How an iStock Promo Code Made This Site Possible
We wanted to make a site that celebrated Johnny Depp’s great film The Tourist, and so far we’ve done that. We’re super proud. Unfortunately, there was a question: how do we use images of Depp and Angelina Jolie on this site? Luckily we were able to find out about iStockphoto.com, and other ‘micro-stock’ sites like it. Since then we’ve signed up for a membership (we used an iStock promo code, so it was affordable for us) on iStockphoto.com and have been able to create a high quality site that uses the images of these amazing two movie stars. Now, here’s a review of another Depp starrer that we wrote a few years back:
Movie Review: Into the Woods
Into the Woods is an impressive screen adaptation of a popular Broadway musical by the same name. If you like twisted fairy tales, you’ll love Into the Woods. The musical follows the characters in classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales and weaves their stories together as they whiz past “happily ever after” to some unsettling conclusions. “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Rapunzel” are connected through an original tale called “The Baker and His Wife.”
The opening number sends the fairy-tale characters into the woods as it presents one of the film’s overarching themes, the consequences of wishing for something more. As the characters interact with each other in the woods, they experience challenges, often resulting from their wishes. In literature, the forest is frequently a trope that symbolizes a place of disorder and testing. The opening number makes it clear that each character will be tested and changed before he or she leaves the woods.
While all of the actors endear themselves to the audience, Jack of “Jack and the Beanstalk” steals the show. Daniel Huddlestone, the 15-year-old British actor, amazes audiences with his rendition of “Giants in the Sky.” Huddlestone has been on stage since he was nine, and his experience is evident. When Huddlestone sings, audiences can hear traces of Gavroche, the character he played in the 2012 film adaptation of Les Miserables.
Meryl Streep‘s portrayal of the witch also commands attention. Streep, whose flawless acting allows the audience to empathize with a witch who locks her “daughter” in a tower, is tasked with presenting another important theme when she sings “Children Will Listen.” Children are intimately familiar with fairy tales, and many little girls identify with at least one Disney princess. Streep questions the wisdom of telling children happily-ever-after stories when she asks, “How do you say it will all be alright / When you know that it mightn’t be true? What do you do?”
Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Big Bad Wolf is short but compelling. The wolf is intended to symbolize a sexual predator, but many presentations of the musical fall short when attempting to make this role clear. However, Depp oozes creepy pedophile vibes when he sings “Hello Little Girl.” Even if audiences don’t make the sexual predator connection, they do understand that something is very wrong. Depp, dressed as a pimp, makes the wolf’s intentions clear. When Little Red Riding Hood emerges from her grandmother’s house singing “I Know Things Now,” the audience understands that this little girl has had a coming-of-age experience.
The only disappointment in the movie is the incomplete Rapunzel story and the omission of the “Agony” reprise. Without the reprise, which Disney may have omitted to obtain a PG rating, Rapunzel’s story is left unfinished. Surely, we are not expected to believe that she rides off with her prince and lives happily ever after when the film’s purpose is to follow the characters beyond the happily-ever-after moment into reality.
