Into the Woods (2014)

Rob Marshall has made the most well shot movie musical in the modern era. It is an absolutely stunning film to watch. Every shot is carefully crafted by Director of Photography Dion Beebe, and the eyes of the audience are never once given anything static to look at. The film is polished, yet still has a feel of grit and grime, not as grimy as Tom Hooper's Les Miserables, but still pretty grimy. There are some pacing issues with some of the cuts they made from the stage version, and the two names they brought in to draw audiences both fall pretty flat in their scenes. Streep does have some shining moments, but mostly she becomes a bit of an annoyance as The Witch.

And then there is the rest of the cast. James Corden is hard not to love as the Baker, and Emily Blunt is strong and steady as his wife. Anna Kendrick plays Cinderella with an unbelievable amount of sentiment that it makes me wonder if she could do anything wrong on screen. I was most shocked with Chris Pine as Cinderella's Prince, with his cocksure attitude and impressive vocals during "Agony", matched beat for beat with soon-to-be mega-star Billy Magnussen as Rapunzel's Prince. However, the real show-stealers were Lilla Crawford as Red Riding Hood and Daniel Huttlestone as Jack. Both were entertaining and superbly talented. This cast makes up for more than enough of the film's flaws, and they make you fall in love with it.

Grade: B+
3D: N/A
Easter Egg: No

Starring: Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden
Director: Rob Marshall
Writer(s): James Lapine - Music and Lyric: Stephen Sondheim
RT: 125 min
Rating: PG for thematic elements, fantasy action and peril, and some suggestive material.

Two Sentences:

Wild (2014) - Reese Witherspoon puts in her best performance as Cheryl Strayed, a woman trying to clean up her life, by walking 1100 miles, in the wake of her mother's death. The editing, and non-sequential story telling, make the story feel vibrant and heartbreaking.

Grade: A-

Unbroken (2014) - The true story of Olympic Runner, and war hero, Louis Zamperini is moving, but never quite rises above the same-old, same-old war biopic feeling. Not that Jolie did a bad job with it, but it makes you wonder what the Coen Brothers, co-writers of the script, could have made of it.

Grade: B

Mr. Turner (2014) - Mike Leigh makes wonderful historic biopics, and "Mr. Turner" doesn't fall short of that. It is evenly paced and amusing, and Timothy Spall gives a performance so spectacular, it would be sad to not see him gain some dark horse nominations for it.

Grade: A-