The IN THE HEIGHTS Film Adaptation Thread- Page 36

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:02am

I enjoyed it quite a bit, but anybody just blowing off the criticism of colorism are just really showing their ass. Especially when the movie directly got rid of Kevin's racism against Benny. Colorism in the Latinx community is real and there should have been more Afro-Latinx people in the core cast. Jon Chu telling an interviewer "Did you see the in the dance numbers?" Is not a good look. There was nothing mind blowing about any of the performances (outside of Olga and Daphne) that you could realistically say it was a performance the movie just needed to have at the expense of Dark Skinned Latinx representation.

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:04am

A Director said: "The beloved movie, MY FAIR LADY runs 2 hours and 50 minutes.

The beloved movie, WEST SIDE STORY (1961) runs 2 hours and 33 minutes.

The beloved movie, THE SOUND OF MUSIC runs 2 hours and 52 minutes.

The movie version of In The Heights IS NOT TOO LONG!

"

and they all had Intermissions 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:20am

There's no point in comparing the ITH runtime to other movies, regardless if they had intermissions, or whether they were musicals. How long a movie (or stage show) FEELS has little to do with how long it actually is. It has more to do with how it's paced, how it's structured, and how it's written. A 4-hour movie can breeze by, and an 80 minute movie can feel like an eternity. So any disagreement here just comes down to personal taste. I didn't feel the movie was too long, because I was loving it, and I was always hungry for the next scene, and on the edge of my seat. But if someone wasn't enjoying the movie as much, or wasn't as invested in the new storylines, then it's understandable that it would feel long. 

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:27am

I thought this was an interesting perspective:

https://twitter.com/carmencitaloves/status/1404144620435558405

Personally speaking, I cannot get past the storytelling decision of In the Heights to cut the plot about Nina’s dad being anti-Black towards Benny, a key part of the play. If we’re going to tell Latinx stories, we should be honest about colorism and racism in our communities. 

The decision to cut the plot of Nina’s dad being anti-Black from the play and the online conversations about colorism in the movie are of the same coin; In the Heights had an opportunity to say something important about race in our communities and it didn’t. Flat out.

 

[MattieIce2018]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 11:13am

This was shared by LMM on Twitter the other day - Doreen Montalvo, who passed away last fall, seeing her appearance in Breathe during a studio session in February 2020:

https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1403806787015487500

[woeisme3]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 12:57pm

I watched this yesterday and really loved the direction and cinematography but hated pretty much every change they made. The show itself is already a cutesy version of what life in the hood is really like, and I feel like the movie worked hard to sanitize it even further. Cutting the Benny-Kevin storyline does fail to highlight a real issue in these communities, and gives Benny basically no conflict other than "wants to bone a girl who's going to college" 

Speaking of Nina, I get that she likely would've felt culture shock and experienced racism going to Stanford (believe me as a black person going to a PWI I know lol) but I think making the entire reason she doesn't want to go back that rather than flunking out is another misstep. I loved the original storyline for how it didn't treat her as a failure but a person who was trying her best in spite of her world being turned dupside down, and I do think the new storyline makes it feel like a minor problem. Plus after When The Sun Goes Down it just kind of...ends for her with no real closure. Keeping just 1 of Camila, Everything I Know, or Sunrise could've made her more fleshed out but she felt majorly shafted.

Other stuff like skipping the brawl in the club and the attempted robbery on the bodega during Blackout just get rid of tension for no real reason. The pacing of the whole middle of the movie was....interesting. I get they needed to make cuts but cutting the 3 songs at the top of Act II, giving abuela basically nothing until she dies and taking away the legitimately great reveal of the ticket, putting Carnival after Alabanza...I feel like all of this just muddled the storyline and made the narrative far less natural than the show. It had great setpieces and looked great, but I feel like the plotline itself is a LOT thinner than the already not groundbreaking original.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 1:23pm

kidbroadway2 said: "Anecdotal, but I've already gone back and watched In the Heights on HBOMaxagain for the second time in 2-3 days AND replayed a few of the songs nearly most of this weekend.

Does any of this show up in the box office numbers? No.


Why on earth would you expect it to show up?
 

 

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 2:11pm

I agree that issues of racism, when relevant, are important and informative- but the criticisms about the cast not being Latino enough- etc.- really are off-base. If we are now entering an era where diversity in casting is a priority- then that goes for white people, too. If a black man can portray a Russian Jew in Lehman Trilogy- then a white MLK- or white people in any role- should be okay- if not- that is out and out racism and hypocrisy. I am all for diversity - but not discrimination.

Updated On: 6/14/21 at 02:11 PM

[sherie_worshipper]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 2:49pm

It flopped on HBO Max too.

http://deadline.com/2021/06/in-the-heights-hbo-max-viewership-box-office-opening-1234774865/

http://variety.com/2021/film/box-office/in-the-heights-box-office-hbo-max-1234995410/

It’s easy to blame the marketing (which was HUGE) and the day-and-date release strategy, but the truth is that audiences largely ignored it, even HBO Max subscribers. It’s a flop. End of story. Expect Warner to downplay the ads this week to cut their losses and call it a day.

Updated On: 6/14/21 at 02:49 PM

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 2:53pm

I liked it but felt like it was a bit too long. I love LMM and think the first half started with a bang, but the second half was a little all over the place and uninspired. I did think that the DACA and protest part felt really out of place and were not necessary. The entire show centers around the immigrant experience and first generation immigrant experience and the DACA talk jolted the show out of being timeless to being committed to a certain time period, if that makes sense. And it felt like it was thrown in at the last minute.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 2:56pm

I'll be honest, I don't even remember Kevin's racial feelings towards Benny in the original musical, so I didn't miss it. As to it being left, I'm fine with it being left out. The theme of the movie is "us against the world" so in this fairy tale-esque story, there isn't room to let that breathe on the screen.

 

As to the flopping, it's sad but not surprising that it was DOA at the box office. They should've done what A Quiet Place II did and hold streaming for 45 days I believe, that way people felt the urgency to go see it. I knew at some point Warner Bros idea to same-day stream their biggest movies would backfire sooner rather than later - at some point, being an event movie doesn't feel like an event movie when you can enjoy a lazy summer weekend and get around to it when you feel like it. 

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 3:41pm

^That's really too bad.  They certainly got a lot of press.  Every morning program I flipped through last week mentioned it, and/or had an interview with a cast member.

I'm certainly glad this movie was made.

[kidbroadway2]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 4:04pm

JSquared2 said: "kidbroadway2 said: "Anecdotal, but I've already gone back and watched In the Heights on HBOMaxagain for the second time in 2-3 days AND replayed a few of the songs nearly most of this weekend.

Does any of this show up in the box office numbers? No.


Why on earth would you expect it to show up?


You both are misinterpreting what I'm saying. I never said I thought it should show up. I'm saying that plenty of people probably watched it on HBO Max and would have helped BO numbers otherwise. 

 

Also just saw the HBO Max numbers weren't great. That doesn't change my opinion - the best idea was to release it last year in the summer during the height of the pandemic. wouldn't be dealing with these issues..

 

Bottom line this movie is VERY good and everyone agrees. The issues are in the script, but the music and overall movie is fantastic and easily replayable. 

Updated On: 6/14/21 at 04:04 PM

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 4:51pm

You might find this reasoning for the disappointing boxoffice numbers this weekend interesting.

In The Heights Opening Weekend Box Office

[BWNUT]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 6:26pm

Only whites can be portrayed as blatantly racists in the movies, don’t you know?

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 7:19pm

For anyone who really wanted to support ''In the Heights,'' seeing it in a movie theater might've been the most impactful way. The big marketing push was aimed for a giant turnout, primed by rave reviews. Even the movie's director, Jon M. Chu, went on social media last Thursday to encourage fans to watch the movie in the theaters: ''Box office matters. Show up. Each ticket is a vote for more movies that showcase the incredible Latina/Latin talent and stories that are still out there.'' Instead, the headlines are all about how ''In the Heights'' underperformed at the box office and fell far short of predictions.

Meantime, Miranda has addressed the colorism controversy on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1404565413116141570

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 8:24pm

Cutting the Benny-Kevin storyline does fail to highlight a real issue in these communities, and gives Benny basically no conflict other than "wants to bone a girl who's going to college"

I really liked that they took that out. It just was not necessary for two men who support and care for the same people and love their communities would have an issue with each other just based on "you are not good enough for my daughter due to your race". It's been done a million times. Lin was deeply affected by living in Trumps' America (weren't we all?) and I don't think we need to see more division and hatred. Clearly, he agreed. This is not West Side Story. 

[denali.fire]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 8:32pm

Films never capture the live theater!

Only exception is The Sound of Music. IMHO.

Yes

[sng]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 8:44pm

yikes, the film really did duplicate multiple black dancers, they knew this conversation would surface and tried to cover their asses. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@thickblackthot/video/6973091657688370437?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6931944987279214086&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 8:47pm

Of course. His apology (although sincere) is all about optics. 

Posted: 6/14/21 at 8:49pm

sng said: "yikes, the film really did duplicate multiple black dancers, they knew this conversation would surface and tried to cover their asses.

https://www.tiktok.com/@thickblackthot/video/6973091657688370437?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6931944987279214086&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0"

Starting this video with "Lin-Manuel Miranda will pay for his crimes" sounds a little like a threat. She gonna hurt Lin?

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 9:04pm

does anyone here think that it’s poor reception at the box office has anything to do with the colorism backlash? it’s pretty intense, especially over on twitter.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 9:05pm

Sutton Ross said: "I really liked that they took that out. It just was not necessary for two men who support and care for the same people and love their communities would have an issue with each other just based on "you are not good enough for my daughter due to your race". It's been done a million times. Lin was deeply affected by living in Trumps' America (weren't we all?) and I don't think we need to see more division and hatred. Clearly, he agreed. This is not West Side Story."

But if you're going to take out the racial conflict, you kind of need to bring those Afro Latinx voices to the front too... Otherwise you're just covering up a very real Inter-Latinx issue and not even going for a "We're all in this together" bent. Afro-Latinx people were background for this movie. 

yikes, the film really did duplicate multiple black dancers, they knew this conversation would surface and tried to cover their asses. 

Ehhh... I'm sure they duplicated a lot of people for those shots, they did feel very artificial. But it does highlight the lack of them overall when you can point out the individual dancers.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 9:06pm

But if you're going to take out the racial conflict, you kind of need to bring those Afro Latinx voices to the front too... Otherwise you're just covering up a very real Inter-Latinx issue and not even going for a "We're all in this together" bent. Afro-Latinx people were background for this movie.

Very true, great points. 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 6/14/21 at 9:23pm

It's a shame that this movie isn't doing better at the box office, I for one really enjoyed the movie as a whole in spite of some script/adaptation/editing issues here and there. I still liked it again seeing it on the big screen which the bigger numbers (the opening, "96,000", "Paciencia Y Fe", and "When The Sun Goes Down" really worked more than a smaller screen.

It still got pretty great reviews (far better than most movie musical adaptations in the past few years) which made me very happy to read. Some comments around some websites are scared; that not only will this make Hollywood scared to take a chance on Latinx focused stories and characters, but will harm the musical film genre. Which honestly is just silly to think about, plus we still have countless more movie musicals on the way this year and beyond, in a new era which I would like to call: "The Film Musical Blitzkrieg".