Yeah. *hangs head in shame*
But... BUT... I promise to have something brilliant/insightful/entertaining/life-changing next week. Or, you know, maybe I'll just post pictures of cats.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
First post back is about... Les Mis!
Well, I think it only appropriate for my first post since, well, forever, to be about Les Mis. Especially since my rant about Taylor Swift possibly being cast as Eponine was my most popular post to date.
First I gloat.
How freaking good was Samantha Barks?! I mean, could you really picture TSwizzle doing that song now that you've (hopefully) seen it? It would have turned into a 21st century country music video. (I love Taylor Swift as a songwriter and a studio singer, but NOT FOR BROADWAY! Especially not LIVE Broadway!)
Next I share my thoughts/feelings. And of course, I rant a little.
Eddie Redmayne made me have ALL THE FEELS, people! All. The. Feels. I, of course, cried throughout the movie because I am a total baby and cry at everything, but when Eddie did his song, I was a mess. It didn't help that I was also battling a cold and was already snotting everywhere. Pretty sight, I was. Can we talk about his voice!? Who would have ever thought he could sing like that? When they first announced the casting, I was worried about him. I mean, he was dead-on for the character but I was afraid of his singing. But I was nervous for absolutely no reason because he held his own with all the professional Broadway people. And his acting!!! If I were running their Oscar campaign, I'd be pushing Eddie for Best Supporting Actor. But Anne and Hugh are totally stealing all his thunder. *note: Eddie was in a little movie I cast so I kinda feel a little like a proud mama.
That being said, Anne Hathaway really was amazing. Honestly, I had a hard time with the whole singing live thing at first. Until her song. And then I GOT it. I've listened to/watched televised/seen(live) this musical many, many times, as the total musical theatre nerd I am, this was the first time I really felt this song the way it's written. Oscar for Anne! (I think it will totally happen)
Hugh Jackman... Hmmm. I really wanted to like him more than I did. I felt like he pushed a little in places. He was spot on about 80% (this is being nice) of the time for me and then at times I felt like he was doing it as if on stage. I don't think that's entirely his fault, though. I think Tom Hooper could have brought him down/backed the camera off a hair, but what do I know? I'm just a little old casting director. He'll get an Oscar nom. Probably won't win, though.
Amanda Seyfried was good.
Samantha Barks was great.
Aaron Tveit was quite brilliant, but he's a Broadway guy so that was already assumed.
Gavroche aka The little boy. More feels! How good was Daniel Huttlestone, guys?
Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen were funny, which is good as they're the bit of comic relief in a completely and utterly depressing story, but the camera was too close most of the time. I wanted Tom Hooper to back off so I could actually see what was going on. I mean, the stealing sequences were really well staged, I just couldn't see everything because the camera was way too close! (And HBC's voice worked for this role. Still won't forgive her or Tim Burton for Sweeny Todd, though.)
And that just brings me to Russell Crowe. *sighs* *shakes head* Where to begin? (There are spoilers here! So if you are the one person who doesn't know the story, stop reading now!) Okay. Russell Crowe is the perfect Javert ... unless there's singing involved. So ... yeah. It's not that he just couldn't sing it, but it also felt like so much work for him to do this part. You know how when some foreign actors try to do an American accent and it makes their acting not as good as when they do their own accent because you can see them thinking about pronunciations? It was like that for me. Plus I just didn't care about him and we should care about Javert!!! In fact, during his first and biggest song "Stars," I was mentally willing him to (SPOILER!!!) jump to his death then!
And the last thing I'll rant about, because, as you know or will quickly learn, I'm ranty from time to time, is the direction. As I mentioned earlier, I found it extremely distracting in places. I feel like Tom Hooper used way too many close ups, especially where the characters are practically singing at the camera. If was uncomfortable. I was like, "Stop singing at me! It's creepy!" This was mostly in the scenes that involved the ensemble. Do I think his choice to have the actors sing live was good? Ultimately, yes. Do I think another director would have done a better job? YES!
So there you have it. My thoughts on Les Mis. Mostly positive. Ish.
First I gloat.
How freaking good was Samantha Barks?! I mean, could you really picture TSwizzle doing that song now that you've (hopefully) seen it? It would have turned into a 21st century country music video. (I love Taylor Swift as a songwriter and a studio singer, but NOT FOR BROADWAY! Especially not LIVE Broadway!)
Next I share my thoughts/feelings. And of course, I rant a little.
Eddie Redmayne made me have ALL THE FEELS, people! All. The. Feels. I, of course, cried throughout the movie because I am a total baby and cry at everything, but when Eddie did his song, I was a mess. It didn't help that I was also battling a cold and was already snotting everywhere. Pretty sight, I was. Can we talk about his voice!? Who would have ever thought he could sing like that? When they first announced the casting, I was worried about him. I mean, he was dead-on for the character but I was afraid of his singing. But I was nervous for absolutely no reason because he held his own with all the professional Broadway people. And his acting!!! If I were running their Oscar campaign, I'd be pushing Eddie for Best Supporting Actor. But Anne and Hugh are totally stealing all his thunder. *note: Eddie was in a little movie I cast so I kinda feel a little like a proud mama.
That being said, Anne Hathaway really was amazing. Honestly, I had a hard time with the whole singing live thing at first. Until her song. And then I GOT it. I've listened to/watched televised/seen(live) this musical many, many times, as the total musical theatre nerd I am, this was the first time I really felt this song the way it's written. Oscar for Anne! (I think it will totally happen)
Hugh Jackman... Hmmm. I really wanted to like him more than I did. I felt like he pushed a little in places. He was spot on about 80% (this is being nice) of the time for me and then at times I felt like he was doing it as if on stage. I don't think that's entirely his fault, though. I think Tom Hooper could have brought him down/backed the camera off a hair, but what do I know? I'm just a little old casting director. He'll get an Oscar nom. Probably won't win, though.
Amanda Seyfried was good.
Samantha Barks was great.
Aaron Tveit was quite brilliant, but he's a Broadway guy so that was already assumed.
Gavroche aka The little boy. More feels! How good was Daniel Huttlestone, guys?
Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen were funny, which is good as they're the bit of comic relief in a completely and utterly depressing story, but the camera was too close most of the time. I wanted Tom Hooper to back off so I could actually see what was going on. I mean, the stealing sequences were really well staged, I just couldn't see everything because the camera was way too close! (And HBC's voice worked for this role. Still won't forgive her or Tim Burton for Sweeny Todd, though.)
And that just brings me to Russell Crowe. *sighs* *shakes head* Where to begin? (There are spoilers here! So if you are the one person who doesn't know the story, stop reading now!) Okay. Russell Crowe is the perfect Javert ... unless there's singing involved. So ... yeah. It's not that he just couldn't sing it, but it also felt like so much work for him to do this part. You know how when some foreign actors try to do an American accent and it makes their acting not as good as when they do their own accent because you can see them thinking about pronunciations? It was like that for me. Plus I just didn't care about him and we should care about Javert!!! In fact, during his first and biggest song "Stars," I was mentally willing him to (SPOILER!!!) jump to his death then!
And the last thing I'll rant about, because, as you know or will quickly learn, I'm ranty from time to time, is the direction. As I mentioned earlier, I found it extremely distracting in places. I feel like Tom Hooper used way too many close ups, especially where the characters are practically singing at the camera. If was uncomfortable. I was like, "Stop singing at me! It's creepy!" This was mostly in the scenes that involved the ensemble. Do I think his choice to have the actors sing live was good? Ultimately, yes. Do I think another director would have done a better job? YES!
So there you have it. My thoughts on Les Mis. Mostly positive. Ish.
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