Escape to the Movies: Les Miserables Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 NEXT | |
But if people only reviewed films they liked reviews would be pointless. It's like that time that reviewer who famously loathed superhero movies said Captain America was pretty great, that let people know it was a damn good film. If it wasn't for reviewers like him, we would never find out how to improve superhero films because we'd just get unoriginal feedback from people who have no interest in seeing superhero movies transcend their self-imposed limitations. If we don't get people who aren't interested in musical films critisize musical films, we'll never figure out how to make musical films not suck. | |
I can't write this with enough emphasis: this is a very powerful musical. It is filmed well enough and I'd love to do whatever reasonable to help it be a success. I took my wife to see it. I thought she might be bored. Instead, she sobbed through the whole thing. It was a very different movie experience and when I left, I was happy, emotionally drained and satisfied all at the same time. And Kudos to Russel Crowe. You da man! I thought it took balls for him to sing in a musical and he surprised me. He was fine. | |
That whole concert, gods that is fantastic music. I wish I had found this video before! I love it! Thank you good sir! :D It's a shame the film is bad, I really wanted to see it. No doubt I still will go and see it, but if it's so bad it brings Movie Bob's accent out I wouldn't want to waste money D: but I love musicals so much, so I will probably end up liking it by the end. | |
IT actually is quite a good movie. You just need abit a patience. And be able to listen to Russel Crowe sing. | |
Hey, Bob's accent is no more distracting than the completely non-Cockney kid singing about French democracy. What they NEEDED to do was have all the actors sing AND do the film at 48fps... But seriously, everyone not named Anne Hathaway or Sacha Baron Cohen did a terrible or just mediocre job at singing, and it's only the strength of the story itself that carries the film. We don't really live in an age where actors can intuitively communicate a sense of dedication to things like faith, duty, democracy, forgiveness, justice, and other such abstractions, so most of the parts that were sung concerning them felt like line-reading. (Only bright spots: Both Anne Hathaway's performance and the supporting cast sold her 15 minutes of Oscar bait perfectly, and Sacha Baron Cohen can play a Je...corrupt landlord perfectly for some unknowable reason, even being the only one who actually bothered to adopt a French accent.) Sad to say, but you know what Les Miserables really needed? That would have really made it interesting and relevant for today? That would have given a much greater knowledge of the motivations of the central characters? A......(Lord, I hate to say this) prequel. And The Hobbit, for all its faults, is doing a much better job at being an effective and comprehensive communicator of lost virtues simply beause of that. | |
For a movie producton of it that is really not bad at all. I want to see it now :D | |
I'm fine with him reviewing it. I just don't think it's necessary because everyone already knows his feelings on the movie. And I don't think musicals are really the same situation as other movies (especially Les Mis as it has zero spoken lines unlike a lot of other musical films). No one is going to argue better direction is not warranted. And I wasn't a huge fan of so many shots that were just zoomed in on peoples faces (makes for a boring movie). The movie was aimed at people who enjoy the story as conveyed through the music. In that sense, it was really good. The vast majority of the singing was very well performed. Crowe as Javert was not for everyone, admittedly. But my girlfriend, who is a superb singer and has been singing for most of her 24 years of life, really enjoyed his performance. I almost feel like his performance is only going to be appreciated by people who know singing like some bands produce music that is only really appreciated by other musicians. And Oscar bait or not, Anne Hathaway blew away that part like it was nobodies business. That is one of the few times I felt that zoom in on the face was warranted. The film wasn't great but at the same time I can't help but think that no matter how good the directing or camera work was, people who don't like musicals aren't going to like it. I have to be honest, the beginning scene where they were pulling that ship was about 100 times cooler than any stage production of the musical has ever been. And no one seemed to pick up on the actor/singer playing The Bishop of Digne was the original Valjean in the very first London production of the show, which was a nice wink to the original musical production. I'm not trying to sit here and say it was perfect or revolutionary. It certainly wasn't the be all end all of movies or musicals. But, does it deserve to be on the top 10 worst movies with a followup of exactly what is wrong with it, I'm of the opinion not. Once again, my opinion is different, which is fine. I respect his opinion and the opinion of anyone who didn't enjoy it, but to talk about it instead of just moving on, it just doesn't make sense. Meh, it's cool though, what's done is done. More than likely he had this a few weeks in advance and had put it up if for no other reason than he is expected to have a movie review ready every Friday. It's not like the theatre's are overflowing with review fodder at this point. Edit: I didn't say this and I very much meant to. While my girlfriend and I enjoyed Crowe's performance enough, we do both feel he is the weakest link still and not comparable to actual stage productions of Les Mis. Also, I personally feel the romance in the third act between Cosette and Marius is just annoying. They are the most god awful boring characters, their parts are uninspired and, as a personal scathing critique on the musical production in general: They are meant to give more character to Valjean, but all it does is pull you away from much more interesting characters to do it. | |
I thought Javert was Jean's foil. One follows the law of the state even if it means doing wrong, while the other does what is right regardless of the law. I guess I can see what you're saying, though. Nice use of accents. | |
I honestly think you will enjoy it. The problematic directing aside, the show was honestly pretty great, in my opinion. Not perfect but you will have wow moments as far as the production is concerned. This is a very divisive movie though, it seems you either like it or hate with little middle ground to be had. And don't let anyone fool you, Crowe's performance, while far from the best the show has ever seen, isn't as bad as it's made out to be. Don't go in expecting to be blown away by all the performances, but some of them will blow you away. Others you will be disappointed in, but they aren't as bad as they are made out to be. But if you don't, there is always rental when it comes out on DVD. | |
Consider Javert the antagonist, has his point is not to make Valjean seem more grandiose, while Thénardier is a scum whose action are there to be contrasted with Valjean one. | |
Out of those three, only the last is a legitimate complaint. The first one is complaining that the movie is true to its source material. The second... the scene was written for a medium that does not get Oscars(live stage performance) and based on a book that predates the Oscars. Complaining that the scene is Oscar bait is like complaining that The Lord of the Rings felt like a generic D&D adventure. | |
When I first heard about Les Mis' coming to the big screen I was initially apprehensive. I love the concert, which I saw many years ago. The music was moving and the terrific. My thoughts were brought to The Phantom of the Opera, also great on the stage or (mp3) but a terrible terrible movie. I looked on the wiki entry about the details of Les Mis' and my heart sank further. The casting isn't great (I mean really, Russel Crow in a musical... no). And I started to see what this movie was, the timing of the year... it was an Oscar grab. Colour me unsurprised by this review. When I looked on rottentomatoes it got many popular reviews, but they weren't for the cast or the fact it was a movie. | |
Bob has a tendency towards "This was stupid, made by idiots, and if you like it then you're an imbecile, too." As for the current topic; I'm still going to see this eventually. I want to see what the big deal is. | |
So this new wolverine film is a new origin film ignoring the other origins? | |
It was my first experience with the musical (although I've read the book many times and seen many different movie adaptations) and like you I really liked the songs, and like you I found it really rushed, but since I have read the book and know the story, I can tell you the whole thing is rushed, not just the second half. So yeah, my one problem was that I felt you weren't given enough time to care about the characters or understand them. However, I enjoyed the movie a lot. Sure, I was a bit surprised about the cast (physically, Jackman and Crowe look like each other's character should look. However due to their acting, they're better as their own character I feel. Valjean is supposed to have a lot of range in all the different identities he takes over the story, while Javert is always described as stiff and stoic and unchanging). I watched the movie on its own merits, trying not to compare it to the book because it's one of my favourite books and I know anything that fits in a movie would pale in comparison with the complexity and depth of the original work. And of course I can't compare it to the musical since I'm unfamiliar with it. But seen as what it was, a musical version of the story, I enjoyed it. I think it had many very moving scenes, and I thought most of the actors did a great job. In the end, I just left the theatre thinking "Les Misérables is basically the 19th Century's Song of Fire and Ice. Is HBO gonna pick it up already?" I think they'd do a fine job, and this way the characters and events that were skipped can be put back into the story. | |
Had to look up Ralphie in the bunny suit. Good stuff. | |
I completely agree with this review, I mean the songs in the movie were great when they didn't feature Russel Crowe (who sadly has some of the most singing time) and the set pieces were awesome, but as a movie it sucked. I saw it and found it to be an overlong mess of a movie. All of the characters are completely one dimensional, and constantly the characters would die without any real reason given why, especially Anne Hathaway, who goes from being a single mom working in a factory to being a dead prostitute in one song's time with no reason given as to what was wrong with her (I thought she was just asleep until Wolverine closed her eyes). There were way too many characters and secondary plotlines, but I didn't care about any of them. They were all so generic, and I didn't even know what the big final battle was about, other than a small group of college kids rebelling against the government because there are poor people in the world. The weirdest thing for me, was that once the movie finished a bunch of people gave it an ovation, so lots of people obviously like it. Btw, I generally like musicals, but only when they are also successful as a movie. | |
Sooooo... How do you think an adaptation of Les Mes could work? Is it impossible to adapt a musical to a movie effectively? Could you pull more stuff from the book and make it work better? I know you said how this particular movie could be better... but what if you started from scratch? | |
The 25th Anniversary cast would have to be my favourite ensemble, Norm Lewis is the best Javert, Alfie Boe nails 'Bring Him Home' and is my favourite Valjean and I very much enjoyed Enjolras. Everything about the cast is good... ... Not including Nick Jonas, I give him credit for having the balls to take part in such an epic event, but he was my least favourite cast member As for Bob's review, I agree...sort of. Once you get past some shoddy camerawork and Russell Crowe the movie is still rather magical, could have been done better though. But the Thernadier's were perfect, Sacha and Helena nailed the roles. | |
So confused....Is The Wolverine a sequel to Origins, or a reboot?? | |
I agree that the movie was bad. I wouldn't say it SUCKED, but yes, it was bad. I'd give it a C+. But my reasons of thinking so are different. As an actor (primarily in musical theatre) who loves Les Mis and has seen and been in the stage show, the movie took the stage show, tried to mix it with the book, and then poured two thousand gallons of Hollywood into it. And I'm sorry, you can't take a musical and do that. Have we not learned from Mamma Mia and Rock of Ages, musicals as movies generally suck. Stage shows are written for the stage for a reason. I feel it's not fair for someone who admits they hate musicals to review a movie musical, because they're already biased against it. My problems with it: - Russell Crowe should never have been allowed near Javert. It should have been Ewan McGregor. On that last note, I like that they put so much emphasis on acting, especially when musical theatre is stereotyped as having sucky actors. But...you can't sacrifice vocals for that in a show that's ENTIRELY sung, or as vocally demanding as these roles are. Yes, Anne Hathaway was fantastic and will be showered with awards. But that's all I can give this movie. | |
Couldn't finish the review, the Boston accent was way to annoying to listen to. | |
Saw it the other day. Pretty much agree with Bob, though I didn't find it bad, just uninspired and generic. Functional and entertaining but nothing special. Same problem as Avatar really; an okay movie, but so disgustingly overrated that the bad parts are all that's left to talk about. | |
One stop going after king speech. That one best combo me French mm'sene I butcher right now, and story. OK get record straight the English unbridge transition is 1400 hundred pages long. And goes into great of know ever character have importants, for example Bishop the first book in the fist volume he has whole book to himself. Book broken down into 5 volumes which are roughtly broken down into about 12 books. sometime 13. So yea novel as entire book that 19 character deciated to battle of Waterloo. | |
I loved Les Miserable. It's touching, and a fantastic story, and whilst the pacing is schizophrenic and Javert seems a little wooden ... Well ... I liked it. Frankly I cried, though not a hallmark awartd for any even remotely touching moving. I was happy and I was sad, and it it's not often a movie can make you weep and then make you question 'why?'. I don't know about you but I wept when Jean was removed from his cooling body to enter the realm of Heaven to the tune of Red and Black and such ambivalence between sad and joyful leaves you wondering. The movies cinematography isn't bad, and honestly I do believe the movie was always attempting an aspect of the fantastic, Bob. I think you're doing the movie discredit by saying that it attempts otherwise ... like when the chain gang is roping the French Galleon onto the dry docks. Or when Javert throws himself upon the stones and dashes himself upon the dykes. In passing ... I liked the film for what it was. | |
One gripe I have with the film is that Anne Hathaway doesn't look ugly enough as Fantine. By the end of her story, she's bald, bruised, has no teeth, is malnourished and is up to the brim in STDs, oh and she hasn't washed in 2 months. She looks more like a SMBD porn actress than a dying, destitute hooker. It kind of undermines the whole point of that story. | |
"A lot of hardcore fans" is a funny way of saying "a culturally significant linchpin of stage musicals and composition." Maybe Bob's ignorant to who this film will actually appeal to, but the idea of seeing pretty images and famous actors sing all those Les Miserables classics is exciting. It's more like a really expensive music video, right? It's not trying to comprehensively and interestingly tell the story of the book; it's a motion picture of the stage musical. By those standards it surely achieves its modest goals? I get it. It's not good at storytelling in a cinematic medium. But that isn't what the film is doing. It's an excuse to see Les Miserables on a big screen with a bunch of well-known faces filling in well-known roles and hearing booming orchestral renditions of the songs. As far as direct adaptions of stage musicals go... I mean, I haven't seen it, but I don't think it can fail that. Not with the pedigree of the source material on its side. | |
Bob, I have a lot of respect for you and work, but. If you're going to slag it off, at least do it properly. It's 19th Century, not 17th Century, and kindly learn how to pronounce the names properly. I know speaking French is will get you beaten up in the States, but still. Its not like any of us here know you or what you look like. That is without going into the overarching issue behind this. | |
The stage musical is superb! This film version sucks! As Dr Cox said: | |
First off, I don't have a problem with Bob's accent. I can understand if some people do, but some of the vitriol seems like a bit of an overreaction. That said, my girlfriend's family saw Les Miserables, and I decided to take a miss and go hang out with a friend instead. Her mother thought it sucked, she thought it was OK, and her teenage sister-who's the head of the theater group at her high school-thinks it was the greatest thing ever created by man. Although all three loved the Hobbit. So there you go. | |
I agree with your points, except the cinematography I that the movie looked great, you made but much like if a comedy makes you laugh you can over look other elements and have a enjoyable time the same goes for music numbers in musicals and the musical numbers are great here. Not saying it's a great movie but it's enjoyable. | |
I don't want to sound like a dick, but that is a concert. Stage acting is so much more than standing in one spot singing, and that can hardly be used as an example of how to perform. | |
The film aside, how does Batman of all things constitute legal absolutism? He definitely adheres to moral absolutism, but legal absolutism takes things a little too far. Batman's entire image, after all, was created because pretty much everything he does is illegal. | |
My exact thoughts. I have nothing against his natural accent, I'd much prefer he just be honest and let those who hate it adjust :P. the switching hurts my brain. | |
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Right you are. I'm terrible at history and dates.