In the heights film

[Deleted]

Jun 9, 2021 7:53:32 GMT westendcub said:

Saw 3 times at Charing Cross,

I think you might mean Kings Cross?

[alece10]

Jun 9, 2021 15:23:38 GMT kit66 said:

Jun 9, 2021 7:10:10 GMT alece10 said:

As I mentioned before this will be my first preview screening of a film so excuse me if this sounds daft but what is the point of them if they are not asking for people's views?
I understand a theatre preview as this gives the creatives the chance to tweet and change the show before press night but if a film is all ready for release what is the benefit of a preview.
I could understand if they invited people.who were active on social media so that they post and share to promote the film but I certainly don't fit into that category.
I'm really not complaining as thrilled to be able to see this film and before everyone else does but I'm just curious as to why they do them.

Unlike preview screenings in the USA where they can ask the audiences for feedback and in some cases change/edit the film - notoriously in the case of FATAL ATTRACTION when in the original cut Glenn survived and due to the feedback she had to reshoot (literally)the ending - here in the UK (correct me if I'm wrong) previews are for the "word of mouth" and advance reviews,press,TV & radio plugs,Cinema managers and - in the old days - protectionists and generally anyone who hasn't been invited to the gala premieres but are still in the "business" in some capacity.I'm afraid by the time a movie comes to the UK our opinions wouldn't have much sway.

Thanks. I feel honoured to be going. Mind you I am going to get there early as someone commented earlier about giving away more tickets than seats.
I remember the days of queueing for hours outside Thames Studios or BBC only to be told "no more seats". I stopped going in the end as it was more trouble than it was worth.

[saral]

There used to be loads of previews at one time, the times and the mirror had them every week a few years ago

[alece10]

Last night I went to a preview screening of the film and it didn't disappoint.
Its definately a film that needs to be seen on a big screen and perfect for the summer.
I have been told that there is some tweaking from the stage musical but as I have only seen it once and it was a few years ago at Southwark Playhouse I dont really remember it too well and what the changes are.
So nice to see a film that does not rely on Hollywood "A" listers so you just get an insanely good cast. I actually prefer the music to this compared to Hamilton as I love the mixture of Hip-Hop and Salsa/Merengue.
As you can imagine the dance numbers are absolutely spectacular and stunning.
There must have been a cast of thousands especially for the dance numbers.
It was well attended, bearing in mind that there had to be a gap of 2 seats between each party and as I got there early was even able to nab one of the posh seats.
Would definately be going to see it again.

One strange thing is that 4 people walked out 30 mins before the end. If you don't like it why sit through 2 hours before deciding its not for you....

[Dr Tom]

In the cinema, arrived slightly before doors officially opened, but already a lot of people seated.

Unfortunately chose a seat with a know-it-all sat behind, who has told the woman he’s with this wasn’t successful on Broadway, so they’ve made it in a film to try and make the money. Also, apparently it’s based on Shakespearean star-crossed lovers! One of those times I wish there was trailers to drown him out.

It is sit anywhere, thankfully people so far are respecting social distancing. They’re still coming in.

Looking forward to it!

[alece10]

Lin Manuel Miranda is going to be on The One Show in a minute.

[danb]

Antony Ramos was on too. He said nearly 8 words. Another classic One Show interview.

[anthony40]

Just got from seeing this. It's late and I'm already in bed so will write a full review tomorrow night, after work but needless to say, this was sensational! So dynamic! Wow!

[Dr Tom]

Loved this tonight! I saw the London version many times, so the changes for the film were a bit grating, but it is a strong film in its own right.

I hadn't read up on the changes, so they all came as quite a surprise as they occurred.

The biggest difference is that it's almost an entirely new book. A few lines survive from the stage show, but they're in the minority. More talking than in the stage version. Corresponding changes to lyrics too.

The new book is stronger and the characters come across as better rounded (but just having a real backdrop makes such a difference here). There's certainly been an attempt to bring in a social mission.

Several songs are shifted around and others trimmed or cut entirely. Lines are sung by different characters. It does make some sense to change the pace, as there's no interval, so no good reason to build half a show then pause. The film is shorter as well. There's also quite a change to the characterisation and the associated motivations.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
Cutting Camila out of the show completely is quite a shock, meaning "Enough" has to go with her. Kevin becomes a much more sympathetic character.

The big dance numbers are quite a strength . You can really see the influence of La La Land and similar recent musicals. I presume this is all shot in 3D based on the activity going on, so it will be interesting to see that version.

Antony Ramos is brilliant in this.

Do make sure you stay until the end of the credits for the final scene. Most people left as soon as the lights came on and missed out.

This is the first time I've been in a cinema for a couple of years. I wouldn't say the audience were perfect (why walk out during the reflective moment - or why wait until the show starts to open snacks?), but no obvious phones going off. But, even with air conditioning, it was hotter than it needed to be, probably not helped mentally by the heatwave in the film!

I'm glad I saw this with social distancing in place. And also surprised no one scanned my ticket, so they have no idea if people attend or not (but maybe that's how film previews work).

The annoying know-all man behind me turned out to be a medical doctor (based on his impossible to ignore conversation)!

You should see this. And this remains (to me) a much stronger musical than Hamilton.

[ThereWillBeSun]

I prefer In The Heights to Hamilton.

I will watch this eventually but I don’t feel safe in a cinema atm.

[Phantom of London]

Jun 10, 2021 23:19:59 GMT ThereWillBeSun said:

I prefer In The Heights to Hamilton.

I will watch this eventually but I don’t feel safe in a cinema atm.

Agree with both these.

[anthony40]

Having seen this live twice- at Southwalk and Kings Cross- I have the Broadway Cast recording and having seen the trailers, I went into this with high expectations and I was not disappointed.

I've actually been thinking about this all day.

This was dynanic and just a joy to watch. I was grinning from ear to ear.

Despite seeing this twice- I don't remember it with such intimacy that I could tell you what songs were in what order but what I can tell you is there there is a character cut- Nina's mother and the ending has changed.

Personally I missed her. However those not familiar with the piece, will not even know the difference.

The dancing- truly excellent. But as great as they are, these are not dancers bodies. There are people off all shapes and sizes, young and old- brown, white and black. There are big boobs, moobs, large thighs, bums and tattoos and afros and braids in varying forms and it's beautiful and wonderful.

The choreography is sharp and slick, with stylised movement- especially on the train in a song sung by Abel Claudia.

There is salsa, merengue, very fast and dazzling!

I personally am not a huge fan of hip-hop but let's not forget this is Lin-Manual Miranda. Speaking on which, not only is he in this as Piraguero. Those of you observant enough will recognise the Hamilton alumni. Apart from Miranda himself, there is Anthony Ramos, the guy who competing in the ice-cream van is the General from Hamilton.

There is also a scene where Kevin Rosario is on the phone and the hold music is from Hamilton.

In reality, there may be more Hamilton alumni in this film but at times there was so much happening, it was sensory overload and at times there was so much happening, it's easy to miss.

Both the nail bar/salon sequence and 96,000 are both visual highlights. There is so much going on, it's hard to understand how with all those people how they could co-ordinate that many people, let alone block it out and then to film it.

For anyone squeamish, look out for the contortionist twisting his arms in the water. It made me cringe.

There is also some very clever, unexpected graphics!

The cast-Look out Daphne Ruben-Vega (the original Mimi from Rent) as Daniella and Stephanie Beatriz (of Brooklyn Nine-Nine fame) as Carla. Both are brilliant!

Also look out for a cameo from Marc Anthony.

But the film belongs to Anthony Ramos. Some shots are so close you can see his freckles! He is not ashamed to look foolish and he males his rapping seen effortless.

There is humour, pathos and I found the whole experience truly uplifting!

[kathryn]

I think I must be the only one not keen on the film version.

The dancing is fabulous and there’s some wonderful visuals, but it took me many listens to the Broadway cast recording for the songs to properly stick with me and then they went and cut half of them.
Plus, it’s one of those movie musicals where they seem a bit embarrassed by all the singing and so have added loads of spoken dialogue. (Rent, I’m looking at you.)

And they’ve seriously dialled up the politics, and as a result Usnavi suddenly sounded like Alexander Hamilton to my ears. And once I’d heard that echo I couldn’t shake it.

I basically didn’t like any of the book changes.

Bah.

[musicalmarge]

Well .... I saw this tonight.

I was disappointed. The cast is great and it looks super - but it all falls a little flat. The singing was obviously all done in a studio beforehand... and there are no breaths/etc and it doesn’t look or sound natural, more like a lip sync recording. It’s all a little “plastic” if that makes sense and a tad over produced.

Next up the book / changes. The story is thin anyway, but there were many times during the film where I was, well, bored. It’s almost 2 1/2 hours and it sadly dragged. I didn’t like the abstract drawing in mid air, that idea was never followed through. That said, the group street dance sections and montages are magnificent (though perhaps a tad busy and again over produced). The rap to pop to Latino melodies of this musical pre Hamilton are glorious as we all know. The music and dancing is what saves it - it was after all a wonderful stage show but this stage to screen version sadly lost its magic for me.

Coming to the original stage show.... I was angry that they ramped up all the social division, politics and race issues too. Why? At one point I thought it was like watching social justice the musical. Also when was it meant to be set? 2015? 2020? Would there really be no white, Arab, Russian or Asian people living in the far upper east side area Washington Heights? Not ONE? Really? I thought this obvious Latino division meets ghetto made the film divided / especially the downtown scenes “where she met the white folk” and added sub text to characters journeys. Cringe. Empowerment and the fight for inclusivity I’m afraid can come across that you’re just fighting discrimination with discrimination. Ugh.

For these book changes I sadly felt that it became a racially loaded musical about immigration, xenophobia (both ways), socio-economic tension in modern day NYC and racial division that it never EVER was on stage.

Such a shame as the cast were superb. The book should have been left alone.

[stuartmcd]

So I wasn’t overly familiar with the stage musical. I’d heard some of the songs but I had always struggled to get into it and didn’t see it live in London. However I thought the film was fantastic! I think it dragged a bit towards the end but apart from that if really flew by and moved me to tears a few times.
Overall the cast was great and I don’t think there were any weak links amongst them. I really don’t have much negative to say about it apart from what I said about it dragging a bit. I’ve heard there have been a number of changes from the stage production so you may feel differently if you were a big fan of the original.
I believe the director of this is going on to direct Wicked right? After this I’d say he’s a pretty solid choice.

There was also a little Hamilton reference at one point that really made me laugh.

[Deleted]

Jun 11, 2021 22:57:00 GMT musicalmarge said:

Well .... I saw this tonight.

I was disappointed. The cast is great and it looks super - but it all falls a little flat. The singing was obviously all done in a studio beforehand... and there are no breaths/etc and it doesn’t look or sound natural, more like a lip sync recording. It’s all a little “plastic” if that makes sense and a tad over produced.

Next up the book / changes. The story is thin anyway, but there were many times during the film where I was, well, bored. It’s almost 2 1/2 hours and it sadly dragged. I didn’t like the abstract drawing in mid air, that idea was never followed through. That said, the group street dance sections and montages are magnificent (though perhaps a tad busy and again over produced). The rap to pop to Latino melodies of this musical pre Hamilton are glorious as we all know. The music and dancing is what saves it - it was after all a wonderful stage show but this stage to screen version sadly lost its magic for me.

Coming to the original stage show.... I was angry that they ramped up all the social division, politics and race issues too. Why? At one point I thought it was like watching social justice the musical. Also when was it meant to be set? 2015? 2020? Would there really be no white, Arab, Russian or Asian people living in the far upper east side area Washington Heights? Not ONE? Really? I thought this obvious Latino division meets ghetto made the film divided / especially the downtown scenes “where she met the white folk” and added sub text to characters journeys. Cringe. Empowerment and the fight for inclusivity I’m afraid can come across that you’re just fighting discrimination with discrimination. Ugh.

For these book changes I sadly felt that it became a racially loaded musical about immigration, xenophobia (both ways), socio-economic tension in modern day NYC and racial division that it never EVER was on stage.

Such a shame as the cast were superb. The book should have been left alone.

I don’t understand your points regarding race whatsoever. Did you see the stage production - the London King’s Cross cast were the same diverse combination of ethnicities which you describe in the film. I personally find it baffling that you were even trying to look for a white actor.

[couldileaveyou]

Jun 12, 2021 6:06:20 GMT @tom89 said:

Jun 11, 2021 22:57:00 GMT musicalmarge said:

Well .... I saw this tonight.

I was disappointed. The cast is great and it looks super - but it all falls a little flat. The singing was obviously all done in a studio beforehand... and there are no breaths/etc and it doesn’t look or sound natural, more like a lip sync recording. It’s all a little “plastic” if that makes sense and a tad over produced.

Next up the book / changes. The story is thin anyway, but there were many times during the film where I was, well, bored. It’s almost 2 1/2 hours and it sadly dragged. I didn’t like the abstract drawing in mid air, that idea was never followed through. That said, the group street dance sections and montages are magnificent (though perhaps a tad busy and again over produced). The rap to pop to Latino melodies of this musical pre Hamilton are glorious as we all know. The music and dancing is what saves it - it was after all a wonderful stage show but this stage to screen version sadly lost its magic for me.

Coming to the original stage show.... I was angry that they ramped up all the social division, politics and race issues too. Why? At one point I thought it was like watching social justice the musical. Also when was it meant to be set? 2015? 2020? Would there really be no white, Arab, Russian or Asian people living in the far upper east side area Washington Heights? Not ONE? Really? I thought this obvious Latino division meets ghetto made the film divided / especially the downtown scenes “where she met the white folk” and added sub text to characters journeys. Cringe. Empowerment and the fight for inclusivity I’m afraid can come across that you’re just fighting discrimination with discrimination. Ugh.

For these book changes I sadly felt that it became a racially loaded musical about immigration, xenophobia (both ways), socio-economic tension in modern day NYC and racial division that it never EVER was on stage.

Such a shame as the cast were superb. The book should have been left alone.

I don’t understand your points regarding race whatsoever. Did you see the stage production - the London King’s Cross cast were the same diverse combination of ethnicities which you describe in the film. I personally find it baffling that you were even trying to look for a white actor.

Actually the London production had a white Usnavi, a casting decision that got its own share of criticism. In a particularly unfortunate interview the actor acknowledged this but also said that he grew up listening to rap and hip hop, which for him seemed to equate being a person of colour somehow.

But yeah the casting of the movie mirrors the casting of the original Broadway production, but to be fair there is little point in engaging with musicalmarge when they start railing against race and casting. Their "For these book changes I sadly felt that it became a racially loaded musical about immigration, xenophobia (both ways), socio-economic tension in modern day NYC and racial division that it never EVER was on stage" really tells you everything you need to know about their understanding of the show.

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2021 6:17:49 GMT couldileaveyou said:

Jun 12, 2021 6:06:20 GMT @tom89 said:

I don’t understand your points regarding race whatsoever. Did you see the stage production - the London King’s Cross cast were the same diverse combination of ethnicities which you describe in the film. I personally find it baffling that you were even trying to look for a white actor.

Actually the London production had a white Usnavi, a casting decision that got its own share of criticism. In a particularly unfortunate interview the actor acknowledged this but also said that he grew up listening to rap and hip hop, which for him seemed to equate being a person of colour somehow.

But yeah the casting of the movie mirrors the casting of the original Broadway production, but to be fair there is little point in engaging with musicalmarge when they start railing against race and casting. Their "For these book changes I sadly felt that it became a racially loaded musical about immigration, xenophobia (both ways), socio-economic tension in modern day NYC and racial division that it never EVER was on stage" really tells you everything you need to know about their understanding of the show.

I recall this now, thanks! I’d forgotten Usnavi ironically. For what it’s worth, I think you’re absolutely correct. Every other post from that user is centred around one of two subject matters: racism or bloody ice castles.

[kathryn]

There was a white character - the guy he runs the new dry-cleaner.

The politics have been ramped up, though, with the addition of the dreamers/Sonny sub-plot, and the change to Nina’s storyline.
It’s all much more on-the-nose than the original show.

[Deleted]

Themes of race have always been present in the show. The film does give a few more references to the theme, granted, but not in a way that smacks you over the head. For myself I didn’t see an issue.

Stories which address the problems surrounding racism and immigration are only an issue to those with discriminatory attitudes, underlying or otherwise. Watching these stories only bring that fact to the surface.

[steve10086]

I think people are missing the best reason for a film to have a completely non-white cast…

James Corden can’t be in it!

[kathryn]

Jun 12, 2021 10:04:52 GMT @tom89 said:

Themes of race have always been present in the show. The film does give a few more references to the theme, granted, but not in a way that smacks you over the head. For myself I didn’t see an issue.

Stories which address the problems surrounding racism and immigration are only an issue to those with discriminatory attitudes, underlying or otherwise. Watching these stories only bring that fact to the surface.

Oh, it’s not necessarily an issue - just a change that’s kinda typical of Hollywood. Can’t have anything be an underlying theme that the audience picks up, instead, it must be explicitly stated in the most literal way.

Lots of people will love it. Some will dislike it because of their own politics. And some who go to the cinema just looking for a fun colourful musical and to get away from the doom-and-gloom of the past 18 months will find it tedious.

SPOILER: Click to show

I found that is undercut the joy of the lottery ticket win discovery, because instead of the money being spread around the local community, it’s basically all going to go on a legal fight, and might not even be enough to cover the cost of that. Kinda depressing.

[Deleted]

I enjoyed watching this tonight, but it didn't wow me. I can appreciate how it would look on a big screen cinema, instead of my home TV, but it felt flat in places and only really came alive at certain points. It also felt long.

The performances are great (RPDR fans - Valentina is in the Salon) and i can understand the need to swap songs around and cut things. In the stage version Kevin doesn't think that Benny is good enough for Nina, because he's not Latino. I guess over the past few years they realised that not being Latino also equates to him not being suitable because he's black. This has been cut and now Benny becomes a bit of hero at the taxi dispatch.

I'll go see it on the big screen when it opens, but i'm not convinced it will change my mind about the piece as a whole.

[kathryn]

Hmm, the thing is cutting the interpersonal conflict also cuts a lot of the dramatic tension. I think that’s why it drags between dance numbers.

The dance numbers really are fab and deserve to be seen on the big screen, though.

[Deleted]

For those wanting to know the differences

screenrant.com/in-heights-movie-musical-broadway-version-comparison-differences/