Into the Woods Official Movie Thread- Page 188

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 11:41pm

^ I also wonder if he has exaggerated the audience responses in his movie theater.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 12:03am

I think The Giantess looks just fine, not to scary, not to beautiful.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 12:11am

I get what you're saying. It wouldn't have made it any better. What I'm saying is that they shouldn't have showed her. It made me feel TOO bad.

I'm not exaggerating the audience response at all. Idk whether I just saw it both times with really bad audiences or if there is a total lack of theatre etiquette in my area. Sadly, I think it's the latter due to the fact that someone yelled something profane during the Book of Mormon tour this week.

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 8:28am

"Dear Bucky,

If I wasn't far more sarcastic than you, I'd fall for your attempt. I do buy you condescending tone."

Thanks!

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 8:49am

The "B" grade Cinemascore for "Into the Woods" is interesting. It's not awesome. It's ayight. (To put that into perspective, "Dumb and Dumber To" got a B-.) But it doesn't correlate to its box-office strength. Then again, "Annie" got an A- and isn't doing great numbers, so perhaps there's no correlation at all.

I just wonder if musical-theater junkies, the ones that are going 2 and 3 and 4 times, are driving the movie's performance, or if it's the fact that lots of kids are off school right now. If its percentage decline is steep this coming weekend, I guess that'll show how popular it is with average cinemagoing audiences.

Updated On: 1/2/15 at 08:49 AM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 9:00am

"I get what you're saying. It wouldn't have made it any better. What I'm saying is that they shouldn't have showed her. It made me feel TOO bad."

Right. Because the enemy is human.

Just like in war.

That's the point.

The giants have been wronged.

The Giant's Wife is seeking vengeance for being horribly wrong.

But in doing so she is killing indiscriminately. And she wants to kill someone who, no matter how horrible his actions, is still a child, and a child of very limited intelligence at that.

The community has horrible ethical choices to make in order to survive, protect itself, and protect Jack from a punishment that may not be appropriate even for him, much less for the innocent in the Giant Wife's Way.

Just like ethics. Just like politics. Just like the real world.

The Giant's Wife should have a human face and should not be marginalized to "The Other."

Updated On: 1/2/15 at 09:00 AM

[sarahb22]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 9:37am

"I just wonder if musical-theater junkies, the ones that are going 2 and 3 and 4 times, are driving the movie's performance, or if it's the fact that lots of kids are off school right now. If its percentage decline is steep this coming weekend, I guess that'll show how popular it is with average cinemagoing audiences."

If what I'm seeing on Tumblr and Twitter is accurate, this movie is a big hit with young teenage girls. They think the princes are hot, and they like Anna Kendrick. Billy Magnussen didn't have any Tumblr presence before last Thursday; now he's got about 6 blogs dedicated to him and tons of posts about how cute he is. The bootleg video of "Agony" has more than 92,000 views, and it's been posted since Monday. I'm pretty sure most of those views are young girls.

And that's a good thing. Any movie that gets the teenage girl audience is going to be a hit. They're the ones who go see a movie 10, 12, 15 times just to see the cute guys. They buy soundtracks and make wallpapers and write fanfiction and talk, talk, talk about how awesome the movie is to anyone who will listen. They made Titanic the #1 movie ever, because Leo DiCaprio was so dreamy.

And, of course, they're all buying 'Agony' on iTunes and becoming fans of Stephen Sondheim - even if they don't realize it. I think that's pretty cool too.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 9:49am

That's interesting. Thanks for the perspective, sarahb22. Can I assume by your join date and avatar that you are in this legion?

And, of course, teenage girls drag their boyfriends to musicals, too.

Whether their boyfriends stay their boyfriends after seeing it is another matter entirely.

[sarahb22]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 10:21am

"That's interesting. Thanks for the perspective, sarahb22. Can I assume by your join date and avatar that you are in this legion? "

Well, I was once back the late 1970s The join date is because I didn't know about this board until my siser clued me in a couple of weeks ago. The avatar is because I have a weakness for blue-eyed blond guys and I mean, Billy Magnussen. Dat ass.

And yes, I DO still have my Shaun Cassidy records ...

Updated On: 1/2/15 at 10:21 AM

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 10:40am

You're welcome, Bucky. Now, remove your hand from the cookie jar.

[Hest882]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 11:26am

Question for those of you who have seen the film. I just read a review that had a criticism that's been alluded to here but not teased out explicitly. (Granted, I may have missed it.) Is it true that--unlike in the stage production--the giantess' rampage happens at Cinderella's wedding? The critic's comment was that because no time had passed between "Act 1" and "Act II" in the movie, all the regrets in Act II didn't make as much sense.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 11:34am

That is correct. Or, rather, that's the first appearance of the Giantess.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 11:35am

Yup and Lapine has said that on stage a year passes before the start of act 2. So in the film, the change makes the action more cohesive because there is no act break.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 11:36am

I assume a few months had passed, though. The Baker said something along the lines of "He always cries when he is with me." I took it as he has tried to be a good father, but nothing has worked. The "honeymoon" phase of the baby was now over.

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 11:38am

The wedding gets interrupted by the giant, yes.

"no time had passed between "Act 1" and "Act II" in the movie, all the regrets in Act II didn't make as much sense"

I had a problem with that also. The prince's adultery didn't mean anything to Cinderella because they had only known each other for a few days. It gave Kendrick much less to work with. At least that's what I am assuming went through Kendrick's mind, because her line deliveries were completely emotionless in the 2nd half.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 11:45am

One other thing is that the original Broadway version had a Narrator. In Act 2, the Narrator was fed to the giant. Additionally, the giant killed the Baker's Wife which is not that explicit in the movie. With those deaths, it raises the stakes to kill the giant(s). The movie simplifies the giant situation a bit too much.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 11:57am

In what way is it not explicit that it was the Giant's Wife that kills the Baker's Wife in the movie, Goth? Whom exactly are we supposed to think did kill the Baker's Wife if not the Giant's Wife?

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 12:24pm

I think enough time had passed for Cinderella to agree to marry the prince, get all the preparations in order and actually have the wedding..to feel badly about the adultery. The baby had been born a while ago - The Baker felt inadequate as a father already. Jack's mother had time to spend her new fortune and purchase new clothes, etc. So maybe a year didn't go by...but it was obviously months - plenty of time for Cinderella to realize the prince wasn't what she expected. She knew that before they even got together..she just had to face it after he strayed.

Do we know that the Giant's Wife killed the Baker's Wife? Well....The way I thought it was presented - the Giant's wife was angry, she was stomping in the woods, the ground was shaking, the Baker's Wife was afraid and was running to get away. And she ran towards a cliff and fell hitting her head and died. Whether or not the Giant's wife directly pushed her, or the ground shook when she walked which caused the Baker's wife to fall or the Baker's Wife was running in fear after the Giant's wife threatened to kill them if they didn't produce Jack..her death was directly tied to the the Giant's Wife.

Updated On: 1/2/15 at 12:24 PM

[Musical Master]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 12:25pm

The movie has passed it's 72 million mark at the box office. If this isn't a hit then I don't know what is.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 12:31pm

Wait...
Are we really supposed to feel bad for the giant?

She's a horrible mass murderer. She probably killed whole villages and whole families. I get that you're supposed to feel conflicted at first because the giant is a person too, but by showing her and making her too human, you run the risk of the audience not remembering the fact that her crimes far out weight everyone else's.

I've seen multiple reviews saying that it's a story where the protagonists are vile murderers. I was hoping that we would see the giant destroying the village so that the audience understands that the Giant is a person, but a bad person. The audience needs to understand how awful the giant's crimes are.

I still think that by showing her and her death ruins the rest of the ffilm because it makes the Baker and Jack look too bad.

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 12:48pm

"Wait...
Are we really supposed to feel bad for the giant?"

You decide what's right
You decide what's good

[Musical Master]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 12:56pm

Let's do a victory dance for INTO THE WOODS' success.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 1:00pm

As someone who wasn't familiar with the show and I've only seen the movie, and as someone who doesn't want to read through 180+ pages of discussion can someone give me a brief breakdown of the differences from stage to screen? Please and thank you. :)

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 1:20pm

This is just from memory so I am probably forgetting things:

- Rapunzel doesn't die. She rides off with her prince.
- There is no indication that the Baker's wife and The Prince have sex. Just kissing.
- The wolf is half man half wolf? Could be wrong about that, the scene made no sense.
- Rapunzel's Prince does not break it off with Rapunzel.
- Only a few days have passed between act 1 and act 2
- The Witch has teleportation powers.
- There are 2 beanstalks in the film.
- Jack's mom dies by getting lightly pushed.
- There is no Narrator seen.
- The Mysterious Man has been cut.

All I can think of right now.

Updated On: 1/2/15 at 01:20 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 1:30pm

I think it was certainly implied that more than kissing may have happened. A Disney exec said that they were most concerned with that scene, but I think it was handled wonderfully.

Some other changes
- Ever After, So Happy, and No More are cut but heard in underscoring
- Agony reprise cut
- I Guess This Is Goodbye/ Maybe They're Really Magic Cut
- Princes aren't tempted with Snow White and Sleeping Beauty
- Cinderella at the grave shortened
- Lament shortened
- On the Steps of the Palace has revised lyrics


Updated On: 1/2/15 at 01:30 PM