Billy Elliot the Forum

Thanks for the review Maria. By the way Anne Hathaway was nominated in the supporting actress category, not leading actress.

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

CJ-Rochester wrote:Thanks for the review Maria. By the way Anne Hathaway was nominated in the supporting actress category, not leading actress.

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

Oops! I stand corrected - the academy got it right, I got it wrong!

Thanks for setting me straight Chris!

maria

My niece and younger nephew took it into their heads that they wanted to see this movie on opening day, so my sister suggested seeing it with their uncle, who has worked backstage on some of the tour stops.... I can still hear the turntable motor spooling up and down at certain points when I listen to the albums (worked one run as wardrobe dresser, and one as deck carpenter).

The opening scene (Look Down) got the largest WTF reaction from me - a naval drydock is usually full of water when a ship enters, then the doors are closed, and the water pumped out lowering the ship onto blocks for repairs. To try to pull a ship in to a no-water drydock doesn't make sense. The stage version's busting rocks into roads is much more believable. But, logic aside....

Javert's voice was the single most disappointing aspect of the movie. One expects a certain gravitas, or depth, to the voice singing this part, and Crowe simply doesn't have the resonance to pull it off. I'll lay no other fault on the gentleman's doorstep. He did what he could, with what he had to work with. Redmayne's voice was also off a bit - he has a nasal, hornlike quality that I didn't care for.

I thought the orchestrations to be an interesting development, and reading the notes of the CD liner, they were finalized as the film was being edited, so the vocals editing and the orchestra recording were proceeding together. I've been a fan of the show through all it's versions, including the 1980 French studio album, and this is perhaps the best sounding accompaniment.

What really impressed me was the fact that they didn't water down Val Jean's Christian conversion - most Hollywood films water down any and all religious overtones, but this film let Val Jean's spiritual side shine through. I'd forgive nearly any other mistake the producers made to allow this to be presented to the viewing public. Who cares about France? Val Jean dies with dignity....

A few things I noted that are in the book, and/or stage version, that aren't present - Val Jean's hair turning white during the ride to the trial (Who Am I?), Gavroche and Eponine being siblings (more or less), Thenardier and Marius's father meeting in the past (Battle of Waterloo, but who's counting?). Something in the book that looks odd on screen is the elephant statue that Gavroche calls home - it's a leftover of a World's Fair sort of event. A fun inclusion, but I miss Gavroche's 'moimes'. Gavroche also seems to be collecting, but not throwing over the barricade, cartridge pouches - another small detraction.

I could quibble for days, but it's a good, but different, take on the music. It's worth a watch if you're a fan of the show, and perhaps even if you're not.

Les Misérables is coming to select IMAX theatres for a special one-week engagement from January 18-24th. The link below has more information. It will also attempt to locate theaters near you where the IMAX version is showing. Unfortunately the nearest one to me is over 300 miles away.

http://www.imax.com/movies/m/les-misera ... xperience/

Finally seeing the movie this Saturday, and then I can finally give a more thorough read to this part of our happy forum.

This is really funny. Christine Pedi imagines "what if <so and so> had starred in Les Miserables"? Watch the entire 8 minutes. Just when you think she has exhausted all of the possibly celebrities to use, she finds another one to make you laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBOVQXr8qq0