Movies, I am dissapoint.
Jan. 5th, 2013 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orangerfulSo, I ended 2012 and started 2013 with some big movie letdowns.
Les Miserables
I had never seen the musical and didn't think I knew any of the songs (which wasn't true, since I had heard a lot of them out of context since everyone covers I Dreamed a Dream and Bring Him Home in every broadway compilation ever). ANYWAY, I went into the movie not knowing anything except that it had something to do with a stolen loaf of bread.
I did not like it.
And it wasn't because of the music. I love Broadway shows, I love musical. And when I told my mom how disappointed I was, she told me to watchher boyfriend Alfie Boe perform Bring Him Home for the 25th Anniversary Special and see what I thought and I ended up watching the ENTIRE SPECIAL on YouTube only minutes after getting home from the movie. And I liked it (though, I confess, I think I like the songs out of context more than in context, Les Mis story is a bit too full and I feel like we barely get to know characters at all).
My main gripe with the movie goes to the director. Which is too bad because I LOVED King's Speech to death. But directing a musical is very different from directing anything else. And moving a musical to film is not as simple as just letting people sing for the camera. And the whole gimmick of recording them singing live was just that - a gimmick. I think it might have worked at they gone with bonafide Broadway singers, who know how to balance acting with singing.
Though they also don't have to worry about anyone being SUPER CLOSE TO THEIR FACES. Because, let's face it, you look funny when you sing, especially when you're singing showtunes/opera. You gotta makes faces to hit those notes. But poor Anne Hathaway had a camera shoved up her nose while trying to sing 'I Dreamed a Dream' and ACT. She's not the only one. The two best performers were Samantha Bark (Eponine) and Aaron Tveit (Enjolras). Bark played Eponine in the Broadway version and you could tell she knew how to sing and emote at the same time. Tveit got all the rallying songs of revolution, which I think are probably easier to sing and emote to. At the other end was poor Russell Crowe, who looked like a High School kid shoved on stage against his will, concentrating SO HARD on singing that everything else stopped. He gets a YOU TRIED sticker.
The director missed the point of musicals, which is the spectacle. And every time he missed a moment, I found myself getting more and more frustrated to the point that when the movie finally ended, I exploded with rant rage...and no one else was upset.
SHORT VERSION: If you are already a fan of the musical, you will enjoy this movie, the same way hardcore Harry Potter fans enjoy all the HP films. But, if you're just sorta meh about this musical, or have no prior experience with it, you should save your $7 and just watch the 25th Anniversary Special.
Prometheus
Last night I had the brilliant idea I would watch this because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maybedeadcat wasn't really intersted and I borrowed it from andy_wolverton and felt I should watch it so I could return it. I wasn't sure what to expect since the reviews for this were a mixed bag but then andy_wolverton raved about it.
I was hoping that the BarelyPolitical video was just a joke, but, sadly, this is pretty much how the whole movie goes down. I spent so much time yelling at the screen, saying "SRSLY?" and just being generally annoyed with everyone. EVEN FASSBENDER! And I LOVES me some Fassbender.
I saw the themes that they were going for in the script - toying with the ideas of faith, humanity's desire for answers (and how there will never be satisfactory ones), and a parent/child creator/creation dynamic. I saw ALL of this there, ready to be crafted into something worth watching. Instead, we had some heavy-handed scenes (David removing Shaw's cross necklace after the death of her worthless boyfriend) and random action scenes inserted when they felt the movie was "too slow". (Yeah, I watched the deleted scenes in hopes of having it clear up a few questions. All it made me realize was how unclear the vision for this movie was and by the end they were struggling to cobble together something viewable).
It felt to me like Ridley Scott wanted to make another Sci-Fi movie and they demanded a prequel to Alien and he was like FINE I WILL DO THAT! And he forced the whole alien "origin story" into the movie.
The worst part for me was that after seeing the trailers, I guessed the whole movie. THE WHOLE MOVIE. No surprises WHAT SO EVER.
SHORT VERSION: The movie is very pretty on blu-ray but if you saw the trailer, you saw the whole movie already.
Les Miserables
I had never seen the musical and didn't think I knew any of the songs (which wasn't true, since I had heard a lot of them out of context since everyone covers I Dreamed a Dream and Bring Him Home in every broadway compilation ever). ANYWAY, I went into the movie not knowing anything except that it had something to do with a stolen loaf of bread.
I did not like it.
And it wasn't because of the music. I love Broadway shows, I love musical. And when I told my mom how disappointed I was, she told me to watch
My main gripe with the movie goes to the director. Which is too bad because I LOVED King's Speech to death. But directing a musical is very different from directing anything else. And moving a musical to film is not as simple as just letting people sing for the camera. And the whole gimmick of recording them singing live was just that - a gimmick. I think it might have worked at they gone with bonafide Broadway singers, who know how to balance acting with singing.
Though they also don't have to worry about anyone being SUPER CLOSE TO THEIR FACES. Because, let's face it, you look funny when you sing, especially when you're singing showtunes/opera. You gotta makes faces to hit those notes. But poor Anne Hathaway had a camera shoved up her nose while trying to sing 'I Dreamed a Dream' and ACT. She's not the only one. The two best performers were Samantha Bark (Eponine) and Aaron Tveit (Enjolras). Bark played Eponine in the Broadway version and you could tell she knew how to sing and emote at the same time. Tveit got all the rallying songs of revolution, which I think are probably easier to sing and emote to. At the other end was poor Russell Crowe, who looked like a High School kid shoved on stage against his will, concentrating SO HARD on singing that everything else stopped. He gets a YOU TRIED sticker.
The director missed the point of musicals, which is the spectacle. And every time he missed a moment, I found myself getting more and more frustrated to the point that when the movie finally ended, I exploded with rant rage...and no one else was upset.
SHORT VERSION: If you are already a fan of the musical, you will enjoy this movie, the same way hardcore Harry Potter fans enjoy all the HP films. But, if you're just sorta meh about this musical, or have no prior experience with it, you should save your $7 and just watch the 25th Anniversary Special.
Prometheus
Last night I had the brilliant idea I would watch this because
maybedeadcat wasn't really intersted and I borrowed it from andy_wolverton and felt I should watch it so I could return it. I wasn't sure what to expect since the reviews for this were a mixed bag but then andy_wolverton raved about it. I was hoping that the BarelyPolitical video was just a joke, but, sadly, this is pretty much how the whole movie goes down. I spent so much time yelling at the screen, saying "SRSLY?" and just being generally annoyed with everyone. EVEN FASSBENDER! And I LOVES me some Fassbender.
I saw the themes that they were going for in the script - toying with the ideas of faith, humanity's desire for answers (and how there will never be satisfactory ones), and a parent/child creator/creation dynamic. I saw ALL of this there, ready to be crafted into something worth watching. Instead, we had some heavy-handed scenes (David removing Shaw's cross necklace after the death of her worthless boyfriend) and random action scenes inserted when they felt the movie was "too slow". (Yeah, I watched the deleted scenes in hopes of having it clear up a few questions. All it made me realize was how unclear the vision for this movie was and by the end they were struggling to cobble together something viewable).
It felt to me like Ridley Scott wanted to make another Sci-Fi movie and they demanded a prequel to Alien and he was like FINE I WILL DO THAT! And he forced the whole alien "origin story" into the movie.
The worst part for me was that after seeing the trailers, I guessed the whole movie. THE WHOLE MOVIE. No surprises WHAT SO EVER.
SHORT VERSION: The movie is very pretty on blu-ray but if you saw the trailer, you saw the whole movie already.
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(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-05 06:35 pm (UTC)I said the EXACT SAME THING about Les Mis. AND..I only got to see the first 20 minutes, and then the fire alarm went off at the Gaithersburg theater. As we we walking out I said
"Jackman, can sing, but he is overacting his butt off, and the camera is UP HIS NOSE. Do you really need to speak every other line to give it emphasis?"
"Yeah, that's this director. That's what he does."
And I know the musical by heart. Not running to go see the rest.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-05 08:55 pm (UTC)To paraphrase the Washington Post reviewer, seeing the movie will only give any stage version you've ever seen a rosier hue.
The sad part is that it would have been *so easy* to do it right. Alas, they did not ask us :(
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-06 03:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-06 04:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-06 03:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-17 01:47 am (UTC)