We review the new 2012 film adaptation of Les Miserables.
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We review the new 2012 film adaptation of Les Miserables.
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Matthew invites you to read Pedro Páramo with him
NO! NO! DON’T YOU BASH THIS MOVIE! DO NOT DO IT! THIS MOVIE IS…
Ah, screw it, I’m tired. Anyway, I loved it. Except Russell Crowe. NEVER Russell Crowe. He was a disaster of Fifty Shades-esque proportions. Whoever said he’d be good as Javert should be dragged into the street and shot. Also, Hugh butchered “Bring Him Home”.
(Note for any government authorities reading this: I wasn’t serious about the shooting thing! Just a little joke! Please don’t arrest me!)
Hugh Jackman screamed the first line of “Bring Him Home”. I started banging my head on the wall.
Yeah, I thought his acting was very good but the singing was mediocre. I was willing to forgive it up until “Bring Him Home”. But that’s Valjean’s signature song. You HAVE to do well on that song if you’re Valjean. And he didn’t just do it badly, he butchered it. It was a disaster.
The acting makes up for it somewhat, but that still disappointed me. To be fair though I was only disappointed because he surprised me the rest of the movie. But yeah, not a Hugh fan regardless.
I think “kinda shitty” is pretty apt description of LES MISERABLES. I know all the die-hard fans have been waiting so long for it that they’re in denial over how bad it is but… it’s bad.
Hugh Jackman was okay, I may have checked out mentally by the time we got to “Bring Him Home”. What Bonhama Carter and Baron Cohen, though, did to “Master of the House” was just wretched. And of course Russell Crowe cannot sing for shit.
Here’s my review, where if anything I think I was too nice: http://www.cinema-ramblings.com/2013/01/les-miserables.html
Hey, I resent that. Not in denial here! I did not go in with great expectations. Hopeful, yes, but I was (rightfully) skeptical of Hugh and Crowe. Especially Crowe. I thought everybody else was great though, Anne especially. Well, maybe not Amanda Seymour, but in fairness to her Cosette is the most bland, boring character ever, rivaled only by Christine in Phantom of the Opera.
…And for that matter I actually thought that Samantha Barks was better here than in the 25th anniversary concert.
Barks and Hathaway yes. Jackman is good but I agree he drags some of that shit out too much (this is where that “live” singing shit fails). Almost everybody else sucks.
But it’s not just shitty singing that makes it bad. SWEENEY TODD is filled with performers who aren’t exactly the greatest singers and I love that movie. Because the songs are great. The story is great. LES MISERABLES has a great story that is lost in a sea of endless drivel. I know people love the musical and I should not judge based on a crap film adaptation but only a handful of the numbers were memorable to me. After a while, it just becomes this cacophonous sea of noise where I can’t tell where one song ends and another begins. But if you like it, you like it. I’m sure if I were to see a live production of the show, I’d like it more than I do now. So I won’t write it off yet.
Ha! Ironic. My feelings about Sweeney Todd are kind of similar to yours about Les Mis. I didn’t HATE it, but I thought Helena Bonham Carter was nigh-impossible to understand and I like the score of Les Mis waaaaaaay more. Still, if you weren’t crazy about the score, that would explain quite a bit. Les Miserables has a lot of leitmotifs in it (recurring sections of songs that crop up periodically) so I can see why somebody might think it repetitive after awhile (I don’t, though).
I actually think, ironically, that Sweeney Todd is the darker, more depressing movie, actually.
I honestly love Les Miserables. I’ve read the unabridged novel and seen the musical in Chicago and London. I was beyond excited when I first heard about this movie adaptation. Then I saw the first clips of it and oh, my heart, it was broken.
“Master of the House” was horrendous. They added a sex scene with Santa Claus. Where did that even… what?!
Sex in a musical number? Hmmm…. Clearly, the FIFTY SHADES OF GREY movie needs to be a musical!!!
I can just see Christian serenading Ana now… “You play such a virgin in the light but need no urging in the night!”
Now, if you really want to talk about a bad movie adaptation of a musical try the “Phantom of the Opera” with Gerard Butler. His “scar” was the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen. His singing was okay until you realize that he’s the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Pretty much every other Phantom I’ve ever heard (including High School Phantoms!) have a more powerful voice than him.
And it was soooooooo boring…man, now THAT was a bad movie.
I only recently found Bad Books, Good Times, and I just… Love it. There has yet to be something I didn’t agree with about any of the books and this Les Miserables review just made my day.
This blog is my favorite thing on the Internet so far.
Your review of our blog just made my day =D