Comments on Les Miserables movie- Page 8

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 11:49am

I agree Argo is the best film I've seen this year and, while I'm not a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson's recent efforts, I especially didn't like The Master and also wouldn't be surprised if it does not get a best picture nomination.

[showchoirguy]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 12:20pm

All these comments about Perks are making me feel really happy that I'm not the only one who thinks this film deserves a nomination. It would never, ever happen but I think Ezra Miller deserves a nomination.

I saw Flight this past weekend and can report back that it was a decent film. Washington gave a really good performance which will probably get a nomination but will not win. The plane crash sequence definitely made you hold your breath and was cringe-worthy at some points. John Goodman was hysterical is his role, haven't heard any buzz about his performance in Argo.

[Kad]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 1:01pm

I'm not a fan of GoldDerby. I prefer The Film Experience, which has a good track record and a typically amusing/enlightening blog to go along with it.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 3:59pm

Kad, I love The Film Experience, InContention is my favorite Oscar blog but I think GoldDerby is the most comprehensive site in terms of collecting the Oscar experts' predictions. Their odds are based on 26 critics' predictions, which is pretty good (not that it means anything, they're just predictions). I think in general it has the least useful articles you can think of, but I like that part of it.
I guess at this point no one is even pretending to be talking about LES MIZ, so I'll say that I thought THE MASTER was absolutely breathtaking in every way, I loved it and thought the performances were out of the world. However, few of my friends have liked it and it wasn't popular on this board, but I think those of us who loved it really loved it. ARGO was top notch, easily one of the best studio movies of recent years, in my opinion it should definitely win Picture, Director, Screenplay, Costumes, Art Direction, Sound and Editing, I don't think it will but it'd make me very happy if it did. I could also see a LINCOLN for Picture, Argo for Director split or a similar case with LES MIZ replacing LINCOLN. I can't imagine Tom Hooper would win a second Oscar in such a short period of time, and for some reason I don't see them awarding Spielberg with Director again but it could happen.

[DAME]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 7:17pm

Bringing it back to Les Mis. I agree with this assessment 100 %.

"I have a barrelful of thoughts to share after having seen "Les Miserables" tonight, but the barricade against reviews has not yet been stormed, so I'll hold many of those musings in secret, much like my past identity as a bread thief named Jean Weisjean. (Shoot - let that one slip.)

Instead, I'll just try to talk about it from an awards perspective, as others have been since screenings began Friday.

Best picture nominee? Fer sure. Best picture winner? Not necessarily, because while it is a film that soars in many places and is rock solid in others, "Les Miserables" also displays enough bumps and bruises to hurt it (and director Tom Hooper) in a close race. Some of the flaws I identified come from comparing it to the musical that I've held near and dear to my heart ever since I saw it Thanksgiving week 1987 in London – no doubt, a huge swath of Academy members have their own personal relationship with the film, and I find it a little hard to believe that they won't nitpick it.

That being said, I also anticipate those who aren't acquainted with the musical having issues, such as with length and pacing. In short, I expect fervent debate about whether "Les Miserables" belongs at the pinnacle of 2012 films.

The best award possibilities for "Les Miserables" reside in Anne Hathaway's performance, which elevates the character of Fantine far above any version I've ever seen, delivering its own kind of seamlessness where musical and reality don't seem like two separate constructs. It's desperately moving work. In a field that features Sally Field ("Lincoln") and Helen Hunt ("The Sessions"), I have no trouble seeing Hathaway as a plausible winner, even if her screen time is much less than Hunt's. In addition, Samantha Banks' Eponine is worthy of the musical's most cherished character if not transcendent – she could be in awards play as well.

On the actor front, there is certainly likelihood for Hugh Jackman to break through that brutal field that also includes consensus leader Daniel Day-Lewis alongside Bradley Cooper, John Hawkes, Joaquin Phoenix, Denzel Washington and more. Supporting actor might be a bit less promising, because the one to keep an eye on is lesser-known "My Week with Marilyn" vet Eddie Redmayne, rather than the more vaunted Russell Crowe or Sacha Baron Cohen. (Tonight's "in passing" note: In a wonderful year for child performers, add another to the list: Daniel Huttlestone as "Little People" leader Gavroche.)

Hooper's chance for Oscar glory on "Les Miserables" might be as good as it was at this time two years ago, before "The King's Speech" thundered ahead and ultimately vanquished "The Social Network." The difference right now is the appearance of a wider field that includes "Argo," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook" and, if you ask me, "Zero Dark Thirty." I'd throw others in if I had my druthers, but those five are generating the most conversation and the least amount of dismissal. And I still don't see an unadulterated favorite. "



Variety

Updated On: 11/27/12 at 07:17 PM

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 7:50pm

Why do we care so much whether this film will win Best Picture or not? It's already very likely that it will be nominated for Best Picture. What matters more to me is whether the film will be a success at the box office. That's what will dictate whether we will likely see more musical films in the future. The Best Picture award is meaningless other than to give kudos to the filmmakers. In recent years, the win hasn't really translated into a significant bump in box office numbers.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 8:03pm

Wildcard, I mainly care because I think it's important for movie musicals to win Best Picture; lots of studios will make some of these films for the prestige factor but when they fail both at the box office and as Oscar projects, they are discouraged. I don't think that's an exaggeration, I feel like a lot of studios have incredibly short memory and so a lot of projects get made or don't get made based on the success/failure of what the studios deem as "similar films" (of course it's ridiculous a movie like CHICAGO would be considered "similar" to LES MIZ, for example, just because of the fact they both use music). Also, a Best Picture win has a lot to do with the financial success of a movie like this, just look at the success of THE KING'S SPEECH and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 8:07pm

It's important for any film to be nominated for Best Picture so that future generations look back to know what handful of films were "best" of the year. Sure, it's all relative and many "best" and "favorite" films go unnominated and may still be remembered, but having a Best Picture nod instantly puts you on the list of "films to remember of 2012."

My sister loves the movies and is working on watching every film nominated for Best Picture and also on the AFI Top 100 list. She has discovered many new favorite films that she would never have considered watching before, merely because she was told that it was the "best" of the year.

Twenty years from now, a new generation will want to look back at what films today we thought were "best."

[My Oh My]

Posted: 11/27/12 at 10:40pm

Have never been so torn before:

I wish to slap, slap, slappitty-slap everyone hyping this film up because I've seen what hype is capable of, and it ain't always pretty.

At the same time, I'm elated that it is getting so much overwhelmingly positive press so far.

Why do I care so much? *sigh*

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 12:54pm

30 minutes of Eddie's face

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 3:03pm

Why do I care so much?

Because of your quite run of the mill level of investment!

[jo]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 7:06pm

If you have the interest and the patience -- the official Universal Pictures Awards site shares a massive amount of information in the Production Notes section.

http://universalpicturesawards.com/#/lesmis

Click on Production Notes -- it is a very long read, but a very informative and insightful collection and recollection of many aspects of the filmmaking (from preproduction to filming).

Btw, this site is for the consumption of the awards community.

Updated On: 11/28/12 at 07:06 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 7:36pm

This is a broadway chat board. This is the first major movie musical in a long time. WHat else should we be talking about? The weather?

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 8:10pm

Thanks to jacobsnchz14 for linking that French release version of the Les Miserables poster. It's really beautiful. Anne Hathaway bears a striking resemblance to the young Patti LuPone in many of the photographs I have seen so far.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 8:14pm

Here's the one from Japan:

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 8:37pm

Why is HBC above the title but not SBC?

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 9:09pm

WOW!! LMAO!!!

[DAME]

Posted: 11/28/12 at 10:39pm

I love it! This show used to have the most inventive print adds. Anyone have some more?

[michellek45]

Posted: 11/29/12 at 10:03am

There was a great poster floating around tumblr awhile ago of all the international little Cosettes, and it had her doing things like wearing a sombrero and riding a kangaroo. I'll see if I can find it again.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/29/12 at 11:39am

Are they not continuing the practice of recent years, nominating as many as 10 films? Does anyone think that it won't be included among 10? And even if it is reduced to 5, it seems more likely to be nominated than not. Barring major critical rejection, which as Dame notes, is a possibility. Since the show itself never achieved consensus (check out the NY Times, infamously), it's hard to fathom the film -- a tougher medium to make musicals play convincing, especially an historical epic with a pop score -- escaping scrutiny. Film critics are also notoriously suspicious of stage plays as movie fodder.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 11/29/12 at 12:07pm

Auggie, I think that every critic knows the musical, and are likely to judge the film on how good an adaptation it is; with those valuing the show being, if anything, a harder sell, than those who will see the source material as a preexisting handicap for the filmmakers.

[saisai]

Posted: 11/29/12 at 8:54pm

Just went to a screening today in NYC! I was impressed by Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne and Hugh Jackman's performances. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen were perfect as the Thenardiers. Not so impressed by Russel Crowe.

I enjoyed the film overall. I was moved to tears a few times in the movie and couldn't hold back in the last scene. Eddie Redmayne did such a great job I never cared so much for Marius before.

I did not care for the new song either.

Can't wait to see it again and again and again!!!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/30/12 at 7:24am

Eric, I was suggesting that a show so known for its ability to wring tears, i.e. perceived by some to be abjectly sentimental, can bring out the knives in film critics. Yes, they all know the source well, but the show's heart on its sleeve sensibility hasn't always won critics. I well remember the reception in London and NY.

[Movidude742]

Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:18am

the running time of the movie (without trailers or exhibitor snipes) is 2 hours 37 minutes. so once it hits theaters it should clock in at just under 3 hours

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 12/1/12 at 12:29am

"but I think a year playing the part in the West End hurt her chances of finding new insights for the big screen."

That was my concern about casting only one 'Les Miz' veteran in an entire cast of newbies. It could've happened to Lea Michele, who played the role before. In 'The Wiz', not a brilliant film, there were at least two veterans from the stage production, Mabel King and Ted Ross.

ETA: I also forgot that Rex Harrison wasn't the only veteran of 'My Fair Lady' in the film adaptation, Stanley Holloway also reprised his role as Alfred P. Doolittle in the movie.

Updated On: 12/1/12 at 12:29 AM