Meryl Streep

‘Ricki and the Flash’ is one of my most-anticipated films of the year—you’ve got Meryl Streep playing a rock goddess in a film directed by Jonathan Demme and scripted by ‘Juno’ and ‘Young Adult’ writer Diablo Cody. What more could you ask for? Well, how about the first image of queen of everything Meryl Streep rocking out with a guitar? Done.

Russell Crowe pretty much just inserted his own foot into his privileged male mouth. It’s hardly news that actresses face sexism, ageism, and other sorts of unpleasant -isms in Hollywood, but the actor thinks their complaints about ageism specifically are “bulls---”—which is both a willfully ignorant and completely sexist opinion. Hey, Mr. Crowe, ageism in Hollywood, much like dry land in ‘Waterworld,’ is not a myth.

t’s not out of the realm of possibility for Disney’s ‘Into the Woods’ to receive a couple of Oscar nods this season. It’s likely that Rob Marshall’s adaptation of the classic stage musical will get nominated for production design and/or costumes, at the very least, while star Meryl Streep might—just maybe—receive a nomination for her performance. The latest featurette for the film, which hit theaters on Christmas Day, takes us behind the scenes to show us the magic that went into bringing the woods to life.

In the fall of 2013, APCO Worldside surveyed 70,000 people about the world’s biggest brands. They measured their responses in eight different ways—“understanding, approachability, relevance, admiration, curiosity, identification, empowerment, and pride.” The number one most loved company out of 600 choices: Disney.

While standing in the hallway of New York’s Waldorf Astoria, Emily Blunt approached me, assertively, and said, “We’ve met before.” This happens from time to time before interviews, even from people I’ve never met, but it’s usually with an I hope I’m right question uptick at the end. This seemed different. I responded, “We have, Comic-Con two years ago. There’s no way you remember that.” Chit chat continued and, it was at this point, that a publicist approached us and asked that we not conduct an interview in the hallway, so we were led into a hotel conference room with a big round table. Even in a desolate room like this one, Blunt has the ability to be on and funny when nothing funny should ever happen in a room like this.

The first 'Into the Woods' trailer was strangely lacking in singing, which was an odd way to sell a movie based on one of the most beloved of all modern musicals. Thankfully, Disney has course corrected with trailer number two, which actually lets us see and hear the ensemble cast performing Stephen Sondhiem's iconic songs. It's an improvement by default.

Things apparently got buckwild on the set of ‘Into the Woods,’ with acting queen of the world (that is her official title, by the way) Meryl Streep very nearly dying (read: probably not dying, but let’s go with it) when she almost fell off a table. It was, however, a witchy table that she happened to be jumping on while playing a witch, complete with witchy robes, which she (witchily?) tripped on. Streep’s fall was broken by one single brave soul: Emily Blunt.

Although the earliest looks at ‘Into the Woods’ gave us the impression that this wasn’t a musical at all, the latest trailers and featurettes have been thankfully much more musically-focused. The newest featurette gives us another peek behind the scenes of the upcoming film with music by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, and features none other than Queen Meryl Streep herself belting out “Stay With Me” as the movie’s wonderful and wicked witch.

When we saw the initial teaser for Disney's 'Into the Woods' movie, the thing that was missing from our first peek at the upcoming musical was the actual, you know, musical part. But thanks to this new featurette on the film, we can hear bits and pieces of the songs from the adaptation of the classic musical, from the mouths of stars like Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick.

'Into the Woods' isn't just Disney's big Christmas Day release this year and it isn't just one of the more impressive ensembles assembled for a fantasy film. It's the long-awaited big-screen version of Stephen Sondheim's beloved musical of the same name ... which makes it all the more baffling that the first 'Into the Woods' trailer does everything in its power to hide the fact that this movie is a musical. There is not a single sung word in all 107 seconds.