Into the Woods Official Movie Thread — Page 194

I can almost hear Javert's spine un-snapping in that gif.

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Updated On: 1/5/15 at 01:30 PM

To be fair, Idina sells that song. Not the song itself.

I don't think it's really anything to get all huffy about. Sure some may say the songs sounded the same but overall it's obvious people are really liking the film. Sondheim isn't everyone's type.

I'm a big musical theater fan and I loved ITW. However, Sondheim isn't really my cup of tea. But, I do love how there is a lot of depth and meaning in a lot of his pieces.

I think it's normal to have that reaction to Sondheim. It may be a Disney movie, but it's ultimately a Sondheim show, and it's a very Sondheim show regardless of how accessible it seems at first. In some way, that's part of the beauty of the show, the deceptive simplicity of it (and something that seems inherent to its themes). I doubt the first time I saw the show (and I saw it as a teenager much like many young people are discovering it now) I thought the music was brilliant--though "Last Midnight" and I fell in love at first sight, er, listen. I probably even dismissed it as "easier Sondheim" when I discovered Sondheim and was all into being a young intellectual. The older I get, the more I return to it though. The songs, which seemed cute and "easy" when I was younger, have such a different context in my life; the rhymes only get more fascinating the more I discover them (seriously, "we've no time to sit and dither while her withers wither with her" is one of the most genius things I've ever heard); and my understanding of the meaning of songs like "It Takes Two" and "No One Is Alone" has become more complex and I'm sure it'll continue to do so. Not that this will happen to everyone, but I'm sure that as some of the young people who just discovered the piece grow older and keep coming back to it, they'll start seeing how pointed, poignant, deep, incisive and clever the songs are.

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I will never understand why people think that Sondheim's music isn't as good as his lyrics.
I think that he writes some of the most beautiful melodies. I find his music very hummable and memorable. It's just different.

BTW if you look at the comments that alot of people write on the YouTube video of Let it Go, you'll find that many people love the actual song (which is pretty sad) but not Idina. There are quite a few comments saying that she has a harsh, annoying voice that hurts their ears and Demi whateverthehellhernameis sang it better.

@best12bars Wikipedia says the box office gross for Sweeney Todd was over $152 million, so Into the Woods isn't there yet. But It will probably reach that by next week, especially considering it hasn't been released in much of the world still.

The question of whether Sondheim is better at writing lyrics than he is at music has also seemed dubious to me as well. The man can turn out a spectacular lyric, but his melodies are so fantastic to me. I just think of songs like A Weekend in the Country, Not a Day Goes By, Stay With Me, Losing My Mind, Being Alive, Anyone Can Whistle...so many wonderful melodies. But a lyric like "You can start with a bagel and end up with Conrad Nagel on the screen, but in life you wind up right behind a pillar in the mezzanine" is just golden.

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I have heard several non-theatre going friends complain that all Broadway music (and singers) sound the same. Sacrilege to our overly saturated musical theatre brains, but its' a common complaint in the mainstream - and obviously a big reason why pop jukebox musicals have found their target audiences

gypsy101---That was Sweeney's worldwide gross, not domestic gross.

Into the Woods hasn't even opened internationally in most markets.

Yours is not a level playing field.

Sweeney made $52 million in the US total.

Into the Woods has made $90 million in the US so far.

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Updated On: 1/6/15 at 01:55 PM

That green spilling popcorn container on Rotten Tomatoes gives me the heart-pains. But, to be fair, I think being disappointed with the second act of Into the Woods is a very natural thing to do the first time you see it. This is my favorite musical of all time, and even my reaction to the OBC Video was “D’aaaaaaw, why’d it have to KEEP GOING? I’m all sad now. Eh.”

But even then, I wasn’t mad or angry or even convinced that the second act was just mind-numbingly pointless. My reaction is very much like many I’ve read and seen, not a bile “IT SHOULD HAVE JUST ENDED AT THE WEDDING. WHY IS THERE AN EXTRA HALF HOUR!? POINTLESS!!!”, which I’ve only seen maybe 1/5 of the time. Most of the reactions seem to be “I liked how it was wrapping itself up, and I kinda wish it had just ended there. I still liked the film, though.”

Into the Woods excites you with a lighthearted romp through childhood familiarity, then suddenly dumps a lot of dreary baggage on you. This I now see as the brilliance of the piece, but not after letting the messages sink in and rewatching it. I’m hoping that many of these people will buy the DVD when it comes out, and they might look at the material differently after knowing what to expect.

Wow I'm actually surprised with the audience score on RT. Looks like it's not as liked as some thought. Just goes to show that Box office isn't everything.

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Updated On: 1/6/15 at 05:25 PM