Into the Woods Official Movie Thread- Page 177

[decast]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 6:42pm

Double

Updated On: 12/26/14 at 06:42 PM

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 8:03pm

I just got back from the movie. I'd like to start out by saying that I really did love the film overall. I thought Act 1 was perfect in every way and worked extremely well. Everyone impressed me particularly Emily Blunt and Lilla Crawford. Agony was hilarious and made me really want to see an Agony (reprise).

That being said...
I agree with everyone who said that act II felt rushed. Particularly the transition between acts and the sequence of where No More once was. I understand cutting the Act II opener and No More, however it left those moments severely lacking something. I think if they had left the scene in Act II opener where the witch comes and the baker and his wife THINK and come to the idea that there is a giant in there midst rather than it being the wedding than suddenly there's a giant. Where No More once was, I understand them not needing the baker's father to sing but they should have left the bakers first and last verse. The music was swelling as if a song was about to happen but it left the scene without feeling full filled

I also have yet to see anyone unsatisfied with the ending. I thought they showed too much of the giant to the point where it was comical and did not focus enough on the plan. I for one did not like that the Into the woods reprise was just over the credits rather than being a part of the film. They show the Baker's wife, cinderella's mother, and the baker's father even though they are all dead so why not show the entire company. If they had the company emerge from the trees while the four survivors walk into the sunrise, I think that would have been very effective. Without the reprise it leaves the movie feeling very tragic rather than giving the uplifting tone the musical has in the end.

I also didn't like the witch's disappearance after Last Midnight. I think the way she sunk into the ground was very specific but without specific reasoning. I think I would have preferred if she just disappeared into a puff of smoke. I always imagined that she would turn old and ugly again but I know many people interpret her disappearance differently. But I feel like ambiguity would have been more effective.

However, besides these complaints I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I was also pleasantly surprised by Giants in the Sky. I wasn't impressed by Daniel's vocals when I listened to the soundtrack but his performance was very charming. All around every one was superb and perfectly casted. Throughout act one I found myself smiling very consistently. Go see this film, you won't regret it.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 8:05pm

Was Part 2 of the Finale NOT in the movie? The recent script doesn't have it, yet it's on the soundtrack.
Updated On: 12/26/14 at 08:05 PM

[helvizz]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 8:07pm

I am in love with the audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, human stupidity really is infinite:

"[...]it seemed a bit too long and I couldn't help feel that it was created with the inevitable Broadway musical follow-up in mind."

Updated On: 12/26/14 at 08:07 PM

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 8:12pm

@disneybroadwayfan22

NOPE its over the credits

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 8:12pm

I also didn't like the witch's disappearance after Last Midnight. I think the way she sunk into the ground was very specific but without specific reasoning.

I expected them to add "Mother here I come..." right before the final "Crunch." It would have made her disappearance a little clearer. Similar to how they did it in the Delacorte production. Murphy had all of the original lyrics, but they ended the song with "mother here I come....."

So, Part 2 of the Finale is NOT in the movie?

It's played over the credits.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 8:28pm

Disappointing, but better than nothing *shrugs*

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 8:36pm

People need to read the interview and agrue with the reasoning for all they're complaining about.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 8:39pm

Overall, thought it was probably as good a film as could be made from the material. I love the original Broadway production dearly, but, as I suspected, I thought the film was an uneven, if highly pleasurable experience. At the end of the day all of those wordy, introspective Sondheim songs stop the movie dead in its tracks. I also missed the humor of the stage production which, I knew would have to be tamped down for this piece to work as a film.

I know I'm in the minority on this one, but the performance I expected to love the most was one of the performances I liked the least. I know this is a musical set in a fairy tale world, but I still found Meryl's performance overcooked. All the wild gesticulating, the constantly darting eyes, the sing-songy speaking. She seemed to be in a different film than that of the (relatively) naturalistic portrayals of the other main characters.

Blunt, as most of you have said, was the heart and soul of the film. What a beautiful, luminous performance. I thought Corden was out of his depth. Indicating, rather than acting. In the packed theatre I was in there were some giggles at his "crying" scene - where "No More" would have been. I think talk show host is actually a really appropriate gig for him moving forward. I thought everyone else was very well cast, including Depp.


Random minor quibbles:

-Is it just me or was the sound mix terrible? The orchestra seemed so distant and too quiet. And I was at a fairly new theatre with what appeared to be a state of the art sound system. The sound was nowhere near as quiet during the previews. Listening to the soundtrack now with decent headphones is a completely different experience to hearing the score in the theatre - the orchestra sounds so much more present on the soundtrack. I was afraid they'd overdo the bombast on screen when in fact I think they went too subtle on the sound. It's a musical. Let's hear the orchestra!

- Wish they hadn't given a preview of the witch's transformation in the beginning - robs the actual transformation of any drama.





Updated On: 12/26/14 at 08:39 PM

[sueb1863]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 9:00pm

Was I seeing things, or were Chris Pine's lips moving before his vocals came on during the start of 'Agony'? I thought I saw him mothing "Did I abuse her..." before the song started playing.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 9:42pm

I love reading what people are saying on Twitter. The reception is actually very enthusiastic, but every few tweets there's pre-teen white girl saying "was the worst movie ever" and "had no idea it was a musical." LOL.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 9:42pm

I love reading what people are saying on Twitter. The reception is actually very enthusiastic, but every few tweets there's pre-teen white girl saying "was the worst movie ever" and "had no idea it was a musical." LOL.

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 9:47pm

is the Baker's father really dead?...i thought in the movie they made it very clear that he ran away...did i miss something?...and if he did run away then coming back to advise his son makes sense to me...but i may have missed that part completely...lol

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 9:50pm

I just wanted the Baker to sing the "no more giants..." part of No More. It would have balanced the film and made the scene make more sense.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 11:09pm

Some good news. The album has jumped to #8 on the top 100 in music on Amazon. Last night it was in the 30's.
And on iTunes top albums, the deluxe version jumped to #15 and the single disc version is #18. Last night they were in the 40's and 50's. They seem to be rising every few hours.





Updated On: 12/26/14 at 11:09 PM

[MagicalMusical]

Posted: 12/26/14 at 11:50pm

I’d really like to know, how does “Witch’s Lament” make sense with Rapunzel running away and not dying?

I could see the Witch wanting to bring Jack to the Giant to get killed so she can still live and enjoy her life alone with a new house and garden away from her punishing mother. But her leaving the world when Rapunzel’s still in it makes less sense than when Rapunzel died.

Did Jack run away from his mother when the ground shook at Cinderella’s wedding because he thought it might be another giant and he went to kill it?

Did anyone else feel really bad for the Giant when she got hurt and killed?

TazTarney, you said "It sucks that you felt the need to have to rationalize” Rapunzel’s non-death. What did you mean? That you agree with me it didn’t make sense with the “Witch’s Lament”?

J_Jammer, Cinderella’s Prince is narrated as having only danced with Cinderella, like in the original fairy tale. And TazTarney didn’t say Cinderella needed to get hugely emotional on learning what the prince did, just have some emotion.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 12:00am

Rapunzel is still in the world but she has abandoned the Witch. The Witch is alone (the exception that proves the rule?). She has completely alienated the one person in the world she loves. Her restored beauty has done nothing to endear her to Rapunzel. She has lost her power as an enchantress. She has no persuasive earthly authority over her neighbors. And she, like everyone else, is in great danger should she remain in the world as we know it.



Updated On: 12/27/14 at 12:00 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 12:02am

^ Could not have worded it better.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 12:04am

Here is my review and thoughts on the film after seeing it just nearly three hours ago:

When the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS was announced, everyone was holding excitement for it because it had taken them 20 years to get it to the screen; since there was a reading in 1994 with a different team of writers who changed the dark piece into a light hearted affair. Then after years of development hell and casting that never happened, a new reading took place in 2012 which was a sign that a film was being developed; which in fact, it was. Rob Marshall was announced as the director and the screenwriter was none other than the man who wrote the book for the stage version in 1987, James Lapine. But when Disney announced Marshall and the studio's involvement, every fan was naturally worried with the studio cutting the dark elements of the piece out.

But on December 26th 2014, something happened on the screen... It not only was a very faithful adaptation of Sondheim's brilliant musical, but it defeated and destroyed LES MISERABLES as my favorite musical film of the 2000's-present, not only for now, but it can rank up there with THE SOUND OF MUSIC, CABARET and THE KING AND I as my personal favorites. The ending more or less left me wistful as a 21 year old son, thinking. Thinking so hard on the continuing theme of what it means to be a parent and a child. It's one of the most rare movies (especially musical films) that leaves me with this feeling and no other musical film of the 21st century so far has left me with that.

As for the film itself, it is a beautiful piece of art that Rob Marshall's direction which was finely paced (even in Act II) and it shows that now he is not afraid that this IS a musical from beginning to end, no fancy-pants concept, no flashy visuals, no nothing. It proves that he was never at any moment in his whole career, a "one-trick pony", seriously. The art direction was splendid for it's intimacy and at times, vastness; Dennis Gassner , who did work on SKYFALL, had so much to live up to and he did a great job combining the real locations with the sets that were built with such consistency that could be a problem with some, but for me it was done well with the 50 million dollar budget that it had. Coleen Atwood's costumes were really something to look at (even Johnny Depp's 1940's wolf outfit), the standouts being Cinderella's ball gown and both the Witch's costumes before and after the transformation. There are two unsung hero's in this film: Dion Beebe and Jonathan Tunick for their cinematography and orchestrations respectfully, if Marshall and Beebe are not the director and cinematographer for a film adaptation of FOLLIES, then I think a crime has been comitted. Dion's work here was not only the best of his career, but it should be recongnized as some of the best cinematography for a musical since the olden days of musical film in general. The long shots and intricate camera work which is serviced greatly by Wyatt Smith who's editing was timed very well and paced gracefully compared to Marshall's previous films. As for Tunick, he outdid himself with the new orchestrations for INTO THE WOODS, lush and used well by the sound designers to an advantage, this makes me wish so badly that it could be nominated for Oscars too. Just imagine what he'd do for FOLLIES, it would be magical and powerful if he did that to what he did here.

The cast, as expected was nothing short of amazing. There is not a single miscast or sour note in this ensemble. First let's talk about what everyone has already: Meryl Streep. She is a tour-de-force, she played The Witch so differently than her contemporaries, Peters, Waddingham, Murphy, McKenzie, Williams etc. that her interpretation is not only the best since Peters, but I was shocked with how she made me forget Peter's really good version from the original production in 1987. Funny, wicked, cynical, slightly crazy, smart and desperate, Streep pulled out the stops and gave us the best performance out of any of them; her singing was amaze-balls! After the horribly dismal MAMMA MIA! which gave her nothing to do with her voice, she is not only better treated but she showed us all that her voice is a powerful one. Don't believe me? Then check out "The Last Midnight" not only the top highlight of the entire film but it is the big reason why she SHOULD win the Oscar over Patricia Arquette, direction, visually and performed with such perfection that is shows why Sondheim wanted Streep to play her and Streep proved the haters wrong, so very, very WRONG. She was the best playing such an interesting character.

James Corden and Emily Blunt were amazing together. Their chemistry was so perfect that if you were told that they were not a real life married couple, I think you would laugh at them; they feel into their roles that they both pulled a Daniel Day-Lewis on us. For Corden to play The Baker was something that could've easily been played so blandly and here comes Corden that gives us a warm, stand-offish, funny and quirky performance that was the best since Chip Zien's wonderful performance in the original. His scene with his dead father during the "No More" scene was heart-punching that it almost made me teary-eyed and his warm singing was a bonus. Blunt is so spell-binding that her acting and singing helped her very much. Her voice is truly lovely and sweet that it makes me wonder why Blunt had never did a musical before in her career, her "It Takes Two" and "Moment's in the Woods" was portrayed wonderfully and thankfully justifies the material.

Chris Pine as The Prince was a highlight on his own terms. He was charming, smarmy and hilarious that the scenery was chewed quite so much when he was around and his singing voice surprised me in a very good way that he should play Joe Gillis in Andrew Lloyd Webber's SUNSET BOULEVARD. His "Agony" with Billy Magnussen, who's singing voice was great, who plays his on screen brother was the song that did earn the biggest laughs of the theater where I saw it with a nearly full audience. His last scene with Cinderella was perfect and his ending was in a way bittersweet to his character.

Speaking of Cinderella, Anna Kendrick was enchanting. Her voice is something I never thought I'd live to hear with her portrayal of "On The Steps of the Palace" was easily top 3 for me with her soprano voice being a pleasant surprise and a highlight. The staging by Marshall and John DeLuca was magical with the fire embers around her as time slows down dramatically for her to make a decision was an inspired choice.

Lilla Crawford and Daniel Huttlestone as Little Red and Jack was perfect casting and they are both age perfect as Marshall did want the roles to be played by young actors (fun fact: a young Elijah Wood was Jack in the 1994 reading when INTO THE WOODS was supposed to have been a movie). Crawford's singing voice is bursting with so much energy and power that I was so thankful that Crawford's sassy, sweet and calm performance was here other than Sophia Grace, who was supposed to be Little Red during production but was dropped out for being "too young", that would've been Gerard Butler bad. Huttlestone has improved since LES MISERABLES, his singing was more clear and while the accent has been a problem with others, it wasn't for me. Their performances of "I Know Things Now" and "Giants in the Sky" are really good and while the concept of the former was a minor quibble for being strange as all get out for me(seriously what is up with the dark colored curtain look?), the latter was shot and staged magnificently.
Both Billy and MacKenzie Mauzy, who plays Rapunzel, were wonderful for the little they were given with in the end (now to be fair I think the cutting up of Act II is still justified, especially when I have seen it for myself). His portrayal as The Prince's Brother was now meant to be the polar opposite of his brother which I think was a welcome change and I feel that Rapunzel's change of fate was more or less a wise decision and I felt The Witch's pain during "Witch's Lament". Mauzy had a slight moment of madness when she was all alone in that little island in a swamp that legitimately tragic me out in a delightful way.

Tracey Ullman as Jack's Mother was great, it was very refreshing to see her in a musical and her voice was very good. Funny and a bit overbearing, Ullman played to role in a way that you feel her frustration and annoyance with Jack that I don't think I've felt before for this character. Though her death was rather glanced over which was an minor issue that bothered me for a moment but something that I quickly let go as soon as The Baker told Jack that she didn't make it. I don't think any other actress could play this role the way Ullman did (same goes for Streep).

Johnny Depp's 5 minute role as The Wolf was not as average as I thought it was going to be. His singing is still the same as it was in SWEENEY TODD but his creepy way of playing it was perfect enough for what the role is called for. The moment where he shows Little Red the candy in his fur coat during "Hello Little Girl" was pure stranger danger that it was scary in a Child Catcher sense. The whole song was shot and edited perfectly to with Depp's howling as a perfect ending to it. So happy that Disney was taking a risk by letting this song stay in the film.

As for the other actors, Christine Baranski couldn't be more at home with her as The Stepmother; with her wicked, playful and comical acting and singing that it was too good to be true. Tammy Blanchard and Lucy Punch did very well for the smaller roles as The Stepsisters though Punch's vocals threw me off for a bit. Comic relief done right, thanks to James Lapine's faithful and well paced screenplay.

Francis De La Tour's small performance as The Giantess was really neat and to see her body through the trees was a delightful change from the stage show that made me happy and made a few kids excited and spooked at the same time. Everyone else from Joanna Riding to Simon Russell Beale did good to support and move the story along, yes while the cutting of "No More" did make fans quite sad, the dialogue during the scene was perfect and the score of the song was beautiful along with Corden's performance during it did make my heart sink and hit me closer to home.
In the end, this is the affect the movie had on me from the entire final act, it left me thinking and wistful about the things other people went through, how we move on from the pain of the past and that we are not alone in this.

Rob Marshall...Stephen Sondheim.....James Lapine. You have all done my heart proud in a time where musicals are still suffering in Hollywood (ANNIE comes to mind) and that major audiences does not care for the genre anymore by creating a musical film that destroys all the other musical films from the past 15 years, even the good ones...

So that is why, after much thinking about, I shall give this movie..

9.5 out of 10. The best rating I could give for a movie with such love and passion to it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 12:10am

For what it's worth I loved it. I tend to hate movie musicals because they usually end up changing so much between the stage version and the movie version but this was wonderful and the changes and cuts they did make I understood and accepted. The transition between the first and second half of the film obviously didn't require an act one finale and act two opening so I understand why "Ever After" and "So Happy" had to go and I think the movie works just fine without them. It's unfortunate that "No More" had to go but that too I thought worked just fine.

*possible spoilers*

I wouldn't have minded if they had just left out the scene with the Baker's father all together as I think it may have slightly confused audiences at first and I didn't find the Baker's decision to return to the group all that compelling or even believable without the song and the pace at the end would have picked up a bit without that scene but that's only a minor quibble. As a movie it's wonderful and as an adaptation of the musical it is faithful. Plus, everyone in the cast can actually sing. That's all I could have asked for.

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 12:17am

"J_Jammer, Cinderella’s Prince is narrated as having only danced with Cinderella, like in the original fairy tale. And TazTarney didn’t say Cinderella needed to get hugely emotional on learning what the prince did, just have some emotion."

Why?

In the musical there was a span of a year before things went south. This happened after they got married. What emotions are reasonable for a few days of knowing one another and marriage?

[TazTarney]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 12:32am

J_Jammer is right. Why should Cinderella show any emotion? I mean it's just that her husband cheated on her and all her fears are realized. No biggie. I think the world would be a better place if all women reacted that way to their Husband's infidelity. You Go Cindy! -_-

[Showface]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 12:41am

-_-

1).The reveal to Cinderella is really a comedic moment that has received laughs since the show opened, and has even received laughs in the movie


2) Can't the same be said about the other actresses who played Cinderella? From what I've seen the same "I'm just going to brush it off now so I won't be embarrassed" has been used and was used.

3) Her "why did you stray" scene was excellently acted by her. She didn't need to burst out in tears with snot running out of her nose, sinking down into the soil and foliage on the ground--she even said herself that she based that scene off her own parents' divorce, and she was inspired by the dignity and calmness they both displayed, and that reflected in the scene.


Also, as said before....people react to different emotions differently! Why is this so hard to grasp for so many?

Bravo Ms Kendrick!

[TazTarney]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 12:49am

No one is saying she needed to burst out in tears. The problem with it is that there was no reaction. It was like she just got told the sky is blue. Not even a hint of anything. At least to me.

Why is it so hard for you to grasp that not everyone saw the scene the way you did? Not once have I ever said your opinion of the scene was wrong, All I have said was my opinion of the scene. Accept it or don't.

[MrJude]

Posted: 12/27/14 at 1:07am

Add me to the others that found no faults with this adaptation. Having sung No More onstage in two different production in my teens and loving the song more than anyone I know, I can tell you that to give a character we've never met a BALLAD in the last third of a movie with 20 characters is just about the worst idea ever.

I thought Mauzy and Magnussen reminded me of Anthony and Johanna in Sweeney. They live and it doesn't make the story any less tragic. Either way Sweeney and the Witch still don't get to have that one person they worked the hardest to keep.

It's not the show. That is a good thing. Even I caught myself during No One is Alone of the restlessness in the audience around me. My audience was full of both theater people and families with babies and assorted small children. I preferred the movie ending the way it did. I also really noticed how often the Baker's Wife and Cinderella's Prince actually meet during the movie, and how turned on Blunt was each and every time. It makes sense.