Into the Woods (2014)

[Disney Duster]

Yes, I still think Rapunzel's death should have been in it to give the Witch's motivations and emotions in the rest of the film more gravitas and power and make more sense, despite it still making a lot of sense as it is.

[blackcauldron85]

New musical featurette:
http://laughingplace.com/w/news/2014/12 ... -released/

[Old Fish Tale]

I've just seen it and it was a wonderful film. It had great acting, singing, writing, directing and editing. Everyone did a good job. Meryl actually made me cry. But I'm still disappointed. It's now clear to me Emily, my favourite actress, won't be nominated for an Oscar... yet again. In my opinion, that should have happened for the first time 10 years ago, when 'My Summer of Love' was released. But she still had a wonderful year with Hazel's birth and the critical success of 'Edge of Tomorrow' and 'Into the Woods'. And there's already some buzz for 'Sicario'. So, who knows? All good things come to those who wait. And I'm waiting.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Dude, the point of theater is it's live and you use your imagination...

To the rest of your post, I find I love Sondheim's longer, story propelling songs so much, too. "Stay With Me" is my favorite song in Into the Woods but second is "Prologue" and then "Finale".

Yes, I know you're to use your imagination, but that doesn't change the fact that more can be done with film, technologically speaking.

Well, another message is "careful what you do and say to your children." Unfortunately that got a little lost since "Finale" was sung with no visible people singing it, and it should have had the characters visibly singing it.

I think Finale/Children Will Listen (Part 1) works fine as it is, as we clearly see and hear The Baker telling the story to his son. I don't think any meaning is lost there. I'm still not sure what to think about Finale/Children Will Listen (Part 2), though, because it's a somewhat happier song in tone (you know, "The light is growing dimmer. I think I see a glimmer.") but all it gets for the film is a roll call and leaves the ending darker than the play. I would've liked to have seen The Baker, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack singing the song (along with the chorus) singing the song and being a little bit more comfortable with the woods as they go on their way.

In any case, I adore the film (I saw it this past Saturday). I was weary about some of the cast members (simply because I wasn't overly familiar with any of their work), but I was pleasantly surprised by everyone and the musical performances were spot on. I, too, wish that Rapunzel is still squashed by the giantess, but it's an easy thing to let go; that particular story in the film (Rapunzel) seems to focus more on The Witch anyway, so I'm fine with the change. Everyone in the theater loved Agony, and it definitely was a fun performance. I still wish that No One Is Alone was the complete song, but I'll just have to live to learn with it. I've already got the Blu-ray pre-ordered, so the sooner it gets here the better. I may even see it in theaters again (which I rarely see a film twice in theaters, so that's saying something).

[Miss Manday]

So I saw the movie last night, and it was my first trip 'Into The Woods.'

I loved it! I had read the plot and such before the film, and watched some Youtube clips of the broadway casts after seeing the movie, and it seems to be a great musical to movie adaptation from what I've seen! Great cast (though I wasn't big on Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, she wasn't HORRIBLE either. But I'm just biased when it comes to Cinderella because of my job) and it kept my attention all the way through. And "Agony" was just... perfection.

I do wish they had kept Rapunzel's death from the musical, as her having a happily ever after kind of messed up the Witch's development/message and such, (not to mention it doesn't seem fair to the other characters!) but ah well. All in all, a great film! I've had the songs stuck in my head ever since.

[Disney Duster]

Glad you liked it so much Old Fish Tale! So how did you like the stepfamily? Was the Baker's Wife or the Witch or the stepfamily your favorite?

I think Finale/Children Will Listen (Part 1) works fine as it is, as we clearly see and hear The Baker telling the story to his son. I don't think any meaning is lost there. I'm still not sure what to think about Finale/Children Will Listen (Part 2), though, because it's a somewhat happier song in tone (you know, "The light is growing dimmer. I think I see a glimmer.") but all it gets for the film is a roll call and leaves the ending darker than the play. I would've liked to have seen The Baker, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack singing the song (along with the chorus) singing the song and being a little bit more comfortable with the woods as they go on their way.

For the beginning of the Finale with the Witch singing, she should appear if the other get to ghosts appear, like the Baker's father and wife (and the Witch may not even be a ghost, just her mother letting her reappear magically for the end), and hearing her and other characters sing would make people pay attention over trying to hear what the Baker is saying to his son. And did you miss when I said that the main five characters should walk out of the woods as we see the other characters sing with them, so that, once again, the message isn't lost?

We agree on a lot of the rest, though.

...I wasn't big on Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, she wasn't HORRIBLE either. But I'm just biased when it comes to Cinderella because of my job...

What job do you have? Why were you biased? I thought Anna Kendrick was only ok, too. She seemed to throw away some of her lines and wasn't very emotional.

[Old Fish Tale]

Glad you liked it so much Old Fish Tale! So how did you like the stepfamily? Was the Baker's Wife or the Witch or the stepfamily your favorite?

The witch was my favourite character. This was Meryl's film through and through. But I liked the baker's wife, the stepmother and Cinderella's prince too! By the way, I'll try to watch the the original Broadway production after I'm done with my exams.

[Disney Duster]

Ok, cool! The Witch is my favorite too, in the show and movie. And yes, try to watch the Original Broadway movie, it is soooo worth it!

[Old Fish Tale]

I've been wondering about something. If weren't for the baker and the baker's wife's efforts, Rapunzel would never be able to start a family of her own, right? I've heard she has twins in the original Broadway production (like in the original fairytale). But how is that possible? Is her pregnancy magical too? Doesn't the witch disappear after the third midnight in the original Broadway production?

[Disney Duster]

But I'm still disappointed. It's now clear to me Emily, my favourite actress, won't be nominated for an Oscar... yet again.

Why do you think that?

I've been wondering about something. If weren't for the baker and the baker's wife's efforts, Rapunzel would never be able to start a family of her own, right? I've heard she has twins in the original Broadway production (like in the original fairytale). But how is that possible? Is her pregnancy magical too? Doesn't the witch disappear after the third midnight in the original Broadway production?

I thought about that too. My guess is the Witch did not want to curse Rapunzel because she loved her, but that doesn't make so much sense because it seemed she wanted Rapunzel to stay celibate and not be with anyone else but herself. My other theory is that Rapunzel gave birth to the twins after the Witch transformed, which actually does make sense in the original show because in the original show the Witch is transformed back before she goes to get Rapunzel and before we see Rapunzel with the twins. Thus, the spell is reversed and everyone, including Rapunzel, can have children, so those twins came then. However, it wouldn't make sense if we consider the original original Rapunzel fairy tale. In that one, the witch finds out Rapunzel got with the prince because she asked the witch why her clothes didn't fit (her stomach was growing with the baby). But in later editions of the Grimm's fairy tales, they got rid of that and had Rapunzel ask the witch why she is so heavy to carry by her hair, but the prince isn't so heavy. They did it to make the fairy tale more Christian (as in no out-of-wedlock baby, and Rapunzel bears the twins in her exile from the tower after they say Rapunzel and her prince were married while she was in the tower, but how did they get married while she was still in the tower?), but it makes Rapunzel stupid so I hate that change.

Also, the Witch does not disappear after the third midnight in the original production. She transforms on the third midnight, just like in the movie, and she sings the song "Last Midnight" when she disappears towards the end of the show. Now, in the original production, Rapunzel gets stepped on by the Giant and is killed, giving the Witch much more power and emotion to lead up to her disappearance near the end of the show, but the movie changed it to Rapunzel running off with her prince, courtesy of Disney's demands. And that makes me pretty miffed.

[Old Fish Tale]

Oops. My mistake! You're absolutely right. She disappears on the night after she's transformed, on the fourth night of the story. In the film, I mean.

Because Emily has had better chances of being nominated before and she wasn't.

[Lady Cluck]

The same people are getting nominated over and over for other awards, and they don't include her.

The good news is she's the favorite to win the Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy Golden Globe this Sunday, which could potentially give her a boost to be an upset nomination (unless most Oscar voting is already over?). It's a longshot, but if there is going to be an upset it could involve her and there usually are one or two surprises.

Meryl is a lock for a supporting nomination though.

[disneyprincess11]

That was magnificent! Disney really nailed it, minus a lot of Act 2's foundation.

First, the movie is eye candy. The sets and the costumes are just gorgeous. The direction is wonderful.

The actors are great. James and Emily were sweet as the Baker and James really broke my heart before No One is Alone. I can't believe this was Emily's first musical. Her voice sounded great! Anna was the perfect choice for Cinderella: The big name, but she has a great theatrical, soprano voice. On the Steps of the Palace was a treat. Anna's acting in that scene was great with her energy. It was the only musical scene that made me smile because Anna is having so much fun with that scene. Meryl Streep, of course, knocked it out of the park and I can imagine her, winning the Oscar. Great, dynamic performance. Chris and Billy were hilarious as the Princes. My audience was eating Lilla up. As I imagined, she was the perfect choice for Red. Her voice was just like Danielle's and maybe ever better. Daniel was also the perfect choice for Jack too. Like Anna, he was so energetic in Giants in the Sky and he was so playful in it. Johnny was good as the Wolf too. But, he was just...there. Why couldn't it be a Broadway cameo, instead of a excuse to hire big name?

My only problems was with like everyone is saying, without "So Happy", a lot of the events seemed out of nowhere, especially the Prince and the Wife's affair. I knew what was going to happen, but I still noticed how without So Happy, it just didn't work. Thankfully, the audience was great and everyone was laughing at that scene (The best part was when the Baker said "He might be off, seducing another woman", everyone went Ooooooooh because the woman was his wife".) Also, I don't think Jack's Mother's death made no sense. The Steward just pushes her.....and she dies? (Even my best friend said that she thought that the Steward would stab her ). Finally, I wish they had No More. I get that it would slow the movie down. But, I really missed it. Esepecially that they did add the father's appearing again back in the movie.

Just an excellent movie and I'm glad that we got this, instead of the weird 90s Muppets one.

[disneyprincess11]

That was magnificent! Disney really nailed it, minus a lot of Act 2's foundation.

First, the movie is eye candy. The sets and the costumes are just gorgeous. The direction is wonderful.

The actors are great. James and Emily were sweet as the Baker and James really broke my heart before No One is Alone. I can't believe this was Emily's first musical. Her voice sounded great! Anna was the perfect choice for Cinderella: The big name, but she has a great theatrical, soprano voice. On the Steps of the Palace was a treat. Anna's acting in that scene was great with her energy. It was the only musical scene that made me smile because Anna is having so much fun with that scene. Meryl Streep, of course, knocked it out of the park and I can imagine her, winning the Oscar. Great, dynamic performance. Chris and Billy were hilarious as the Princes. My audience was eating Lilla up. As I imagined, she was the perfect choice for Red. Her voice was just like Danielle's and maybe ever better. Daniel was also the perfect choice for Jack too. Like Anna, he was so energetic in Giants in the Sky and he was so playful in it. Johnny was good as the Wolf too. But, he was just...there. Why couldn't it be a Broadway cameo, instead of a excuse to hire big name?

My only problems were with like everyone is saying, without "So Happy", a lot of the events seemed out of nowhere, especially the Prince and the Wife's affair. I knew what was going to happen, but I still noticed how without So Happy, it just didn't work. Thankfully, the audience was great and everyone was laughing at that scene (The best part was when the Baker said "He might be off, seducing another woman", everyone went Ooooooooh because the woman was his wife".) Also, I don't think Jack's Mother's death made no sense. The Steward just pushes her.....and she dies? (Even my best friend said that she thought that the Steward would stab her ). Finally, I wish they had No More. I get that it would slow the movie down. But, I really missed it. Esepecially that they did add the father's appearing again back in the movie.

Just an excellent movie and I'm glad that we got this, instead of the weird 90s Muppets one.

[Old Fish Tale]

Also, I don't think Jack's Mother's death made no sense. The Steward just pushes her.....and she dies? (Even my best friend said that she thought that the Steward would stab her)

When he pushed her, she hit her head on a fallen tree trunk. Her death was accidental.

[disneyprincess11]

Also, I don't think Jack's Mother's death made no sense. The Steward just pushes her.....and she dies? (Even my best friend said that she thought that the Steward would stab her)

When he pushed her, she hit her head on a fallen tree trunk. Her death was accidental.

But, it still wasn't explain that good. When Jack's mother fell, she was far away from that tree. Then, suddenly, the tree appeared.

[disneyprincess11]

Also, I don't think Jack's Mother's death made no sense. The Steward just pushes her.....and she dies? (Even my best friend said that she thought that the Steward would stab her)

When he pushed her, she hit her head on a fallen tree trunk. Her death was accidental.

But, it still wasn't explain that good. When Jack's mother fell, she was far away from that tree. Then, suddenly, the tree appeared.

[Lady Cluck]

Is there an echo in here?!

[Disney Duster]

Stephen Sendheim and James Lapine may have used the later Grimm's Rapunzel story because in that one Rapunzel still gave birth to twins, just after the Grimm's said she and the prince were married...while she was still in the tower. Yea, they tried to Christianize it that way, too, and it doesn't make sense.

[Lady Cluck]

Well the increasingly vile Amy Adams robbed Emily Blunt of the award. She was fine in Big Eyes, but really nothing special. She played it straight and there was nothing remotely comedic, memorable, or interesting about her performance. They just gave it to her because of who she is, even though she won the same damn award last year. I am beyond SICK of her

So Meryl is going to be the only actor to be nominated for an Oscar after all. It'll probably be nominated for production/costume design too.