Into the Woods - 12/29/14

Let's take a trip back in time to 2005, or 2006, or whenever the school musical was put on when I was in 6th grade - can't remember which half of the year it was. A young me is one of the few kids to raise his hand to volunteer to help participate in stage crew, which his homeroom teacher is taking charge of this year. I spend the next few weeks after this plunge painting sets, taping things together, and becoming part of a huge, well, huge for an overwhelmed 6th grader, huge production as a leading student of the stage crew. This opens the door to a career in musical theater stage crew that sees me through a series of odd jobs like pushing huge pirate ships across the stage, designing and timing elaborate powerpoint presentations to Schoolhouse Rock segments, and eventually transitioning away from the stage to the back of the auditorium as a high school student, where I formed part of the trio that became the light crew for 3 wonderful high school musical productions. That musical, the one that started it all, way back in 6th grade, was, of course, Into the Woods Jr. A musical that was so wonderful and compelling, that it inspired me to stick with the stage all through the rest of my public school education at Gates Chili. A musical that so inspired a deep admiration for musicals that has carried over into my deep admiration for cinema. So, you can bet that I had extremely high expectations for the film adaptation of Into the Woods - it not only had to satisfy the requirements of the 19 year old movie buff, but also the requirements of that 6th grader to once again experience the musical that inspired him those many years ago.

So did it meet my hyped up expectations? Let's find out.

Into the Woods is a story that combines a number of classic fairy tale stories into a party platter of a musical - think the animated film Hoodwinked, but actually good, and a Broadway musical. Brought to the stage in the late 80s, Into the Woods tells the story of a baker and his wife, a boy named Jack, a girl sent off to deliver goods to her grandmother, a distraught girl who is abandoned by her father and left to a terrible stepmother and her two daughters, and a witch who sets off a chain of events that smashes them all together in the woods of their kingdom. Those characters are, of course, classic fairy tale characters such as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, and of course, Cinderella. The story follows the baker and his wife as they are sent to acquire objects from these characters in order to reverse a curse placed on their family by the witch. Along the way, they encounter princes, wolves, giants, and various other oddities only encountered in the woods of their land.

The story is essentially identical to that of its original Broadway counterpart, which means it carries with it all of the qualities that one possessed. The songs are wonderful, the dialogue is witty, and the story is engaging and fun - until the 2nd act comes around. The 1st act is everything I could have wanted out of it - its an absolutely glorious adaptation for the screen, but the 2nd act of the musical is still exactly as disappointing as it is on the stage - they probably cut it out of the Jr. version of the musical for a reason! Events occur that feel cheap and disappointing, and overall everything just kind of feels like its lost its way, and because Disney has decided to sanitize the more sexual driven character moments and the narrator character entirely, a lot of the best moments from the stage production are lost entirely. What's even worse is that they weren't very thorough in their excision, and bits and pieces remain that feel really strange without the proper context that is in the original musical.

That being said, the cast really does their best with what they've been given to work with. The ensemble cast featuring Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Johnny Depp, and even the prestigious Meryl Streep all pull their own weight in bringing this musical to the screen. The major players all really step up to the plate and embrace their roles - Anna Kendrick and Emily Blunt especially, bringing a lovely set of vocals to the screen with high amounts of quality. Everything felt as if it fell neatly into place. The only problem I really had was with trying to see Chris Pine as anything but Captain Kirk, but that's more a personal problem.

The score and songs, written by Stephen Sondheim, are, as usual with his work, absolutely flawless in almost every way. Its just a shame that entire plot can't carry the weight of these beautiful songs, as some of the best pieces come out and shine during the 2nd act, when the story is at its weakest.

The cinematography of the film,. shot with anamorphic lenses in digital by Dion Beebe, was occasionally striking, but on a whole rather uninspiring. The digital projection I saw, whether it was the source's fault or the projector's fault, didn't seem to have a whole ton of detail, especially in close ups, which was rather disappointing. I'll get a better look at it when it comes out on home video, I'm sure.

Overall, I was quite pleased with Rob Marshall's adaptation of Into the Woods, if not just because I've been starving for a major silver screen musical ever since Les Miserables hit the screens in 2012. It didn't quite meet either of my sets of expectations, but I blame that solely on the fact that it kind of flops around like a dying fish during its second half, a problem I also found when I viewed the 1991 made-for-tv live taping of the Broadway show with its original cast. I highly recommend it regardless, especially if you're not as stubborn and cranky with these kind of things I have. The movie is jam packed with entertaining performances, great vocal performances, and is a faithful reproduction of the musical, sans a few sexuallly charged moments that could have been quite useful up on the screen.

White Christmas - 12/21/14

What can be said about a movie like White Christmas that hasn't been said in the 60 years since the film's release? I'm going to assume not a lot, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you what I thought anyways, as today was my first ever screening of the movie - call my perspective a fresh one if you will. I didn't grow up with the movie, never really listened to the songs outside of one middle school chorus concert thing, and have little or no attachments to the title song or any of the major players in the movie. I do, however, have an incredibly large soft spot for 50s and 60s musicals, so this experience was certainly a welcome one.

Needless to say, I am quite enamored with White Christmas. As I sit here writing about it, I'm listening to songs from the movie, I'm thinking of the great cinematography, and I'm finding it difficult that in my 19 years of life, with a mother like mine(she planted the love for classic musical movies in my brain,) that I've never seen such a grand movie.

White Christmas is the story of a post-World War 2 singing duo that meet during wartime, only to go on and form a hugely successful musical act that takes Broadway by storm. They are contacted by an old army friend of theirs to go see his two sisters perform while they're on tour in Florida, and they immediately fall for these two sisters. A series of circumstances lead them to follow the girls to Vermont in the middle of a winter heatwave, and they're driven to help resuscitate a hotel they find in the area that's run by their former commanding officer as it faces the disaster of a snow-less winter. The film is driven along by a series of wonderful musical sequences, bouts of comedy, and runs a little over two hours at a brisk pace that feels absolutely perfect.

White Christmas was unique in that paired two of the biggest stars in America at the time - Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, both known for their musical careers, and Bing for his presence in movies like Holiday Inn - the first film to feature the song "White Christmas," and boy does it show. These guys can belt it like the best of them, and do it in the most entertaining of ways. Their on screen antics as a singing duo is absolutely hysterical, and they play off of each other with the greatest of ease. Every joke they make, every song they sing, everything is so much fun to take in, and so memorable. The same could be said of their two leading ladies - Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. Their back and forth as sisters, and their chemistry with their leading men is outstanding. There were many times when my peers and I expressed our emotions to one another as certain points in the plot unfolded on the screen before us. The talent in this movie is just incredible, and the casting is some of the best work out of the era.

The songs are just fantastic - Irving Berlin's score and songs are incredibly catchy, and memorable. Even now, I find myself humming the songs, and watching clips of the scenes they're featured in - mostly because there's not a single complete White Christmas soundtrack album due to music rights dating back to the film's release. I can't think of a single weak song from the entire film.

Now, the film isn't perfect. Sometimes the studio sets certainly show their age, and look incredibly obvious, especially during the wartime scenes. Everything kind of looks cheap and at times unbelievable, especially compared to other pictures of day. Luckily, that all resolves itself as the war ends and the bulk of the film takes place in a far more convincing world. There were also some plot lines that didn't quite feel like they had satisfying conclusions, mostly towards the end of the movie, but its an issue that is, quite frankly, easily overlooked. White Christmas is a great movie, and movie that rightfully has acquired its status as a classic. It feels like a timeless story, and is certainly a timeless movie, full of wonderful performances, great songs, and a wonderful cast.

White Christmas comes highly recommended for those who have yet to experience such a fun movie.

Birdman(or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - 12/18/14

I have a hard time finishing these reviews. I go into them full of energy, and end up wiping about somewhere around the third paragraph. Not sure why, its probably similar to why I've never finished any writing that wasn't for a grade. Oh well. This movie is important enough that I will soldier on. I will finish this review!

The movie in question of course, is Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance if you'd like to confuse yourself while also attempting to understand the movie a little better. What an unbelievable triumph in film making. A movie so good, that even in a year where we saw Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Interstellar, this one reigns supreme. That's no hyperbole, which I am generally known for - I absolutely believe this is the finest film to grace the screen in 2014.

The movie, of course, is about a man who once played the lead role in a pioneering series of comic book films twenty years or so before the film takes place. Having washed up after turning down the 4th movie in his "Birdman," films, he struggles to find his purpose in life. In order to fill that void, he adapts an influential piece of literature in his life for the stage, and sets off to direct and star in his own adaptation of said story. Along the way, he tackles insufferably obnoxious actors, insecure and fragile actresses, hostile critics, and a general crisis concerning his own self worth. Sounds like a fun ride, eh?

I guess that's what makes Birdman so rock solid though. It tells a tough story, but does so in a way that makes it feel like we could relate to it. Sure, its a character piece centered around a selfish, washed up Hollywood star, and its about his craving to be loved again by the people, but its a desire we all have. We all want to feel like we're worth something to someone, whether it be a theater of people, or that special someone that we're chasing after. We all want to feel like we've done something that will leave an impact on people, and that's ultimately what this movie is about. Its an incredibly human movie, with a large pile on cinematic flair on the side. Its a 2 hour struggle to be remembered, to feel as if you exist.

This important struggle is championed by none other than Michael Keaton, who plays the lead role of Riggan Thompson. I've always thought Keaton was under appreciated as a lead, having kind of peaked with relevance as Batman in the early 90s, and only showing up in mainstream cinema in background roles, such as his role in 2010's The Other Guys. He has a talent for doing things in an incredibly boisterous way. His face is so full of emotion, so constantly charged to match the voice he projects. Its wonderful to see his full array of talents on display here, and I truly think this is the role that he will be remembered for for years to come. Forget his turn as the caped crusader, this performance is so much more than anything else I've seen on display this year. The rest of the cast is rock solid too, giving a group of amazing talent some screen time within which to stretch their dramatic legs. Emma Stone in particular kills it, with one particular scene, one which is briefly shown in the trailer, where she displays such a fierce intensity that I think it might snag her an oscar for best supporting actress, or at least a nomination. She continues to carry the same intensity throughout the film, although in a much quieter, subtle way that is absolutely wonderful. The same can be said about Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough, who play trouble stage actresses with romantic ties to the leading actors in the play. I even enjoyed Edward Norton's supporting role in the mess, as an asshole broadway star. He plays an incredibly good pain the ass type of character, something I've always thought of him ever since I was first exposed to him in films like Fight Club and the like. Zach Galifinakis as usual brings a strong, yet surprisingly small performance to the mix, complimenting the rest of the major players involved.

The cinematography of course, having been shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, is nearly flawless. Using the technique of stringing together a succession of long takes, he builds tension throughout the entire movie, never giving us a break from movement as we follow these characters around the stressful world of the play's production. The lack of cutting away for things like better angles and the like leads to some absolutely spectacular tight shots, especially in character interactions, where the screen is filled in just the right places, as if we were looking in on them with our own two eyes. The movie, in that regard, felt incredibly immersive. I often discredit the use of digital cameras in cinema, being a born and raised Kodak kid, but for this movie, I will make an exception. Shot with the Arri Alexa, Lubezki brings the city of New York to life with an expert use of color, framing, and choreography. If this movie doesn't win an oscar for best cinematography, I will probably break a thing.

Also, the music was fantastic, if not incredibly minimal, mostly consisting of extended drum kit pieces, with a few clips of orchestrated pieces peppered throughout. A surprisingly bare, yet fitting soundtrack to such an interesting movie.

Overall, Birdman is my top film of 2014, if not of the past five years or so. A movie filled to the brim with incredible performances, breathtaking cinematography, and a wonderful story simply cannot be ignored by mainstream audiences. Go out and find this movie, live in its world, and you will absolutely take something wonderful out of it. It isn't a traditional movie, but it doesn't try to tell a traditional Hollywood story. It just works, in every single way. I loved it, and I hope you will too.