Into the Woods

File this one under a possible oops: If you were checking out the Golden Globes website earlier today, you may have noticed something curious. On the page for the 2014 winners, ‘Selma’ appeared in the place where ‘12 Years a Slave’ once was, and a little while later, ‘Into the Woods’ appeared in place of ‘American Hustle.’ Was this a mistake, or something a little more innocuous? According to the HFPA, it’s definitely the latter.

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.

As expected, the four-day holiday weekend was a shot in the arm for the domestic box office, allowing a year that has been hit-and-miss at best to end on a strong note. Not every new release was a hit, but most of the new titles performed exceptionally and many of the older films saw an impressive surge in their numbers. However, the really interesting battle was for the second place slot, as ‘Unbroken’ and ‘Into the Woods’ fought for the right to be the runner-up to ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.’

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.

Jimmy Fallon has beaten plenty of superstars on his ‘Tonight Show’ when it comes time to break out the drinking games—maybe these things are fixed! maybe Fallon is just really good at games!—but few talents have turned in such an all-around dismal performance as Chris Pine did last night. The ‘Into the Woods’ star could not catch a break when it came to Battleshots, a wicked little hybrid of Battleship and, well, shots of tequila, and Fallon nearly broke the poor man.

Anna Kendrick travels a lot—that's part of being a working actress, after all—and she's kind of got her various trips down to a science. Literally. She needs drugs to do it.

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.

Tracey Ullman is starring in Disney’s adaptation of ‘Into the Woods’ as Jack’s Mother, (a play she has admired since her son played the role of Jack in middle school). ‘Into the Woods’ is the story of a baker (James Cordon; the new host of ‘The Late Late Show’ who was in the running against rumored names like Amy Schumer, who Ullman greatly admires) and his wife (Emily Blunt) who make a deal with a Witch (Meryl Streep) in an effort to have a child. Ullman admits her film options are limited because she wishes there were more roles for “women in their mid-50s”, which is (a) accurate and (b) infuriating that this is true. Ahead, Ullman shares her experiences of being in a music video with Paul McCartney (twice) and her opinions on the state of women in comedy today. (Spoiler alert: She thinks it’s ridiculous.)

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.

On Sunday afternoon, we spoke to Emily Blunt who is promoting her role in Disney’s ‘Into the Woods.’ During this conversation, Blunt referenced her character in this summer’s ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ comparing that role to what a possible Marvel movie might be. It just so happens, Blunt’s name has been mentioned in Internet buzz as a possible lead in Marvel’s ‘Captain Marvel’ (due in 2018), which would be Marvel’s first movie with a female lead. Has Blunt heard this buzz? As it turns out, she has. And she seems to find that buzz quite flattering, but admits she has had no discussions with Marvel at this time.