Into the Woods (2022) (Broadway)

You wouldn't have been able to tell from the Disney movie-adaptation of Into the Woods, but Stephen Sondheim's fairy-tale musical is actually raucously funny. The newest production, recently transferred to Broadway from Encores! at City Center, is extremely campy. And it works so well that it leads me to believe it was always meant to be this way. Especially in the first act, which is generally lighter in tone, the comedy is integral to the production. And even when it takes a darker turn in the second act, it's still there. The second act, by the way, is still excellent, despite being basically an entirely different show. The second act is almost a non sequitur in tone and plot. There is a beautiful moral somewhere in there about childhood and innocence and the example we set for the next generation. It just so happens to be cleverly intertwined with familiar fairy tales. 

The set is pretty bare bones, but it's made up for by some very imaginative puppetry, specifically for Milky White(!), the giant's hands and shoes, and the birds. Kennedy Kanagawa is a standout puppeteer, literally endowing emotions into the simple cow puppet. The orchestra sits on stage and Sondheim's lush melodies come through beautifully (looked like maybe a 20-piece orchestra). The songs are such that there are many one or two-liners that various characters pop onto stage to recite before exiting. The lack of set helps make that more believable. 

Standouts from the cast include Patina Miller at the top. I remember being awestruck by her Leading Player in Pippin, and she is deliriously wicked as the Witch here. Sara Bareilles has now gone full Broadway, and her voice is actually beautifully suited to Sondheim. I would've liked to see Neil Patrick Harris but I think Brian d'Arcy James made an excellent Baker too. And Phillipa Soo as Cinderella is good too (Chinese Cinderella!). Jack and Little Red Ridinghood as the child characters can really play up the camp--Julia Lester as sassy Little Red is especially funny.

PS. Morgan slept through basically the whole thing. I kept nudging her back awake and then she'd get mad at me and promptly doze back off. Shame because it was really good! At least she wasn't missing any visuals. The woman in front of me was really tall unfortunately, blocking a third of the stage.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I (2014)

The penultimate Hunger Games film is all about setting up the final battle between Katniss and the Capital.  Where this movie fails is that it does not give the viewers quite enough.  When it comes down to it, just not that much happened and the action was kind of lacking. I, for one, am not a fan of the recent trend of splitting the final book of a series into two parts. To be fair, I was not particularly fond of the last installment of Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy anyways.

But this movie does some things right.  With an ensemble cast, there are some very solid performances. This is one of Philip Seymour Hoffman's final roles and his performance does his legacy justice.  And Jennifer Lawrence is good in everything she does (though she doesn't do anything terribly special).  This film does lack the stylish glitz and glamour of the Capital, and the intensity of the Hunger Games that stood out in the first two films.