Into the Woods Official Movie Thread — Page 170

It has nice things to say but it sounds like more of a summary. It reminds me of Brantley's If/then review. Yes it's a nice positive review but it's not very enthusiastic.

He calls it "splendid," "witty," "touching," and makes it a Critic's Pick. What more do you want? A nice big "SPLOOSH" at the end of it? It's a rave or, at the very least, overwhelmingly positive.

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I'm not sure how you read that NYTimes review and don't consider it a rave. He clearly loved it, calling Streep's performance a "tour de force," praising Pine and (more surprisingly) Johnny Depp, loving the way CGI is used, and most importantly, raving about Lapine's script (if you are familiar with film reviews of movie musicals, the script is usually the one element that gets most criticized). And on top of that, like others have said, it's a Critic's Pick. I thought I couldn't be more excited to see it...I was wrong.

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Updated On: 12/24/14 at 08:30 PM

An IndieWire review by Leonard Maltin has been published...it is VERY positive!!! Some quotes from it.

"Perhaps it’s the intimacy of film that helps put this across, but I actually like this version better than the play. "

"brilliantly executed presentation "

"exquisite"

On Corden and Blunt: "Their performances are especially engaging and, ultimately, quite moving."


"Into the Woods is a treat, one of the year’s best films."

http://blogs.indiewire.com/leonardmaltin/into-the-woodsmovie-review-20141224

Updated On: 12/24/14 at 08:54 PM

Double Post

Updated On: 12/24/14 at 08:59 PM

So far, so good. I really like Leonard Maltin, he's one of the last of the really good critics in his generation.

I'm really happy with the love INTO THE WOODS has been getting and a good amount of them say that Rob Marshall is "off the hook from NINE", so that's any reason to celebrate.

Just got back from it also. I LOVED it. For some reason I couldn't help thinking how Patti LuPone would've made an awesome witch throughout it, though. Meryl was great, however. It sounded a little pop-ish? If that makes sense? But I am absolutely going to see it again. You can tell who were the devotees of this musical in the theater, too, it was great! Like Thparkaly said, I could nitpick, but overall I enjoyed it immensely.

Totally agree! Just got back, and loved every minute! Streep was amazing (IMHO) and Pine stood out to me as well! Theatre was packed, and huge applause at the end! Going to try to see it again this weekend.

Totally agree ! Pine has the best lines in the script, and his delivery is perfect!!!

The Movie Man's six second review is positive. He's "in!" He's not very easy to please.


http://www.sixsecondreviews.com/index.php?page=home&movieID=874

Updated On: 12/25/14 at 01:09 AM

Just got back from seeing the film...so good. I absolutely loved it. I'm not so good at writing reviews so I'll just rattle off.

Emily Blunt is brilliant. MVP of the whole shebang to me. She really is a stunning actress and the role is so closely associated with Joanna Gleason but she really made such interesting and beautiful choices for the character. I just loved her.

Meryl Streep of course was excellent. She goes there, she goes for it. "Stay With Me" gave me such chills. Her greatest moment of many in the whole film.

Chris Pine is so sexy and funny. He turned in a great performance and the **** he pulled in "Agony" was just hilarious. His best screen performance to date.

Anna Kendrick was good. I liked her but she didn't make any real choices to me. I didn't get much of a sense of who Cinderella actually is as a person. I didn't realize how much of a character Kim Crosby built in her take on the role until I watched Anna.

I really liked Johnny Depp! I didn't expect him to be bad; I just didn't expect to care. His particular brand of whimsy really worked here though. And I liked the costume.

I thought James Corden was excellent. Beautiful, touching, and funny. I do believe that him not having "No More" in the film really cheated him out of a big moment though. Which brings me to my main problem with the film...

That last act was just too rushed. I get it though; I understand why. I guess I even see what Marshall was going for but that's why I think it wasn't a slam-dunk critically. It could've been at least thirty minutes longer. *SPOILERS* I really liked the idea of The Giantess interrupting the wedding. I thought that was a good way to cut "So Happy" without losing context. The problem for me was right after that. All of a sudden there is this huge tonal shift, but the audience (and the characters) haven't had time to adjust to these heavy stakes. In the play, all of a sudden they are in such grave danger. These are really high stakes and I feel like they ended up a little truncated and "glossed-over".

I am glad the film was made, but I do wish it could have reached it's true artistic potential without all the studio intervention and the commercial trepidation.

It's really awesome though and you guys will love it.

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I loved it. Every moment but one... when we went into the wolf with Little Red. But otherwise, it was beautiful. The cuts really didn't bother me, and there wasn't one weak performance in the cast. Meryl Streep's "Last Midnight" was incredibly exciting.

And did anyone else catch that music at the ball? I won't spoil the subtle surprise, but it was very nice for a Sondheim lover to hear.