Shannon Nutt

I predict this will do about as much as MALEFICENT did...and probably be equally as un-entertaining.

Giles

supposedly this is what's been altered for this film version:

The songs from the original stage musical cut frm the film adaptation are: "Cinderella At the Grave", "I Guess This is Goodbye", "Maybe They're Magic", "Our Little World", "First Midnight", "Second Midnight", "Act I Finale: Ever After", "Act II Prologue: So Happy" and "No More". Stephen Sondheim also wrote two original songs specially for the film: "Rainbows", which is a duet for Baker and his Wife and another one for the Witch, which neither made into the final film.

there seems to be some conflicting news that 'Rainbows' is still edited in, but could be nixed at the last minute.

RichC2

I can't see it being nearly as big as Maleficent was.

Kal-El

Featurette:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EFRm_rZIEXc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

davidh777

It'd be nice to hear some new Sondheim material.

Stage show spoilers:

dex14

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rf64KHMANlo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Dr. DVD

It still amazes me how much trailers for musicals try to hide the fact that they are musicals.

The Bus

Saw this tonight at the premiere. Had no idea it was a musical.

I have not liked any of the recent fairy tale movies (Snow White, Alice in Wonderland) but this was pretty good. It should do very well.

The Bus

I don't think “Rainbows” was in it but I was not watching out for it. The Baker duet was about being “better together” which I assume is in the original work (“It Takes Two”).

davidh777

My teenager went to an advance screening and said it was really good. She's seen the show a couple times on stage, most recently last summer. I've seen six different productions.

Solid Snake

So as a barometer of taste in quality, how right is your teenager with films?

davidh777

Ha, what a question. She definitely has a preference for romantic comedies, and she's a fan of Anna Kendrick so that's a factor. But she does watch a ton of movies, and I think I've given her a good appreciation for musicals. Her recommendation has me optimistic rather than rolling my eyes.

Giles

did she mention any retinkering plot wise or was it it pretty faithful minus the obvious song deletions. How did it work with the film version not to have 'the narrator'?

davidh777

The obvious changes she mentioned were the removal of the first-half/second-half elements and the narrator. I said the narrator was kind of a stage-y element and she agreed, so I guess it was fine.

The Bus

The film has narration.

Solid Snake

In that case, his teenager is a liar!

The Bus

There was no character of a narrator, but there was narration.

davidh777

My kid is vindicated!

Dr. DVD

Bump for opening day. Going this afternoon with the parents. Doing decent enough top register fresh on rottentomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/into_the_woods_2014/

dex14

Saw this today. First half is entertaining. Second half lost me a bit. What a fucked up ending.

Goldberg74

My wife and I just got back from seeing it... and despite the changes, I think it worked really well and kept a pretty good pace.

Even though Disney tinkered with the story and songs a bit, I thought that it was a faithful adaptation of it and it ended (for the main characters) no differently than the stage version.

Yes, I would rather have had...



... but for a two-hour Disney-fied version, it's a great movie. (4.5 out of 5 stars)

Dr. DVD

Saw it. Entertaining, but the third act was a bit out of left field, but I haven't seen the original play.

creekdipper

We really liked the original production (saw on PBS American Masterpieces) & own the DVD but haven't revisited it. Based upon my admittedly faulty memory, I can heartily recommend it.

One thing that we miss about some of these productions is the lack of audience reaction. I suppose the same thing could be said for any musical/play (Sound of Music, Seven Brides, etc.), but there just seems to be a lot of dead air immediately after the finish of a a rousing song (when you can almost "hear" the pregnant pause). Maybe even more so the lack of laughter, although maybe that's supplied by the theater audience as opposed to watching by yourself or with a friend/spouse. (We supply our own laughter, but it's not the same as hearing an entire audience...but that was true also when we went to midnight showings of Bruce Lee films and heard enthusiastic yells & even some people trying to re-enact Lee's moves in their seats or in the aisles).

Do movie audiences react to musicals the same way as stage play audiences? I know the plays allow room for audience reaction (and maybe for actors to catch their breath), but it just seems weird at times when the movie characters finish a big song & immediately launch into dialogue. Or maybe it depends upon the direction.

We'll see the Disney version but probably will wait for it to show up on cable.

Daytripper

I don't know anything about the original play. But is there only/mostly singing throughout? I'm not a huge fan of musicals. But there has to be some dialogue. I couldn't get through 15 minutes of both "Evita" and "Les Mis". Thanks!

Brack

I just saw it today with my sister. There's a lot of songs/singing, but there's plenty of dialogue. The songs are quite good and often funny, and not hard to follow (I've never seen the original stage musical). I'm guessing a bit was cut from the stage show since it's barely 2 hours in length. We quite enjoyed it.