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The Coen Bros And The Return Of The Musical

post #1 of 21
7/26/02 at 1:18pm
Thread Starter 
Apparently they want to do a musical.

A musical written by John Turturro.

A musical starring JAMES GANDOLFINI.

<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=794&ncid=790&e=8&u=/eo/20020723/en_movies_eo/10287" target="_blank">The Madness Goes Here!!</a>

Man, I'm SO glad to see the musical making a comeback. "Chicago" is already getting good buzz. And I even read a Country Bears review whcih said the music was good.
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post #2 of 21
7/26/02 at 1:24pm
Hey, as long as it all moves towards a big-budget adaptation of LES MISERABLES with Edward Norton, Heath Ledger, Charlotte Church, Russell Crowe, Tom Waits, Miranda Richardson, Nicole Kidman, Mandy Moore, Hugh Jackman, and Paul Bettany, directed by Alan Parker or even big Steve Spielberg, I'll go see it.
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post #3 of 21
7/26/02 at 1:29pm
Okay, Rath, I'll bite -- who's playing who from that list? I'm assuming Church as Eponine, Crowe as Javert, Moore as Cosette, and Ledger as Marius, but I can't decide who Thenadier would be between Waits and Bettany, who I personally think would be fabulous in that part.
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post #4 of 21
7/26/02 at 1:37pm
It took me months to finally figure this out. Near perfection, IMHO.

Edward Norton=Valjean
Russell Crowe=Javert
Nicole Kidman=Fantine
Heath Ledger=Marius
Paul Bettany=Grantire
Hugh Jackman=Enroljas
Daniel Radcliffe=Gavroche
Charlotte Church=Cosette
Mandy Moore=Eponine
Tom Waits=Thenardier
Miranda Richardson=Mdm. Thenardier
Emma Watson=Young Cosette

Special Appearances by:
Colm Wilkinson=The Bishop
Phillip Quast=The Foreman
Lea Salonga=Leader of the "lovely ladies"
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post #5 of 21
7/26/02 at 1:38pm
Oh yeah, and maybe P.T. Anderson as an alternate director.

I also wanna see Spike Lee's take on RENT.
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post #6 of 21
7/26/02 at 2:03pm
i'd like to see spike's take on gone with the wind or showboat

shuckin and jivin

<img src="http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/new_line_cinema/bamboozled/_group_photos/savion_glover5.jpg" alt="" />
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post #7 of 21
7/26/02 at 2:13pm
No way in hell could Norton play Valjean. He's way too young. I remind you that in the two most famous adaptations, Valjean was played by Lino Ventura and Jean Gabin, ie big hulky guys with deep raspy voices, something that Norton is not yet (maybe when he reaches 50). Other than that, I like your suggestions, especially Waits and Richardson as the Thenardiers, though maybe you could find other child actors than Radcliffe and Watson (and no I don't mean Osment)

As for the Coens wanting to do a musical, I say they go for it, especially after the choregraphic brilliance they have displayed in some sequences of Hudsucker Proxy and Big Lebowski.
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post #8 of 21
7/26/02 at 2:17pm
Thread Starter 
Shouldn't Crowe and Norton switch roles in that scenario? I see Valjean more as the hounded, haunted-looking one with a few years on Javert (at least in appearance--remember, he was in jail for about half his life), whereas Javert is more a smug and self-righteous whippersnapper. Seems more like Norton for the latter role and Crowe for the former. (Besides, realistically, if it was being made, Crowe would be the lead because he's the bigger star.)
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post #9 of 21
7/26/02 at 2:25pm
Well, Javert is every bit as haunted as Valjean, just in different ways. And I've always seen them portrayed as being fairly close in age.
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post #10 of 21
7/26/02 at 2:36pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, there's no specific age requirement that I'm aware of (well, except Valjean is fairly old, since the story starts with him having been in jail for, what, a couple of decades? And then the events of the story span at least another decade.) But I can buy Javert as being more like the young guy who's making life hard for Valjean...almost like Colin Farell in Minority Report. I know he's got his own demons, but he's more like the guy who externalizes them into other people and *seems* blameless and immaculate on the surface. And no matter what he's been through, you've got to assume Valjean has been through harder, and Crowe seems more like the actor to portray past hardship.

Oh yeah, and don't forget Valjean is supposed to be this super-strong slab of concrete. Again, that says Crowe to me more than Norton.
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post #11 of 21
7/26/02 at 3:48pm
Whenever I think of Norton in this role, I see a nicer version of Derek from American History X. Not racist, though.

I can see the roles being reversed between him and Crowe, though. Crowe always just suggested Javert to me. If you have an alternate suggestion for Valjean, I'd like to hear it. I mean, I've been thinking about this "project" for a long time and I cannot seem to find the right person to "play" Valjean.
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post #12 of 21
7/26/02 at 4:40pm
Quote:
And Prankster Was His Name-O:
Javert is more a smug and self-righteous whippersnapper.
Javert is no whippersnapper. He's someone who has spent his life hounding Valjean and the lyric "I will join these little schoolboys, they will wet themselves with blood," kind of proves his age.
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post #13 of 21
7/26/02 at 4:41pm
Well, getting BACK to the subject of this thread, I for one was not wholly impressed by The Man Who Wasn't There, but still look forward to every new Coen film.

This sounds very cool!
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post #14 of 21
7/26/02 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, well, Norton's not a whippersnapper either, exactly. But Javert could start the movie as a youngish man. The ages of the characters aren't established, except in that the story takes place over the course of a decade or two. But I could buy Javert as, again, a sort of sanctimonious young prig at the beginning, however much he ages over the course of the story.

It's not a perfect fit, anyway, I just thought that of the two actors Norton seemed more like Javert than Crowe, and Crowe seemed more like Valjean.

As for the Coen movie...am I the only one who thinks that singin' Gandolfini is a little too out there, even for the Coens? I mean, I'd see it, totally (assuming he's a good singer) but I'm not sure even I would be able to get past the "this is weird" feeling.

Of course, judging from the cast and the fact that it's being set in "Turturro's home town of Bensonhurst, New York", and billed as similar to The Honeymooners, I guess this isn't gonna be Andrew Lloyd Webber.
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post #15 of 21
7/26/02 at 6:04pm
They are not directing it, so there is no guarantee whatsoever that it will be good.
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post #16 of 21
7/26/02 at 6:52pm
Thread Starter 
What? Yes they are. They're not WRITING it.
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post #17 of 21
7/26/02 at 6:55pm
They are producing it, that's all.
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post #18 of 21
7/26/02 at 6:56pm
Sorry, I was wrong. It must be that crack I smoked earlier.
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post #19 of 21
7/26/02 at 6:59pm
In that case--

THIS IS GOING TO KICK FUCKING ASS!
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post #20 of 21
7/26/02 at 7:56pm
Thread Starter 
It's interesting, the Coens seem to be entering a phase where they want to try interpreting other's scripts instead of writing their own. (A sign of creative burnout? I hope not. I mean, I doubt it, I just raise the possibility.)

They had that "To the White Sea" written by David Webb Peoples which would have KICKED ASS, I think they're still hoping to make it eventually. Their new one is that George Clooney thriller with a generic-sounding 80s thriller name, "Intolerable Cruelty" I think it's called, which they also didn't write. And now this.

It's kinda disappointing to me that their biggest hit in theaters was "O Brother".
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post #21 of 21
7/26/02 at 8:32pm
Intolerable Cruelty is a straight up black comedy. No thrills. Very very funny script.
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