Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread- Page 56

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 4:45pm

I do wish they hadn’t saddled Cynthia with those green contacts.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 4:47pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "There's a lot of hair splitting going on, but I think the bottom line is it looks bad.Whether it's the cinematography & lighting, or the physical production design, or the CG augmentation, or a combination of all, this is not a visually-successful first trailer. The design looks weightless, the contrast is low, there's a shiny artificiality,and to me it looks quite obvious where the physical set ends and the greenscreen begins.

It's a growing problem in Hollywood, not exclusive to WICKED. A production can still build massive sets while also using a ton of greenscreen (FANTASTIC BEASTS and LITTLE MERMAID, for example). And smaller-scale period pieces can still look terrible (GILDED AGE and COLOR PURPLE, for example). Marvel has a big VFX problem, and there are a lot of awful-looking streaming blockbusters.

It becomes especially frustrating when we have had a number of really beautiful-looking blockbusters of late (the recent Hunger Games reboot, Avatar, Dune, Oppenheimer, Top Gun Maverick, Barbie, Indiana Jones, the international sensation Godzilla Minus One, etc)."

Yeah, this seems to be a trend among a lot of blockbusters: they look awash in CGI regardless of much is real, like theyve been run through a filter. Not to bring up Cats but they also built these really elaborate, scale sets and then digitized them beyond recognition. I wonder if this is a digital vs. film thing, as it's sometimes noticeable in movement as well, like some of the dance sequences in In the Heights. More recently, in Argylle, Henry Cavill walks and moves like he's an AI creation.  

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 4:58pm

You bring up a good point, Quibbler. The Lord of the Rings was shot on film, then digital special effects were rendered, and then they printed that on film. There's still grain and depth and the beautiful richness of 35mm. This effect is totally lost in movies today.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 5:08pm

Digital cinematography is absolutely a problem for a lot of films, and it looks to be a problem here. It's so much cheaper and less time-consuming, but when done poorly it can cause movies to look flat and lifeless, which doesn't benefit most stories. But there's not a ton of movies shot on film nowadays.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 5:18pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Digital cinematography is absolutely a problem for a lot of films, and it looks to be a problem here. It's so much cheaper and less time-consuming, but when done poorly it can cause moviesto look flat and lifeless, which doesn't benefit most stories.But there's not a ton of movies shot on film nowadays."


Succession and the second season of Euphoria were also shot on film, to great effect.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 9:31pm

TotallyEffed said: "You bring up a good point, Quibbler. The Lord of the Rings was shot on film, then digital special effects were rendered, and then they printed thaton film. There's still grain and depth and the beautiful richness of 35mm. This effect is totally lost in movies today."

Not to go down a LOTR rabbithole, but the other magic trick of those movies is that New Zealand hadn't been used in a ton of American studio films up to that point. So the otherworldliness of the natural surroundings was automatic production value (enhanced by clever settings created for the films). But even though Wicked shot some stuff on location, the majesty isn't there in the trailer.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 11:36pm

Sure, but the creative team took such remarkable time and care on those films. Juxtapose that trilogy with The Hobbit, also shot in New Zealand, and there is no comparison. They were awarded a huge leap of faith and a lot of trust to make those first three films and it paid off so beautifully. They’re perhaps the greatest achievement in cinematic history. It’s bizarre to me the Powers That Be didn’t allow the same grace for The Hobbit…the money was there, but none of the patience and tender loving care. And it shows.

 

Wicked will make a killing, even if it looks like hell. And the cycle of Hollywood pumping out hideous and forgettable films will just continue. But I still have faith Wicked will be a fun and maybe even moving experience. I believe in Cynthia, even though I really wanted Lady Gaga, the perfect fit for the role, in my opinion.

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 11:42pm

Every time I watch the trailer, I can’t believe there are people who don’t like it.  It’s beautiful!  However, people are certainly entitled to their opinions.

The overall reception to the trailer has been extremely positive - which bodes well for the film’s release!

[TBFL]

Posted: 2/12/24 at 11:54pm

TotallyEffed said: "To my knowledge Susan Hilferty doesn't design for film or television,but I can't help but wish they had taken her on to do the costume design for this. The costumes for the Broadway production of Wicked are absolutely iconic at this point and I'm going to miss her incredible use of fabrics and textures. It will behard to top the Shiz uniforms, Elphaba's second act gown (a bit of a masterpiece in and of itself), or Glinda's stunning gowns (which are basically copies of Dior, to be fair). Wickedas a Broadway show is such a part of the mainstream at this point that comparisons to the stage production are inevitable."

You haven't even seen the costumes properly yet. The fabrics, textures and minute details in the costumes are mindblowing. They're not identical to the stage show and nor should they be, but there are plenty of references to the stage show in the film.

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/13/24 at 12:30am

Oh, I have no doubt the costumes will be stunning. I was just shouting out Susan Hilferty’s iconic designs and daydreaming a bit about seeing them pumped up on a Hollywood budget.

[MagicalMusical]

Posted: 2/13/24 at 8:29pm

I loved the teaser! Yes, it does have a fake, shiny, sometimes cartoony look in some parts, especially the last part where Elphie flies during her riff, but...the costumes are beautiful, the production design is stunning (did you see the intricate, ornate Emerald City?!), Cynthia Erivo's riff is fantastic (I love what some people called it, a "battle cry"!), and the acting looks like it miiiight be good to me! I did not get Elphie saying "I am" when Galinda said she was green, like she was surprised to find Galinda was right. If it was sarcasm, I just don't think that was conveyed. Still, I will wait to see if Cynthia manages to be good in this. At least, I think, they managed to make her look like she could be in college right there with Ariana! Ariana's acting actually surprised me as possibly being good, but I once again need to wait and se the film. This only complaint I have is I wish the silver slippers would flash with magical ruby red power from Elphie's spell, to make them both silver slippers and ruby slippers, and the curtain the Wizard's giant head is behind looks chintzy. The one design flaw. Anyway, I am very pleased and very, very excited! I think this will also be one of the few times I buy a musical movie soundtrack!

[John Adams]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 11:23am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "There's a lot of hair splitting going on, but I think the bottom line is it looks bad. [...] this is not a visually-successful first trailer.

Agreed. Let's not gloss over the fact that this was shown during the Super Bowl, either. Most folks are aware that the Super Bowl is prime real estate for advertising. IMO, "Wicked" squandered their opportunity by putting out a sequence of "blink and you'll miss it" moments that amounted to nothing in terms of effective advertising for the two films.

Where were any hints of either of the two new songs that Schwartz says he completed for the film? Or of Keala Settle, for that matter? Surely, she is not going to be wasted in a speaking role; not after her contribution to the success of "The Greatest Showman" soundtrack.

At least one of the new songs would have been written specifically to be an Oscar contender, right? (Probably the 2026 Oscars, as Schwartz has indicated that the new songs, if either are used, would be in the second half of the story.) Would it be unreasonable to hope that one of those new songs was written with Settle in mind? Why not take the Super Bowl opportunity to "tease" that?

I have the impression that the "Wicked" folks were unprepared to use their Super Bowl time effectively. What we got was what we saw, and in spite of the chorus of optimistic voices, it wasn't very good.

[John Adams]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 11:34am

BrodyFosse123 said: "It will behard to top the Shiz uniforms…

"

Thank you for posting this still! This was one of those "blink and you'll miss it" moments in the teaser.

In the still, Galinda is flanked by two characters from Maguire’s book that do not appear in the stage musical. To Galinda’s left is the character Phannee (played by Bowen Yang) and to her right is ShenShen (played by Bronwyn James).  In the book, Phannee and ShenShen are both females. They’re kind of like Glinda’s rich “mean girl” friends, especially in regards to how they view Elphaba.

As seen in the still, it seems the students of Shiz have options regarding whether/not to conform to gender-specific clothing. Above the waist, all are wearing a blazer, but below the waist, some are in trousers, some in knee-length shorts, some in skirts, and some in both skirt and shorts. Their choices for what to wear below the waist do not seem to be restricted to what might be considered traditional gender conformity. In the still, Phannee is wearing a skirt, but it’s not visible whether/not the character is also wearing shorts.

Also in the still, Phannee is obviously showing signs of disapproval. Yang is scowling. His disapproval is accentuated by wearing his glasses lower down on his nose. He's literally looking down his nose at Elphaba at first sighting.

So, here’s what I’m wondering: Why was the character from Maguire’s book changed to imply a stereotype of a gay male?

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 11:36am

I assure you the crowd who watches the Super Bowl had zero interest in being gifted moments of new songs or glimpes of Keala Settle. The trailer did what it was supposed to - it let people in mid-America know that a big budget movie of something related to The Wizard of Oz is coming out in November.

And for anyone complaining that the film world of Oz looks fake and shiny - have you seen the MGM movie? The flowers in munchkinland are literally plastic.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 11:51am

A first one-minute teaser isn't the time to tease a new song out of context. It barely worked to just have the isolated riff at the end of Defying Gravity.

I happened to watch Baz's Great Gatsby recently, which is such a brilliant blend of VFX (stylized and tangible) to augment real-life filming locations. That + a recent rewatch of Dune made this brief look at Wicked look even worse, imho.

But maybe they pull a SONIC and change things after the initial trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUSakUWmvT4

Updated On: 2/15/24 at 11:51 AM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 11:52am

John Adams said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "There's a lot of hair splitting going on, but I think the bottom line is it looks bad. [...] this is not a visually-successful first trailer.

Agreed. Let's not gloss over the fact that this was shown during the Super Bowl, either. Most folks are aware that the Super Bowl is prime real estate for advertising. IMO, "Wicked" squandered their opportunity by putting out a sequence of "blink and you'll miss it" moments that amounted to nothing in terms of effective advertising for the two films.

Where were any hints of either of the two new songs that Schwartz says he completed for the film? Or of Keala Settle, for that matter? Surely, she is not going to be wasted in a speaking role; not after her contribution to the success of "The Greatest Showman" soundtrack.

At least one of the new songs would have been written specifically to be an Oscar contender, right? (Probably the 2026 Oscars, as Schwartz has indicated that the new songs, if either are used, would be in the second half of the story.) Would it be unreasonable to hope that one of those new songs was written with Settle in mind? Why not take the Super Bowl opportunity to "tease" that?

I have the impression that the "Wicked" folks were unprepared to use their Super Bowl time effectively. What we got was what we saw, and in spite of the chorus of optimistic voices, it wasn't very good."

 

 

Thank goodness you're not in marketing lol

[hork]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 12:31pm

As someone who had zero interest in this movie because I don’t like the show, I thought the trailer looked good and it made me want to see the movie. 

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 12:53pm

John Adams said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "It will behard to top the Shiz uniforms…

"

Thank you for posting this still! This was one of those "blink and you'll miss it" moments in the teaser.

In the still, Galinda is flanked by two characters from Maguire’s book that do not appear in the stage musical. To Galinda’s left is the character Phannee (played by Bowen Yang) and to her right is ShenShen (played by Bronwyn James). In the book, Phannee and ShenShen are both females. They’re kind of like Glinda’s rich “mean girl” friends, especially in regards to how they view Elphaba.

As seen in the still, it seems the students of Shiz have options regarding whether/not to conform to gender-specific clothing. Above the waist, all are wearing a blazer, but below the waist, some are in trousers, some in knee-length shorts, some in skirts, and some in both skirt and shorts. Their choices for what to wear below the waist do not seem to be restricted to what might be considered traditional gender conformity. In the still, Phannee is wearing a skirt, but it’s not visible whether/not the character is also wearing shorts.

Also in the still, Phannee is obviously showing signs of disapproval. Yang is scowling. His disapproval is accentuated by wearing his glasses lower down on his nose. He's literally looking down his nose at Elphaba at first sighting.

So, here’s what I’m wondering: Why was the character from Maguire’s book changed to imply a stereotype of a gay male?"

ShenShen and Pfannee are in the stage show. There’s male Shiz students wearing skirts in the stage show also. 

[MagicalMusical]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 12:53pm

It's true, the 1939 Wizard of Oz looked fake and shiny. Ok, point made, now I have very few complaints! Still thought it looked great overall and want to see it so badly!

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 1:18pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "A first one-minute teaser isn't the time to tease a new song out of context. It barely worked to just have the isolated riff at the end of Defying Gravity.

I happened to watch Baz's Great Gatsby recently, which is such a brilliant blend ofVFX (stylized and tangible) to augment real-lifefilming locations. That + a recent rewatch of Dune made this brief look at Wicked look even worse, imho.

But maybe they pull a SONIC and change things after the initial trailer.
 

I thought Baz's Great Gatsby was garish. I hate the VFX quality of it and it's only getting more dated looking.

 

[CJRochester]

Posted: 2/15/24 at 5:08pm

John Adams said: "
"
Also in the still, Phannee is obviously showing signs of disapproval. Yang is scowling. His disapproval is accentuated by wearing his glasses lower down on his nose. He's literally looking down his nose at Elphaba at first sighting."

I don't read that as a scowl. Looking across all the faces it seems clear everyone is looking surprised, shocked, or perhaps squinting to get a better view. My guess is everyone just got their first glimpse at their new green faced classmate. 

 

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 2/16/24 at 2:33am

Well I thought that was awful but will still go to see the finished product. That green on black and white on white looked like too much pan cake for me. Overall I wanted to be dazzled Wonka[original] style but maybe that's to come. This clip was too dark.

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 2/16/24 at 8:51am

SweetLips22 said: "That green on black and white on white looked like too much pan cake for me."

Um...what?

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 2/16/24 at 1:44pm

SweetLips22 said: "Well I thought that was awful but will still go to see the finished product. That green on black and white on white looked like too much pan cake for me. Overall I wanted to be dazzled Wonka[original] style but maybe that's to come. This clip was too dark."

I'll take "People Who Invalidate Their Opinions By Staying Stupid SH*T" for $200, please.

 

[lopside]

Posted: 2/16/24 at 3:39pm

None of the line readings seemed convincing here and all the design elements are completely flat. It'll make a boatload of cash.