Last year, one of the few movies I really wanted to see was “Into the Woods”. The cast was stellar and the music was from Sonheim. It doesn’t get any better than successfully transforming a Broadway musical sensation by Stephen Sondheim into a movie. The movie has now dropped to Blu-Ray and DVD and is well worth the bucks for Easter or summer gifting .
Available NOW on Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital HD/SD, Disney Movies Anywhere (DMA),and On-Demand
Plot Synopsis courtesy of IMDB.com
The film begins by introducing several characters in quick succession, all singing about something they want.
Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) cleans her stepmother’s house as she sings about her wish to go to the king’s festival.
Cinderella’s stepmother (Christine Baranski) and stepsisters Florinda (Tammy Blanchard) and Lucinda (Lucy Punch) mock her for wanting to go to the festival.
Young Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) wishes his cow would give milk.
Jack’s Mother (Tracey Ullman) wishes her son had more sense and she had more money.
The Baker (James Corden) and his Wife (Emily Blunt) wish they could have a child.
Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford) goes to the Baker’s shop wishing for some bread and treats for her grandmother; though she has no money to pay for them, she eats many pastries while she skips around the bakery.
The Witch (Meryl Streep) who lives next door; she promises the Baker’s Wife she will be able to bear a child if she follows her orders.
The Witch catches the Baker’s father in her garden; she promises to take his wife’s unborn child in exchange for the stolen vegetables, revealing to the Baker that he had a sister (later revealed to be Rapunzel, although they never interact).
The Witch tells the Baker and his wife that the reason she is cursed with ugliness is because the Baker’s father also stole magic beans from her garden, which she promised her mother to never let out of her sight. When their baby is born, she steals the child and hides her away; the Witch also curses the Baker to have a barren family tree (which is why his wife cannot get pregnant). She reminds the Baker that when his mother died, his father deserted him.
Other characters in the film include Rapunzel and her prince, the Wolf from “Red Riding Hood” (Johnny Depp) , Cinderella’s prince (Chris Pine) along with a few more stray people to flesh out the various fairy tale plots.
Flashback:
Got it? Not an easy plot to follow unless you know your fairytales and I know my fairytales and this all makes sense to me.
What’s unique and special about this movie are
1) the assemblage of great actors who are playing over the top characters
2) the music is kept pretty true to the original stage play ( Blu-ray has some amazing bonus tracks & “easter eggs”)
3) the costumes are phenomenal — garnering the movie an Oscar nomination in the costume category.
4) production values are definitely spot-on!
What I love about “Into the Woods” AKA REVIEW:
1)The casting was perfect! Meryl Streep did a lot of the metamorphosis that the character achieves is not done with FX makeup only. It’s all about how Meryl perceives and positions her character in very physical terms. The rest of the cast was great too – particularly Emily Blunt and Anna Kendrick. I liked the Baker (James Corden) and the Prince (Chris Pine) for twisting their personas to work for these characters. Johnny Depp was very much the Wolf.. but still himself. Christine Baransaki and her ” daughters” in Cinderella were perfectly selfish and self-absorbed.
2) I love musicals. Always had.. I seem to have passed that fandom to my kid. The music is fabulous. I wish I had seen it on Broadway. Worth buying the soundtrack too!
3) Caveat: I would hesitate to show this movie to small children. There are many dark moments both thematically (plot) and in set design that could give some sensitive and younger children (under age 5) nightmares. I would caution parents and extended family about impressionable children about this movie. It’s strictly a parental call but worth stating.
4) The costumes were to die for!! I loved everything about them.. hence the slideshow below.
Costume pencil drawings for various characters, Into the Woods.
PRODUCER: Marc Platt (Wicked), Rob Marshall (Academy Award®-winning musical Chicago), John DeLuca (Nine), Callum McDougall (Wicked)
DIRECTOR: Rob Marshall (Chicago, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)
COMPOSER: Stephen Sondheim (Sunday in the Park with George)
Bonus Material:
Available on Digital HD/SD*, Blu-ray Combo Pack & Disney Movies Anywhere (DMA)
Songs new to the title
· —Never-Before-Seen Sondheim Original Song: “She’ll Be Back”
Meryl Streep performs a compelling new song that sheds a little more light on the Witch’s relationship with Rapunzel. This never-before- seen composition was penned especially for this movie by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, and is seen here exclusively on Blu-ray and EHV. With introduction by Director Rob Marshall.
·—There’s Something About The Woods
Journey into this mysterious forest to discover how this compelling, new musical was made. Meet Director Rob Marshall and his award-winning team of artists and craftspeople, see how the woods were brought to life…and what they represent to the story…and to all of us.
About the cast:
—The Cast As Good As Gold
Emily Blunt. Anna Kendrick. Chris Pine. James Corden. Johnny Depp. Meryl Streep.
Meet the remarkable cast of this musical movie, and hear of their affinity for this Broadway classic.
—-Deeper Into The Woods
Journey even further into the development of the film in these 4 segments:
o From Stage To Screen
o Magic of the Woods
o Designing the Woods
o The Costumes of the Wood
Filmmaker Commentary
Film commentary with Director Rob Marshall and Producer John DeLuca.
—-Music & Lyrics
Get direct access to the musical song segments from the film, with optional sing-along lyrics.
·—-5 Golden Eggs (Easter Eggs)
*Digital bonus offerings may vary by retailer
DVD:
—Deeper Into The Woods
Magic of the Woods
Follow this movie (and other Disney films) on these social media platforms1
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DisneyIntoTheWoods
Twitter: www.twitter.com/IntoTheWoods @IntoTheWoods
Tumblr: www.intothewoodsmovie.tumblr.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/disneystudios @disneystudios
YouTube: Disney Movies Anywhere Channel
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/disneystudios/into-the-woods
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+DisneyIntoTheWoods/posts
DMA App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/disney-movies-anywhere-watch
Other movies to hit DVD + Blu-ray on Tuesday 3/31/2015:
WILD (Reese Witherspoon);
The Imitation Game (Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley);
Interstellar (Mathew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway)
Lots of great movies hitting “On Demand, PPV and DVD/Blu-ray) . Catch a few to own and watch the others!
Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com
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I am a huge Johnny Depp fan. I need to see this movie.