The IN THE HEIGHTS Film Adaptation Thread- Page 25

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 4/15/21 at 9:42pm

How long does the introduction interview last? Does anyone know from the earlier screening?

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 4/15/21 at 10:23pm

I had a ticket to the 6:30pm screening! The cast was extremely talented; especially loved Olga, Daphne, Corey Hawkins, & Anthony Ramos as Usnavi. I only saw ITH on Broadway once and I wasn't too into it then. I enjoyed it but, not enough to buy (or even listen) to the OBCR. I definitely regret that, as I think I would have appreciated the film more. With that said though, I loved every minute of the movie!! Loved seeing the cameos from the OBC and I'm pretty sure I also spotted Lin's parents lol. There was also a moment in memory of Doreen at the end. 

[notyouringenue]

Posted: 4/15/21 at 10:46pm

Ugh. My screening jumped straight to the moderated discussion then asked me to take a survey. No film! I'm super disappointed... Guess I'm gonna have to practice some (more) paciencia y fe and wait to see it on the big screen!

Updated On: 4/15/21 at 10:46 PM

[teddy1996]

Posted: 4/15/21 at 10:49pm

i just finished watching the movie. this movie is absolutely stunning. the musical numbers were stunning, the cinematography was incredible, the cast did great. especially anthony, corey, leslie, daphne, olga, stephanie, and gregory diaz. i honestly didn’t care about melissa barrera as vanessa. she was just alright. daphne rubin vega KILLED it as daniela. she was fantastic. dascha polanco’s character had very little lines but her character was fun. i felt that they could have cast more brown to dark skinned afro latinos in leading and supporting roles but the movie was great regardless. this is a must watch.

Updated On: 4/16/21 at 10:49 PM

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 4/15/21 at 10:58pm

So surprising to see all the mixed reviews for Melissa as Vanessa as I thought she was one of the best parts of an already great film.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/15/21 at 11:21pm

I liked, but didn't love this on bway. I'm a bit closer to love now....and hope that that may change when fully released. We had a little sound problem as it was at such a low volume we oft struggled to hear the dialogue....just seconds before, whatever my son was watching was very easy to hear... as was the into....but once the film started....very minimal volume - and we lost lots of dialogue (for example, I was lost for much of the scene with Sonny's dad.)

That being said, my son and I often found ourselves smiling at the joy exuding from the film. Loved the cinematography, the choreography and the look of the film (although a few shots here and there screamed green screen). I thought there were many outstanding performances and the cameos were DELIGHTFUL. (YES, Lin's parents were there.) Although a little less LMM would have been nice, it felt a bit forced.

Ramos is simply a shining star.

Not sure if I'm ready for the movie theater in June.....but then again....I might be!

[sherie_worshipper]

Posted: 4/15/21 at 11:26pm

We didn’t see the same movie, apparently. Even Rent was better and more faithful to the stage show - and Rent was bad! This movie is an uneven slog. I’m shocked at how Quiara and Lin-Manuel managed to bastardize their own creation. I don’t want to spoil it, but what they did to Abuela Claudia is one of the many crimes of this movie. Once the hype dies down, people will realize that the emperor has no clothes.

[teddy1996]

Posted: 4/15/21 at 11:47pm

and i honestly wasn’t expecting this movie to be this long. it has a runtime of 2 hours and 28 minutes.

[ggersten]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 12:17am

teddy1996 said: "and i honestly wasn’t expecting this movie to be this long. it has a runtime of 2 hours and 28 minutes. "

That includes credits. I had to run out the second the film ended to pick up puppy so I did not see credits. I think film was 2:20 before end credits started. Twitter says there is a post credit sequence which I missed. 

[kyle4]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 12:21am

[lucynewlife]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 12:43am

As an adaptation of the Broadway show.... not wild about it.

As its own film? Loved it., although it dragged a bit towards the end. Very electric, fun, magical realism that worked (and made me excited for what might happen with Wicked).

But did the mannequin heads in that one scene give anyone else absolutely horrifying "Mombi's heads in Return to Oz" vibes?

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 1:07am

I loved the film and have visited so many of the locations that watching it was like a summer day for me. The High Bridge pool scene and the Piragua man were amazing. I had a cat named Cuca that I named after mi abuela's bird (she had two, Cuca and Carioca). This film has heart and so much joy and Dona Claudia felt like family.

I will see this at the Ipic Hudson Lights after taking the BX3 bus to walk across the GW Bridge.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 7:44am

InTheBathroom1 said: "So surprising to see all the mixed reviews for Melissa as Vanessa as I thought she was one of the best parts of an already great film. "
Agree 100%.  She had the perfect mix of strength and vulnerability that make this character complex and interesting. 

 

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 7:47am

I also attended the 6:30/3:30 screening last night. Let me preface my entire review saying that I very much LIKED the movie, but definitely did not love it. I had a huge smile on my face for about 80% of the movie, and confusion for the remaining 20%. I will try to limit the spoilers, by not saying much. But beware.

I’ll start with my positives. I went in very nervous about Daphne, but she ended up being fantastic. Her voice, of course, still had her usual gritty sound, but it was definitely cleaned up a bit and sounded great. I really loved some of the big dance numbers, especially The Club was almost entirely intact as it was in the stage show. 96,000 was so fun! I really liked the expansion of Vanessa’s character, which gave her reason for wanting to move downtown. I liked the girl playing Vanessa too. She wasn’t overly sassy like the broadway role, but she had enough grit and girl power. Thought Corey as Benny was a fantastic performance, too. He had great vocals. Seeing an actual kid/ teenager as Sonny was a welcomed change. I liked Anthony, but he did look a bit young to have his own store. It was nice to hear some great vocals on the few lines that Usnavi sings.

Unfortunately for me, the movie was extremely busy. Every single song had huge distracting dance numbers. I’m not saying I do not like dance numbers, but to have the emotional love ballad between Nina and Benny at the end completely overshadowed by green screened dancing of them walking and dancing along the side of a building was just ... such a misstep. Every song was a full blown production number. I’m surprised at no point someone was like “hey maybe for one of the songs we don’t need 150 dancers in it?!” Due to that, it felt very hard to kept track of who was who and what was going on. Especially during the opening number, they would cut away from Usnavi a lot while his vocals still played. As a fan of the show, I was able to follow, but I’m not sure everyone else could.

Speaking of Nina, she was noticeably the worst singer in the entire movie. Her voice was thin and tinny and clearly the most edited. After her first phrase in “Breathe”, it was clear she was going to stand out in this way.

Most of the plot changes did more to weaken the story than strengthen it. The back and forth shots to DR, the removal of race tensions (and ANY tension) between Benny and Carlos, pretty much everything with Abuela (literally everything - I originally had 6 different things related to her on this list), the reason Nina and her dad are fighting, and the completely different plot during Blackout felt off.

I know this feels like a pan, but I did enjoy the movie, I just was confused a decent amount. I wanted a little more of the drama from the show in the movie. It was just a little too happy when the musical definitely had moments of emotion.

The screening did not offer a subtitle option, and I wish it had because some of the sound was hard to hear. I’ll have to watch it again once it’s on HBO max to see what I missed.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 8:19am

ggersten said: "teddy1996 said: "and i honestly wasn’t expecting this movie to be this long. it has a runtime of 2 hours and 28 minutes. "

That includes credits. I had to run out the second the film ended to pick up puppy so I did not see credits. I think film was 2:20 before end credits started.Twitter says there is a post credit sequence which I missed."

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

After the credits end, there’s a cute exchange between the Piragua Guy (Miranda) and the Mr. Softee Guy (Jackson).  

 

[ggersten]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 10:58am

Thanks BrodyFosse!

Now a question: who is/are the credited choreographer(s)? IMDB does not list any, nor does the WB site. And a google search didn't reveal any names. Unless I just missed it - which is possible. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 12:03pm

ggersten said: "Thanks BrodyFosse!

Now a question: who is/are the credited choreographer(s)? IMDB does not list any, nor does the WB site. And a google search didn't reveal any names. Unless I just missed it - which is possible."

Choreography by Christopher Scott.

 

[ggersten]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 12:26pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "ggersten said: "Thanks BrodyFosse!

Now a question: who is/are the credited choreographer(s)? IMDB does not list any, nor does the WB site. And a google search didn't reveal any names. Unless I just missed it - which is possible."

Choreography by Christopher Scott.
"

THANKS! 

[FosseTharp]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 1:00pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "ggersten said: "Thanks BrodyFosse!

Now a question: who is/are the credited choreographer(s)? IMDB does not list any, nor does the WB site. And a google search didn't reveal any names. Unless I just missed it - which is possible."

Choreography by Christopher Scott.

"


I didn’t know Chris Scott choreographed ITH!  I love his choreography so that’s really exciting.  

[teddy1996]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 3:00pm

dascha polanco’s character added nothing to the movie. she was fun and all but she was just there just to be there.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 3:12pm

How was the new song, wherever it was in the film?

[Ravenclaw]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 3:43pm

I didn't notice any new songs--maybe there was a new song over the credits, but I didn't pay attention to that.

I agree with DRSisLove in that I have a long list of criticisms but I still enjoyed most of it. Lots of plot changes that will have fans asking "why?" but it's not like the musical was the polestar of great book writing either. The most egregious cut, for me, was Everything I Know. All the other cuts I could live with (I mean, nobody left the theatre humming "Inutil" but Everything I Know is a beautiful, emotional song, one of the highlights of the show, and there is a sort of emotional hole left by that song's absence.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 5:18pm

Whose bright idea was it to eliminate "Sunrise" from the film version. I'd like to have a word with them. #NoMeGusta

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 5:30pm

Warner Bros. is gonna freak over the film leaking online today. Im sure we’ll be getting a LOT of reviews here very very soon.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 4/16/21 at 5:33pm

i timed it; the movie is right around 2 hours 13 minutes before credits. the new song is called Home All Summer and it’s the first song in the credits so it will be eligible at the Oscars. it’s a cute upbeat song sung by Anthony Ramos and Leslie Grace with a featured vocal from Marc Anthony who appears as Sonny’s father. it’s not traditional Oscar fare ballad but i could see it being nominated simply because it’s Lin-Manuel