I DREAMED A LES MISERABLES TRAILER

I got a lump in my throat just from those shots of Fantine getting her hair cut off. I'm sold.
 

I still watch Glee so I'll see anything with music in it.  Wish Russel Crowe wasn't in it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malloy 

I got a lump in my throat just from those shots of Fantine getting her hair cut off. I'm sold.
 

Moreso that shot of her at around 1:05.

And I think the less-belty version of the song really works in this context.  It's film.  You don't have to reach the back row.  Just put some emotion into it, which Hathaway certainly seems to be doing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malloy 

I got a lump in my throat just from those shots of Fantine getting her hair cut off. I'm sold.
 

Glad I'm not the only one, and I'm entirely unfamiliar with the material.

Goosebumps.

And I dozed off during the stage version!  I'm the worst.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel 

I still watch Glee so I'll see anything with music in it.  Wish Russel Crowe wasn't in it.

Any excuse to get Russell Crowe into that costume again is always worthwhile. I will use it for my Master and Commander love.  Plus, I like Crowe. He doesn't have the most consistent record, but for Javert, he is great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

Goosebumps.

 

And I dozed off during the stage version!  I'm the worst.

No you're not.  I found the stage version fucking endlessly dull.  But then, I found Hugo's novel a massive slog, also.

Loved the stage show (saw it twice) and so was very sceptical about this.

But that looks fucking mean!  Goosebumps.

Not being terribly familiar with the stage show, I was mainly excited for this because of the "Hey, Hugh Jackman finally gets to fucking sing in a movie!" But this? Holy shit, so good. Here's hoping the live singing gambit pays off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrTyres 

 

Any excuse to get Russell Crowe into that costume again is always worthwhile. I will use it for my Master and Commander love.  Plus, I like Crowe. He doesn't have the most consistent record, but for Javert, he is great.

Regardless the quality of the movies, Crowe's performances are always 100%.

And in a musical? That's a much more daring choice than Hugh Jackman.

 

And I dozed off during the stage version!  I'm the worst.

 

 

Originally Posted by Ratty 

No you're not.  I found the stage version fucking endlessly dull.  But then, I found Hugo's novel a massive slog, also.

"You're on my shit list."

Also, it's interesting that they aren't pushing Helena Bonham Carter or Sacha Baron Cohen's involvement.

And that they're making Hathaway's role seem a lot larger than it actually is.

Yeah, the one full song I've heard from the show is "Master of the House", and I can't fucking wait for Sacha and Helena to duet on that.

I've heard that scheduling conflicts kept SBC and HBC away from filming and they just started last week.

I'm thinking the heavy Fantine focus may also be because of the crazy popularity of "I Dreamed a Dream" in the last few years. But in the full trailer, I do hope it comes through that this is really Valjean's story.
 

One of the thigns that put me off was the casting of Crowe, but thinking about it, and thinking about the Stannis Baratheonesqueness and just general unrelenting "this is the law"ness of Javert he's actually a startlingly good choice.

Plus, "good" Aussie vs "bad" Aussie ;p (tongue firmly in cheek).

Honestly though, as long as "On My own" and a "little fall of rain" are done well there's no fucking way I'll be leaving the movie theatre dry eyed.  Both of those made me blub like a child (not the best look when the first time you saw it was on a school trip. As a 17 year old, staunch, boy crying ones eyes out was. not. cool.).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Bain 

Honestly though, as long as "On My own" and a "little fall of rain" are done well there's no fucking way I'll be leaving the movie theatre dry eyed.  Both of those made me blub like a child (not the best look when the first time you saw it was on a school trip. As a 17 year old, staunch, boy crying ones eyes out was. not. cool.).

The actress playing Eponine is Samantha Barks, who absolutely tore that shit up in the 25th anniversary concert:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malloy 

I've heard that scheduling conflicts kept SBC and HBC away from filming and they just started last week.

 

I'm thinking the heavy Fantine focus may also be because of the crazy popularity of "I Dreamed a Dream" in the last few years. But in the full trailer, I do hope it comes through that this is really Valjean's story.
 

...The fuck? This thing comes out in 7 months! How could they delay this much?

I have similar questions about Django Unchained, which just had footage screened at Cannes, yet is apparently still filming with big story and cast changes.

Also, does Javert sing that much? I ask because while I know Crowe had a rock band in Australia before his movie career took off, that's not quite what they're going for here.

Javert is a pretty major part, with two fairly significant solo songs, and numerous duets with Valjean, as well as group numbers.

Here's a YouTube video I found with all the major cast members singing.  Keep in mind most of these songs/styles are nothing like what they'd be doing in the film.

Well, and they'll probably be cutting back at least a little on the songs so the movie doesn't run, say, 4 hours long.

Chris, you are aware that the musical is sung-through, right? It's all songs.

Woah. I assumed Eddie Redmayne must be able to sing. But he can SING. Did not expect that voice.

I'm not a fan of Barks' version of On My Own, but I doubt it matters since they're obviously going for something besides the obvious belting with this film. It should be interesting to compare the two versions in the end. I hope she's enough of an actress to pull off A Little Fall of Rain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malloy 

 I hope she's enough of an actress to pull off A Little Fall of Rain.

indeed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiteboy Jones 

Chris, you are aware that the musical is sung-through, right? It's all songs.

...OK, so it's the kind of thing where you really CAN'T cut out songs, then.

There are songs that have been cut from the original production over the years (such as "Little People"), but cutting songs to insert dialog scenes would be kind of disastrous to the structure, I think.

Christ that was gorgeous.

Strong men also cry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

And that they're making Hathaway's role seem a lot larger than it actually is.

That fits the original novel more.  Fantine in the play has like two scenes.  Book Fantine gets 200 pages or so.  

I've never seen Les Miserables, but I sometimes catch performances shown on PBS. I was just wondering, is it usually performed with the actors singing to the audience, with an orchestra on stage, or is it also performed with actual sets?

Quote:

Originally Posted by t3cii 

I've never seen Les Miserables, but I sometimes catch performances shown on PBS. I was just wondering, is it usually performed with the actors singing to the audience, with an orchestra on stage, or is it also performed with actual sets?

The most famous and popular eighties iteration was a full blown english language opera with massive revolving sets and full costume. Thats the version I saw as a lad and was kinda blown away. The version where they're just singing into mics is more a Les Mis:The Concert kinda deal I think.

I'm really hoping they keep this an all-singing kinda deal and don't shoehorn in dialogue. The story plays perfectly as it is and it's one of the great stories.

Quote:

Originally Posted by t3cii 

I've never seen Les Miserables, but I sometimes catch performances shown on PBS. I was just wondering, is it usually performed with the actors singing to the audience, with an orchestra on stage, or is it also performed with actual sets?

Those are the anniversary "...in concert!" shows, so the staging and sets are done away with for the actors to stand and sing. 

The stage show features essentially one HUGE prop - I don't even know what you'd call it - that suffices as the set when a building or barricade is needed, and the rest is done with creative use of a turntable (like a huge 20' across disc in the stage, not something that Jam Master Jay would be working) and lighting effects. 

Pic of the huge prop, which splits apart and both sides can rotate 90 degrees: 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chavez 
Pic of the huge prop, which splits apart and both sides can rotate 90 degrees: 

 

Gods that's right. I guess its been almost 25 years since I saw the thing and that pic just gave me major flashbacks.

Hopefully all this anniversary talk will spawn a full blown stage revival down here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rain Dog 

 

I'm really hoping they keep this an all-singing kinda deal and don't shoehorn in dialogue. The story plays perfectly as it is and it's one of the great stories.

I'll have to go over my box set and see what they might be cutting....I figure that they'd like to get the movie to 2 1/2 hrs, but you've gotta keep the big showstoppers in but not create any major plotholes, either. 

As far as Crowe being able to sing, but maybe not SING!, the only song where Javert has to knock it outta there is "Stars" (which could probably be cut with little ramification); anything else Javert does, an actor could probably Rex Harrison/Richard Harris "sing-speak" it and be fine. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chavez 

 

I'll have to go over my box set and see what they might be cutting....I figure that they'd like to get the movie to 2 1/2 hrs, but you've gotta keep the big showstoppers in but not create any major plotholes, either. 

 

 

As far as Crowe being able to sing, but maybe not SING!, the only song where Javert has to knock it outta there is "Stars" (which could probably be cut with little ramification); anything else Javert does, an actor could probably Rex Harrison/Richard Harris "sing-speak" it and be fine. 

Better than fine, that kinda works perfectly for Javert. It's Jean Valjean that has to belt them out and my man Hughs got that covered no worries.

Oh I am suddenly so very excited for this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rain Dog 

 

 

Gods that's right. I guess its been almost 25 years since I saw the thing and that pic just gave me major flashbacks.

 

Hopefully all this anniversary talk will spawn a full blown stage revival down here.

I always liked the fact that in an era of Lloyd-Webber opulence, the Les Mis production crew just said "fuck it, no WAY are doing 50 sets....we're going to credit the audience with having some imagination and just keep it minimal." 

I saw the touring show in January. The way the set just keeps getting rearranged to make the different pieces. It is amazine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chavez 

 

 

I always liked the fact that in an era of Lloyd-Webber opulence, the Les Mis production crew just said "fuck it, no WAY are doing 50 sets....we're going to credit the audience with having some imagination and just keep it minimal." 

Lloyd Webber kept wanting to wow you with bullshit, it's why he's always irritated me. Les Mis relied on the strength of the story and the tunes because both are some of the best to come out of musical theatre.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rain Dog 

Better than fine, that kinda works perfectly for Javert. It's Jean Valjean that has to belt them out and my man Hughs got that covered no worries.

 

Oh I am suddenly so very excited for this.

Looking at the cast....yeah, I can get behind this. Dunno about Eddie Redmayne, but Amanda Seyfried was one of the few truly great things in Mamma Mia!.

EDIT - the Eddie Redmayne was just a "never heard of him" not that I have a problem with him in any way. But listened to Dickson's link above, and unless he has some sort of lethal negative-charisma defect, he should be more than fine. 

I'd rather spend two hours shoving hot needles into my eyes and ears than sit through Mamma Mia, so I'll just take your word for it that Seyfried has pipes.

Hathaway really fucking pleasantly surprised me in that teaser tho I must say. As if I wasn't a big enough fan of the lass already.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rain Dog 

I'd rather spend two hours shoving hot needles into my eyes and ears than sit through Mamma Mia, so I'll just take your word for it that Seyfried has pipes.

 

Best capsule review I read was that "it's fun in a crowd-pleasing sort of way, despite not being objectively very good." 

Most of the songs are entertainingly staged, Greece looks like a piece of heaven on earth, Seyfried is fantastic (and luminous) and Meryl Streep gives a performance far better than anyone has a right to expect. But I'd say unless you're a big ABBA fan, it's pretty well skippable. 

I will pop in and be that insufferable guy and say the younger actors not named Seyfried are pretty well-known theater people. Redmayne has a Tony, Aaron Tveit was the DiCaprio part in Catch Me If You Can and is heart-throb/next big thing if he wants it-y, even Barks got attention from the London revival. And who would I be if I couldn't point out how shockingly wrong Anya is about something? Crowe's got a musical theater background, which is more than I can say for Johnny Depp. So he's gonna be great. 

About the only one I'm not wild about is Jackman. Why'd you get him when you could have had THE IRON CHEF:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KPpkTgMbhRU#t=98s

Also, I love all you guys, but let's not go six months talking about how the promotional materials for this make us cry. Please? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonard 

I will pop in and be that insufferable guy and say the younger actors not named Seyfried are pretty well-known theater people. Redmayne has a Tony, Aaron Tveit was the DiCaprio part in Catch Me If You Can and is heart-throb/next big thing if he wants it-y, even Barks got attention from the London revival. 

THAT is unusual....and welcome. 

I've never gotten the Hollywood fascination with casting dramatic film actors who may or may not be able to sing (in most cases, the latter) for a musical. 

Not to bring up Mamma Mia! again, but it's a great example - they cast Pierce Brosnan, Skellan Sarsgard, and Colin Firth as the 3 male leads; now, all of these guys are on the "pretty fuckin' good" end of film actors, but the roles were not particularly siginificant and all 3 of them were pretty well out of their depth when it came to singing and dancing. Just put some theater vets in those 3 roles and you make the film marginally better (and trust me, it needed all the help it could get). 

To say nothing of verging-on-trainwrecks like Depp in Sweeney Todd (Sweeney is a booming baritone, not a reedy tenor) or Gerard Butler in Phantom of the Opera (Butler sings just fine - unfortunately for him "just fine" is well below the skill level needed for the Phantom). 

But then we wouldn't have got the hilarity of Stellan Skarsgaard singing, and I think the world is a little bit better now that that exists in the world. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonard 

But then we wouldn't have got the hilarity of Stellan Skarsgaard singing, and I think the world is a little bit better now that that exists in the world. 

I always felt Terance Stamp in drag for Priscilla had that base securely covered. 

I'm glad to see everyone else is just excited about this as I am!

I have to admit, this squeezed a few tears out of me. I LOVE the more subdued version of the song. And goddamn Hathaway killed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chavez 

As far as Crowe being able to sing, but maybe not SING!, the only song where Javert has to knock it outta there is "Stars" (which could probably be cut with little ramification);

Oh god no.  "Stars" spells out his entire motivation.  It comes back at the end of his big number later in the show.  And it's one of the show's trademark songs.  No way on earth it gets cut.