were better, we thought). We loved Quvenzhane Wallis as Annie - she's a wee star and played the part in. Lovely streetwise, not too saccharine way. The girls also loved Pepper and I thought Cameron Diaz was great as Miss Hannigan. The other star turn was the state social worker - she was fabulous.

On the way home I asked the girls for a mark out of 10. They gave it 10/10 and 100/10! Would highly recommend. Thanks again.

1. I went with DS (7) and DD (4)

1. The film was a modern take on the classic with lots of musical numbers. Who know Jamie Foxx could sing?

1. What was your DC's favourite part of the film? DD loved Annie and was singing along despite not having seen the original. DS liked the helicopter and car chases. He might have muttered something about me not telling him it was a musical. I am impresses he liked it as he rarely watches character films much preferring animation films.

1. Out of 5, how many stars would you give the film? How many would your DC give it? (5 is highest and 1 is lowest) DD gave it 5, DS 4 and me 4.

1. What was your overall experience of the screening? We saw it in Bath, so as other posters have said, lots of waiting. However once they opened it was straight through to pick up popcorn and water. It was also great to see a film without trailers.

1. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Annie to friends and family? Why? Yes I would recommend it, it was something we could all watch, I loved the opening scene with snatches of songs being picked up, DD has been singing songs from it all afternoon.

We went to the Manchester screening today, DH, DD1(8) and DD2(4) and I.

We loved the film, good remake of the original brought the story up to date.

Original interpretation of the songs, plus someone's tunes. Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhane Wallis were great. Cameron Diaz was surprisingly good.
Also enjoyed the cameo performances (too numerous to mention)

Can't pick 1 favourite bit but would recommend to friends.

Oh and Manchedter Was a great venue, no waiting, plenty of snacks and drinks. Staff were very helpful

Attended the Braehead showing this morning with 2 boys 8yrs and 4yrs. the adults which attended all agreed Why would anyone want to remake this film... the original is one of the greatest and a hard one to beat. They dust off the old songs and shove in some new ones, add lots of modern gadgets. this took us a little to get into the film but after 15mins we seemed to all ease into the adaption. Jamie Foxx is great in it and the girl playing Annie does well. Look out for a Russian-accented social-services bureaucrat (an excellent Stephanie Kurtzuba) She totally steals the scenes she is in. Cameron Diaz as Miss Hannigan was less impressive. No one could live up to Carol Burnett from the original. From the youngest he did get a little bored at parts but the singing and fast pace soon brought him back. Overall a very good adaption that is sure to grip a new audience of younger viewers

Went to Manchester with dh, dd (11) - an annie fanatic! And ds (11)
Good feel good film, with a modern take, liked the update on the songs but they still had the feel of the classic. After bring subjected to the original more times than I can count I was curious how the updating would work but it actually worked really well.dd's favourite character was Annie because she was 'really good'
dd's favourite part was when miss Hannigan came clean, ds's was the happy ending.
Dd says 4.5 out of 5 and ds says 4 - I'd say 3 or 4.

Overall the screening was fine, nice cinema and the popcorn and water was appreciated - the dc's did say it felt less of an event than the time we saw cloudy with a chanice of meatballs though - my only criticism was that the lifts seemed to be out of order, given I use crutches it was quite a struggle using the escalators to get to the 3rd floor - good job I hadn't used my wheelchair!

If I came up in conversation I would recommend it, in fact I already have, we went clothes shopping afterwards and I recommended it to the assistant who had commented on my dd's Annie outfit!

Firstly, thank you so much Mumsnet for giving us tickets to see this, we had a lovely morning at Wimbledon Odeon!

1. Who you attended the screening with - including ages of DC

My Mum and my DS (9.5)

1. Your overall summary of the film

I enjoyed the film. I thought it started out very strong, loved the singing in the foster home. I did think that the film lost it's way a bit in the middle - I think it could easily be cut down by half an hour, and would actually have been better. The ending was lovely, and I did shed a little tear. I thought Jamie Fox was gorgeous, Annie was a cutie, but Cameron Diaz was not very convincing in my opinion.

1. What was your DC's favourite part of the film? Who is their favourite character and why?

My DS loved the songs, he came out humming 'it's a hard knock life'. He laughed out loud in a couple of places. The only thing he commented on that he didn't like was some of it he didn't understand, I think it annoyed him that the innuendos went over his head (same in most films though). DS like Jamie Fox.

1. Out of 5, how many stars would you give the film? How many would your DC give it? (5 is highest and 1 is lowest)

I would give it 3 stars, so would my Mum. DS would give it 4.

1. What was your overall experience of the screening?

Loved it. There was no signage in the cinema though that we could see, so couldn't get a cheesy shot. Loved the popcorn and water on the seats, we were also lucky to sit in the Premier seats.

1. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Annie to friends and family? Why?

I would recommend it to preteens, but not to adults. It was not my favourite children's film, although some bits were very good. A lot of the acting was unconvincing. Great for 9 year old though!

We didn't manage to get there as DS had an asthma attack and was very unwell. I hope everyone who attended enjoyed the movie.

ho you attended the screening with - including ages of DC
I attended with my daughter aged 4 and my friend and her daughter who is 5 in Manchester.

1. Your overall summary of the film

We all enjoyed the upbeat feel and foot tapping songs from the beginning,a nice twist having the 'original' style Annie in the opening scene which led nicely into a stomping entrance for Annie Bennett! The girls were entertained throughout,any signs of fidgeting were displaced with song after song to jolt them back into the movie. We would have liked to have seen more of the Social Worker,who had the girls in stitches,in fact thought that she would have made an excellent Miss Hannigan,and was unconvinced by Cameron Diaz in that role! She would have suited the role of Snooty Girlfriend of the stunning Jamie Foxx - and perhaps would have orchestrated the disposal of Annie for a more believable story line? Maybe filling out the moments in the apartment with the added dimension of a jealous spoilt girlfriend sabotaging the developing relationship between Stacks and Annie. Jamie Foxx was brilliant and we enjoyed seeing his character warm to Annie. The scene in the car created much hilarity amongst the adults in the cinema when Diaz was told by Foxx that he 'was not looking for company!' Grace was played to perfection. But the star of the show had to be Annie,whose positive sunny outlook was captured and delivered without fault! We all came away with the feel good factor you would hope for with a happy ending,and singing Hard Knock Life for the rest of the day!!!

1. What was your DC's favourite part of the film? Who is their favourite character and why?

Annie was loved by both girls although when asked they couldn't decide and seemed to like them all for different scenes- although both loved the Red Dress Scene where she sang her heart out and we all wanted to give her a round of applause!

1. Out of 5, how many stars would you give the film? How many would your DC give it? (5 is highest and 1 is lowest)

5 stars from the girls! 3 stars from the adults.

1. What was your overall experience of the screening?

It was an enjoyable event,the girls felt special to be part of an exclusive screening,made more personal by the introduction from the member of staff and on screen from Cameron Diaz. It was comfortable,good sound and viewing position and made to feel welcome and relaxed,nice to know that if a visit to the toilet was required it wouldn't be an issue,important with young ones! Free drink and popcorn was much appreciated!

1. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Annie to friends and family? Why?

Yes would recommend for the feel good factor,soundtrack was impressive and modern twist although in touch with the traditional story of Annie to keep the parents happy! Nice to see black actors in positive starring roles for girls to relate to.And who wouldn't want to sit for two hours ogling Jamie Foxx!

1. Who you attended the screening with - including ages of DC

I took my 12 year old daughter with me to the screening in Wimbledon - sorry cant post a photo though I got a great one of her with the Annie standee once we found it!

1. Your overall summary of the film

I was pleasantly surprised by how much we both enjoyed the film,
I'm usually not too keen on remakes of movies but this worked really well, giving a fresh modern feel to a classic story. I wasn't expecting however to spend a big chunk of the film bawling my eyes out - my ( adopted) daughter struggles massively with literacy so the bit where Annie ran off from the speech touched a very raw nerve. Great that the film ended with the setting up of a literacy unit!

1. What was your DC's favourite part of the film? Who is their favourite character and why?

When I asked she said 'all of it' She loved Annie and wished her social worker had been as much fun as the one in the film!

1. Out of 5, how many stars would you give the film? How many would your DC give it? (5 is highest and 1 is lowest)

I'll give it 4 (a bit long) whilst she would give a resounding 5

1. What was your overall experience of the screening?

Really great way to spend Sunday morning, appreciated the water and popcorn. Was surprised by how many churches were holding services - took me a while to work out the CCTV images of people bopping around in an otherwise empty cinema!

1. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Annie to friends and family? Why?

I've already recommended it to friends with similar ages children and I know she'll be raving about it at school today.

1. Who you attended the screening with - including ages of DC

I went with my 6 year old daughter

1. Your overall summary of the film

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the film as hated the original with the brat-ish red head, seemed so dated! This, on the other hand, was a brilliant remake and the character of Annie instantly likeable. I normally hate musicals but I even enjoyed the singing in this, especially when Annie sang. Not sure how much of it my daughter actually understood as the notions of foster care/mayors/New York etc are not something she has had much to do with. I rarely have the time/inclination/patience to sit through a 2 hr film and say I honestly got caught up in the storyline and really enjoyed it! The popcorn and water was a bonus as I'd left ours at home in error!

1. What was your DC's favourite part of the film? Who is their favourite character and why?

My daughter especially liked Annie and the other girls, and of course the singing. She loved the happy ending. (As did I)

1. Out of 5, how many stars would you give the film? How many would your DC give it? (5 is highest and 1 is lowest)

4.5 would give it 5 if half an hour shorter.

1. What was your overall experience of the screening?

Really enjoyable experience for both me and my 6 yr old daughter.

1. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Annie to friends and family? Why?

Yes. It's such a refreshing take on an old "classic". As someone who doesn't "do" musicals this was nicely balanced i.e not too much singing.

I went with my ds 7 dh and dd 16, we all enjoyed the film but both myself and my dh preferred the older version. my ds loved Jamie fox, he has a superb voice, ds really enjoyed all the singing and dancing surprisingly. I would definitely recommend the film to my friends and family. its a real feel good family film appealing to all age groups.

I attended at Braehead in Glasgkw with my 11 yo dd. We both really enjoyed the film - a bit of lighthearted entertainment for a Sunday! Dd is a big fan of Annie and much preferred this to the older version.

Her favourite parts were when Annie dropped the lobste and also when Stacks spat out the mashed potato! Her second favourite bit was when they both spat out Annie's home made dinner!
My favourite bit was when the girls were cleaning and when Grace punched Stacks' assistant and Pepper told it it wasn't because she liked him.

Dd 's favourite character was Annie as she thought she was funny and I thought Camerson Diaz as Miss Hannigan was great.

The screening was well organised and the water and popcorn was a nice surprise for dd as I hadn't told her.

Yes I would recommend it and would probably give it 4/5 stars. Not a great blockbuster but feel good, easy watching entertainment that made us laugh in a few places. Perfect for this time of year! My 13 yo ds has no desire to see it though I doubt he is the target market!