Books and Films of 2010, Les Mis Meme
I'm annoyed by LJ's new welcoming page/"home". They've removed the only textbox I found useful, and added new ones I know I'll never use! As far as I know that page can't be customised either:(
I'm clearing up my backlog containing things I intended to post, so here are my books and movies of January 2010 and a Les Mis meme. Sherlock Holmes really needs its own post as well...
(Italics signify books I’ve read before. Underlined signifies books read in Norwegian, the rest were in English, or French if labelled)
Books of 2010: January
1. Nation - Terry Pratchett
-I bought this at the airport, when I couldn’t find anything interesting in the bookshop. I figured Pratchett always write at the least halfway decent books (I like them well enough, but I’m not his greatest fan) and ended up with this. Turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable, particularly the part where Mau and Daphne first started communicating with each other.
2. Sherlock Holmes; A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- E-book. I think it is a proven fact by now that I only need a tiny little push, often in the form of a movie, to get into a larger franchise. Very enjoyable. My only other experience with Holmes is “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, which both bored me and scared me a bit (I’m afraid of dogs) when I read it somewhere between the ages 10-12, the 2009 movie, and the author’s fictional experiences in the novel “Arthur & George”, which I’m halfway through.
3. Sherlock Holmes; The Sign of Four - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- E-book. Better written than A Study in Scarlet, though I liked that one better in terms of plot. Some great Holmes/Watson interaction, and I kind of love Mary Morstan.
4.Slumdog Millionaire/Q&A - Vikas Swarup
- For school, more specifically English class. Took me a while to get used to the style, but a very decent book. I sort of hated the last couple of chapters though. Incidentally, that was the part of the movie I enjoyed the most.
Films of 2010;January
1. Life of Brian
- I just can’t seem to learn to appreciate Monty Python beyond parts of Spamalot...
2. Tratra - Mitt liv som tater - for sociology-class
3. Flashdance
- Flashdance/lapdance of the eighties is truly something…not. Craptastic movie, in the bad sense. Jennifer Beals has quite beautiful eyes, that's about the only positive thing I'm capable of saying.
4. Iron Man
- ooh, this is great. I never saw this in cinemas, because I remember seeing the promo pics and thinking about how I hate robots. Turns out Iron Man wasn’t a robot, and RDJ is awesome and adorable and hot. And I adore Pepper Potts.
5. Slumdog Millionaire
- I though it was really bad compared to the book (did it win its Oscars solely for its edginess?!?), and the book is not even one I count among my favourites. The movie has very little in common with the book. They really messed up Salim, but at least the became a more interesting character and got his redemption. It became better closer to the end though, and Bollywood-ish end titles FTW!
6. Sherlock Holmes; The Sign of Four (Granada production)
- Hey, it’s feature length, it totally counts as a film! A wonderful adaption, Watson and Mary are so dear!
7. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
- Aww, how adorable can RDJ be? Fun in a *headdesk* kind of way, and hee, Rockmond Dunbar (C-note from Prison Break)! I'll never forget that failure of a Russian Roulette scene, it's priceless:)
8. Some-Cartoon-version-of-Notre-Dame-de-Paris-not-listed-on-IMDB
- First part follows canon beautifully in terms of story, right down to Gringoire/Djali! But it also had atrocious animation, an entirely absent Phoebus, a lack of Jehan and Clopin (latter at least in terms of a named character. There’s a “main gypsy”, but that’s all), a surviving Esmeralda and a Frollo whose portrayal steadily got worse as the plot developed.
1. How many times have you seen Les Mis?
- I've lost count! I'm quite close to 30...27/28?
2. How many cities have you seen Les Mis in?
- 7
3. In what year did you first see Les Mis?
- 2006, twice in Trondheim.
4. In what year did you see the show the most times?
- I believe that would have to be in 2008.
5. Which was your first cast (principals only)?
I ignore Trondheim, as I only barely remember it and didn't pay much attention to the cast (I thought Valjean, Javert and Éponine were awesome, that's all I remember). First time I paid attention to the cast: John Owen-Jones (Valjean), Hans Petter Janessens (Javert), Jon Lee (Marius), Simon Bailey (Enjolras), Jeff Nicholson (Grantaire). I had 3 understudies, and I never caught their names. Éponine was tiny, that's all I remember.
6. How many Valjeans have you seen?
- 9.
7. How many Javerts have you seen?
- 9.
8. What cast member have you seen more than any other cast member (roles can be combined for this)?
- I've seen David Thaxton a fair amount of times, as Courfeyrac/Bamatabois and Enjolras. And Drew Sarich as Valjean 6 times (I believe).
9. How many swings have you see play three or more roles? Who are they?
- 0. I've seen Jeff Nicholson as Grantaire, Factory Foreman and Brujon, but he's not technically a swing as far as I know.
10. Which cast member(s) did you/would you drop it all to go see?
- I've done it multiple times for Thaxton:) And I would do it for Hayden Tee.
11. How many Fantines have you seen?
- 10?
12. How many pairs of Thenardiers have you seen?
- Pairs, as in combinations? Strange question. 7 plus however many I've seen in London (at least 4-5 different Thénardiers and 3 different Madame T's that I can recall).
13. How many Marii?
- 11? Ought to be 1 or 2 times more than the number of Cosettes, I think.
14. How many Cosettes?
- 10?
15. How many Eponines? At least 9.
16. How many Enjolrases?
9 (4 Norwegian ones, Kasper le Fevre, Simon Bailey, Max von Essen, Edward Baruwa and David Thaxton.
17. How many people from commercial Les Mis recordings have you seen in the show onstage?
- 0, as far as I know. I might have missed some random member of the ensemble.
18. Which understudy from any production did you never see in a leading role but wish you had?
- Richard Woodford as Javert. Or Jeff Nicholson for that matter.
19. Which performance by an understudy was the best you've ever seen?
- Jonathan Williams as Valjean, hands down.
20. Which performance by a regular lead was the worst you've ever seen?
- That would be that God-awful Fantine...Allyson Brown.
Which OLC or OBC cast member do you most wish you could have seen live?
- I'd pay to avoid most of them, actually. Michael Ball (he's adorabe) or Terrence Mann (I love his Chauvelin) I guess.
22. How many regional productions have you seen?
- Depends on your definition of regional. If outside a fairly major city, 1 (Lillestrøm), if "not London/Broadway" 5.
23. Of all the performances you've seen, in which one were the characterizations generally the closest to the novel?
- Eh, I kind of try to keep the characterisations firmly separate. But
I guess it'll have to be something including Thaxton and emo!boy Jon:)
Second-to-last cast, with Jonathan Williams as Valjean (u/s), David Thaxton as Enjolras and Jon Robyns as Marius, I think:)
24. Name any cast members you've seen in one role over 50 times.
- Zero, I'm not yet at 30 performances!
What, no question about a Dreamcast? I'll answer it anyway;)
Note: Here I've only listed the people I've actually seen live.
Valjean: Jonathan Williams or the Danish guy.
Javert: Robert Hunt.
Fantine: ...Joanna Ampil? I think I liked her.
Marius: Jon Robyns, emo!boy! No really, have you guys seen his Drink With Me?;)
Cosette: Leanne Dobinson
Éponine: Megan McGinnis. Nancy Sullivan is fine as well, though I can't stand the way she screeches those high notes at the end of On My Own.
Thénardier: Chip Zien, the danish one, Roy Litvin (u/s), Martin Ball...I don't really care, but I like these ones at least.
Madame Thénardier: The thin one I saw a couple of years ago, I can't be bothered to look up the name.
Enjolras: David Thaxton, duh. None over, none beside.
Grantaire: I'm not certain anymore. I'll go for Michael Minarik (after my last visit to London, with Nealy, I actually missed Richard Woodford in the role...I was surprised at this development).
I'm clearing up my backlog containing things I intended to post, so here are my books and movies of January 2010 and a Les Mis meme. Sherlock Holmes really needs its own post as well...
(Italics signify books I’ve read before. Underlined signifies books read in Norwegian, the rest were in English, or French if labelled)
Books of 2010: January
1. Nation - Terry Pratchett
-I bought this at the airport, when I couldn’t find anything interesting in the bookshop. I figured Pratchett always write at the least halfway decent books (I like them well enough, but I’m not his greatest fan) and ended up with this. Turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable, particularly the part where Mau and Daphne first started communicating with each other.
2. Sherlock Holmes; A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- E-book. I think it is a proven fact by now that I only need a tiny little push, often in the form of a movie, to get into a larger franchise. Very enjoyable. My only other experience with Holmes is “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, which both bored me and scared me a bit (I’m afraid of dogs) when I read it somewhere between the ages 10-12, the 2009 movie, and the author’s fictional experiences in the novel “Arthur & George”, which I’m halfway through.
3. Sherlock Holmes; The Sign of Four - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- E-book. Better written than A Study in Scarlet, though I liked that one better in terms of plot. Some great Holmes/Watson interaction, and I kind of love Mary Morstan.
4.Slumdog Millionaire/Q&A - Vikas Swarup
- For school, more specifically English class. Took me a while to get used to the style, but a very decent book. I sort of hated the last couple of chapters though. Incidentally, that was the part of the movie I enjoyed the most.
Films of 2010;January
1. Life of Brian
- I just can’t seem to learn to appreciate Monty Python beyond parts of Spamalot...
2. Tratra - Mitt liv som tater - for sociology-class
3. Flashdance
- Flashdance/lapdance of the eighties is truly something…not. Craptastic movie, in the bad sense. Jennifer Beals has quite beautiful eyes, that's about the only positive thing I'm capable of saying.
4. Iron Man
- ooh, this is great. I never saw this in cinemas, because I remember seeing the promo pics and thinking about how I hate robots. Turns out Iron Man wasn’t a robot, and RDJ is awesome and adorable and hot. And I adore Pepper Potts.
5. Slumdog Millionaire
- I though it was really bad compared to the book (did it win its Oscars solely for its edginess?!?), and the book is not even one I count among my favourites. The movie has very little in common with the book. They really messed up Salim, but at least the became a more interesting character and got his redemption. It became better closer to the end though, and Bollywood-ish end titles FTW!
6. Sherlock Holmes; The Sign of Four (Granada production)
- Hey, it’s feature length, it totally counts as a film! A wonderful adaption, Watson and Mary are so dear!
7. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
- Aww, how adorable can RDJ be? Fun in a *headdesk* kind of way, and hee, Rockmond Dunbar (C-note from Prison Break)! I'll never forget that failure of a Russian Roulette scene, it's priceless:)
8. Some-Cartoon-version-of-Notre-Dame-de-Paris-not-listed-on-IMDB
- First part follows canon beautifully in terms of story, right down to Gringoire/Djali! But it also had atrocious animation, an entirely absent Phoebus, a lack of Jehan and Clopin (latter at least in terms of a named character. There’s a “main gypsy”, but that’s all), a surviving Esmeralda and a Frollo whose portrayal steadily got worse as the plot developed.
1. How many times have you seen Les Mis?
- I've lost count! I'm quite close to 30...27/28?
2. How many cities have you seen Les Mis in?
- 7
3. In what year did you first see Les Mis?
- 2006, twice in Trondheim.
4. In what year did you see the show the most times?
- I believe that would have to be in 2008.
5. Which was your first cast (principals only)?
I ignore Trondheim, as I only barely remember it and didn't pay much attention to the cast (I thought Valjean, Javert and Éponine were awesome, that's all I remember). First time I paid attention to the cast: John Owen-Jones (Valjean), Hans Petter Janessens (Javert), Jon Lee (Marius), Simon Bailey (Enjolras), Jeff Nicholson (Grantaire). I had 3 understudies, and I never caught their names. Éponine was tiny, that's all I remember.
6. How many Valjeans have you seen?
- 9.
7. How many Javerts have you seen?
- 9.
8. What cast member have you seen more than any other cast member (roles can be combined for this)?
- I've seen David Thaxton a fair amount of times, as Courfeyrac/Bamatabois and Enjolras. And Drew Sarich as Valjean 6 times (I believe).
9. How many swings have you see play three or more roles? Who are they?
- 0. I've seen Jeff Nicholson as Grantaire, Factory Foreman and Brujon, but he's not technically a swing as far as I know.
10. Which cast member(s) did you/would you drop it all to go see?
- I've done it multiple times for Thaxton:) And I would do it for Hayden Tee.
11. How many Fantines have you seen?
- 10?
12. How many pairs of Thenardiers have you seen?
- Pairs, as in combinations? Strange question. 7 plus however many I've seen in London (at least 4-5 different Thénardiers and 3 different Madame T's that I can recall).
13. How many Marii?
- 11? Ought to be 1 or 2 times more than the number of Cosettes, I think.
14. How many Cosettes?
- 10?
15. How many Eponines? At least 9.
16. How many Enjolrases?
9 (4 Norwegian ones, Kasper le Fevre, Simon Bailey, Max von Essen, Edward Baruwa and David Thaxton.
17. How many people from commercial Les Mis recordings have you seen in the show onstage?
- 0, as far as I know. I might have missed some random member of the ensemble.
18. Which understudy from any production did you never see in a leading role but wish you had?
- Richard Woodford as Javert. Or Jeff Nicholson for that matter.
19. Which performance by an understudy was the best you've ever seen?
- Jonathan Williams as Valjean, hands down.
20. Which performance by a regular lead was the worst you've ever seen?
- That would be that God-awful Fantine...Allyson Brown.
Which OLC or OBC cast member do you most wish you could have seen live?
- I'd pay to avoid most of them, actually. Michael Ball (he's adorabe) or Terrence Mann (I love his Chauvelin) I guess.
22. How many regional productions have you seen?
- Depends on your definition of regional. If outside a fairly major city, 1 (Lillestrøm), if "not London/Broadway" 5.
23. Of all the performances you've seen, in which one were the characterizations generally the closest to the novel?
- Eh, I kind of try to keep the characterisations firmly separate. But
I guess it'll have to be something including Thaxton and emo!boy Jon:)
Second-to-last cast, with Jonathan Williams as Valjean (u/s), David Thaxton as Enjolras and Jon Robyns as Marius, I think:)
24. Name any cast members you've seen in one role over 50 times.
- Zero, I'm not yet at 30 performances!
What, no question about a Dreamcast? I'll answer it anyway;)
Note: Here I've only listed the people I've actually seen live.
Valjean: Jonathan Williams or the Danish guy.
Javert: Robert Hunt.
Fantine: ...Joanna Ampil? I think I liked her.
Marius: Jon Robyns, emo!boy! No really, have you guys seen his Drink With Me?;)
Cosette: Leanne Dobinson
Éponine: Megan McGinnis. Nancy Sullivan is fine as well, though I can't stand the way she screeches those high notes at the end of On My Own.
Thénardier: Chip Zien, the danish one, Roy Litvin (u/s), Martin Ball...I don't really care, but I like these ones at least.
Madame Thénardier: The thin one I saw a couple of years ago, I can't be bothered to look up the name.
Enjolras: David Thaxton, duh. None over, none beside.
Grantaire: I'm not certain anymore. I'll go for Michael Minarik (after my last visit to London, with Nealy, I actually missed Richard Woodford in the role...I was surprised at this development).