I'm a bit of a nerd. I listen to podcasts about history and folklore. I read constantly. My most recent completion was a book called Assassination Vacation about the assassinated presidents and their assassins. It was absolutely fascinating. I highly recommend it.
I love Sherlock. I love Benedict Cumberbatch as an actor. The Last Enemy is fantastic. He was Smaug and the Neromancer in the Hobbit films. He's just awesome.
And then I saw him in the Imitation Game.
It's about Alan Turing and his team during World War II and their efforts to break the Germans' Enigma code. this film is riveting. It's incredible.
The whole thing, acting, story, the historical aspect of it, all of it, is just excellent. (I feel weird calling a film about war wonderful.)
Just go watch it.
Please.
We have a tradition here in our home. On Sundays, after church, we watch a film as a family. This way, we have watched almost all of the Harry Potter films, Lilo and Stitch (which is adorable if you haven't watched it yet - probably one of my all time favorite Disney films. "Oh great, my dog found the chainsaw!" what more could you want!)
https://youtu.be/5vMEOvZ1ODk
We've done lots of Brave, Tangled, Pocahontas, Mulan...
Today was Into the Woods.
I said a while ago (like years ago) I don't know why people are so hard on musicals. They just want to make you smile. (Except for Sweeny Todd. That's not going to make you smile. great music. Lots of murder and despair.)
Some musical adaptations don't translate well. RENT, I'm looking at you. And the Disney Channel musicals (High School Musical and all others of that ilk) don't count, just so we're clear. Some films don't translate s well to the stage. (I have a hard time seeing Newsies done by anyone but Christian Bale. So I have no desire to see the play. Yes, I know, Newsies was a Disney Film. Fiddler on the Roof translated beautifully to both stage and screen. So did My Fair Lady, the Sound of Music (except for the Carrie Underwood travesty that never should have been allowed to happen)..... The point is clear. Musicals are magical when they they are done right. And that magic can be lost in so many ways when it comes to translation and adaptation.
But, Into the Woods... *low whistle here*
I was a little scared to tell you the truth. I wanted to see it in the theaters, but it never happened. then I started reading the Amazon reviews and it seemed pretty split. People loved it or hated it
But I am that person that wakes up with music going in her head. Sometimes it is a song I haven't head in YEARS, But there it is.
On a side note, my mother plays this game with me. When I was a kid, instead of doing sports, we did music and theater. The high school stage was built too deep and too wide, so if they used a cast of normal amounts, it looked empty. So at five years old, the year the year the high school did The Sound of Music, and my sister was cast as one of the Von Trapp children (she was between eight and ten years old maybe? I was five going on six) I got my chance to be living scenery in the play for one scene (the festival scene) and to sing Edelweiss with the rest of the cast. Mr. Renoll told us to project our voices. To a five year old, that means sing as loud as you can. Apparently I sang it VERY loud, and made the cast members playing the Germans crack up on opening night.
So from five years old to eighteen I was doing theater. The game my mother would play consisted of her naming one of the musical, and I had to sing at least a song from every musical. We would go back and forth until we were stumped.
Then it grew to her calling me, and humming into the phone and I had to name that tune.
She still does this, and I can usually name the song pretty fast.
Into the Woods was not a play that the school did, but it is one that I saw another school do (probably Elk Lake or Lackawanna Trail) , and it stuck in my head ever since. I never saw the filmed version with Bernadette Peters though I know I heard the music.
Which is how this song was tucked away somewhere in my mind palace, to rise to the surface one day.
As a parent it means so much more to me now.
But back on track :)
Today as I write this, we watched Into the Woods. It was incredible. It's a musical. Lots of singing. It is beautiful. It is heartfelt. It asks a very important question, are you sure you want what you wish for?
This is a great film. The singing is marvelous. There's no one pitchy, or irritating. Everyone here has pipes and it's just wonderful. There's sad parts. There's happy parts. It's a fairy tale, kind of. Stephen Sondheim who wrote this, is a master. He's a national treasure. He's someone that's in the common knowledge vernacular, like Gilbert and Sullivan, or Rodger and Hammerstein. His work is intricate, complex, simple, and elegant.
There are so many stories that weave in and out for us that there is something that everyone can relate to. The Witch is especially touching as a mother to Rapunzel. When you watch Meryl Streep sing Stay With Me, how do you as a parent not resonate with that moment?
by the way she got an Oscar nod for this. When you watch her, you can see why. (additionally, much of her singing was done live during the film, even though she had done recordings for it as well.)
Go, watch this film. If you love music, or fairy tales, or just great films, go watch this.
I have been really lucky to hit the jackpot lately with about four or five different movies, and some great books lately. I feel so lucky to have been able to experience these films.
First on the list is The Woman in Gold starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. Kate Holmes is in there too.
This is the true story of a Maria Altmann to have what was her family's and what is her rightfully, returned to her - specifically a portrait of her aunt painted by Gustave Klimt Except that the portrait and all of the family's possessions (her family was very well off) were seized by the Nazis and ripped off the walls and eventually scattered across Europe. The portrait ended up in famous museum in Austria (not far from where Maria lived) and they are unwilling to return it.
This was one of the first major reparation cases when it came to returning stolen treasures (for lack of a better term) of World War II to the appropriate families and descendants.
This film is nothing less than breathtaking. It will lured me in, until I couldn't look away. By the end of the film, my heart was in my throat. My cheeks were still wet from crying. And I have yet to forget the story.
This is a beautiful film. It's not action packed. There's no swear words (except for one time towards the last part of the film). There's no bedroom scenes. It's not glitzy. It's about an older woman and her young lawyer taking on a Goliath. It's about doing what's right. finding justice, finding peace. It's about family, and love.
The film is available at the library. Go watch it. You will be better for it.
Here's a link to get you started if you're interested in the back history. Woman in Gold Story
