jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 4, 2012 7:59:49 GMT -5
We know there is an embargo on any reviews till December 11, but occasionally we come across some serious reviews of the film and the filmmaking techniques. Maybe we can can segregate this kind of reviews ( and most of those coming in after the embargo ends) from FAN REVIEWS ?cinemalin.tumblr.com/post/37150069819/les-miserablesIt sounds very heartfelt but at the same time I enjoyed listening to how he assesses the cinematic techniques that Tom Hooper used to enhance the storytelling and the visuals! He also gives Hugh Jackman his due, for an outstanding performance! While probably coming from an emotional response to the film, this is the type of overall review that I hope regular moviegoers are able to read. Jo |
|
|
|
Post by mamaleh on Dec 4, 2012 10:52:53 GMT -5
You know what bothers me? A lot of guys--even the TV entertainment news hosts, who are fond of Hugh--say stuff akin to "Yeah, I know it's a big, emotional epic, but I don't know, it's all sung...?"
The LES MIZ cast didn't make the most visited celeb sites this past week, even with all the LES MIZ promotion making the rounds. People are still gung-ho for such as Daniel Craig/SKYFALL (which opened weeks ago) and inexplicably Kim Kardashian. That does concern me somewhat.
Ellen
|
|
|
|
Post by carouselkathy on Dec 5, 2012 23:09:11 GMT -5
Sam Rubin, the entertainment reporter on a local news station here in L.A., has been praising the film and Hugh's performance. I've always thought him a bit snarky, so his approval of all things Les Mis comes as a pleasant surprise.
As for the celeb sites and entertainment shows in general, I agree with you, Ellen. The tabloid nature of these programs turns my stomach, and I find myself skipping them completely, even if Hugh is featured. It's not worth watching 27 minutes of garbage just to see 3 minutes of Hugh.
|
|
|
|
Post by mamaleh on Dec 6, 2012 11:38:21 GMT -5
Uh-oh--Variety's not entirely thrilled. Only good things about Hathaway & Redmayne, mostly praise for Hugh except--inexplicably--concerning "Bring Him Home." ??!!! www.variety.com/review/VE1117948874/Ellen |
|
|
|
Post by Jamie on Dec 6, 2012 11:54:20 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Jamie on Dec 6, 2012 11:57:38 GMT -5
|
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 17:42:11 GMT -5
I hope you don't mind that I reprint some of the reviews in full ( we lose them sometimes from their early online life). VARIETY -- www.variety.com/review/VE1117948874/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Les Miserables (U.S.-U.K.) By Justin Chang A Universal (in U.S./U.K.) release presented in association with Relativity Media of a Working Title Films/Cameron Mackintosh production. Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Mackintosh. Executive producers, Angela Morrison, Liza Chasin, Nicholas Allott, F. Richard Pappas. Directed by Tom Hooper. Screenplay, William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schoenberg, Herbert Kretzmer, based on Cameron Mackintosh's production of Boublil & Schoenberg's original stage musical "Les Miserables," from the novel by Victor Hugo. Jean Valjean - Hugh Jackman Javert - Russell Crowe Fantine - Anne Hathaway Cosette - Amanda Seyfried Marius - Eddie Redmayne Madame Thenardier - Helena Bonham Carter Thenardier - Sacha Baron Cohen Eponine - Samantha Barks Enjolras - Aaron Tveit As a faithful rendering of a justly beloved musical, "Les Miserables" will more than satisfy the show's legions of fans. Even so, director Tom Hooper and the producers have taken a number of artistic liberties with this lavish bigscreen interpretation: The squalor and upheaval of early 19th-century France are conveyed with a vividness that would have made Victor Hugo proud, heightened by the raw, hungry intensity of the actors' live oncamera vocals. Yet for all its expected highs, the adaptation has been managed with more gusto than grace; at the end of the day, this impassioned epic too often topples beneath the weight of its own grandiosity. The Universal release will nonetheless be a major worldwide draw through the holidays and beyond, spelling a happy commercial ending for a project that has been in development for roughly a quarter-century. Since its 1985 London premiere, the Cameron Mackintosh-produced tuner (adapted from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schoenberg's French production) has became one of the longest-running acts in legit history, outpaced only by "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Cats." "Les Miserables" has aged far more gracefully than those two '80s-spawned perennials, owing largely to the lush emotionalism of Schoenberg's score, the timeless sentiments articulated in Herbert Kretzmer's lyrics, and the socially conscious themes, arguably more relevant than ever, set forth in Hugo's much-filmed masterwork. In an intuitive yet bold scripting decision, scribes William Nicholson, Boublil, Schoenberg and Kretzmer have fully retained the show's sung-through structure, with only minimal spoken dialogue to break the flow of wall-to-wall music. Not for nothing is "Do You Hear the People Sing?" the piece's signature anthem; song is the characters' natural idiom and the story's lifeblood, and the filmmakers grasp this idea firmly enough to give the music its proper due. Even with some of the lyrics skillfully truncated, this mighty score remains the engine that propels the narrative forward. In visual terms, Hooper adopts a maximalist approach, attacking the material with a vigor and dynamism that suggest his Oscar-winning direction on "The King's Speech" was just a warm-up. At every turn, one senses the filmmaker trying to honor the material and also transcend it, to deliver the most vibrant, atmospheric, physically imposing and emotionally shattering reading of the show imaginable. Yet the effect of this mammoth 158-minute production can be as enervating as it is exhilarating; blending gritty realism and pure artifice, shifting from solos of almost prayerful stillness to brassy, clunkily cut-together ensemble numbers, it's an experience whose many dazzling parts seem strangely at odds. The film's ambition is immediately apparent in a muscular opening setpiece that hints at the scope of Eve Stewart's production design: In 1815 Toulon, France, a chain gang labors to tow a ship into port. Among the inmates is Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), overpunished for having stolen a loaf of bread nearly 20 years earlier, now being released on parole by Javert (Russell Crowe), the prison guard who will persecute him for years to come. With his scraggly beard, sunburnt skin and air of wild-eyed desperation, Valjean looks every inch a man condemned but, through the aid of a kind bishop (Colm Wilkinson, who originated the role of Valjean in 1985), vows in his soul-searching number "What Have I Done?" to become a man of virtue. In this and other sequences, Hooper (again working with "Speech" d.p. Danny Cohen) opts to bring the camera close to his downtrodden characters and hold it there. It's a gesture at once compassionate and calculated, and it's never more effective than when it touches the face of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a poor, unwed mother ejected from Valjean's factory into the gutters. Hathaway's turn is brief but galvanic. Her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream," captured in a single take, represents the picture's high point, an extraordinary distillation of anguish, defiance and barely flickering hope in which the lyrics seem to choke forth like barely suppressed howls of grief. Hathaway has been ripe for a full-blown tuner showcase ever since she gamely sang a duet with Jackman at the Oscars in 2009, and she fulfills that promise here with a solo as musically adept as it is powerfully felt. This sequence fully reveals the advantages of Hooper's decision to have the thesps sing directly oncamera, with minimal dubbing and tweaking in post. As carefully calibrated with the orchestrations (by Anne Dudley and Stephen Metcalfe) in Simon Hayes' excellent sound mix, the vocals sound intense, ragged and clenched with feeling, in a way that at times suggests neorealist opera. A few beats and notes may be missed here and there, but always in a way that serves the immediacy of the moment and the truth of the emotions being expressed, giving clear voice to the drama's underlying anger and advocacy on behalf of the poor, marginalized and misunderstood. Hathaway's exit leaves a hole in the picture, which undergoes a tricky tonal shift as Valjean rescues Fantine's young daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen), from her cruel guardians, the Thenardiers. Inhabited with witchy, twitchy comic abandon by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, not terribly far removed from the grotesques they played in "Sweeney Todd," these innkeepers amusingly send up their venal, disreputable and utterly unsanitary lifestyle in "Master of the House," a memorably grotesque number that also marks the point, barely halfway through, when "Les Miserables" starts to splutter. As it shifts from one dynamically slanted camera angle to another via Melanie Ann Oliver and Chris Dickens' busy editing, the picture seems reluctant to slow down and let the viewer simply take in the performances. That hectic, cluttered quality becomes more pronounced as the story lurches ahead to the 1832 Paris student uprisings, where the erection of a barricade precipitates and complicates any number of subplots. These include Javert's ongoing pursuit of Valjean, their frequent run-ins seeming even more coincidental than usual in this movie context; the blossoming romance between Cosette (now played by Amanda Seyfried) and young revolutionary leader Marius (Eddie Redmayne); and the noble suffering of Eponine (Samantha Barks), whose unrequited love for Marius is heartbreakingly exalted in "On My Own." As the characters' voices and stories converge in the magisterial medley "One Day More," the frequent crosscutting provides a reasonable visual equivalent of the nimble revolving sets used onstage. Yet even on this broader canvas, the visual space seems to constrict rather than expand, and the sense of a sweeping panorama remains elusive. From there, the film proceeds through an ungainly pileup of gun-waving mayhem before unleashing a powerful surge of emotion in the suitably grand finale. Devotees of the stage show will nonetheless be largely contented to see it realized on such an enormous scale and inhabited by well-known actors who also happen to possess strong vocal chops. The revelation here is Redmayne, who brings a youthful spark to the potentially milquetoast role of Marius, and who reveals an exceptionally smooth, full-bodied singing voice, particularly in his mournful solo "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." Jackman's extensive legit resume made him no-brainer casting for Valjean, and he embodies this sinner-turned-saint with the requisite fire and gravitas. Whether he's comforting the dying Fantine or sweetly serenading the sleeping Cosette (in the moving "Suddenly," a song written expressly for the screen), Jackman projects a stirring warmth and nobility. He's less at home with the higher register of Valjean's daunting two-octave range; there's more strain than soul in his performance of "Bring Him Home," usually one of the show's peak moments. Crowe reveals a thinner, less forceful singing voice than those of his co-stars, robbing the morally blinkered Javert of some dramatic stature, although his screen presence compensates. Barks, a film newcomer wisely retained from past stagings, more than holds her own; Seyfried (who previously flexed her musical muscles in "Mamma Mia!") croons ever so sweetly as the lovely, passive Cosette; Aaron Tveit cuts a dashing figure as the impulsive student revolutionary Enjolras; and young Daniel Huttlestone makes a delightful impression as the street urchin Gavroche, bringing an impish streak of energy to the proceedings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jo |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 17:47:08 GMT -5
EMPIRE -- www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137471---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Les Miserables4 out of 5 stars PlotJean Valjean (Jackman), imprisoned for 19 years for a minor offence, is paroled but perpetually shadowed by Inspector Javert (Crowe). When he takes in the foundling daughter of the tragic Fantine (Hathaway), he finds a reason to keep his freedom. ReviewLes Miserables opens big. The camera sweeps over gilded, bulbous warships, blasted by coastal waves, to the hundreds of miserable wretches inching one of these monsters into the Toulon dry dock on waterlogged ropes. This vast chain gang sings Look Down in a rumbling bass that’s close to a dirge, and the tone is set. This is not the sort of musical where people dance their cares away, but one where people’s cares seem to rip songs from their throats. Through all that follows, the moments of levity and romance as well as the suffering, Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer’s juggernaut of a musical never fails to take its subject matter seriously, its raw, brutal edge in tune with Victor Hugo’s melodrama of the downtrodden and destitute. Hugh Jackman, matching Jean Valjean’s fabled strength, carries the plot on his shoulders. Only he and Russell Crowe’s Javert remain constants through the 17 years of the film’s plot, and only Valjean really grows during that time, since Javert’s inflexibility is his defining trait. We first meet Valjean as a convict, making futile demands that his jailer respect him as a fellow human being — only to be rebuffed by the didactic Javert. On parole he meets only rejection and prejudice, descending into animal-like desperation and spitting bitterness before a miraculous second chance sees Valjean resolve to match the faith shown in him in the film’s most emotionally complex scene. Righteous fury rages with a rekindled sense of virtue; wounded pride and a thirst for justice compete with hope of redemption, and somehow from the conflagration a morally upright man emerges. As with all the film’s high emotion, this is communicated entirely in song, sung live on set and with veins frequently popping from the effort. Hooper’s commitment to live performance no doubt added hugely to the stress of the shoot, but in return for a few wobbly high notes he gets a unique, visceral punch. The vocals aren’t as flawless as, say, Alfie Boe managed onstage — Jackman struggles with the famously difficult Bring Him Home, and at times Crowe wobbles into rock stylings — but the drama is stronger for it. Not everything is so successful. The Paris soundstages feel small and poky, and different angles of shot might have avoided a sometimes stagey feel and the jarring contrast with the outdoor scenes, which deliver a glorious Delacroix look and scale. The sprawling structure of the show, too, means that high emotion breaks in wave after wave without reprieve, cinematic close-ups magnifying the impact. At its best, that effect sees Anne Hathaway reclaim I Dreamed A Dream from Susan Boyle and ruin the song for all who follow her. Angry, defiant and broken all at once, it is a definitive performance, and though her part amounts to barely a montage and this one sublime solo, don’t be surprised to see her on an Oscar podium come February. But after that emotional wallop, the love story between Marius (Eddie Redmayne) and Valjean’s ward, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), can’t overcome her character’s inherent drippiness, leaving you impatient to get to the revolutionary stuff when students led by the idealistic Enjolras (Aaron Tveit) fight a hopeless uprising in the people’s name and Javert encounters Valjean once more. When these big moments arrive, the cast rise with full-throated determination and deliver a musical unlike any other. VerdictOccasionally, like its characters, ragged around the edges, this nevertheless rings with all the emotion and power of the source and provides a new model for the movie musical. Reviewed by Helen O'Hara ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jo |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 18:05:13 GMT -5
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/les-miserables/review/398662-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Les Miserables: Film Review 8:00 AM PST 12/6/2012 by Todd McCarthy The Bottom Line Well-sung but bombastic screen version of the musical theater perennial.Opens Tuesday, Dec. 25 (Universal) shareComments (28) Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe sing -- and wage a Sisyphean battle against musical diarrhea -- in Tom Hooper's adaptation of the stage sensation. A gallery of stellar performers wages a Sisyphean battle against musical diarrhea and a laboriously repetitive visual approach in the big-screen version of the stage sensation Les Miserables. Victor Hugo's monumental 1862 novel about a decades-long manhunt, social inequality, family disruption, injustice and redemption started its musical life onstage in 1980 and has been around ever since, a history of success that bodes well for this lavish, star-laden film. But director Tom Hooper has turned the theatrical extravaganza into something that is far less about the rigors of existence in early 19th century France than it is about actors emoting mightily and singing their guts out. As the enduring success of this property has shown, there are large, emotionally susceptible segments of the population ready to swallow this sort of thing, but that doesn't mean it's good. The first thing to know about this Les Miserables is that this creation of Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, is, with momentary exceptions, entirely sung, more like an opera than a traditional stage musical. Although not terrible, the music soon begins to slur together to the point where you'd be willing to pay the ticket price all over again just to hear a nice, pithy dialogue exchange between Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe rather than another noble song that sounds a lot like one you just heard a few minutes earlier. There were 49 identifiable musical numbers in the original show, and one more has been added here. Greatly compounding the problem is that director Hooper, in his first outing since conquering Hollywood two years ago with his breakthrough feature, The King's Speech, stages virtually every scene and song in the same manner, with the camera swooping in on the singer and thereafter covering him or her and any other participants with hovering tight shots; there hasn't been a major musical so fond of the close-up since Joshua Logan attempted to photograph Richard Harris' tonsils in Camelot. Almost any great musical one can think of features sequences shot in different ways, depending upon the nature of the music and the dramatic moment; for Hooper, all musical numbers warrant the same monotonous approach of shoving the camera right in the performer's face; any closer and their breath would fog the lens, as, in this instance, the actors commendably sang live during the shooting, rather than being prerecorded. With Hooper's undoubted encouragement, the eager thespians give it their all here, for better and for worse. The “live” vocal performances provide an extra vibrancy and immediacy that is palpable, though one cannot say that the technique is necessarily superior in principle, as it was also used by Peter Bogdanovich on his famed folly, At Long Last Love. PHOTOS: Inside the Fight to Bring 'Les Mis' to the Screen One of the chief interests of the film is discovering the singing abilities of the notable actors assembled here, other than Jackman, whose musical prowess is well-known. Crowe, who early in his career starred in The Rocky Horror Show and other musicals onstage in Australia, has a fine, husky baritone, while Eddie Redmayne surprises with a singing voice of lovely clarity. Colm Wilkinson, the original Jean Valjean onstage in London and New York, turns up here as the benevolent Bishop of Digne. On the female side, Anne Hathaway dominates the early going, belting out anguish as the doomed Fantine. Playing her grown daughter Cosette, Amanda Seyfried delights with clear-as-a-bell high notes, while Samantha Barks, as a lovelorn Eponine, is a vocal powerhouse. The problem, then, is not at all the singing itself but that the majority of the numbers are pitched at the same sonic-boom level and filmed the same way. The big occasion when Hooper tries something different, intercutting among nearly all the major characters at crossroads in the Act 1 climax "One Day More," feels like a pale imitation of the electrifying "Tonight" ensemble in the film version of West Side Story. It's entirely possible that no book has been adapted more frequently to other media than Hugo's epic, one of the longest novels ever written. About 60 big- and small-screen versions have been made throughout the world, beginning with a representation by the Lumiere brothers in 1897, and Orson Welles did a seven-part radio version in 1937. In 1985, five years after the Paris debut of the French musical, the English-language production, with a new libretto by Herbert Kretzmer and directed by Trevor Nunn, opened in London, to less-than-stellar reviews, and is still playing. The New York counterpart packed houses from 1987-2003 and, at 6,680 performances, ranks as the third-longest-running musical in Broadway history (it reopened in 2006 and played another two years). PHOTOS: 'Les Miserables' World Premiere: Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway Celebrate Musical's Big-Screen Adaptation At the story's core is Jean Valjean (Jackman), a convict who has served 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread and trying to escape and, upon his release, redeems himself under a new identity as a wealthy factory owner and socially liberal mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. But his former prison guard Javert (Crowe), now a police inspector, finds him out and, over a period of 17 years, mercilessly hounds him until their day of reckoning on the barricades in Paris during the uprising of June 1832. Woven through it is no end of melodrama concerning Valjean raising Fantine's beautiful daughter Cosette (Isabelle Allen as a tyke, Seyfried as a young woman); the latter's star-crossed romance with Marius (Redmayne), a wealthy lad turned idealistic revolutionary; his handsome comrade-in-arms Enjolras (Aaron Tveit) and the earthy Eponine, who woefully accepts that her beloved Marius is besotted by Cosette. Well and truly having rumbled in from the film version of Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen gallumph through as small-time swindlers in very broad comic relief. Startlingly emaciated in his initial scenes while still on strenuous prison work detail, Jackman's Valjean subsequently cuts a more proper and dashing figure after his transformation into a gentleman. His defense of the abused Fantine and subsequent adoption of her daughter represent the fulcrum of Hugo's central theme that a man can change and redeem himself, as opposed to Jalvert's vehement conviction that once a criminal, always a criminal. The passions of all the characters are simple and deep, which accounts for much of the work's enduring popularity in all cultures.PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes of THR's 'Les Miserables' Cover Shoot But it also makes for a film that, when all the emotions are echoed out at an unvarying intensity for more than 2 1/2 hours on a giant screen, feels heavily, if soaringly, monotonous. Subtle and nuanced are two words that will never be used to describe this Les Miserables, which, for all its length, fails to adequately establish two critical emotional links: that between Valjean and Cosette, and the latter's mutual infatuation with Marius, which has no foundation at all. Reuniting with his King's Speech cinematographer Danny Cohen and production designer Eve Stewart, Hooper has handsome interior sets at his disposal. However, with the exception of some French city square and street locations, the predominant exteriors have an obvious CGI look. His predilection for wide-angle shots is still evident, if more restrained than before, but the editing by Melanie Ann Oliver and Chris Dickens frequently seems haphazard; the musical numbers sometimes build to proper visual climaxes in union with the music, but as often as not the cutting seems almost arbitrary, moving from one close-up to another, so that scenes don't stand out but just mush together. The actors are ideally cast but, with a couple of exceptions, give stage-sized turns for the screen; this bigness might well be widely admired. Jackman finally gets to show onscreen the musical talents that have long thrilled live musical theater audiences, Hathaway gamely gets down and dirty and has her hair clipped off onscreen in the bargain, and Redmayne impresses as a high-caliber singing leading man, but there is little else that is inventive or surprising about the performances. Still, there is widespread energy, passion and commitment to the cause, which for some might be all that is required. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please do read the feedback column -- mostly challenging the review! LOL! Can what has happened to the stage musical 27 years ago happening again ? Critics vs the audiences?? Jo |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 19:15:08 GMT -5
THE TELEGRAPH ( UK) www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/9727469/Les-Miserables-review.html------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday 06 December 2012 Home»Culture»Film»Film ReviewsLes Misérables, review Tom Hooper’s screen adaptation of Les Misérables is a heart-soaring, crowd-delighting hit-in-waiting, writes Robbie Collin.
5 out of 5 Stars . TelegraphPlayer_9300310. By Robbie Collin 4:34PM GMT 06 Dec 2012 42 Comments Dir: Tom Hooper; Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter. 12A cert, 158 min. Do you hear the people sing? Stand outside any cinema in just over one month’s time and you will. Tom Hooper’s screen adaptation of Les Misérables is a heart-soaring, crowd-delighting hit-in-waiting: the Mamma Mia it’s all right to like. This adaptation of the long-running stage musical, itself based on Victor Hugo’s epic tale of romance and revolution in 19th century France, is Hooper’s first film since The King’s Speech (2010). It is as broad and sturdy as the shoulders of its twinkling-eyed star Hugh Jackman, who plays the reformed thief Jean Valjean – yet amid the bombast, it comes as close as a £40 million musical can to intimacy, thanks in part to an extraordinarily deeply-felt performance by Anne Hathaway as Fantine, a seamstress who falls into prostitution. Everything about the film is enormous, from Claude-Michel Schönberg’s cannon-fire score to its bladder-twitching two-hour, 40-minute running time. Every last frame is rocket-launched at the back row of the cinema. As in the stage production of Les Misérables, most of the dialogue is sung, not spoken, and Hooper’s masterstroke is to treat it as speech, not singing. The cast’s vocal performances were recorded on set as live rather than lip-synched to studio tapes, and this gives the music a vital, corporeal presence within the film: it’s like watching real,physical stuntwork instead of computer-generated trickery. This also allows Hooper’s camera to zero in on his performers’ faces during the big, tremulous, heartfelt numbers, which in Les Misérables is all of them. When Russell Crowe’s Javert wrestles with his iron conscience, we can see the struggle behind his eyes. Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried play the lovers Marius and Cosette, and their duets are a miraculous clash of pouts and cheekbones. Isabelle Allen and Daniel Huttlestone will thaw hearts as the young Cosette and the street urchin Gavroche, while Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen play it grotesquely, even Burtonesquely broad as the villainous Thénardiers. But the showstopper is Hathaway. When she half-sings, half-sobs I Dreamed A Dream, hair cropped and eyes shining like Maria Falconetti, Hooper captures her performance in a single, unblinking, breath-catching close-up. This will be the clip they show before she wins her Oscar. Anne Hathaway as Fantine and Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean Les Misérables is only Hooper’s fourth feature, and his directorial style is still bedding in: some big, comic-book camera angles feel a touch over-egged, as does the extraordinarily shallow focus he uses in close-up. But he marshals the spectacle so spectacularly that it hardly matters. Hooper’s screenwriter William Nicholson (Shadowlands) has judiciously tinkered with the song order, which makes Les Misérables feel not only definitive, but utterly cinematic. You leave with not one song in your heart, but ten. 'Les Misérables’ opens on January 11 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jo |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 19:28:18 GMT -5
|
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 19:36:47 GMT -5
ROPE OF SILICON www.ropeofsilicon.com/les-miserables-2012-movie-review/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=les-miserables-2012-movie-review--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Les Miserables' (2012) Movie Review 21 COMMENTS Fantastic performances lead to a great opening hour that dwindles in the latter halfBy: Brad Brevet Published: Thursday, December 6th 2012 at 10:30 AM Adapted from the stage musical, which itself was adapted from Victor Hugo's 1862 French novel, Les Miserables is instantly massive as prisoners heave on giant ropes, pulling a massive ship into the port at Toulon. They sing in tune with each pull, "Look down, look down... Don't look them in the eye." It's here we meet Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) for the first time, head shaven and scarred. His sentence of nineteen years for stealing a single loaf of bread has come to an end, but a strict parole has been put in place, limiting his freedom under the watchful eye of the dedicated inspector of police Javert (Russell Crowe). 'Les Miserables'
Review
Grade: C+"Les Miserables" is a Universal Pictures release, directed by Tom Hooper and is rated PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements. The cast includes Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen and Samantha Barks. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis click here. These opening moments take place in the year 1815 and the film will cover the next 33 years as the people rise up to claim their country, an ex-con will become an adoptive father and a young girl will fall in love. Fans of the stage musical are sure to eat up all 157 minutes of this film, which is every bit a musical as it claims to be. Hardly a word is spoken without being sung and the words are sung quite well as the Tony award-winning Jackman is clearly in his element, Crowe is no stranger to song and Anne Hathaway as Fantine breathes such life into this film, she is sorely missed in the latter two-thirds. Les Miserables is fantastic for its first 60 minutes, the emotional investment rising with every turn in the story. Eight years following his release, Valjean manages to break parole and reinvent himself. He now owns a factory and lives under the name of Monsieur le Mayor, but his guise will only last him so long, though it will afford him the chance to meet Fantine and soon care for her young daughter Cosette as he must once again run from Javert. From here the story, again, jumps forward in time. This time nine years have passed, Cosette has grown up and we are introduced to 1832 Paris. Valjean and Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) lead a quiet life while a revolution is brewing in the streets. Javert is still on the hunt and we meet the rebel Marius (Eddie Redmayne) and Eponine (Samantha Barks), the daughter of the innkeepers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) that cared for Cosette before Valjean relieved them of their duty. It's here the film begins to fall apart. Les Miserables reaches such a climax with Hathaway's show-stopping performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" that simply nothing that comes after it can live up to its excellence. Hathaway, shot in close-up for the song's duration and without a single cut, is crushing. I can't remember a time where I was so floored with emotion from one solitary musical performance that the fact her few minutes of song outweigh the entirety of a nearly three hour feature is telling not only of her performance, but of the remaining minutes that follow. Barks, who played Eponine in the recent London stage adaptation of Les Mis, does provide the film's second half with a fantastic performance of "On My Own" that stands only second to Hathaway's "Dream", but is one of the few remaining highlights as the final 90 minutes drag to an inevitable conclusion. Beyond Javert's chasing of Valjean, a storyline that grows quickly tiresome, the second half of Les Mis depends on your believing that in only a glance across a crowded street, Cosette and Marius have fallen madly in love. A performance of "A Heart Full of Love" is then meant to seal the deal. It doesn't. Eponine's jealousy and disappointment in Marius' choice of Cosette over her are the only emotions I was convinced of in these scenes. I'm not sure if it was due to the fact virtually every word of this film is spoken in song, and if that is a hang-up of my own, but there needed to be a little massaging of the relationship between Marius and Cosette if we were meant to have any emotional investment. As it stands, all that exists is the rebellion (which always seems secondary, even when it's not), Javert's tiresome dedication to capturing Valjean and Eponine's reluctancy to let go of her love for Marius. The love we're meant to feel between Cosette and Marius comes across as something director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) determined was a given and not something he needed to dedicate any real time to building. If that's the case, he was wrong. Whether that's due to the performances of Seyfried (whose singing voice reminds me of a classic animated Disney princess) and Redmayne (whose voice is the most distinguishable among the cast) or the narrative as it was edited together I can't quite tell, but I will say neither Seyfried nor Redmayne stood out to me as particularly moving, at least not when compared to Hathaway, Jackman, Crowe and Barks. A bit of humor is injected in the way of Cohen and Carter as the married innkeepers who make their living off thieving and conning the public and both are perfect for their roles (as is their performance of "Master of the House"). It's also quite clear costume designer Paco Delgado had some of his most fun dressing these two, though I must say the costumes throughout are quite amazing as is the production design led by Eve Stewart whose filmography clearly shows she's something of a master at these period set pieces, which include Oscar nominations for The King's Speech and Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy. Hooper's handling of such a massive story is a mixed bag of tightly woven storytelling in the first half to dry, dull and tiring in the second. Perhaps that's just the nature of the story, but everything about the introduction of Marius and all that leads up to the rebellion felt clunky and ill-conceived and none of it believable. Though, I must give kudos to Daniel Huttlestone whose performance as the young street urchin Gavroche provides some moments of enjoyment throughout the film's latter half through song and general mischief. I could watch the first hour of this film over again, but once Cosette grows up, Les Mis grows old. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the last comment from the feedback in particular. Jo |
|
|
|
Post by birchie on Dec 6, 2012 19:46:29 GMT -5
I appreciate the short synopsis (few lines) since I'm not reading reviews. There are very few whose opinions mean anything to me so I can't be bothered going nuts over people whose opinions I don't care about.
Ellen, could you translate this sentence "The LES MIZ cast didn't make the most visited celeb sites this past week, even with all the LES MIZ promotion making the rounds." Are there sites that cast members go to? What do they do there? Also if people are saying that any Kardashian should win an Oscar then I'm even more happy that I'm not reading reviews. If that happened I would finally stop watching the Academy Awards show. I've already become jaded about the whole thing in recent years so I don't watch it the same way I used to.
Sue
|
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 20:41:21 GMT -5
A film site -- /FILM.COM: www.slashfilm.com/les-miserables-review-this-big-bold-moving-hollywood-musical-is-one-of-the-years-best/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Les Miserables’ Review: This Big, Bold, Moving, Hollywood Musical Is One Of The Year’s Best Posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2012 by Germain Lussier There’s a moment about 30 minutes into Tom Hooper‘s musical adaptation of Les Miserables where you’re either with it or not. Anne Hathaway, beaten and bruised, hair raggedly cropped short, sings the iconic song “I Dreamed a Dream.” She does so on her own, in a single long-take close-up that lasts at least three minutes. It’s Hooper’s way of telling the audience this film is going to be dark, it’s going to be dirty, it’s going to have emotions, and yes, it’s going to be these actors (who we know better as Wolverines, Catwomen, Gladiators or Mean Girls) singing — and only singing — their hearts out for almost three hours. In this moment, Hathaway provides one of the most stirring and impressive emotional moments of 2012, perfect capturing the tone and wonder of Les Miserables. It’s mesmerizing, moving and magical. At its most basic, Les Miserables is the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a man imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. After serving a twenty year sentence, he’s released, skips parole and makes a new life for himself. But he’s constantly looking over his shoulder, mostly for Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) a lawman tenaciously hunting him. Along the way he meets a troubled woman named Fantine (Anne Hathaway) and helps her by raising her daughter Cosette (Isabelle Allen as a child, Amanda Seyfried as a grown up). Eventually, love both complicates and illuminates those characters as the story dovetails with the French Revolution. There’s a reason this story, originally written by Victor Hugo in 1862, has endured for more than a century. Every few decades it’s reinvented, most famously and successfully in 1980 as stage musical which became an all-time worldwide classic. The music and lyrics by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Jean-Marc Natel and Alain Boublil are some of the most recognizable and beautiful in all of musical theater. Without the lyrics, the story can be a bit dry. Hooper’s version not only embraces those lyrics, it lives off them. It vibrates from their power from the first frame to last, giving the film an almost kinetic energy. That music, the only way the characters communicate throughout, pushes the narrative forward. Act one and two are straight Valjean but act three jumps ahead and the link there never feels quite right. It works, but it’s a bit of a stretch simply because after becoming comfortable with one set of characters, you have to meet and connect to whole other set. This change is a good example of the film’s biggest flaw – it’s almost too big. Everything happens incredibly quickly, save for some of the songs where Hooper and company grind out the emotion, and if you can’t keep up, the film may lose you. Hooper’s directorial choices won’t help that either. Individually, everything he does works incredibly well, maybe too much so. The close-ups force you to feel the character’s emotions, the wide angle shots give the film a stage play look, the steadycam and computer moves give scope to 19th Century Paris. On their own, these choices come off incredibly brash and exciting. However, being as each look is so different, it stops the film from having a consistent visual style. Everything feels realistic and individually powerful, but the jumping around can be a tad disconcerting. Those are the only things holding the film back from being a legitimate musical masterpiece. Throughout, the film is bold, brash yet intimate and emotional thanks in large part to the actors giving brave, heartbreaking performances. No one else in Hollywood could have played Valjean like Jackman does. He’s simultaneously sympathetic, masculine, intimidating and kind. Plus, he can sing incredibly well. Russell Crowe’s more stoic performance and voice make for a frightening, but welcome foil to Valjean. As for the supporting cast, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter are hilarious, Eddie Redmayne and Aaron Tveit inspire with their confidence and Samantha Barks is beautiful and nuanced. Up and down the roster, each character is well-defined and somehow relatable. They are the beating heart of Les Miserables, giving it street-level believability. But it’s Hathaway, in a small but important role, who steals the show right from the start and helps propel the movie to the heights it eventually reaches. Les Miserables is a large-scale, grimy musical that’s both a testament to the talents of the filmmakers but also the strength of the material. It’s a musical worthy of Hollywood history and one of the year’s best films. /Film rating: 9 out of 10 Les Miserables opens on Christmas Day --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do check out the credentials of the critic! Jo |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 20:48:18 GMT -5
This is a review to remember, if you are a true Les Miserables fan >  Another one from THE DAILY MAIL -- www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2244304/Magnifique-This-real-marvel-Miserables-Chris-Tookey-gives-verdict-masterpiece.html?ito=feeds-newsxml----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnifique! This is a real marvel of a Miserables: Chris Tookey gives his verdict on 'a masterpiece' By Chris Tookey PUBLISHED:19:49 EST, 6 December 2012| UPDATED: 19:49 EST, 6 December 2012 They dreamed a dream, and now it’s come true. It’s been a long time coming – 27 years since it opened in the theatre in London – but it’s worth the wait. This is a wonderful film, an all-time-great musical, guaranteed – despite its title – to raise your spirits, as well as make you cry. Superbly directed, brilliantly acted and sung with unprecedented emotional depth, this is a magnificent treat and a tribute to Working Title and Cameron Mackintosh, who produced it. This isn’t just the most ambitious British film of all time, it’s quite possibly the best. With imaginative cinematography, sets, costumes and make-up, Les Miserables deserves more Oscars than Titanic. It’s far better – and more innovative – than the massively profitable, entertainingly theatrical stage version. Five stars? I’d happily give it ten. Victor Hugo’s classic story is about a prisoner, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), consumed by hatred after serving 20 years in prison for a pitifully minor offence. He breaks his parole and is pursued by a remarkably determined lawman, Javert (Russell Crowe), who believes no criminal can ever reform. Yet reform Valjean does. Inspired by a gift from a bishop he was stealing from (a lovely cameo from Colm Wilkinson, who played Valjean in the original London production), Valjean becomes a factory owner and surrogate father to Cosette (Isabelle Allen), the orphaned daughter of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), one of Valjean’s factory workers who falls on hard times and turns to prostitution. Pursued by the implacable Javert, Valjean flees to Paris, where – years later – the now-grown Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) falls in love with a student revolutionary, Marius (Eddie Redmayne), just before he helps man the barricades against the repressive French government of 1832. Comic relief is provided by the Thenardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, both hilarious), dishonest innkeepers whose beautiful daughter Eponine (Samantha Barks) falls unrequitedly in love with Marius. The film does a stunning job of cramming Hugo’s 1,200-page novel into two and a half hours. Somehow, William Nicholson has made it leaner and speedier than the stage version, without sacrificing anything important. This is a revolutionary musical in more ways than one. Director Tom Hooper’s stylistic masterstroke is not to pre-record his singers, but to record them as they sing on set. This adds hugely to the authenticity and emotional intensity. Hooper , who directed the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech and The Damned United, proves magnificently that he can direct on an epic scale, and makes marvellous use of cinema’s two greatest assets over any other art form: the huge panorama – used with special brilliance in the dream finale – and the close-up. He trusts the actors to excel in extended takes, allowing them to build a performance and develop the emotional resonance of former Daily Mail TV critic Herbert Kretzmer’s heartfelt lyrics and Claude-Michel Schonberg’s glorious music. Virtually every song received an ovation at the world premiere, and rightly so. Highlights include Eddie Redmayne’s beautiful tenor rendition of Empty Chairs At Empty Tables, and Anne Hathaway’s raw, astonishingly moving version of I Dreamed A Dream. But there isn’t a dud song or performance in the film. Jackman manages the vocally and emotionally challenging role of Valjean with such power and integrity that it’s hard to imagine any other actor beating him to Best Actor at the Academy Awards. Crowe does an equally impressive job of humanising Javert, so that he becomes not a melodramatic villain but a rounded human being. Notoriously, Les Mis received very mixed notices on stage. Some felt it was a period-piece with little relevance to the present day. But now, the idea of brave but potentially fatal resistance to authoritarian regimes is topical again, with the Arab Spring and resistance to President Assad in Syria. The stage musical has been seen by more than 60million people in 42 countries. In its new, improved, spectacularly cinematic form, with this remarkable array of performances, it’s going to be seen and enjoyed by even more. Les Miserables opens in the UK on January 11. I know these are times of austerity but, if necessary, beg for a ticket. Seeing a movie this terrific is a truly thrilling experience. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jo |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 21:20:31 GMT -5
You might also want to check ROTTEN TOMATOES, until a considerable number of reviews are in -- www.rottentomatoes.com/m/les_miserables_2012/It's now 69%, with 15 ratings in. That should change in the next few hours or days or even weeks. Jo |
|
|
|
Post by carouselkathy on Dec 6, 2012 21:52:56 GMT -5
Hey Jo, it's me Barb (Songirl) and Kathy got to giggling too hard so I swiped the comp from her. Yeah, we've already been over to Rotten Tomatoes and with just a handful of reviews, I'm seeing mixed to good to superlative. One stinker though is from some yo-yo named Harvey Karten who didn't much like it at all and said -and I quote- "Hugh JackSON isn't much of a singer." Okay. He might not be Alfie Boe, but not much of a singer??? And for him the highlight was Amanda (probably cause he heard she's playing Linda Lovelace in an upcoming film). I said he's probably a 900 lb. slug, down in his mother's basement noshing on a bag of Doritos. This is why Kathy is giggling and I'm typing (I'm giggling too).
I don't think we need worry about any negative criticism on this one as it will prove irrelevant. What matters is industry reaction (the voters) and the Guild Awards (the barometer for the Academy). This is still the odds on favorite to win Best Picture of the year (and that's because critics do not determine that...which really chaps their bums).
Hi OZalots. I'm so excited. For 8 and 1/2 years, from the night I walked out of The Imperial and told my sister..."that guy is one movie away from having it all", I have been waiting for that one movie and this it IT. This is the one that's gonna do it for him. I am SO proud of him.
|
|
|
|
Post by carouselkathy on Dec 6, 2012 22:15:34 GMT -5
I've stopped giggling enough to point out that sometimes the bad reviews are down right funny. The worst review yet on Rotten Tomatoes is written by a woman who says she loves, "comedies, tragedies, and watching stuff get blowed up real good."
|
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 6, 2012 22:19:01 GMT -5
Hey, Barb  Why not join us here - it is a new board. I am beyond reviews -- I have been a devoted fan of Les Miserables over the years ( since 1988), a Michael Ball fan since that same year because it was his Marius which made me a closer fan of the musical ( so glad that he hosted part of the red carpet arrivals and will host a Brit TV documentary from musical to movie soon), and of course a Hugh fan ( since I saw him in Oklahoma!) -- so dreams have come true for me! Who cares what a film critic says  Remember at San Fran when the three of us got together after a Hugh performance -- talking about Hugh's career as dominant part of our conversations. I am glad that the reviews have praised him and that nothing that I read so far say even remotely that his performance as Valjean is lacking and not praiseworthy! Too bad I cannot see the movie until January 11 ( it is not the same release dates for all countries although we are quite near the UK date of January 11) -- but I am already planning how many times I will see it > Btw, some of the IMDB posters will vote on some of the guild awards or whose parents are both Ampas and Bafta members -- and having seen the advance screenings, they have lauded the film. One even said, that if things do turn out right, we may even hope that Hugh may surprise on Oscar night I hope so and am praying for it! This is the vehicle in which both his film and stage talent are given the real test! I hope it is recognized accordingly. There I go again -- when talking to you, I kind of get too verbose about one man named Jackman  Jo |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 7, 2012 0:11:32 GMT -5
Jeffrey Wells - from HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE: hollywood-elsewhere.com/2012/12/les_miserables.php----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Les Miserables Finale Saves The Day email this story read comments (3) "I have to separate myself from the haters on Les Miserables," I explained to friends this morning. "Because as uncomfortable as I was during the first two hours, I succumbed once Eddie Redmayne and the fiery young lads (including the very noteworthy Aaron Tviet) raise the flags and man the barricades, which starts about 40 minutes before the end. And it sunk in. It got to me. "And I finally understood, having never seen the stage musical, what Les Miz mania is all about. And I became, at least as far as this section was concerned, a Les Miz queen." Otherwise the film, as passionately and energetically composed as it is, felt like a chore to me, something to endure and get through rather than sink into and revel in with my heart wide open. All that agony, all that cruelty. "This is a movie about grime and dirt and suffering at the hands of cruel horrid gargoyles," I muttered at the halfway mark. One can only stand so much horrific behavior and the infliction of agony in any realm. For me the tattered, labored, forced-march emotions and general intensity, those constant closeups and that relentless operatic warbling wore me down more and more. I wanted to retreat about an hour in but I stuck it out, and was glad, finally, that I did. My first glance at my watch happened at the 40-minute mark. I checked it two or three times over the next hour or so. But I forgot all about the time once the the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris began. Although it's a grind getting there. Anne Hathaway will definitely snag a Best Supporting Actress nomination for those looks of panic and ache and desperation as she sings her Fantine role -- she really does have to play Judy Garland over the next two or three or four years. Hugh Jackman fully deserves a Best Actor nomination as the tale's moral heo, Jean Valjean -- the feeling and the vocal reach are entirely there and sustained start to finish. I had no problem at all (unlike some I've spoken with) with Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert -- he can sing well enough and holds his own and brings the necessary gruff steel. And Redmayne is surprisingly strong, steady and solid as Marius, a student revolutionary who tumbles for Amanda Seyfried's Cosette (adopted daughter of Valjean, biological daughter the late Fantine). Also excellent are Tviet, Samantha Barks (as the jilted-in-love Eponine), Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the scummy Monsieur and Madame Thenardier, and little Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche, a street kid who stands with the barricaders. And yet if you remove the sweeping effect of the final 40 minutes I mostly agree with today's reviews by The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy and to a somewhat lesser extent by Variety's Justin Chang. Key McCarthy quote: "A gallery of stellar performers wages a Sisyphean battle against musical diarrhea and a laboriously repetitive visual approach in the big screen version of the stage sensation Les Miserables. Victor Hugo's monumental 1862 novel about a decades-long manhunt, social inequality, family disruption, injustice and redemption started its musical life onstage in 1980 and has been around ever since. But director Tom Hooper has turned the theatrical extravaganza into something that is far less about the rigors of existence in early 19th century France than it is about actors emoting mightily and singing their guts out. For Les Miserables "is a film that, when all the emotions are echoed out at an unvarying intensity for more than 2 1/2 hours on a giant screen, feels heavily, if soaringly, monotonous. Subtle and nuanced are two words that will never be used to describe this Les Miserables." Two ladies that I came with were weeping, and I get it, I get it. Their feelings are absolutely valid. The aches and passions of this classic tale are strong and elemental and speak to compassion and charity and cries for social justice, which is why it has played so long on stage and touched so many. But how many Les Miz fans have ever participated in an Occupy demonstration? God help me and call me a sap, but I really fucking love the ending with the banners waving and the barricades up and the proudly defiant "Can You Hear The People Sing?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>"But how many Les Miz fans have ever participated in an Occupy demonstration?"<<< Two years after our own People Power revolution here in the Philippines, I saw Les Miserables for the first time! I was there for those glorious, scary, but triumphant four days of protest ( media counted the turnout to be as high as 2 million)! We threw out a dictator! When I saw a similar scene in Les Miserables ( flag-waving and all), that was when my tears started coming! And that is why my favorite song from Les Miserables is DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING! Jo |
|
|
|
Post by mamaleh on Dec 7, 2012 0:19:14 GMT -5
I appreciate the short synopsis (few lines) since I'm not reading reviews. There are very few whose opinions mean anything to me so I can't be bothered going nuts over people whose opinions I don't care about. Ellen, could you translate this sentence "The LES MIZ cast didn't make the most visited celeb sites this past week, even with all the LES MIZ promotion making the rounds." Are there sites that cast members go to? What do they do there? Also if people are saying that any Kardashian should win an Oscar then I'm even more happy that I'm not reading reviews. If that happened I would finally stop watching the Academy Awards show. I've already become jaded about the whole thing in recent years so I don't watch it the same way I used to. Sue Sue, I was referring to a general news site's (maybe msn.com's, I can't remember) listing of the entertainment news sites most visited by the public that week. Daniel Craig and Kim K. (don't worry re Oscar; the latter isn't even a real actress) were "trending," even though the listing was prepared well after SKYFALL's opening and pretty much on the heels of a lot of LES MIZ cast interviews on numerous entertainment news TV programs. To me, that indicated that the general public might not be greatly interested in LES MIZ, which would spell trouble certainly at the potential box office and possibly at awards time. Ellen |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 7, 2012 5:12:03 GMT -5
From another film site - CINEMABBLEND : www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Les-Miserables-6208.html--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOVIE REVIEW Les Miserables The first hour of Les Miserables might have the power to revive movie musicals for years. Filmed with Tom Hooper's unflinchingly intimate camera, with the likes of Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman and even Russell Crowe singing their hearts out, Les Miserables begins with a sweep of skill and emotion that sends chills, whether you're a die-hard musical theater fan or a skeptic waiting to be convinced. Anne Hathaway's performance as the doomed Fantine singing "I Dreamed A Dream" is the justly celebrated highlight, but everything in that first hour moves with energy and a sense of revival; you really never have seen a classic musical like this, and it's exhilarating. The rest of Les Miserables loses that early power, bit by bit, as the story expands to include characters it doesn't quite have room for, and a few personal sagas are meant to stand in for the longing of the French people to be free. But the performances remain strong, the songs stirring and emotional, the cinematography impeccable and the cast attractive-- there may not be as much to stand up and cheer for, but there's little not to like either. Fans of the musical-- and there are millions-- ought to delight in Hooper taking their beloved show so seriously, while newcomers curious to see Wolverine sing might catch a few tears in their eyes. There's something for everyone here, so long as audiences are willing to open up to the singing and find it. As the story belongs to his Jean Valjean, Les Miserables belongs to Jackman, who we first see emaciated and filthy as a prisoner released from hard labor after 19 years, with the watchful Javert (Crowe) to monitor his parole. The audience is bound to cry the first time Jackman does, singing "What Have I Done" in a nearly unbroken take, contemplating his turn from crime to a life of virtue-- which also involves breaking his parole. Valjean eventually winds up hiring and accidentally firing Hathaway's Fantine, who's then forced to turn to prostitution, but makes a promise on her deathbed to care for her daughter Cosette (Isabelle Allen), who lives with a pair of vile innkeepers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helen Bonham Carter). About a decade later Valjean and Cosette (now Amanda Seyfried) live in Paris, where the poor are just as wretched but a group of idealistic students (led by Aaron Tveit and Eddie Redmyane) plan a revolution. In the way of big splashy musicals (and epic novels like Victor Hugo's original) all the major characters get involved in one way or another, though if you've heard the musical's big numbers like "Do Your Hear The People Sing?" and "One Day More" as often as I have, you might be surprised by how small a role the battle actually plays. As Hooper rightly recognizes with his close-up camera, Les Miserables is an intimate but sprawling story, a series of different love stories with enough tragic notes to make them really hit. But that smallness feels out of place as the characters sing of epic battles and the rising of a people "who will not be slaves again;" when Les Miserables strains for impact beyond one individual's love for another, it feels more hollow than it might when the entire cast is there bellowing in the theater with you. Long as it is, the movie gives short shrift to a few of those stories, especially poor Eponine (Samantha Barks), whose "On My Own" is a musical theater classic but who isn't around long enough to let us feel her longing for Redmayne's Marius. And while the love-at-first-sight between Marius and Cosette gives way to some beautiful singing ("A Heart Full of Love" is gorgeous), it doesn't quite gel with the realism in the rest of the film. When the focus returns to Valjean at the end, you realize how much the center of the story had missed him; the entire cast is obviously fiercely committed to their roles, but Jackman's world-weariness and talent are the core the movie's soul. As a faithful adaptation of a smash hit musical, Les Miserables may not seem like a risk, but it's the first musical drama to aim for mainstream Hollywood success in what feels like forever, and its acceptance could mean a revival for the unjustly ignored genre-- and its rejection another decade moldering in the cupboard. The movie isn't perfect, and not even as well-executed as Hooper's The King's Speech, but in its strongest moments-- and in that flawless first hour-- it really comes close. If this is the beginning of the future of musicals on screen, we're off to a good start. Reviewed By: Katey Rich -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jo |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 7, 2012 8:54:20 GMT -5
From British media, RADIO TIMES : www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-12-07/why-you-should-go-and-see-les-misrables--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why you should go and see Les MisérablesWhether you're a first-timer or die-hard fan, the stunning cast performances and epic backdrop make Tom Hooper's adaptation a must-see, says Susanna LazarusWritten BySusanna Lazarus1:10 PM, 07 December 2012 First thing’s first – fans of Les Misérables can breathe a deep sigh of relief. This film is good. I promise. Assurances aside, don’t expect the version of the musical you've grown accustomed to on stage. Tom Hooper’s vision – with the day-to-day assistance of show creators Cameron Macintosh, Alain Boublil, Claud-Michele Schonberg and Herbie Kretzmer – offers a gritty, toughened take on the West End favourite. If you are coming to Les Misérables with fresh eyes, you will be greeted by Victor Hugo’s timeless plot richly illustrated by emotive lyrics and some Oscar-worthy performances from the film’s star-studded cast. But if, like me, you have spent your formative years reciting the famous score by heart, the big-screen adaptation will force you to reconsider the brutal hardship and intense emotional pain upon which the musical is based. The film opens with an unrecognisable Hugh Jackman, haggard and caked with grime as he toils under the sharp eye of Russell Crowe’s Inspector Javert. While Crowe’s vocal capabilities at times detract from his menacing presence and iron-fisted pursuit, Jackman’s performance as ex-convict Jean Valjean is nothing short of staggering. From his crazed deliverance of What Have I Done? to his torn rendition of Who Am I?, his commitment and transformation into Les Misérables' wronged hero is a fine example of his craft – and more importantly generates the compassion from the audience required to sustain the film’s lengthy two and a half hour running time. And from one touted Oscar nomination to another – Anne Hathaway’s tortured turn as troubled prostitute Fantine will stay with you for days. Her heart-breaking descent into destitution required a shocking physical transformation from Hathaway – including the live shearing of her hair in exchange for the treasured ten francs she believes will save her young daughter, Cosette. Tom Hooper invests in her performance of iconic song I Dreamed A Dream – which incidentally could not be further from Susan Boyle’s crowd-rousing rendition – by eschewing fancy gimmicks in favour of an extended close up shot that beautifully captures Fantine's crushed dreams and haunting torment. He employs a similar technique for street urchin Éponine’s ode to unrequited love, On My Own, to equally marvellous effect. Les Misérables has long been criticised for leaving strong female actresses with supporting roles, but newcomer Samantha Barks (who beat out top Hollywood actresses to play the role she first portrayed on stage) shines under The King’s Speech helmer’s direction. Hooper broke with convention by pushing for his cast to sing the tracks live (instead of miming to a pre-record) and securing a nine-week rehearsal slot to perfect the film’s many musical numbers. But it’s a gamble that has undoubtedly paid off. The immediacy and feverish intensity the songs often achieve is a direct reflection of the freedom the decision enabled the cast to operate within. Where the likes of Chicago and Mamma Mia may have felt formulaic, Les Misérables’ actors have the added passion that allows them to carry the 200-year-old plot into the present day. One particular example is Eddie Redmayne’s Marius – the love-struck student and revolutionary, desperately in love with Amanda Seyfried’s Cosette. Redmayne’s quivery, conflicted presence is the unexpected success of the production. The Oscars chatter may have paid lip service to Jackman’s and Hathaway’s performances but the Eton alumni deserves a mention for more than his dreamboat looks. There are a few of the bigger numbers where Michael Ball’s transcendent warble is missed, but Redmayne’s captivating presence anchors the film’s second half as he battles against split loyalties between the love of his life and his political beliefs. Unfortunately, having to convince an audience you’ve fallen in love with Seyfried’s Cosette is a tough gig. If there’s one weak link in the chain it’s her doe-eyed, insipid performance which fails to ignite any degree of connection with the viewer. Playing Valjean’s meek charge has limited creative scope but for all of Seyfried’s A-list clout, it is Barks’ chemistry with Redmayne which succeeds in striking a chord with the audience – with her premature death inciting the emotion that Seyfried fails to deliver. But her young counterpart – ten-year-old Isabelle Allen, plucked from obscurity to star in her first feature film – makes a commendable breakthrough as the orphaned Cosette, matched by Daniel Huddlestone’s admirable performance as spirited youngster Gavroche who joins forces with the revolutionary students on their doomed barricade. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen do what they do best playing darkly comic innkeepers the Thénardiers, thieving and sleazing their way through 19th century Paris. Neither can be commended for their vocal abilities – with Cohen’s indecisive accent bizarrely oscillating between Borat and Ali G – but the Burton-esque quality they bring to the roles aligns nicely with Hooper’s grimy portrayal of the impoverished French streets. At times the mood teeters into over-sentimentality; Gavroche’s spirited revival of Do You Hear The People Sing from the barricade is a close shave, but Javert’s pained review of the battle victims provides a medicinal balance, and I challenge you not to feel your eyes prickle during Jackman’s final scenes. This is not a revolutionary adaptation of the West End favourite, but instead a close retelling of the story and score that has attracted 60 million to the stage show – a wise move that reflects the close partnership between the production’s creators and adaptors. But where a trip to the theatre affords you an interval to recover, keeping the attention of cinema-goers throughout is a considerable challenge. Enjoyment of Les Misérables requires emotional investment to avoid the rich narrative being swamped by Hooper's epic locations. In this case the cast more than deliver, resulting in an adaptation that fully does justice to the much-loved tale it brings to life. Take it from a die-hard fan - go and see it! Les Misérables is released in UK cinemas nationwide on 11 January 2013. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jo |
|
|
|
Post by birchie on Dec 7, 2012 9:43:07 GMT -5
I've stopped giggling enough to point out that sometimes the bad reviews are down right funny. The worst review yet on Rotten Tomatoes is written by a woman who says she loves, "comedies, tragedies, and watching stuff get blowed up real good." OMG! I love it when some idiot proves me right!  I wrote something over at IMDB about Les Miserables not being for stupid people. That lady proves my point. 8-) Like I said there, we are lucky because we won't have to share the theater with very many stupid people because most of them won't even understand the write-ups in the movie listings. Sue |
|
jo
Ensemble
Posts: 46,434
|
Post by jo on Dec 7, 2012 18:00:13 GMT -5
Mr. Scott Chitwood writes for the fanboy-oriented site COMINGSOON.NET and confesses to not being a musicals fan. Yet his review seems to be one of the most honest and sincere reactions to the movie that I have read so far. www.comingsoon.net/news/reviewsnews.php?id=97823-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Les Misérables Reviewed by: Scott Chitwood Rating: 7.5 out of 10 Movie Details: View here Cast: Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean Russell Crowe as Javert Anne Hathaway as Fantine Eddie Redmayne as Marius Amanda Seyfried as Cosette Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier Sacha Baron Cohen as Thénardier Samantha Barks as Éponine Isabelle Allen as Young Cosette Aaron Tveit as Enjolras Colm Wilkinson as Bishop of Digne Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche Patrick Godfrey as Gillnormande Marc Pickering as Montparnasse George Blagden as Grantaire Bertie Carvel as Bamatabois Alistair Brammer as Jean Prouvaire Fra Fee as Courfeyrac Natalya Angel Wallace as Young Eponine Killian Donnelly as Combeferre Directed by Tom Hooper Summary: Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and the excellent cast make "Les Misérables" an enjoyable film even for people that aren't fans of musicals. Impressive production design and live signing on the set make it noteworthy, but the story does tend to be a little long and repetitive. Story: "Les Misérables" is based on the stage musical which is in turn is based on the story by Victor Hugo from 1862. Several years after the French Revolution, things are going bad in the country once again as a new king rises to the throne. The rich remain rich and the poor are as bad off as ever. Amid this setting, Jean Valjean finds himself in prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread as well as for numerous escape attempts. There, he has been constantly harassed by prison guard Javert. Valjean is finally released, but when he returns to society he finds himself an outcast and unable to find work. He begins to turn into the thief he was unfairly labeled as. But after a religious epiphany, Valjean resolves to break his parole, create a new identity, and start his life over. Six years later, Valjean has become the mayor of a town and a successful businessman, but his world is turned upside down when Javert arrives in town as the new police inspector. Valjean becomes consumed with worry that he will be recognized. Unfortunately, this distracts him from the plight of one of his employees, Fantine. Harassed by the other workers and an evil manager, Fantine loses her job and is forced to become a prostitute in order to support her young daughter Cosette. Eventually Valjean learns of her plight, but he is too late to save her. Fantine dies, but not before Valjean promises to locate Cosette and care for her. But unfortunately, Javert discovers Valjean's true identity. Now on the run, Valjean must stay one step ahead of his nemesis if he's going to keep his promise. "Les Misérables" is rated PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements. What Worked: I must confess that I'm not a huge musical fan. I've seen a few musicals on the stage and screen over time and I've enjoyed them, but I don't go out of my way to see them. And while I had heard of "Les Misérables," I knew very little about it. But I was certainly willing to give this movie a shot and I'm always up for seeing Wolverine sing, so I went into this film with an open mind. While it didn't magically turn me into a musical fan, I did find it entertaining. For those like me who don't regularly watch musicals, it does take a while to get used to everybody singing all of the time. There are no breaks here where characters deliver lines of dialogue. They sing every single line in the film. Fortunately the film is kicked off by Hugh Jackman and he sells it well. Jackman comes from a theatrical background, so he's in his element here. It doesn't take you long to roll with the musical thing. And the fact that they filmed the singing live on set and not with lip syncing to a pre-recorded track adds an interesting dimension to it. This is especially the case as they do long takes with all of the actors. The end result is something different yet interesting. After getting over the musical element, the next thing you notice about the film is the impressive production design. The film opens with a spectacular effects scene where the prisoners are pulling a ship into dry dock. You see a grizzled Hugh Jackman wearing rags and sporting a beard and short hair. The film then transitions to various post-revolutionary locations in France. It's easy to overlook just how many visual effects there are in this film, but the sweeping overhead shots and large sets really help expand this beyond what could be done on a theater stage. It's all quite impressive. Despite the cool effects and detailed costumes, it's the actors that really make "Les Misérables" work. We already knew Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and Amanda Seyfried could act, but this film really shows off their full range of talents. Hugh Jackman is excellent as Jean Valjean, a true hero. He places others ahead of himself and no matter how he's beaten down, his moral compass remains true. Jackman makes him tortured and emotional, but you're always drawn to his character. And, as we always knew, the dude can sing. Anne Hathaway isn't in the film very long as Fantine, but she makes a tremendous impact with what little time she has. She sings the signature song "I Dreamed a Dream" and knocks it out of the park with an incredibly emotional rendition. It's even more impressive that she did it in one long take and live on the set. Russell Crowe reminds me of a singing Gerard from "The Fugitive" in his role as Javert. He doggedly pursues Valjean and makes a solid villain. Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried are also both good, but Samantha Barks really stands out as Éponine. She's a fresh face on the screen, so she really becomes the character for the audience over the course of the film. Barks played her character in the stage version of the "Les Misérables," so needless to say she has the singing talent to match anything offered by the more cinematically experienced cast. It will be interesting to see where she goes from here. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen round out the supporting cast and provide much needed comic relief amid this otherwise dark film. But there appearance is very reminiscent of their work in "Sweeny Todd." While the music from "Les Misérables" has been around for years, it was mostly new to me. I was somewhat familiar with "I Dreamed a Dream" and it's definitely one of the better songs in the film, especially when performed by Hathaway. But the song "Do You Hear The People Sing?" is a showstopper as well. The entire cast singing it together is a great moment of the movie. The comedic "Master of the House" is also fun. There are a few duets and that turn into trios and are musically impressive. "A Little Fall of Rain" is one of them and it really showcases the talents of Barks, Seyfried, and Redmayne. What Didn't Work: While I did like "Les Misérables," I did have some problems with it. One big one was the conclusion of the story. In it we see Marius and his friends revolting in the streets against the government. But, honestly, I had a hard time understanding what specifically they were fighting against and what they were trying to accomplish. Yeah, they hated the rich and the government, but I didn't entirely follow the goal. So when they ultimately fail, it seems like they were pretty pathetic revolutionaries who wasted their lives. Did they inspire change? Did they inspire further revolution? The movie doesn't really say so it ends up feeling like a tremendous waste of life even when everyone is singing in the rousing finale. The story is also somewhat repetitive. Javert corners Valjean, Valjean freaks out, Valjean narrowly escapes, Javert continues his pursuit. This happens around four times over the course of the film and starts feeling overdone. But I suppose that's the fault of the original story, not the movie. One highlight of the film is when Tom Hooper brings the camera in very close on his actors and has them sing incredibly emotional songs on very long, single takes. Jackman is the first to do it and it's very impressive. Then Hooper does it again with Hathaway and it's again quite impressive. But then by the third time he does it with Crowe, you start seeing what he's doing. By the time it is done a third, fourth, and fifth time with Barks, Seyfried, and Redmayne, it starts to feel more like a gimmick and less like a way to bring the audience intimately closer with the characters. I think using a little more variety in technique would have served Hooper better. The Bottom Line:
If you're already a "Les Misérables" fan, I think you will be quite happy with this film version. But if you're not a big musical fan like me, I think you'll still find it worth checking out just to see something different.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jo |
|
