kenneth branagh

The young adult series gets its big-screen debut next summer - watch the trailer now

The name “Disney” brings to mind images of fair princesses, charming princes, magical fairy tales, and simple happily ever afters. In recent years, though, Disney has begun rethinking their classic properties, and releasing more thematically complex versions of their famous films. Sleeping Beauty became Maleficent, which turned a wicked witch into a sympathetic anti-hero; a whole mess of fairy tales turned into Into the Woods, where happily ever after preceded a whole bunch of death and tragedy. The ranks of Disney Princesses grew to include women like Merida, the bow-slinging heroine of Brave, and Anna and Else from Frozen, who rescued each other from an prince, rather than the other way around. Every value and concept that Disney had established and reinforced through decades of repetition was seemingly up for reconsideration and revision.

Disney’s big kick right now is revisionist versions of classic fairy tales. ‘Sleeping Beauty’ became ‘Maleficent,’ a sympathetic look at the supposedly “evil” witch. Last Christmas’ ‘Into the Woods’ followed numerous fairy tales to find the unhappy endings after their “happily ever after.” Even ‘Frozen’ reconfigured numerous classic fairy tale tropes (the handsome price was secretly [SPOILER ALERT] the bad guy, and the film’s true love story was actually between a pair of sisters). What’s most surprising about Disney’s new live-action ‘Cinderella’ is how unsurprising it looks; it seems totally unlike those films in its old-school vibe.

Three new movies are opening nationwide this weekend. One has the makings of a mega-blockbuster in 'Thor,' the latest in a long line of superhero movies from Marvel. Interestingly enough, this one is from critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated director Kenneth Branagh, the man behind such Shakespeare adaptations as 'Henry V.' The other big releases this weekend are a nice alternative to the loud thunderous action in 'Thor.' The first is 'Something Borrowed,' based on the popular book by Emily Giffin, starring Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin. If that doesn't float you boat, you may want to try 'Jumping the Broom,' about two very different families who come together for a wedding at Martha's Vineyard. Which of these movies will you see this weekend? Take a look at their trailers after the jump, then check out a list of movies still playing in theaters.