Tag Archives: movies

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Do You Hear The People Sing? (Give Them ALL THE OSCARS!)

Hiya Bookworms,

Oh man. I just saw Les Miserables. I rarely go to movies because I don’t like to put on clothes that aren’t pajamas on weekends. Yes, I’m exaggerating. But I seriously don’t go to the movies that much. Which is why I can in good conscience declare that Les Miserables should win ALL THE OSCARS! (It’s not like I’ve seen anything else in the running…)

I’ve never seen the actual stage production of Les Mis but I’m familiar with the soundtrack because it’s beautiful. I challenge you to not get the chills when you listen to “Do You Hear The People Sing?” I like the musical because although it takes some liberties, it doesn’t stray too terribly far from Victor Hugo’s epic novel. (Unlike the late 90s movie version of Les Mis starring Liam Niessen and Claire Danes in which Jean Valjean LIVED. WTF, guys?!)

I love you. So much.

I love you. So much.

I thought the casting in this movie was phenomenal… With one exception. But I’ll get to that in a minute. Anne Hathaway?! Your Fantine was brilliant. Amanda Seyfried? Well, grown up Cosette doesn’t do a lot, but you know, you hit the high notes and cried in the right places. Plus, you’re so darn pretty with Eddie Redmayne. Who’s a bit of a dreamboat himself. Who knew freckles could sing? OMG who was that girl playing Eponine?! She might be my new favorite human being! Hi Samantha Barks! You rock! (Who was Taylor Swift kidding when she auditioned for that part?!) Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were the perfect diabolical duo as the Thernardiers. And little Gavroche was AMAZING. I totes ugly cried when Russell Crowe pinned the medal on that kid’s corpse.

But let’s talk for a minute about Russell Crowe. He wasn’t awful. He does the stern cranky unrelenting douche canoe thing very well. However… The singing… I mean, it’s not like his voice cracked or anything, but his vocal chops just paled in comparison to the rest of the cast. You know who should have played Javert? Hugh Jackman. Yes, he was a MAGNIFICENT Jean Valjean. I’m not saying he shouldn’t have played that part. I’m saying he should have played BOTH parts. You KNOW it’s possible. Lindsay Lohan played both twins in The Parent Trap (as did Haley Mills) before she went cray cray. They could have thrown in an evil twin aspect, no? A little soap operatic twist? I know. It’s ridiculous. But Hugh Jackman, I want to hear you do “Stars” justice. Please?

Photo Credit: AceShowBiz

Photo Credit: AceShowBiz

Having never seen the musical, I didn’t have a lot of expectations for how this would play out on screen. The only comparison point I had for this was the book (plus the musical soundtrack, but I’ve already discussed the OMG singing.) First, can I just say how glad I am that they made it ABUNDANTLY clear in this movie that this was NOT the official French Revolution? That’s a common misconception, and it irritates me, because, you know. History. Realism points to you, Tom Hooper. Ooooh I just love a period piece with good detail! The hoards of poor people- the all looked disgusting! It was great! There’s no bronzer in the gutters of 18th Century Paris, y’all. The makeup artists went above and beyond with the scabs and sores and pock marks. And they grossed up most people’s teeth. I appreciate the little bits of authenticity. The prostitutes were also delightfully gross. They all looked like walking syphilis! Granted, the period makeup was pretty scary, the way these gals were painted up was terrifying. OSCAR, OSCAR, OSCAR!

Finally. The sewers! I’ve discussed this before, haven’t I? Hugo went into excessive detail about the nastiness of the Parisian sewer system. It was stomach churningly realistic. OMG soupy disgusting chunky river of poop. So VIVIDLY rendered! I can’t come up with enough superlatives to express my love of this movie (with the notable exception of my lukewarm feelings about Russell Crowe. Bleh.) In summation, I am a blubbering mess of fan girl right now. Vive la France!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books of 2013

Hello Bookworms. It’s Tuesday again, so you know what that means! I’m playing Top Ten Tuesday with The Broke and The Bookish! This week’s topic is the Top Ten books we’re anticipating in 2013. This is a super tough topic. I mean, I feel like I’m forever playing catchup because there are so many amazing books already in existence. Since the release of the final Harry Potter book, I haven’t really been super excited about continuing series… except…

1. Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. It is the latest in the Jamie and Claire Outlander saga, and the only new release I didn’t have to google, because I’ve been DYING for the next installment. An Echo in the Bone left us with some serious cliffhangers! I’ve been on edge for YEARS as a result. I’m far too neurotic to read series as they come out. I should only read things that are already completed. I absolutely cannot wait. I freaking LOVE these books!

2. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris will be released in May. It’s apparently the final book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, and given the latest twists (or lack thereof) the series has taken, I’m interested to see how everything ties together. Anybody else think Sookie deserves a normalish boyfriend? I was always kind of rooting for her and Sam. Maybe that’ll happen, and they’ll have telepathic shapeshifting babies or something nice like that.

Sookie + Sam = Supernatural love that can reproduce and lives only the length of a normal human life!

3. The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier comes out in January. I’ve liked everything of hers I’ve ever read, so I’ll probably give this a whirl. It’s touted as historical fiction based on the underground railroad. I wonder if it’ll have a significant tie to period art like her other works…

4. Benediction by Kent Haruf is due out in 2013. My awesome neighbors and I read two of his novels Plainsong and Eventide earlier this year and they were both fantastic. This is about an old man dying of cancer. Frankly it sounds like a downer, but the other two books could have gone some very dark places but ended up heartwarming, so I may trust Haruf with my fragile psyche once more.

5. The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. Alright, I don’t know just HOW MUCH I want to read this, but I’ve liked the majority of what I’ve read by her, so I might give it a shot. Why am I unsure? It’s about a man who confesses to being a Nazi SS guard. Reading Holocaust novels is like taking a cheese grater to my heart. It’s so important to tell those stories, but they’re SO PAINFUL to read. This one is fiction at least. It’s the survivors’ tales that are the hardest to take. Still, I can’t imagine this book being a walk in the park.

I’m sure there will be tons and tons of amazing books released in 2013, but I’m prevented from knowing ALL THE THINGS. Since I could only come up with 5 books, I’m going to list 5 books made into movies that are coming out in 2013 that may or may not interest me. I mean, the odds that I’ll see these movies is pretty slim. I’ll likely just whine about how books are always better and blah blah blah because I just don’t watch a lot of movies.

1. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst is being made into a movie? This was an odd little gem of a book I read what feels like forever ago that centered on a distraught man trying to teach his dog to talk after his wife’s death so he could uncover the circumstances. Steve Carell is supposed to be in it. I’m intrigued.

2. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card will be released in 2013 as well. I read this in the aftermath of the Hunger Games because Amazon told me it was similar. It wasn’t really similar, but it was definitely interesting in its own way. I’m not great at being spacial or visual though, so reading about some of the training exercises they went through hurt my brain a little. I’m interested to see how they translate that to the big screen.

3. World War Z by Max Brooks. Honestly, I’ve already heard bad things about this adaptation. I don’t know how you could make a successful movie out of this book because it’s all a bunch of vignettes of the zombie apocalypse. The only thing that ties the story together is the journalist taking down the stories, and it would take some serious creative license to make that work. But who knows? Brad Pitt is starring, and even though he’s not young and sometimes wears gross facial hair, he’s still pretty dreamy. We’ll just have to wait and see if this is a complete dud.

4. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is about to be immortalized thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio. He’s playing the serial killer, so he’ll probably win like 15 Oscars or something. It’s been a while since I read this, but I recall there being a LOT of conversation on landscaping… My guess is Hollywood will gloss over the controversy of using native grasses as opposed to sculptured gardens… Because, well, that was kind of boring.

5. Catching Fire is coming out. Y’all know I’ll break my “I almost never go to the movies” rule to see more of the Hunger Games. I don’t care that it won’t live up to the book. I really liked the first movie, even though there were a couple of times I wanted to yell at the screen. (I mean, HELLO, Prim did NOT give Katniss the mockingjay pin. I was able to enjoy the movie despite such things.)

So Bookworms, what about you? Any bookish things you’re amped for in the new year?