Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts

Small, happy and going Into The Woods.


Well, another day and another cinema trip so it may seem! Twice in one week!  I don't think this has ever happened before..  First up was the incredible and brilliant sob fest that was The Theory of Everything (check out my review here) and yesterday I popped to my local vue to see Disney's Into the Woods.

Now before I dive in, I literally mean 'popped in', I can't stress how near my cinema is when I say it is local.  Literally five minutes away.  I've never lived so close to one before and I feel like I'm really going to start going more.  I always say this because I love films and I don't think anything offers such escapism as going to the cinema (apart from books maybe but even then you can get disturbed!) but now given that I can get there quicker than it takes my kettle to boil I have no excuse!

So, the movie.  Well firstly, Disney distributing it was a massive misleader for the average cinema goer.  I knew going in what to expect but there were many, many little girls in princess dresses in there with us and I bet they (and their parents) were not expecting a 2 and a half hour long dark musical about how happily ever after doesn't always turn out the way you hoped!  The poor children.  

However, as an adult who knows that life isn't always rosy I could appreciate the movie for what it was: an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's dark musical following the interlocking stories of some of our favourite fairy tale characters including Cinderella, the Baker and his wife (a wonderful James Corden, the baker not the wife, obvs), Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk.  All familiar characters yes, but the stories?  Not so much..

The songs are great on the whole, if you're into that I'm singing what I'm saying type of thing, (think Rent) and all the cast all had fantastic voices.  I suppose it helps that the songs were precorded unlike the raw, live vocals used in the recent adaptation of Les Mis. It's also enchanting, funny and unpredictable, which is certainly a nice surprise when dealing with fairytales!  However, having said that, the second act did go on a bit longer than it needed to, I think 40 minutes easily could have been cut and it wouldn't have harmed the film at all.  I suppose that's the difference when you see a musical on stage, they never feel long!  To me anyway, although I guess maybe I've been lucky to only see ones I have enjoyed.

You can't deny the film is filled with stars, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, James Corden (the list goes on!) and while there were so many great people in this film that was part of its problem for me.  There were certain storylines I wanted more of like Johnny Depp as the Wolf who was barely used which was a shame (I believe most people would agree with me there!) Despite this, it was wonderful to see so much of Meryl (a goddess among us) and James Corden had a much larger part than I anticipated so that was a lovely surprise.

Overall, if you like musicals and fairytales and are looking for something dark and gothic and different I would definitely recommend seeing this.  If this type of movie is not your thing usually don't go expecting to be converted to all singing all dancing way of life.  This is not the musical to do that.  However, if you're fan of the genre already, go on!  Head Into the Woods, I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Hmm, I wonder what movie next...American Sniper perhaps?  Anyone seen that?  What have you seen at the cinema recently?  Anything to recommend?

Sophia x

Small, happy and The Theory of Everything.


So yesterday I made the (rather out there!) decison of going out on a school night! Somewhere other than the gym! I know. This teacher's wild.


Boy and I had been desperate to see The  Theory of Everything since we saw the trailer way back in November. So coupling this with the devastating discovery that orange Wednesdays are soon to be no more (and the cinema becomes as affordable as going to the Maldives...not really obvs, but it's still too much!) we decided to push the boat out and carve out some cinema time mid week!


I won't go into telling you the story because we all know by now it's the biopic of the great Stephen Hawking's life and love of his wife Jane. Being a massive fan of Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones going into this my hopes were high!


I guess the first thing I should say about the film is that I cried my eyes from about 15 minutes in and carried on progressively until I was well on the way walking home. I was a wreck. That may have been to do with the fact that I'm over tired and there's work stress going on what with looming inspections however it was mostly due to the perfection of this film, I am sure.


It was heartbreaking, inspiring, real, romantic, endearing, funny, hopeful and thought provoking. I honestly don't know what else I can say but if you can think of a positive adjective, you can without doubt apply it to this film. 


The acting as well was superb. Eddie Redmayne WAS Stephen Hawking, the mannerisms, the movements, the way he carries himself. It was so real the way he portrayed both the man and the disease, stunning. I haven't seen all of the other films with the best actor nominees for the Oscars but you'd be hard pressed to beat this performance.


But I want to talk about Felicity Jones, who took on the role of Stephen's loving and caring (in all senses the word!) wife. Their marriage is so realistic and shows true love in its purest form, but also doesn't why away struggle and the hardship you can only imagine is ever present when dealing with a situation where one of you is a carer.


It made me feel full of pride in the human spirit to watch Stephen defy odd after odd and keep achieving such magnificent milestones, personal and professional. And just so proud that we have these people in the world. Not just the extrovert, genius, forward thinkers but also the selfless, caring and strong beyond their means, people. The ones who take a back seat in some respects but who are dedicated, committed and souls to be revered in their own right.


It is definitely a must see, magnificent from start to finish, an important watch and an absolute award winner in very sense of the word! 


I am proud to be British because of this film. 


So how about you? Have you seen this yet? If you have please tell me you sobbed too! If you haven't seen this wonderful piece of cinema yet, are you planning to? 


If your answer is no to that final question then this post's been a bit of a fail so that's my bad...


Hope you're all good, it's Friday tomorrow! And also, hello lovely new followers, great to see you, say hi!


Sophia x
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