Into the Woods Official Movie Thread — Page 202

Just for the record, I only vaguely knew about original stage version and later revivals but I had never seen it anywhere. I just knew the topic and the theme..so I was prepared without knowing very much at all and not knowing the music at all.

And count me as someone who loved the movie - without knowing the source material. So the previous statement "I would have hated this film too if i hadn't already been in love with the source material" does not hold in my case. I saw it again within the week and bought the CD right away.

I went with a bunch of people; some who had loved the show previously, others who never knew the show at all and others like me, were in between. And everyone enjoyed it...even the one person who didn't realize he got dragged to a musical..LOL. No one thought it was perfect, what is?...but basically everyone was impressed with the overall presentation, the casting, the mood, etc.

The time lapse between act 1 and 2 didn't bother me. I always felt there was a reasonable amount of time that lapsed before the wedding took place - baby was born, Jack's mother had time to shop and get a new wardrobe & appreciate the riches. They could have stated a longer time went by but I was fine the way it was done.

When I say it's disposable, I guess what I mean is, if it was my decision and I had to decide between 'It Takes Two' and 'No More', I would ask myself 'Which song is more central to the theme of the story?' and cut the other one.

"It Takes Two" is adorable, but you could accomplish the same cuteness with dialogue, if you feel you have to go that route. That "We're getting along so well!" sentiment isn't MORE deserving of a song than the much more complicated sentiment of "No More" is. Reducing "No More" to four or five lines of somewhat trite dialogue ("Don't be like me!") trivializes it. Sondheim said it so much better.

I'm not sure what Rob Marshall means about ballads and diminishing effect. It didn't diminish "Sound of Music", which had three ballads one right after the other toward the end of the movie: Climb Ev'ry Mountain, Something Good, and the reprise of Edelweiss. The songs slow down because something important is being said, because the audience is being told to be quiet and listen.

"No More" is an important song. It starts off as a dialogue between the Baker and his father, in which the father talks about the folly of running away from your responsibilities, and ends with a soliloquoy by the Baker that's a plea to the universe to quit giving him sh#@! when he's trying to be a decent father. It could have been very powerful and relevent in the movie, and it's a shame they cut it.

Eh...I didn't leave thinking the second half was MEH or choppy.

Yeah I realize that there were songs missing (my favorites) but I was forward they weren't going to be there. I was prepared.

I blame whatever research Disney did to think that truncating fans' favorite moments in the second half.

Which is why I stand by what I think they should ALWAYS do with musicals to movies...do a stang-length version for fans and a theater-length version for those who rather not sit for 3 hours.

They might have to spend millions more to do that, but it would be worth it. They do this with albums.

Agree that they really should have included No More, and made it a lot more clear as to what was going on in that scene. Is the Baker's father dead or alive? Was he just wandering around and the Baker met up with him? Or is he dead and a ghost? They don't even tell you that.


By the way, came across this on Twitter:

Big Ol' Looming Yeen ?@Fuzzypaw 18h18 hours ago
The people at Starbucks are singing Agony from Into the Woods! I think @ArtideFox would approve, hehe~

Yeah, nobody likes this movie and nobody's going to see it...

Updated On: 1/13/15 at 06:26 AM

"Big Ol' Looming Yeen ?@Fuzzypaw 18h18 hours ago
The people at Starbucks are singing Agony from Into the Woods! I think @ArtideFox would approve, hehe~ "

Wow, that's cool! I wonder if anybody got cell phone footage of it? Sondheim in Starbucks...

Updated On: 1/13/15 at 07:59 AM

Had to share the phone call I got from my 90-year-old mother last night. I told her I loved the film, so when her senior center chartered a bus to go see it she went (she loves musicals).

She hated it! "Too many lyrics, too much yelling, too much singing - it was like an opera!" She said all the seniors there also hated it.

So is ITW a generational thing? I honestly thought she'd love it.

As we get older, our cognitive abilities slow down and it becomes harder to follow stories, especially ones that move fast. My guess is that's what happened here; all the fast motion, rapid-fire lyrics and "commotion" became confusing and hard to follow for the elderly ladies, leading to frustration and an ultimate decision of "I hated it."

There's a lot going on in the film and every little action has a consequence later on in the movie. It would be easy for someone of a certain age (whether young or old) to miss something

I understand why elderly people might have a problem with at least the first 15 minutes. There's a frenetic energy with the interweaving of the different musical themes and quickly paced exposition and it escalades intensely when everyone heads into the woods. That's not a fault of the show at all but some things are just not for some people ultimately

It's a great idea, but I'm not sure how some of the cast would sound singing live. A few are accomplished singers, most of them are not and would probably rather not perform those difficult songs live in front of an audience. I can't see Meryl Streep agreeing to it, for instance. It's one thing to spend days laying down tracks in a controlled studio environment; quite another to sing the whole thing live over the course of a few hours. It would be a little much for someone who isn't trained in musical theater.

"imdb and Rotten Tomatoes are not the "be all, end all" nor the ultimate authority on movies.

So many people put too much stock on websites whose numbers are easily manipulated by anyone who can log in and post whatever the hell they feel like it "just because"...
"

I disagree that the numbers can be 'easily manipulated'. There are so many ratings that you would have to create A LOT of accounts (hundreds or thousands) to manipulate the ratings. Plus, given that the numbers might actually influence box office results if they were easily manipulated I am sure that studios would try to do this. The Into The Woods Score, down to 6.7 now - is not going to be good for word of mouth, unfortunately.

I don't understand it, and for now am going to dismiss negativity and condescendingly assuming that Into the Woods is simply 'too good' for much of the general public, whose expectations of a simple children's 'Disney' movie are not being met (not joking).

---

Yup, That song is supposed to be The Witch's mental and emotional break, and it was underplayed in the film. By doing that it causes Last Midnight to be less effective. Yes I agree the main problem with the 2nd half is nothing and no one was able to breathe..But I OBVIOUSLY don't understand that things have to be adapted (meaning: changed) for a film medium, so take my words with a grain of salt..

Updated On: 1/14/15 at 08:06 PM

No, I found that song very effective in the film. Same with Last Midnight. It's not "underplayed" as it fits in with the new context of the scene.

In the play, the Witch is the over-protective mother (who wants to be loved and wants Rapunzel to love her). However, her over-protectiveness led to the craziness and eventual death of her daughter.

In the movie, the Witch is the over-protective mother (who wants to love and personally, I found Meryl's portrayal far more motherly and lovingly than other Witch's which isn't a bad thing for actresses who didn't do it---I just prefer Streep's portrayal/interpretation of that). However, her over-protectiveness caused her daughter to hate her for that, and caused her daughter to leave her for another.


This is VERY effective, especially considering how much the Witch truly loved Rapunzel. I see many people arguing, "if Rapunzel is still in the world, the Witch could have just searched for her--deeming Last Midnight pointless". That is an argument I strongly disagree with. Rapunzel left on a fast moving animal going who knows where. All the while, the Witch knows the only person she loves--now hates her, and is never going to embrace her, nor does she want to see her again. The Witch also has a giant to worry about, and a certain "Jack" to capture. The Witch had a lot on her plate. Streep's "Lament" was very well performed.


"Maybe I'd find it more appropriate if she had more than 3 seconds to breathe and take in what happened"

Well, she did. She had an entire song. In the DVD, she will have an entire two songs ("She'll Be Back")



Also, when Rapunzel leaves the Witch we see how devastated she is. When the Witch re-appears with Jack see almost seems like a different person. She's no longer "sad" and "remorseful"...it's almost as if the Witch turned all thoughts of Rapunzel off---almost as mechanism to stop the grieving. Then, in Last Midnight, all of her emotions boil up. These "nice" people blame her--she's "The Witch"--her daughter has left her, and for all she knows her daughter has died in the hands of "her prince"--also, The Witch has no one to love.

_____________

This was handled brilliantly! Very touching...Bravo!