Les Misérables - Not in need of improvement

So I went to see Les Misérables today, and as everyone else seems to be doing it as well, I figured I'd post about it.

I thought the film was fantastic, and this is from someone who has not only seen it live but also watched the 10th and 25th anniversary concerts more than is probably healthy.  I felt it was a terrifically engaging story that was particularly faithful to the source material, that said it was not without its problems.  Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of my Les Mis experience.

Hugh Jackman.  Someone, I can't remember who, once told me that the reason he is so fantastic is that he proves that you can be Wolverine and Peter Allen and absolutely rock them both.  I think there are elements of both in this one part.

Russell Crowe.  Even though I think he missed the mark with Stars, I just couldn't get over how well he did with the song on the bridge (I think it is maybe best not to name the song because, well, spoilers).  Overall, I saw in his face the justice that he carried out, but in his voice I heard the purity which he felt as he did.

Samantha Barks.  I can't help it, I tear up in A Little Fall of Rain every time in the 25th anniversary concert and this was no different.  Actually, I think at this point I should just say the entire cast was a highlight: Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, all fantastic, ok enough now.

I did not like, however, the ridiculous number of close ups on faces while singing.  I like your work Tom Hooper, but if you don't know what to do with your camera during a musical soliloquy then maybe Les Mis isn't actually for you.  Nor did I like the anachronistic Eiffel Towers on the flags that they were waving around in a couple of scenes - When your film is set in 1815-1832, try not to include an image of a building not erected until 1889.

I also did not like Suddenly.  Why did they feel the need to put that song in the film?  It didn't gel with the rest of the music and completely took me out of the moment.  Did they think it would improve the musical or did they just get bored and decide to screw with people's heads?  I would have much preferred to see some more character development for Grantaire, maybe put the other verses of Drink With Me in instead.

Finally, for a two and a half hour film, I did not appreciate sitting through almost three quarters of an hour worth of ads.  That's over three hours of sitting in the one place, if I get deep vein thrombosis after my trip to America I'm not blaming the airline I'm blaming Val Morgan.

On the whole I thoroughly enjoyed the film.  I was going to include pictures and maybe a clip from YouTube but my computer is throwing a hissy fit so no snazzy and awesome looking blog post for you.

End of Days continued

So I woke up this morning thinking that I managed to survive the apocalypse, but then I remembered the Mayans lived in Mesoamerica so there's still two or three hours left for world the world to end, or almost seven hours if we're waiting for it the day to be over worldwide.

This time I'm going to explain what I think needs to survive the apocalypse.  After all, something needs to be the basis for the reconstruction of society.  For each section I'm selecting three, because that would not be unreasonable to manage to store somewhere and can provide a more in depth snapshot of society.

Play:  Hamlet, because face it at least one of Shakespeare's works must survive.  Also Pippin and Les Misérables because given the choice I'd take a musical almost every time.

TV:  This is a bit of a challenge but Scrubs, Firefly and Gilmore Girls which probably has the most balance between genres of all these categories.


Book:  I think that if I had to save anything I would save the Lord of the Rings trilogy (which I'm counting as a single book because I own it bound as such) by J R R Tolkien, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston.  That said this was a hard one because there are so many genres and types of book unrepresented here, I would also like to save, for example, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, but alas, it will be lost if only three books in the entire world, chosen by me, are to survive.

Film:  De-Lovely, The Blues Brothers and Back to the Future.  If I can have the trilogy I'll take it, but I'm guessing I was already pushing my luck with the Lord of the Rings loophole.


Music:  By this I mean entire albums. Natural Selection by Hunters and Collectors, Desireless by Eagle Eye Cherry and A Night at the Opera by Queen.  There should probably be some female representation in here as well, though, so maybe replace Desireless with Missy Higgins's The Sound of White.

There you have it, my choices for what to save if the world ends.  Obviously this is a very subjective list and I'd love to hear what you think is worth saving and if there is anything here that you'd be happy to see disappear forever.

Movie Trailers

I was watching a film that I own on DVD today.  Once I finished the film itself I watched the trailers part of the special features because I like watching movie trailers, I'm weird like that.

The reason I like watching trailers is that there is a definite art to making them appealing without including too many of the best parts of the film.  The truly fantastic trailers tell you everything you need to know to make a choice about whether the film is in a genre you like and whether it is worth you watching it without giving away a single major plot development.  Most trailers, though, give away some plot points in the hope that you'll be swept up in the movie enough to forget that you've already seen this particular joke/twist/whatever already - and yes some films even achieve this.

One of the trailers on this DVD (the main film was Men Who Stare at Goats btw) was for Nine which, being a musical, seems an odd choice to pair with this film.  Beyond it being a musical, and something to do with directing for either stage or screen, I still know absolutely nothing about this movie's plot.  I know it has a pretty exceptional cast, but as much as Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman and Daniel Day-Lewis make the film an appealing prospect I have no desire to see a film that I know nothing about, and don't feel an inclination to find out more (ok that's a lie in this instance, but only because its a musical - and I'm sure there are many people out there who wouldn't be swayed by the SINGLE SONG that the entire trailer is set to).  You can see it for yourself here.

My feelings about this trailer:

So for all that I just said I enjoy watching trailers, this one I didn't.  Think of it like someone saying I like fine art and then going to an exhibition of work by colourblind kindergarten children.  There seemed to be no understanding that some effort needs to be made to suggests more of the story than "I'm in the entertainment industry and I have some sort of directorial problem.  People sing at me."  Although at least it didn't resort to overenthusiastic voiceover man to just tell us what the story is about, that's usually a pretty severe cop out and even when it isn't it's pretty much been done to death.

For an example of a much better trailer recently, you need not go past the Les Miserables one, this has some truly great visuals and gives some indication of the story without giving it away, such as setting up the animosity between Valjean and Javert with the shots of Valjean pulling the rope to move the tallship while Javert looks down condesceningly from on high.  It gives snatches of a range of songs and even though it has a huge cast there is an indication of the motivations of most of the main characters and the world they live in.

My feelings about this trailer:

And this isn't just because, well it's Les Mis either.

What I'm getting at here is there is a definite art to making a trailer for a film and it can be so very enjoyable to watch a trailer that is well done and excruciating to watch one that isn't.  It's even more so when you have a particular interest in them.  I really don't understand why companies that pour millions of dollars into some of these films don't put more effort into the trailers and marketing for them, maybe someone could explain it to me?

Currently

So in my effort to better understand internet culture I'm doing a "Currently" post because according to a couple of blogs I'm following this is a trend and is meme-ing (or possibly the other way around) on blogs everywhere.

WATCHING:
QandA, and thinking the panel is pretty good except for Barnaby Joyce.  Shut up and let Jonathon Biggins, Penny Wong and Stella Young talk, hell I'd even prefer listening to Janet Albrechtson at this point although this may well change once she opens her mouth.
Janet you just proved me correct.
Also watched 48 Shades on the weekend, the film adaptation of Nick Earls's 48 Shades of Brown.  This film is fantastic and I would recommend it strongly to anyone with an open mind and a love of good storytelling.

LISTENING TO:
The audience ask questions and the panel answering them.  Also the music to the game my brother is playing in the other room with the volume set far too loud.
Although I'm not listening to it right at this moment, I'm getting back into The Cat Empire at the moment and, as always, listening to many musical theatre soundtracks, especially Avenue Q, JC Superstar, Little Shop of Horrors and basically anything by the Stephens - Sondheim and Schwartz.

PLANNING:
Right now I'm taking a break from planning anything, just finished sorting accommodation in America and have a lot sorted out for the rest of my placement.  About the only thing I've planned all day has been my transport for tomorrow.

THINKING ABOUT:
How a great many issues raised on QandA tonight have changed very little in the almost ten years which I have been voting.  And now I'm thinking that it is a very depressing thought and a worrying situation.

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

America, as it is my first time leaving the country.

Les Misérables, Hugh Jackman meets Shönberg and Boublil?  Heaven!

I know it sounds pretty naff, but the rest of my placement - I am honestly loving every minute of it,

READING:
Just finished the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy and the particularly interesting The Greatest Lies in History.  I am about to start a Doctor Who novel called The Silent Stars Go By, although Murakami's 1Q84 is calling me as well.

MAKING ME HAPPY:
Having reached the end of QandA, Randy and Sammy J's beautiful song is currently making me exceedingly happy.

What are you currently up to?