“The 10th Kingdom” is seven hours long. Perhaps I should start by saying that. It first aired as a nine-episode TV miniseries. But what I’m recommending is setting aside an entire day (or night) and watching the whole thing, start to finish. You can only leave the couch to make more popcorn.
Everyone knows Manhattan is full of freaky things, but maybe you didn’t know it is also a portal to the mythical Nine Kingdoms, home to Snow White, Cinderella and wicked witches like you would not believe. This comes as a shock to Virginia (Kimberly Williams), who finds the portal by mistake and thus also lets in some baddies from across the three-dimensional pond.
Immediately upon her arrival in the Kingdoms, Virginia is saddled with the tasks of returning a dog prince to human form; avoiding the lustful gaze of Wolf (Scott Cohen), a well-meaning but carnivorous man-wolf and defeating the Evil Queen (played by Dianne Wiest, one of those women who gets more beautiful as she gets older). It’s not immediately clear why Virginia gets chosen to do all of these things, but it turns out her connection to the Kingdoms goes deeper than a portal in Central Park.
The most remarkable thing about this movie is that it rarely drags, which is mighty impressive for 417 minutes. The makeup is fantastic, and the Woodsman particularly is a genuinely creepy bad guy. He’s the character in Snow White who is ordered to murder the princess in the woods and return her heart to the Queen. He carries a crossbow. This is terrifying.
Essentially, if at any point in your childhood you enjoyed a) fairy tales, b) attractive people, c) marathon movie nights or d) all of the above, “The 10th Kingdom” is a great choice.