Les Miserables movie!

[laura_redcloud]

I finally saw Les Miserables. Considering how obsessively I listened the International Recording in the days of my youth (approx. daily from the ages of 12 to 16, inclusive), how I went to Portland, OR to catch the touring company (not precisely true, but we did plan the timing of that trip to coincide), and how I loved it so much at age 7 that I

Comments

[forelyse]

I should go see this movie...all I've heard about it is the poor singing from the main characters and how there are a number of close ups showing the insides of people's noses.

[laura_redcloud]

There are a lot of close-ups, especially during soliloquies. I didn't mind it. Anne Hathaway killed it in hers, making all subsequent soliloquies look dull in comparison. By the time you got to "On My Own" and "Empty Chairs," you'd forgotten and were willing to the give the kids the benefit of the doubt.

As said, Russell Crowe isn't such an AWFUL singer, like if he were your friend you would think he was a good singer, but Javert is a far more challenging part than he is prepared for. W. insists that Huge Ackman's singing is not simply adequate. It is slightly better than adequate. Like 10%. He is in the 60th percentile of Valjean singers.

[sliceydicey]

I think they might have added the new song to win the Oscar for best new song in a movie.

If there is any justice in the world, they will be punished with a public shaming.

[mamaredcloud]

I had heard such bad things about Russell Crowe's singing that I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. The only thing in the movie that really didn't work for me was having him sing "Stars" while balancing on a ledge. It felt like they were trying to make it more exciting because they didn't trust the actor or the material. Even as a way to add suspense, it doesn't work - obviously they're not going to kill him off so early. I ended up closing my eyes during the song because the ledge was so distracting.

I agree that the new song was irritating, and the way they did "Do You Hear the People SIng" was great. Very stirring. I could barely restrain myself from singing along, even though I hate revolutions so much that I moved to Canada so that I could live in a country that had never had one.