Simply Perfect

Must See Movie...

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is a movie episode of a TV series called American Playhouse, where the famous play "Into the Woods" is showcased. It is a fun, dark twist to various fairy tales combined where a childless baker and his wife cannot have a child until they follow the orders of their next-door neighbor, the Witch, to obtain a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a slipper as pure as gold. This brings together famous fairytale characters like Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Cinderella into the mix to help.This TV episode version I saw was a recorded stage play, but it was well acted out with neat special visual and sound effects, especially in the Giant's footsteps and the Witch's magic spells. It is captivating to see famous scenes from each fairytale blend in together throughout the main course of events of the baker and his wife searching for the Witch's items, such as the Baker's wife running into Cinderella into the woods, who happened to trip down some steps and looses her slipper, and the Witch (who is actually Rapunzel's mother) casting a spell on Rapunzel's prince. And, this all leads to a thrilling sequence when the character must deal with the Giant from the Jack and the Beanstalk tale.This play also take a more dramatic and in depth look at each character, including the agony of the Princes finding love to the aftermath after Cinderella marries her prince. It's brilliantly played out and the plot gives a reality check that not all stories end in happily ever after - or at least not without some sacrifices and courage.It's a great play for the audience, but not 100 percent innocent for children; therefore, it's best to have some parental guidance for the kids if or when they watch it.Grade A

I watched this play on Netflix the other night, having never seen or heard it before. I was stunned. Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS is a piece of musical theatre that the world needed. It's a fun, kid-friendly (for the most part), musically rich fairy tale. Bernadette Peters absolutely shines as the Witch, and Chip Zien is perfect for the Baker. The music is the star of the show, though. The music by Sondheim is genius (as is the Sondheim norm). I highly recommend this movie. It's a fun, flighty musical the whold family can enjoy. Only some slight sexual elements mar this otherwise- friendly film.

i don't always like revisionism. especially when it comes to children's stories and fairy tales. it often seems unnecessary since they are what they are, and if you don't like them, find something else. they often speak louder and more revealing when least tampered with. also they represent historical context better when presented in truer form.not that i'm saying if i had little kids i wouldn't dilute the stuff. under no circumstances would i tell a little child the actual Grimm Bros. version of the Cinderella fairy tale where the princess extracts revenge by having a dove peck out the eyes of the step mother and step sisters, and has them dance with hot irons on their feet at her wedding. i think the Disney version which is modified and homogenized, as tepid as it is, is far more appropriate for contemporary generations. there is such a thing as being a little too much of yourself.funny though. the pecking of the eyes of the step mother and sisters is included in this version, but it's mostly played for laughs with the unfortunate in-laws groping along with dark glasses and walking canes after wards.most everything here is played for laughs in this Sondheim farce, including humankind's own desperate sexual mores and search for ego and identity. the stage-play here very effectively brings to the conscious surface what folklore and fairy tales only dealt with collectively and intuitively.there is a lot to be said for the intuitive. it can sometimes spark the imagination to deep recesses and reveal things about ourselves that we didn't want to consciously address outright. but analysis helps to make the unconscious more real and therefore more useful in application to our waking needs.definitely Sondheim's play is about analysis of our unconscious intuitions and helps us to understand how we interpret our needs and drives and how it might apply them to more conscious and useful thought. and it's probably never been done better and never been done funnier. this play was probably also the fore runner to many of the fairy tale interpretations of today and a good part due to the psychological insight of something like Disney's 'Enchanted' and 'Tangled'.this also features some wonderful performances by Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason, and of course the wonderful music of Stephen Sondheim.this is a journey into the woods that a lot of people can't or won't want to make. for one thing musicals aren't for everyone. for another, most people are content to view things with simplicity and never challenge themselves to look beneath the surface of things. but if you're patient, and even a little brave, you may find that these woods hold truth and discovery. instead of a children's fairy story, this journey into the woods is a very real and insightful one.

I suppose the play itself isn't the best musical in the history of theater, but it's pretty darn close! The script is hilarious, the music superb, and the plot so delightfully imaginative that you never get bored. This particular video is excellent. It's the next best thing to seeing it on Broadway! The cast is absolutely perfect, the most talented I, personally, have seen. Ever.The first act is suitable for all ages, but the second is a great deal darker. The story is about fairy tales. In the first half, everyone seems on the road to happy ever after, but, during the second act, everyone goes wrong. More protective parents might want to hold off on Act 2 until their child is old enough to understand that not all questions have answers in black and white, and that bad things sometimes happen to good people.Still, I first saw this video when I was 6 and I never had any problems with it.