Into the Woods Official Movie Thread — Page 83

Here is the link and the photo.




First Look At Jack's Beanstalk For INTO THE WOODS Movie

I hope they will at least add some leaves to it.

I hope so! Right now it looks like it's dead ... or petrified.

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New photos of Pine and Magnussen:








Chris Pine & Billy Magnussen Film INTO THE WOODS; Week 4 Round-Up With Depp, Etc.

Do you know who is looking fine? Billy Magnussen.

Streep is too old for this. If they were gonna cast an actress in her mid 60's I would rather they had gone with Jessica Lange or Sissy Spaceck. Am I the only one getting tired of seeing Meryl Streep in EVERY movie with a strong female lead?

She plays all of the strong leading women because that is what she's good at and producers keep asking her to do it.

Here's her schedule, according to IMDb:

Three films for 2014. One is in pre-production, ITW is filming, and she's in post production on the other.

August: Osage County is the only film coming out this year.

She was in Hope Springs and Web Therapy (TV series) in 2012.

If you don't like her, don't go to her movies.

I shouldn't really get into the debate about Meryl Streep, except to say there really are two statements being made here. One is valid and one is clueless.

It's perfectly valid to say you don't like Meryl Streep and have a poor opinion of her talent and think she's too old for this or too young for that or too fat for something or too thin for Effie in Dreamgirls. Fine. Actors are used to hearing that. It's an opinion, and yours is like anybody else's, including mine. It counts as one vote for or against La Streep.

But it's another thing entirely to infer that you don't get why she is cast and why didn't they hire any number of other actresses before her?

That's clueless. That means you have no idea who Meryl Streep is. You have no idea how she ranks against other actress today or ever. Here's a clue: Meryl Streep is in a class by herself. She has more Oscar nominations as a performer (male or female) than any other actor in history. That's EVER. She is the only living actress with three awards. She also has had a string of box office hits. She can turn a small-budget indy movie into a profit-maker, and she can also lead a film (without any major male box office support) that brings in $200 million domestically and half a billion worldwide. That sets her apart from every other actress working today. Everybody.

Her class of peers includes Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish ... and ... wait I'm done. That's it. No other actress in film history ranks in that realm. She made it to the "Mount Rushmore" of Hollywood actresses. It's a small, elite group.

So like her if you want, or don't like her if you want. That's fine.

But if you say you don't get why she is cast, that just makes you look completely ignorant.

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Updated On: 10/4/13 at 06:43 PM

I have to admit, because the story says the Witch gets her YOUTH and beauty back from the potion, it means she was pretty youthful when she took Rapunzel. Youthful sounds to me like late 20's at the oldest. Going forward 18 to 25 years later, whatever age Rapunzel's supposed to be, the Witch would be, at her oldest, about 45. And if the spell reverts her to the very age she got cursed, then she'd be in her late 20's.

However, they can always take out the "youth" part of her transformation, and just give her back as much beauty as she would have at 60. And be less scary.

Well we'll just gloss over that bit...

Funny how in Death Becomes Her she had a similar transformation, only that time it didn't really work either because she was too young for it to be totally effective.

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"That means you have no idea who Meryl Streep is. You have no idea how she ranks against other actress today or ever"

What is clueless is your assumption that I have no idea of the ranks of hollywoods greatest. I assure you that is not the case. I like Meryl Streep. I think she is a consummate professional and a master technician. I just don't think she is the greatest actress to have existed.

"She has more Oscar nominations as a performer (male or female) than any other actor in history. That's EVER."

You don't have to school me on the Oscars. I consider myself a bit of an Oscar geek. That being said anyone who knows anything about film knows the Oscars are hardly indicative of someones true talent. I mean this is an organization that gave Sandra Bullock an award for The Blind Side and freakin Gyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love over Cate Blanchett's sublime performance in Elizabeth. Don't even get me started on the Oscars. Although I must add having just seen Gravity I hope Sandra gets a nomination. She was wonderful.

"She can turn a small-budget indy movie into a profit-maker, and she can also lead a film (without any major male box office support) that brings in $200 million domestically and half a billion worldwide. That sets her apart from every other actress working today. Everybody."

Even if that were true (which it isn't.....see Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman ) I am not arguing about Meryl Streep's marketing value or even her charisma. I just don't buy it. Me....personally. I see ALL of her movies and I enjoy most of them but like the great Katharine Hepburn, I can see the wheels turning in Meryl's head. I hate comparing them because it has been done to death but my money has ALWAYS been on Jessica Lange. She is, and has always been, Meryl's toughest competition. She's also the only actress Meryl has ever really talked about with playful envy. Oh and just to be clear. Mamma Mia did not make a billion dollars because of Meryl Streep. It made that money because it was Mamma f*cking Mia.

"Her class of peers includes Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish ... and ... wait I'm done. That's it."

Katharine Hepburn was the greatest american actress of all time...IMO. She was also a personality. Streep is NOT a personality. She is an actress first and foremost. Hepburn was also not a fan of Streep...allegedly.

Davis, the second greatest american actress, was also a unique personality. She was truly the first movie star to break down the barriers as far as looks. She wasn't afraid to show the more unflattering side. A true Hollywood star. Fascinating!

Garbo was a technician. She was a true MOVIE actress. A real mystery. Meryl Streep could not TOUCH Garbo with a ten foot pole as far as looks or charisma or stardom. She also couldn't touch Garbo's performance in Camille. Just imagine Streep in that role. Wouldn't work.

I think Streep would be more comfortable being compared to Kim Stanley, Jessica Lange, or Glenda Jackson.

BTW you forgot Geraldine Page. Talk about a forgotten actress!!

"But if you say you don't get why she is cast, that just makes you look completely ignorant."

Well it's a good thingI never said that then.

Thanks once again Besty with your helpful info. It makes me feel better now.

One last clarification I'd like to make about what I said ...

Whenever I say, "He's won an Oscar," or "she has three Oscars," I am not implying that it makes them the "best." "Best" is in the eye of the beholder. You may think they're good, and you may think they suck.

An Oscar is a fact. It's an award given by industry peers. It's a collective opinion. leveraged by so many things, from quality to politics to popularity. Winning an Oscar lends a certain amount of respectability. Yes, people have won them and then disappeared. But when you have three awards and an astounding 17 nominations, that means you have a whole lot of respect and a whole lot of power in Hollywood. You have done something that no other actor, alive or dead, has done. When you sign on to a project, whether it has a $10 million budget or $200 million, you instantly make it "important" in the eyes of Hollywood.

In addition to the prestige, it also makes other talented people become interested the project. I firmly believe that because of Streep (and also Depp), the door was suddenly opened. Actors like Chris Pine, who is one of the most popular actors in movies this year, suddenly signed on for a supporting role in a fairy tale musical. I guarantee you that "a chance to share the screen with Meryl Streep" was a huge draw for him. Same thing with everyone else in the movie. That makes producers happy. Actors will work for less money and take more risks with their careers for a "wish fulfillment" bucket list item like: be in a movie with Meryl Streep.

So does Oscar = best? No.
Oscar (especially multiple Oscars) = power, respect, increase (sometimes small sometimes huge) in box office.

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Updated On: 10/5/13 at 08:02 AM