Beauty vs Beast: Sugar & Spice & Everything March
Monday, September 24, 2018 at 1:10PM Hello and happy Monday everyone, Jason from MNPP here with another edition of our "Beauty vs Beast" series - Louisa May Alcott's book Little Women just turned 150 this year and it's hotter than it's ever been. There was a BBC version with Maya Hawke and Emily Watson and Angela Lansbury that aired here in the US in the spring. Then this very weekend there's a modernized retelling hitting theaters. And then of course the one sucking all the air out of the room - Greta Gerwig's all-star edition set for next year, whose cast is so stacked we'd be here all day if I try listing off everybody - just look at the IMDb page.
Anyway a lot of us (even if we're excited to see all of those actors in one place and under her direction) aren't entirely sure why Greta's making this new version - not when there's Gillian Armstrong's perfectly lovely 1994 adaptation already, anyway. Winona Ryder as Jo, Christian Bale as Laurie, Susan Sarandon as Marmee, Kirsten Dunst as Amy, Claire Danes as Beth (cough cough)... these are the people I picture when I picture Little Women. And then one second later I immediately remember Amy burning Jo's manuscript and I see red...
PREVIOUSLY I'm not sure if it was mostly Riz Ahmed Lust or if it was just that Jake's character is so (deliciously) despicable, but y'all surprised me and went and gave Riz/Rick your prize on last week's Nightcrawler contest with nearly 60% of the vote. Lou's a loser!
Anyway maybe it's just simply what Nick T said:
"Rick's just a nice cute guy who doesn't even know he's in over his head and Jake's a mean ol' lizard. Easy call."
Reader Comments (16)
Amy is the fucking worst!
What kind of monster is Team Amy?
I do somehow like Amy in the Anime, even though the novel burning was simply mean…. And my artist heart is always with Jo anyway.
Evil finds a human form in Amy March. Only Kiki stans are voting for her.
But wow I love everything about this movie. I watch it multiple times a year. Winona is perfection and the score is one of my faves.
When did you become a crazy obsessive just for liking someone,the word "Stans" should not be used ever when discussing actresses.
Amy is shallow and petulant whereas Jo's flaw is stubbornness. The book burning alone is almost unforgivable.
Well, the right answer is clearly Jo. But Kirsten Dunst is the best Amy ever committed to celluloid, no contest.
As I've said before (on this site), does anyone really like Amy? And as someone else pointed out, gotta give girl credit for being the most practical of the bunch. She does end up being rich AND happy, after all! And less bitchy as she gets older...
But agree with Cash that Kirsten Dunst is definitely the best Amy, or at least the one least likely to make you want to wring little Amy's neck.
Curious about the sudden proliferation of Little Women movie adaptations. I'm as curious as the next person about Greta Gerwig's, but it has a high standard to live up to in the 1994 Winona Ryder adaptation (still the best to date, IMO).
Any see the Little Women version that came out just last year? Anyone gonna see the one that comes out this week? What an enormously uninspired follow up to Lady Bird. Like... why.
I vote Jo because what Amy does is really awful but it was easier to forgive her when she was played by Elizabeth Taylor in the 40's version.
I agree that this is the best version of the book (and Mary Wickes as Aunt March is super and not mentioned nearly enough) but I do have a soft spot for that 40's version....the Kate Hepburn 30's one not so much.
Florence Pugh is going to give Kiki (who I agree 100% is the definitive Amy) a run for her money in Gerwig's adaptation, believe that. She does wicked petulance better anyone I've seen in a very long time.
Amy is a monster, plain and simple. To beat a dead horse, Kiki is wonderful in the film and brings out some shades that I feel aren't evident in the book, but still, Amy is the fucking worst.
This film version was SO well cast and produced it's insane. The costumes, production values, score, actors, directing...it was without a doubt one of my favorites. I love Gerwig, but she has a tough act to follow and the actors taking part have tough shoes to fill, especially Ryder, Dunst, and Danes. Looking forward to it though.
Jo is gonna win hands-down.
Jason, u shld've done one w K Hepburn's beloved Jo vs Winona's Oscar nom turn, n see how it turns out 😁
Jes V.: My guess is Florence Pugh will be playing the older version of Amy, so she won't really be competing with Kirsten Dunst (who played her as a child), but rather Samantha Mathis (who I never really liked all that much in that role, though it's probably because Dunst is such a tough act to follow). I wonder who will be the child version of Amy in Greta's film...
The best story about the 1994 version of the Little Women is Winona Ryder recalling the Gabriel Byrne spent on set. (He played the professor Jo eventually marries.) Winona said that Gabriel was just the most wonderful-est person you could ever hope to meet. She's already worked with some of the industry's most impressive actors, but it was ONLY with Gabriel — who only spent a few days on set — that every female on the set of the movie actually lined up to get a hug goodbye from him.
I'm Team Jo but I do love Amy. She's hilarious and knows what she wants and she's very pragmatic about how to get it. She wants to be beautiful, go to Europe, marry rich and accomplishes all of these things. She also gets some of the best lines in the movie. Samantha Mathis is a bit of a drip as adult Amy, tho.