Into the Woods

Today is having to be a kind of work day because I have to go over some page proofs, so I may as well follow my workday routine and make a blog post.

I had a good Christmas. It was pretty quiet, just spending time with my parents and the usual napping, eating and reading. I suppose that doing some work today will be good for me because it will help me transition back into a really busy schedule starting next week.

I did let myself have some holiday time yesterday to go see Into the Woods. I'm a big fan of the stage show, and I liked the movie. There were some changes I wasn't crazy about and the singing is a wee bit overproduced (but hey, at least it's on pitch), but there were also elements I liked better than in other productions I've seen. I was particularly pleased by Emily Blunt's take on the Baker's Wife. She's often played as kind of a shrewish nag, but this version was merely a flawed human who had her sympathetic moments. She made some mistakes and sometimes behaved selfishly, but you could also see where she was coming from, and her relationship with her husband seemed quite solid and loving (their version of "It Takes Two" may have been one of my favorite moments in the movie).

But what really stole the show was the way "Agony" was performed. The audience was laughing out loud. It's a funny song, but the visuals were hilarious.

I'll be getting this one on Blu Ray when it comes out. Then I may have to do a double feature with the DVD of the original cast of the stage production.

I'll have to do a year in review post tomorrow because I'll need to look back at what I read this year.

I know that at least the first half of this coming year will be busy since I really want to sell this house and buy a new one and get moved as soon as possible, and that means getting a lot of work done on the house within the next few weeks, all while dealing with page proofs and copyedits and trying to write a book. Then there will be moving and getting settled in. And then I want to get two more books written. This will take a lot of self discipline.