Les Miserables – The musical movie review

I tried to be brief... I really did

For those who just want the bullet points – jump down to the “review” section.

BACKGROUND

Let me begin with this:

I. Love. This. Book. 
 

I love this book because of its ethos and pathos. 

I love it for its romance and tragedy.

As a follower of Christ, I love the Christian metaphors and beautiful depiction of the inability of Law overcome by Grace.

I love it because of Hugo’s goal with it. 

"The book the reader has now before his eyes - from one end to the other; in its whole and in its details, whatever the omissions, the exceptions, or the faults - is the march from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from the false to the true, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from rottenness to life, from brutality to duty, from Hell to Heaven, from nothingness to God. Starting point: matter; goal: the soul. Hydra at the beginning, angel at the end." – Victor Hugo

For these reasons, the musical (in any format) doesn’t do the book justice. 

In fact, most movie adaptations don’t either.

I’ve seen the 1930’s movie, the 1998 Liam Neeson version (which inexplicably ends after Javert’s suicide!) and am about to watch the 2000 Gérard Depardieu mini-series version – which I hear is the closest to the source material.

I’ve seen the stage musical three times.

The musical changes parts of the book (Mme. Thenardier is alive at the wedding, Eponine gives Marius’ letter to Valjean) and necessarily omits others (the bishops’s story, Valjean and the boat rescue – no, not what you see at the beginning of the 2012 movie, Valjean & Cosette’s time at the convent – including the buried alive scene, Marius’ uncle)  for pacing and for the simple fact that no one would be able to sit through a 20 hour musical.

REVIEW  (SPOILERS may follow)

So what do I think of the 2012 Tom Hooper directed musical-movie?

4 stars out of 5

First – it is intentionally not the stage musical.  Please do not go in expecting to see the stage version on screen.  It was not intended to be.

“None of us wanted to simply put the show on the screen, but rather reinvent the material as a movie in its own right” (emphasis mine) – Sir Cameron Mackintosh, producer of both the stage musical and this film.  Quote from the liner notes of the musical-movie soundtrack. 

I enjoyed this movie enough that I want to see it again.  Very soon.  In the cinema.

And I sure hope they release an extended directors cut on Blu-Ray.  I’d pre-order that today.

I was moved to tears many times, with chest-hitching barely-contained sobs.

The good:
Live filmed singing works for much of his movie

The visuals are stunning, the sets, makeup and costumes wonderful, with delightful nods to anyone who has read the book.  (Gavroche’s white elephant for example, the doll in the window, the young revolutionary kissing the innkeeper woman to get her chair for the barricade, Gavroche rightly brings Marius’ note to Jan Valjean – not Eponine)

Colm Wilkinson (originaor of the role of Jean Valjean in both the London and New York stage productions) as the Bishop – yes!

Anne Hathaway... I thought she was perfect.  I have never been so heart-broken for Fantine during “I Dreamed a Dream”.  Her grief and anger and final resignation are Oscar worthy (imho) – though I did think she was too pretty during the factory scene.  I mean the other workers have facial blemishes, bad teeth… but not Fantine. 

The cattiness of the other women workers was perfect.

Hugh Jackman was great; very believable but not stellar.  Valjean’s soliloquy is amazingly emotional, but “Bring Him Home” was hard for me to sit through.  It would not have been a crime to lower the range so he could have sung without straining.  Alfie Boe is still my favorite singing Valjean.

The new song “Suddenly” helped tie the story together, but won’t be the next big hit inserted into the stage show.

Gavroche and young Cosette were amazing for kid actor/singers

Eddie Redmayne as Marius – completely believable in every scene he is in.  every scene.  His voice is sublime; “Empty Chairs” will tear your heart out as much as Valjean’s Soliloquy.

Samantha Barks as Eponine – from stage to screen – superb job!

Sacha Baron Cohen – a great Thenardier

Helena Bonham-Carter – very good with exception that if you’ve read the book, you know Mme Thenardier is described as barrel-like and mannish.  Not exactly a description of Ms. HB-C

I loved how they included the iconic Enjrolas death scene, though from a window, not on the barricade.  And the guy who played him did a great job too.

The sewer scene was disgustingly spot on – no pun intended.  Thank you for removing the song “Dog Eats Dog.”

Javert’s death – there’s no mistake kids… he won’t be back in a sequel.

The end trio with Fantine, Jean Valjean and the bishop (!) makes SO much more sense than having Eponine – whom JVJ has never met – welcome him into heaven.

The Bad: things that distracted me from the story

Javert. Was. Awful.

Russel Crowe’s performance seemed phoned in.  I have much respect for his work in other movies (most notably for me, A Beautiful Mind). I did not, however, believe him as Javert; “hunting down” and chasing Valjean.  He seemed indifferent.  And his singing?  Even American Idol and X-Factor would have laughed him off the set.  No power, no conviction in his voice.  During “Stars” I just wanted to yell “stop already!”  His performance was a nasal-y pop-ish vocal that scooped into notes.  Barf!  I know musical theatre is considered more ”pop” than classical, but this didn’t fit.  I know high school-ers who could have nailed this.  Or let one of the stage stars take it.  This movie need a better Javert, not a well-known one.  I read they considered Paul Bettany.  Missed opportunity there.

On that note, Amanda Seyfried.. good acting, very child-like, but her voice was a bit too Disney-princess, machine-gun vibrato at times for me.

It begins raining instantaneously during “On My Own.”  I know it fits the lyric, but shouldn’t it have been preceded by distant thunder or something?  I mean, Eponine literally turns a corner and the street is wet and she is drenched from rain already falling. 

Pacing.  My wife and I disagree on this… but things felt a bit too rushed.  Maybe because during the stage show there is applause or a set change.  This film just whipped along, sometimes not leaving the viewer time to digest the scene.

24601 – the tattoo proves beyond doubt that Jean Valjean is who he says he is… not just a good intentioned man trying to help an accused man.  The court needs to see the tattoo and we the audience need to see it too.  Otherwise it’s just a somewhat meaningless number.

Other super nit picky stuff
– British and Cockney accents in a show set in France?  Don’t we get enough of that in Biblical movies set in the Middle East?

- In the book Fanbtine is specifically described as a blonde, and Cosette a brunette.  Would have been nice to see on screen.

- Did Fantine have to have the “chopped ‘do” after death?

So all in all 4 stars.  If Javert had been stronger this would have moved quickly to one of my favorite movies.

If you liked this movie, you’ll love the stage musical.

If you love the stage musical, the book will fundamentally change you.

Best Musical finds 2012 / 2013

The best of the best of the best....sir...with honors

I’ve been told I listen to way too much music.  Maybe…  but some people watch too much football,  golf too much, Pintrest too much, fill in your vice here:
I __________________ too much _________________.

In my musical journeys, here are my favorite finds/listens this past year followed by some groups I'm starting to dig into here at the end of the year.

Many of these groups/bands/artists can be listened to on Spotify (embeded & links included). 

So if you're looking for good new music, perhaps you'll find something here that connects with you just right

Best Music  2012

OR click the following link and when Spotify opens you can click "shuffle" so you get a sampling of all the groups without listening to one entire album
(Best of 2012)

Obvious/Expected - bands I was expecting great music from

Muse – The 2^nd Law

Killers – Battle Born

Snow Patrol – Fallen Empires (released in ’11 but I just found it this year)

Future of Forestry – Young Man Follow

Shiny Toy Guns - III

New to me - bands I stumbled on and fell in love with

Pas Neos -  Wheat & the Tares / Who Do You Say I Am?

Among Savages – Wanderings of an Illustrative Mind

Paper Route – the Peace of Wild Things

Abandon – Control

Gotye – Making Mirrors

Michael Ketterer – Love/War/Solar System

Sound of Arrows - Voyage

Kimbra – Vows

Welcome Back / Returning to the Stage

Men Without Hats – Love in the Age of War

Worship

We Are Creation – We Are Creation

Young Oceans – Young Oceans

Brett Younker – Come to the Water

Christmas

Solid Rock – Gloria

Heading into 2013 … these are groups I’m test driving

The Hollow Threads

Scientist (not on Spotify yet)

Hey Ocean!

The Rival

Reign of Kindo

Kye Kye

All Sons & Daughters

Loud Harp

Young Galaxy

OR click the following link and when Spotify opens you can click "shuffle" so you get a sampling of all the groups without listening to one entire album
2013 Test Drive

Summer Flix

I don’t know about you, but for me some movies are seasonal – it just doesn’t feel like I’ve experienced that season unless certain movies are part of the routine.

I think most people feel this way about winter and Christmas: movies like It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol (the Muppet version), A Christmas Story, White Christmas, Home Alone, Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas…  OK, that last one is a stretch, but you get what I mean.

But what about summer movies?  Is it just me, or do others of you have perennial summer movies that put the ‘cherry on top’, so to speak, of your summer?  That it kind of feels like you skipped something if you don’t watch that movie every summer?

Maybe it’s because these movies came out in the summer and I have fond memories of my skin slightly tingling with sunburn, dodging the 90+degree heat with my cousin at the Crossroads Mall in Omaha.  Or walking the 3 blocks from my grandparents in Hastings to the local cinema with that same cousin in the sweltering July heat.  Sure, some of it is nostalgia, but not all of it.  I mean, I clearly remember waiting in the summer heat of 1983 to see Return of the Jedi for the first time, but it’s not a movie that I feel like needs to be a part of my summer.

These are the movies I feel like are a necessary part of my summer… for whatever reason, but in no particular order:

-       The Goonies
(“’nice’ is my middle name Mrs. Walsh”)

-       The Karate Kid
(“wax on. Wax off.”)

-       Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
(“strange things are afoot at the Circle K”)

-       Back to the Future
(“I am your density”)

So… is it just me? Or do you have perennial ‘summer’ movies too?  If so – list ‘em below – and the first quote you can think of from that movie….

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the 2nd Advent

This year I’ve been thinking a lot about the grander scope of what advent means.

“Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.”

thanks Wiki wiki woo

It also describes our current here and everyday ‘now’.  We are in the time of waiting for Christ’s 2^nd advent, His second coming.

Hopefully for those who are followers of Jesus it is an expectant time characterized with both joy and longing.

Its easy for any of us to lose sight of this precisely because the wait is long and the arrival time completely unknown.

So when I ran across this video, I was struck with the thought that it serves as a great parable for how we Christians should live during this current advent.

A little background:

An AirTran plane is on the tarmac waiting while a maintenance check is performed.

The passengers are… waiting

They don’t know if it’s a 5 minute check or if it will keep them grounded for an hour or more.

Amongst the passengers a choir is seated, some clumped together, some next to non-choir people.

Beautiful.

During their wait, the choir sings a beautiful song of satisfaction found in Jesus.  It is not a song of coercion.  It is not a song of eloquent apologetics. It is not a song detailing a logical case that can be made. It is not a boastful song. It is a song of longing, and waiting.  A song of longing for the Savior who has so changed a life, that the singer can’t help but sing of how nothing else compares.

So as we wait on the tarmac…waiting, as we journey during this advent, let’s bring beauty to the wait.  Let’s sing of hope during the wait.  Let our lives be songs, whose movements and decisions and interactions are notes borne of love for our coming Savior.  


And maybe in so doing others who were not once part of the choir will consider joining the song.




My wife has a great airplane analogy in a similar but completely different vein that I hope she will one day blog.  

BEST of 2011

Here are my picks for best finds of 2011 in books, music, tv and cinema… and some fails

[Not all of them released in 2011]

WINS:

BOOKS:

A Monster in the Hollows (F) – Andrew Peterson
- If you or your kids are fans of the fiction of Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling, Riordan, do yourself a favor and get this series now – you will not be disappointed!!

Erasing Hell (NF) – Francis Chan
- A well written rebuttal to Rob Bell’s “Love Wins”.  Having read both books, Chan makes a much more compelling, theologically faithfully sound and historically accurate case.

Imaginary Jesus (F/NF)– Matt Mikalatos
- captivating from page 1, but with a relatively weak ending, I liked it over all.

The Tehran Initiative (F) – Joel C. Rosenberg
- the latest in Rosenberg’s political thriller series once again predicts headlines before they happen.

SONG:

“Where the Streets Have No Name” (Acoustic Cover) – 30 Seconds to Mars and a gospel choir.
- do I even have to say another word?

FULL ALBUMS:

JOSH GARRELS – Love & War & the Sea in Between
- wow!  So, so , so good (and as of this writing still completely free online at his website)  Haunting, plaintive, worshipful with a dash of hip hop every now and then.  Think of a modern, artsy, Jesus-loving, Gordon Lightfoot

GUNGOR – Ghosts Upon the Earth
If you took Gungor, Sufjan Stevens, Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova and Enter the Worship Circle and threw them into a blender, you would get “Ghosts Upon the Earth.”  … and I love it!

ARADHNA – Namaste Sate
- Learned of this group just before our team went to India.  Great Indian music with Christ exalting lyrics

ANYA MARINA
- came across her EP on noisetrade.com and ended up buying her previous project.  Fun, quirky, infectious, emotive pop for date nights and long car trips.

DAFT PUNK -  TRON:Legacy
- There are many who saw this movie as nothing more than well executed eye candy, but if you’ve followed this blog, you know I whole-heartedly disagree with that.  One of the reasons being this soundtrack

ECHOING GREEN: In Scarlet & Vile
Big EG fan from way back.  Synth pop. This album hit me at just the right time I guess

YEASAYER – Odd Blood
- I have my friend Justin to thank for introducing me to this group.  Welcome back to the 80’s new wave.  There are moments where this feels like a lost Oingo Boingo album in all the best possible ways.

SHINY TOY GUNS – We Are Pilots
Not a new album.. but new to me.  This is the group who covered “Major Tom” for those car commercials.  Again, wonderfully 80’s… though  you should know there is both a ‘clean’ version and a version with a quiet, but strong profanity in one track

CHRISTMAS MUSIC:

ENFIELD – God of God
- A great refreshing take on standard carols and original songs.  My respect keeps climbing for Enfield

STEPHANIE SEEFELDT – Cradle & Cross
- when I learned my friend Stephanie was recording another (‘official’) Christmas project I was delighted.  When I heard it, I was so thankful for her gifts and skills once again.  Worshipful and tender.

VINEYARD UK – Christmas from the Vineyard
- great take on some standard carols and a some very cool arrangements of very old songs

CINEMA:

BOLLYWOOD
- pretty much as a whole.  The silly stories with their predictable formulas, punctuated with musical numbers that make you want to wobble your head and dance. 

Super 8
- I could have done without all the profanities, but this was such a hearkening back to movies I loved as a 12 year old – Goonies meets Close Encounters.  That magic I felt back in the dog days of summer, escaping the heat and reality by spending a few hours in the cinema?  That.  All over again.

Captain America: The First Avenger
- I was hoping I would like this movie and I was not disappointed.  From the camera work to the dialogue, it felt like a throwback to 40’s cinema – which works perfectly since that is the time period a majority of it is set in.  Great blend of action, humor and romance.

Rango
- We rented it and I laughed my head off


Battle:L.A.
Great, military-gritty, sci-fi film.  The honor of self-sacrifice on display time and time again.

Monsters
- Not the Pixar “Monsters, Inc.”,  the film by Gareth Edwards.  A GREAT low-budget indie sci-fi film where the alien invasion element takes a backseat to the characters dealing with the situation and their story arcs.   Not just Special FX  or high paced action.
(Six years after aliens invaded Earth, a security force maintains tenuous control in the Infected Zone straddling the U.S.-Mexican border. Andrew, a photo journalist, is documenting this war-torn area when he's interrupted by an unexpected rescue mission. Sam, the daughter of a media mogul who just happens to be his boss, needs an escort home, and Andrew reluctantly takes on the job.)

The Muppets
- just saw it today…  it got a 97% “fresh” rating on Rottentomatoes.com…and I laughed quite a bit,  but I’d put this Muppet installment at about #5 of all the Muppet movies.  I’m just going to say I love that the Muppets are back and I hope it’s for more than just this movie.

Where were Rizzo & Pepe? *sigh*

TELEVISION:

To be honest, this was the year we mostly moved away from network TV and just began watching shows via Netflix… there’s just so much poor quality stuff on TV… and I don’t just mean content .

DOCTOR WHO!!!!!!
This was such a huge find that the good Doctor has replaced the Star Wars saga for me.  That’s right – I’m posting my SW collection on eBay.  Don’t need it.  Why the change?  It has to do with storytelling.  Are there silly aliens mixed with the scary like in SW?  yes.  But Dr. Who (while much more professional today in its FX work than say the 80’s) does not rely on FX for its stories.  Star Wars started great, but has become a palette for Lucas to do FX experiments.  Trade routes?  Yawn. Gungans? Bother!  Lightsaber overkill? Ugh.
I’ll take a Doctor with a blue flashlight that we’re convinced is a sonic screwdriver that can fix most things simply by shining it’s light and making the wzwzwzwzw sound.  Dr. Tennant & Rose captured my heart. 

Don’t. Blink.

And I think I will pass on the Adipose, thankyouverymuch.

So 2011 – was  great year for entertainment… but there also were some disappointments…

tvb – TSOOL.
I love this band and artist so much that I can’t even bring myself to list the band name or album title.  I was so excited for this project… and then what I heard was so unlike everything I loved about the band.  I guess maybe I could listen again… maybe.

X-Men: First Class
- gather your stones now… I was totally unimpressed.  As an X-Men comics fan, there was so much continuity that was just thrown out the window it was like having someone hand you a McDonalds breakfast burrito and calling it a Taco Bell chalupa

FAILS

Skyline
- GREAT trailer.  Awful, awful movie.  Seriously so bad that one reviewer said, “When other films are critiqued in the future, they will be able to say, ‘at least it’s ending wasn’t as bad as Skyline’”  Yep – it was that laughably bad.

Star Wars on Blu Ray
I’ll try to say this kindly:  Epic. Colossial. Fail.
Having placed a pre-order the day these went up for sale, I promptly cancelled it when I learned of the changes Lucas made.  With the above mentioned Gungans, bad storytelling, overuse of CGI & lightsabers and increasing potty humor, I had started to drift away from SW – not even the (slowly degenerating) Clone Wars cartoon is of interest anymore.

Here was the promised “own every moment” in 1080p.  But wait.  Some of those moments have changed – for the worse.  (Krayt dragon call? Wha? Moving rocks? Noooooooooo!) Some of the promised fixes to rotoscoping sabers correctly, better color correction, etc. never happened.  And now all the bonus deleted scenes are on Youtube, which themselves are pretty ho-hum.

Angels & Airwaves – Love part II & film
I liked AvA’s I-Empire album a LOT. So it was natural to get Love:Part I when they made it available online… and hey… FREE!  Similar music, and the anticipation of a film that was to come.  An artsy film looking at the existence of God… hmmmm.  Once Love:Part II leaked online, I was able to peruse the album lyrics.  I guess Tom DeLong has concluded that the God Christians know and follow is a big lie that we’ve made up.
Well, there’s more money I can save.  I do still plan to rent the film because it does look interesting.

Here’s to a great 2012!  And, no – the world will not be ending in Dec. of 2012.

Community is > 140 + 240

I thought I had made up a new word

LOVATE

As in – I lovate the internet

Until the urban dictionary informed me it was already in use.

I lovate the internet

See, I was a third of the way through a 3-part blog when two things happened:

1 - I got fed up with parts of the internet

2 – I was unsure whether what I felt like saying needed to be read by anyone but me.  Some people blog really effectively… not sure I do.  And I am not bothered if my blog is not worthwhile.

So I may get back  to that train of thought, but I may not.

So why the angst? Why the lovate? And what’s with the title?

Simply put: genuine life-giving friendship and community cannot by its virtue happen in bursts of characters limited to 140 or 240… or even 380 for the astute.

Witty or quippy or provocative statements can be made.  But to be sure misunderstanding is much easier in those confines

Last March I took a month long fast from Facebook.  While I did I came across a wonderfully written blog that opined about how Facebook can quickly become a self-centered ego fest and agreed upon voyeurism.

But I love Facebook and Twitter and email for brief messages and links to humorous/amazing/music Youtube videos and – let’s face it – links to Lolcats.

  But I hate the starkness of the black and white – regardless of emoticons – that so often leads to reading between lines and making assumptions about motives and tone and emotion that may not be there at all.

Millennia ago, Solomon wrote:

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,

   but only in expressing his own opinion.” (Proverbs 18:2)

How much truer in our day.

Real relationship can’t happen in a zeroes and ones format.

Real relationship happens face to face, eye to eye, heart to heart, life to life over meals and coffee and shared experience… and life.

Maybe you disagree.  

If that’s the case, let me know when you’re free for lunch and we can discuss it.

"Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel."  Proverbs 27:9

Where have all the doulos gone?

Ever heard the word “doulos” before?  In my experience not many people have.  And not only is the word unknown, but even when it is acknowledged it is quickly dismissed in the Western church. 
This happens too frequently in my own life, so what follows is for my own reminding as well.

Let me say that again, lest anyone think what follows is finger-pointing.

What I’m about to blog I need to hear as much if not more than anyone who may read this.

Since my thoughts became lengthy, I decided to split this over 3 posts.

PART I:  Doulos?

Doulos (δοῦλος): The term appears in the New Testament about 130 times, almost always in observance of the relationship Christians have to our God. 

In fact, the authors Paul, Peter, Jude, James and John each call himself the Lord’s ‘doulos’ at the outset of his letters.  (These are all the New Testament writers after the Gospels and Acts)

Jesus uses the term of His followers in the book of Revelation 10 times, and in both Psalm 40 and Hebrews 10 the prophecies given through the Spirit and spoken by David and Christ about the Christ indicate that He viewed Himself as a ‘doulos’ of God.

So what is a ‘doulos’?

The term hearkens back to Exodus 21:1-6

If you’re not familiar with the term, here’s a blurb I found in an online forum that was succinct:

“doulos and its cognates contains[sic] various nuances which range from what in English might be classified anything from a slave to a servant. When it is considered, for example, that a doulos was sometimes put in a position of responsibility over the affairs of the master's household, it is difficult to conceive of the person as a slave in the proper sense of the term.  OTOH [On the other hand], a doulos works without profit or thanks, so he is more akin to a slave in that sense.”

Even more helpful to me is this:

“doulos is a Greek word that means bondservant. In the New Testament times, it was not uncommon for a freed slave to voluntarily re-enter servitude to a master whom he loved. This servitude was called bondservice. Only a freed slave could be a bondservant and once he had chosen to become one, he could never be freed again. Neither could he be bought or sold, and he served his chosen master until death. When a man chose bondservice, he was taken to the front entrance of the house, and his right ear was laid against the doorpost. A nail was driven through his ear and a golden earring was placed in it. This golden earring was a symbol to all, of the servants choice and of his immunity to being made merchandise. Paul and Peter spoke of themselves as being bondservants to Christ. There is a service whose true name is freedom. (read I Peter 2:15-17; Luke 12:37)."

taken from Kemper Crabb's liner notes in the album The Vigil

The doulos recognizes the freedom he is given and the price for that freedom. In love, he willingly surrenders the rest of his life to his master’s service, and this service is not oppressive.  As Crabb so wonderfully says above – “there is a service whose true name is freedom.”

But what does it mean to be a “doulos” today? 
I’ll explore that over the next 2 posts:  The call to be counted as a doulos both externally and internally.


preview of part II: "...in America we want the easy ‘ticket to heaven.’  We want to live without the ‘bonds’ of ‘servitude.’  And we certainly don’t want anyone to suggest that the doulos mindset is a normal and expected part of our faith.  We want to hear a Gospel heavy on ‘grace alone’ – whose end effect is that we should do nothing in service to Christ, lest that be ‘legalism’ or ‘works salvation.’ "