Annie is a heart warming film we loved Annie the movie.

This modernized take of the adored Tony-award-winning musical, which had been based on the popular 1920s “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip and subsequent radio shows, catapulted many starlets to celebrity including Sarah Jessica Parker and Tony nominee Andrea McArdle.

Phenom Quvenzhané (

Wallis, at age five, had to lie about her age to audition for her very first acting job—the starring role in Beasts of the Southern Wild—because the minimum age to be considered was six. She eventually beat out some 4,000 contenders for the role of Hushpuppy—the indomitable child prodigy and survivalist who lives with her dying father in the backwoods bayou squalor of Louisiana.^[10] Director Benh Zeitlin told The Daily Beast that when he auditioned Wallis, he immediately realized he had discovered what he was looking for, and changed the Beasts script to accommodate her strong-willed personality. Her reading ability, loud scream, and the skill of burping on command impressed the director and won her the part. Zeitlin has also stated that "It was just the feeling behind her eyes."

The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2012 to rave reviews, winning the Grand Jury Prize. In May 2012, Wallis flew to France for the premiere of the film at the Cannes Film Festival. The film received much acclaim and praise for Wallis' outstanding performance and it went on to win the prestigious Caméra d'Or award for Best first Feature Film. On January 10, 2013, at age nine, Wallis became the Academy Awards' youngest nominee for Best Actress and third youngest in all categories.^[12] However, she was just six during the filming.^[13] Wallis is the first African-American child actor to earn an Oscar nomination. She is also the first person born in the 21st century to receive an Academy Award nomination.

She had a role in Steve McQueen's Academy Award–winning film 12 Years a Slave (2013), alongside Lupita Nyong'o, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Brad Pitt. Also in 2013, she collaborated with Sundance for the second time on a short film called Boneshaker.

In 2014, Wallis played the title character in a remake of the musical Annie.^[14] For this, she was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy. In May 2014, Wallis was named the face of Armani Junior, Giorgio Armani's line for children and teens.^[15] This makes her the first major child celebrity to be the face of a luxury bran)

Wallis proves her Oscar-nomination for Beasts of the Southern Wild was no accident. As a modern-day Annie, Wallis brightens with her blissful portrayal. although, her performance alone can’t conserve the film from being a dim adaptation.

In this 2.0 version, eternal-optimist Annie hasn't’t given up hope that her parents will return someday to claim the baby they left. She always sneaks out of the rat-infested household of her foster mom, Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz), to aspire out her long-lost family.

In steps Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx), a germaphobic telecommunications tycoon turned political candidate, who gets advice from his conniving campaign manager Guy (Bobby Cannavale) that taking in a foster child would amplify his poll amounts.

We cried, sand and were entertained by the movie, it had heart and had a great lesson, to never give up hope or let life beat you down, Cameron Diaz was hysterical as Miss Hannigan.

For the most part, the movie teeters between staying true to the theater version and keeping the plot fresh in a modern world. This appears, somewhat, during the mash-ups of the original musical favorites such asHard Knock Life but falters during the uninspired original songs written by Sia (Chandalier), Greg Kurstin and director Will Gluck. In a world where Glee,Pitch Perfect and The Voice co-exist, you simply expect more from a film in which Jay-Z is a producer. We expected more from songs about NYC.

Academy Award-winner and Terrell native Jamie Foxx does an good job of selling Stacks as the tech-forward “Daddy Warbucks.” Foxx is also the only one of the lead characters who can carry a tune but even he seems out of sorts with sidekicks Cannavale and Rose Byrne (as Grace).The high tech penthouse compared to Daddy Warbucks House was perfect. It was stunning!

The scene in which Grace gives Annie a tour of the Stacks’ penthouse is disjointed and awkward, mainly because of Byrne’s befuddled rendition of I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here and stilted (for effect?) dance moves.

We met the actors who played the foster kids, during a Q&A and posed for pictures. I rate this movie a 8 out of 10, bring the family and enjoy!