Cate Blanchett
The Beautiful and Talented Godgend Señor El Diablo Blanchitto
Returning to Hollywood with a Vengeance in 2013
In the middle of watching the 25th Anniversary concert right now. I should get a T-shirt that says, 'I survived Lea Salonga's Fantine!'
I showed her my review...
Her reaction:
Actually, I really enjoyed her singing. It would take alot to destroy a character like Fantine. I actually think her singing here is stronger than her singing as Eponine in the 10th Anniversary concert. I did have to concentrate to not laugh at her facial expressions though! I did my best to find the wavelength she was on as an actor and tried to zero in on it. She is just so over the top but she is COMMITTED I'll say that for her.
Over all, I'm half way through and this version is generally very good but definitely lacks the magic of the 10th. However, the sound is really good, so that has helped me to understand some of the lyrics a bit better. I want to get the 10th rendition on Blu-ray soon - the version I saw previously was regular DVD - it could use the upgrade for it's sound quality. Here it's pretty pristine.
The actor playing Enjolas here, Ramin Karimloo, is pretty comparable to the excellent one from the 10th, Michael Maguire and is a revelation. The fact that Marius is such a cipher and non-entity in this version, as played by Nick Jonas, after being such a force of romantic nature and incredible singing in the 10th, when played by Michael Ball, makes Enjolas stand out even MORE. Jonas - I don't know what they were thinking. There's just no there there. His voice is non-existent for a role such as this. And his whole presence, his acting, is vacant and vapid. He looks like a school boy. He probably could have played little Gavroche. And speaking of Gavroche, that actor, Robert Madge is much improved from the 10th version! His singing is superb.
And I actually really like Samantha Bark's Eponine!?!?! OMG the amount of times I saw her video posted here as an object of derision and scorn. I don't get what AD's problem with her here is all about? Maybe that she smiles too much? I mean, she is pretty excellent here. Not definitive or anything, but her On My Own was very impressive. She is certainly better than the actress playing Cossette here, Katie Hall who's voice is kinda weird for me, it's pretty but something is a bit off for me - it's rather thin and whispy or something.
Javert and Valjean, Norm Lewis and Alfie Boe, are both terrific though, but not extraordinary like Quast and Wilkinson.
Still have to finish it, but it's quite enjoyable thus far overall.
So I just found out "A Little Fall of Rain" didn't make the OST. Even there Eponine gets the short end of the stick.
COMING THIS AWARDS SEASON
GATSBY VS. GATSBY
Well, finally saw it. Could have been great in the hands of a competent filmmaker but, damn, Hopper's direction was even more atrocious than expected.
Never thought much of Jackman as an actor and well, his Valjean didn't change my mind. He was, um, kind of hammy in the second half.
Hathaway has an impresive voice, but Fantine is handled awfully, imho, all that suffering condensed in 5 minutes made me laugh.
I enjoyed Bark's On my Own and the groupal songs.
And Crowe singing like a normal person kind of work for me, I'm absolutely obsessed with his rendition of Stars, it's very sexy.
The Thenardiers rocked and Eddie R. lives up the great reviews.
Overall, I hope this isn't the definite film version.
Korean Army recruitment campaign. lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZunE...h8ZXcQtsANM4ww
Being a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be- Princess Diana
It's not just youOriginally Posted by just me
It feels like such a cash grab. It's so awful as a concert compared to the 10th because of the cast (the 10th ALMOST gets it perfect—Lea Salon again being a huge problem, and Henshaw being...moderately good) while offering none of the advantages of the other recordings (the complete recording loses the essential Wilkinson but subs in the essential Quast—who of course also graces the 10th).
Now that I've finished it, I can say on the whole it was definitely underwhelming and a tremendous disappointment. I can't wait to watch the 10th one again but I have almost no desire to ever see the 25th a 2nd time - I just really, really loved Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras again - he's stunning - he should have played Enjolras and Marius at the same time if that were humanely possible.
OMG, the Valjean from the CSR is so fucking awful. I laughed during "The Confrontation". But Cosette and the Thenardiers are pretty bad as well.
Cate Blanchett
The Beautiful and Talented Godgend Señor El Diablo Blanchitto
Returning to Hollywood with a Vengeance in 2013
This was a very sad butchering of a literary masterpiece.
Overlong, yet it feels rushed.
Theatrical, yet straining to be intimate.
I was one of the few people totally satisfied with TKS winning over TSN, but Hooper is obviously out of depths here. A strangely apathetic direction on autopilot with the same three cues. Worst were probably the Thenardier scene - so pathetic in its litterality.
Lelouch's 1995 version of the book remains my favourite.
I always find it curious when reviews for this movie treat it as an adaptation of the book. Of course, to some extent it is LOL. But also, not really. It's well, to be obvious, an adaptation of the stage musical first and foremost. Their allegiance in adapting it is first and foremost to the legion of superfans that are responsible for making Les Miz the musical, into the juggernaut it is. Respect for the literary genius of Hugo notwithstanding, this is pretty far removed from the book at this point as a true adaptation.
Also, I think it's generally dangerous to go into movie musicals without knowing anything much about them beforehand. I'm not saying you can't enjoy them this way, but I usually like to know some of the songs at least and get a feel for them before I see a movie version of them first. Something like Les Miz is so dense and overwhelming as a show, I know I didn't want my first experience with it to be the Hollywood version of it, especially since they had cast so many non-theater trained singers in it. But I'm the kind of person who likes to prep for movies and things and not just dive in.
I have seen the musical, I know it.
And even as an adaptation of that this is not that great, but whatever. My general distaste of musicals is well known.
Oh, ok, it was hard to tell in your review, since you seem to take offense more for it's mangling of Victor Hugo than anything else. It just reminded me of how the British critics originally savaged the show when it first opened in London in 1985, is all. The very idea of a Victor Hugo musical seemed to make them snort with derision. It was the people ('Do you Hear the People!?!?') that saved the show at the box office and forced critics to reevaluate it. And then of course it was a behemoth on Broadway as well.
I think this was somehow worse than the stage version. This adaptation is in such a hurry it at times feels soap-y. They should have cut far more than they did, I think. As Hooper insist for us to have an emotional connection to everybody, it does get a bit exhausting and the overall story about redemption and grace is a bit let down.
BECAUSE WE NEED FIVE MINUTS OF EPONINE WHINING IN THE RAIN etc.
LOL Eponine's part was the most cut!!! Can't have the best female singer in the cast outshining the bigger female movie stars in the cast, now can we?
Though not cut as much as in the Billy August version, no.
I do not like the August version much, but that at least made sense to do.LOL Eponine's part was the most cut!!! Can't have the best female singer in the cast outshining the bigger female movie stars in the cast, now can we?
Though not cut as much as in the Billy August version, no.
Btw, I think Jackman's nomination is okay.
Hathaway's is LOL.
The best thing to say about Crowe is that he had none of that excessive vibrato everybody else had.
Oh, this is so true. I thought a lot of Acts II and III was tedious fluff (Bark was nice though). All we needed was a story line about Cosette trying to figure out which of the three men was her real father (let's see, is it Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, or...Colin Firth!).
I liked Hathaway though. Jackman was all right, especially in the beginning, but he made a better cowboy.
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that was my favorite song of this thing. A tender moment + Barks and Redmayne's wonderful voices.
