daromantic. 
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So Russell...what do you love about music? To begin with, everything. -
I've been rereading the book (OK, a "best parts" version since I already trudged through the book's entirety once), and I love Gavroche even more after reading it again. He's such a spunky little punk. Your kid did a great job.Originally posted by ERCougar View PostI'm super excited to see this.
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Les Miserables is about a very specific "revolution" (more of an uprising) that started on fairly dubious grounds had more to do with a cholera epidemic than the government or any oppression of the poor.
I know that ruins it a bit for some people (ahem...Solon), but I don't think the heart of Les Miserables is found in the injustice of economic inequality. There are so many other beautiful themes that I still love the story.
And none of you can say anything about tears until you have to watch your son being shot on the barricade.
And yeah, the "revolution" was a fairly minor one. It's actually interesting how very comparatively little of the book the Friends of the ABC comprise. I wish the musical had more of the back story with the Bishop of Digne if for no other reason than his character sings such a glorious bass.
All that said, I'm very excited to see this movie."You know, I was looking at your shirt and your scarf and I was thinking that if you had leaned over, I could have seen everything." ~Trial Ad JudgeComment
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Right? I'm certainly biased here, but Gavroche might be my favorite character in the book. The musical leaves out so much of his story--that he's a Thenardier (Eponine's neglected brother), the story with the two vagabond kids that he takes under his wing, etc. He's a little hero who meets a horribly tragic end. I love that kid.Originally posted by Mrs. Funk View PostAt least the Big Ten went after a big-time addition in Nebraska; the Pac-10 wanted a game so badly, it added Utah
-Berry Trammel, 12/3/10Comment
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I love when they go hide in the elephant. Even the part about the rats (shudder). He's an untraditional hero who is also a little thief and smartmouth, but his story is among the most compelling in the book. Less Marius, more Gavroche!Originally posted by ERCougar View Post"You know, I was looking at your shirt and your scarf and I was thinking that if you had leaned over, I could have seen everything." ~Trial Ad JudgeComment
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Damn, with hype like this can it do anything other than disappoint at this point?
Les Misérables May Be the Best Movie I Have Ever Seen
Driving home from the Santa Monica advance screening of Universal's Les Misérables on Saturday for Academy members, I spotted a huge poster for the movie on a building in Westwood which proclaims it is "A musical phenomenon about fight, dream, hope and love." I turned to my companion and said that this is a rare occasion when those words more than match the deed.
Indeed, this movie is the most thrilling film I have seen in many, many years, perhaps ever.
Remember, I have been in the movie business in various ways, mainly producing, for 60 of my 80 years, and have worked with some of its best talents, ie. Billy Wilder. I must have seen several thousand films in my lifetime, and I happen to believe that the British magazine which last month proclaimed Hitchcock's Vertigo the best movie ever, over Citizen Kane, is bonkers.
Neither of them hold a candle to A Place in the Sun, Red River or Godfather I & II. But Les Mis is another kettle of fish altogether. I think that it lifts the movie 'art' to a new dimension of excellence and excitement, which has not been seen before since perhaps Abel Gance's tri-screen Napoleon in the '20s.
3D is exciting and important when handled well (Ang Lee's Life of Pi), but it is a technology more than an artistic achievement. Here, from the moment the screen opens up to reveal a long line of convicts hauling a ship into drydock in early 19th century France, we are caught up in spectacle that is both majestic and intimate. The fact that all the dialogue is sung immediately sets the mood that we are in for something special.
Director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) joined with several cast members to speak briefly to us before the screening, and he admitted that seeing this sea of faces in front of him has finally convinced him that the film is finished. (He also mentioned that it was two years ago Friday he had opened The King's Speech in New York, and went on to win the Oscar for that.) He related that he had actually wrapped this film at 2 a.m. Thursday (Thanksgiving) evening in time for two screenings in New York on Friday at Lincoln Center arranged by the inimitable Peggy Siegel, and a friend who was there told me that the film was interrupted by applause 14 times and received a standing 10-minute ovation at the end.
He said to me, "This is the 800-pound gorilla in the Oscar race." If I were Daniel Day-Lewis, I would be wondering if my hold on the best male actor statue for Spielberg's Lincoln was as firm as everyone thought. Hugh Jackman here gives a performance for the ages as the indomitable Jean Valjean. I reflected on another statement made by Hooper to our audience; he stated that over 90 percent of the singing was shot 'live' and not prerecorded, many of the songs done in one take! "I didn't want any barriers between emotion and realism and truth, so for me it was very important that the actors playing these characters were producing these songs out of the depths of their souls in that moment." Did they ever!
Oh, my God, what an achievement for all involved. Anne Hathaway, in a somewhat truncated part as the extremely fragile Fantine, breaks your heart when she sings "I Dreamed a Dream," (forget about the Susan Boyle version of this, Anne's is slow, desperate and amazing) as she sings of the daughter she will never see again, and I see a supporting actress statue in her grasp, which is kind of ironic considering the slings and arrows she received for fronting the Oscar show last year. (Yes, I was as guilty as the rest.) In Saturday's Los Angeles Times, she says that her chopped hairdo (locks cut off for sale) makes her look like "her older gay brother."So Russell...what do you love about music? To begin with, everything.Comment
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[YOUTUBE]I8WSysB5vKM[/YOUTUBE]Comment
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Am I the only one here that is dreading the fact that I am going to be dragged to this movie over Christmas holiday?Comment
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Look on the bright side: it will be another 10 to 15 years before Hollywood cranks out another musical.Originally posted by LiveCoug View PostComment
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Yes.Originally posted by LiveCoug View PostSo Russell...what do you love about music? To begin with, everything.Comment
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You may very well be. There have been very few movies that have come out that I wouldn't feel the same as you - this is one of those movies. In fact, I might be the one doing the dragging this time.Originally posted by LiveCoug View PostI'm like LeBron James.
-mpfunkComment
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I'm no expert, but Crowe's singing doesn't seem great. It's not strong enough and Javert needs to be really strong. I hope he doesn't ruin this film.Originally posted by UtahDan View Post"Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. UchtdorfComment
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I'm with you on this. Javert needs to be a deeply resonant bass. Crowe seems like a baritone. But we'll see. If I can go with tony stark packing enough fuel in his iron suit to propel it at Mach speeds over great distances I should be able to allow Myself to go with Crowe as javert. And Crowe is a good actor after all.Originally posted by Moliere View PostPLesa excuse the tpyos.Comment
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