Beautiful Creatures (DVD)

Love the plot to this movie. Beautiful love story.

Excellent movie

Maybe it's because my expectations weren't real high, but I enjoyed "Beautiful Creatures" immensely. I'm actually disappointed I didn't bother seeing it theatrically. I thought it basically looked like "Twilight" with witches. And while on paper that sounds like an apt comparison (both are supernatural romance movies based on young adult novels) it does do the film a disservice. I believe it's a better made and better acted film.From the trailers I thought the leads (Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert) seemed poor, with him seeming particularly terrible. To my surprise they were both great and the two had a really nice, believable chemistry. The supporting cast is also great. Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson seem to be having a great time, and Emmy Rossum is fun and sexy.From what I understand fans of the books weren't crazy about it, but I've never read the books and I loved it. I'm sad it was a box office flop as I'd love for the other books in the series to become films. I'm glad, unlike most movies based on a series of books, that "Beautiful Creatures" is able to stand on its own and doesn't really end with a big cliffhanger or anything (not in my opinion at least). But it would still be great to see more. It's unfortunate this had to become a victim of a terrible release date. I do believe with a different date where it didn't have to go up against another film attracting the same audience (Safe Haven) it would have performed much better. And if by some miracle they did decide to make another I do think the audience would grow as more discover the first on DVD/Blu-ray, as long as it was released amongst less competition. They'd certainly need to try and cut the budget in half though. But alas I'm not holding my breath for the series to continue, as sad as it may be. The only hope would be if sales/rentals are strong enough. "Beautiful Creatures" is well-worth watching though even if there probably won't be a sequel. Such an entertaining film.Technically I would rate this 4/5 stars, but I'm going with 5 to try and offset the bad ratings because it was different than the book. I get that it's hard to separate them when you've read the book but as a movie I thought this was incredibly enjoyable. I recommend trying to take it on its own merits. That's why I hate reading a book first if it's a movie or I know it's going to be a movie because usually you end up disappointed even though it's bound to be different. But if you watch the movie and read the book after it just enhances the story.

When you watch this film, forget that you even know there's a book that this is supposed to be based on. The book is fantastic, but this is so different with all of the other spare, gorgeous details such as Spanish moss in the trees, Macon looking nothing like I imagined him, the wrought iron gates of Ravenwood--the list goes on. It's a beautiful movie, in and of itself, and I recommend it to anyone who needs to be reminded that underneath all the not-thrilling and occasionally repulsive features of Southern living, including PTAs, Daughters of the _____ War groups, pearls, gloves, and lipstick, there is and always has been magic and strangeness here, and it's gonna keep on keeping on even when "fine, upstanding citizens" try to stomp it out. This is a story of hope. You can be different and survive. It's likely not everyone will like you, and history can repeat itself in the sense of people starting witch hunts, but you will be okay, especially if you find somebody else who gets your weirdness and loves you (as a friend or partner).The plot is good and resembles the book, but the visual depiction is so different that they're easily separated. I am deeply disappointed that "Sixteen Moons" and Marian didn't make it into the movie, but the latter is a fair trade for more screentime of Viola Davis as Amma. I cannot imagine anyone who could have driven that role home better than Viola Davis. I love that the teens are unknown actors, or at least not celebrities. Not knowing them from any other roles just makes this movie more real, and believe me, their acting is stellar. Being unknown doesn't mean they're​ not good at what they do.I think they probably left out too much of the later-critical pieces, like the three great-aunts, to turn this into a franchise, but I still want them to make a series of films, too, because, out of all of the franchises, this one deserves to become one most, as far as I'm concerned.I love this movie so, so much. It is gorgeous and fantastic. As a lover of books and a reluctant screen-watcher, I love this movie, and I cannot tell you how many times I have watched it. I cannot say enough to speak highly enough of this film as I feel it deserves.My favorite quote from the film that sure as anything ain't in the book? Amma: "God created all things, didn't He? It's only man that goes and decides which are mistakes."