Exposition
I'm all about lists, yet I never got around to making one about the best days of my life :P But if I ever did, this particular day I'm about to go into is top 3 easily...
"Mamma Mia!" is one of those musicals that's really family-oriented. It focuses on the bond between mother and daughter and as well as fathers and daughters. That particular day, my dad took my sister and I to New York to see it... that Saturday in June 2006 per that moment was probably "the best day ever"... the quintessential best day ever... we saw a musical we really enjoyed, my dad surprised us afterwards when he gave us the CD's he bought during intermission [or maybe before it started, not sure], and we went to a restaurant for one of my favorite dinners ever [Salmon Imperial... my mouth still waters thinking about it. Sadly, this restaurant closed just recently.
Whenever I listen to the soundtrack, it takes me back to that day instantly. I remember the overture and the excitement billowing in me. The musical numbers and how they were set up, I still remember really well.
There was also a time when I was in college where I almost couldn't listen to the soundtrack. Certain songs ("Lay your love on me" and "Under attack") were too poignant given what I was going through at the time... or they just made me miss home too much.
A couple years later, they adapted the movie to film, so my mom, sister and I went to the theaters to see it. We weren't quite dancing in the aisles, but enjoyed ourselves... but the movie isn't without its flaws.
At the present moment, I'm inclined to believe that Broadway wins [again] by a landslide, but I'll break my discussion into a couple categories to figure out how true that is.
Casting
First the positives...
Amanda Seyfried was the perfect Sophie. I think this was her first big role since "Mean Girls" and it was a great performance. Probably my favorite of hers still... not that I've ever been disappointed.
The duo of Christine Baranski and Julie Walters as the other Dynamos, Tanya and Rosie, rocked it... other than the "Does your mother know?" number and one particular line ("You're supposed to blow, not suck"- it was regarding an air mattress but nonetheless got a lot of laughs), Tanya wasn't memorable in the Broadway version. The same goes for Rosie and "Take a Chance on Me"... but even that number was better in the movie.
Of the three guys, Colin Firth was the best casting choice. A perfect Harry Bright.
:sigh:
I can have my nitpicks about the choice of songs, how the arrangement differed from Broadway... but my biggest grievances lie with the two leads...
For the record, I quite like Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Julie & Julia"... the issue I have in general is that she's nominated for an Oscar nearly EVERY year...
To this day, I maintain that casting her and Pierce Brosnan as Donna and Sam was NOT because they were the best people for the job...they were cast because Hollywood wanted big names for this movie... as if they weren't confident enough in the huge following this musical has...
Firstly, Meryl Streep was shy of 60 when she was cast for "Mamma Mia!"... Donna is supposed to be a middle-aged woman in her mid 40's, assuming that she met Sam, Bill and Harry when she was in college... therefore too old...
Secondly... :sigh: "The Winner Takes it All" is supposed to be this big triumphant number breaming with feminine energy. Her vocal range didn't allow for that big finishing note, so when it finally came and didn't happen... the bottom fell out of my stomach, I was so disappointed. [As for my biggest disappointment of the movie, see the soundtrack section]
Meanwhile, Pierce Brosnan... I don't care that he was freaking James Bond for 4 movies... I think I only saw "Die another day" and he was quite good... I'm even willing to give him the age thing... only 55 when "Mamma Mia!" was cast...
HE CAN'T SING!
"S.O.S." was painful, his voice was so bad. I'm sure there are dozens of actors in the right age range with a much better singing voice...
This movie also introduced me to Dominic Cooper, who I may forever associate with the character of Howard Stark (aka Tony Stark's father)... as great as he was, I fell out of love with him during his overreaction scene- where he accuses Sophie of using their wedding as an excuse to find who her dad is... that's kinda harsh... also kind of a silly nitpick considering my opposition to the above casting choices.
I also understand that they changed Bill Austin to Bill Anderson for the movie because Stellan Skarsgard wouldn't have matched with the whole "Indiana Jones travel writer" thing Bill Austin had going on... having that said, I sometimes wish they didn't change the character and cast Keith Urban instead :P even if the age range is off by quite a few years
Soundtrack
I suppose the best way to address this is going through the soundtrack song by song and saying who did the better version.
1. I have a dream (tie)
Both version are still very clear in my head
2. Honey, Honey (tie)
Both versions were memorable, but the dialogue where Sophie and her friends were reading "dot dot dot" in Donna's diary was much funnier on Broadway
3. Money, Money, Money (Broadway)
-Broadway- I still remember the set-up well... Donna is on one side of the stage and during the company interjections, they shift the spotlight to them... vocally superior and funner
-Hollywood- includes daydreams of what Donna, Tanya and Rosie would do with the extra money... vocals are good, but aesthetically I prefer the former.
4. Thank you for the music (Broadway)
-Broadway- vocals is shared by Sophie, Sam, Bill and Harry, and introduced early on
-Hollywood-song was deferred to the end credits
5. Mamma Mia! (tie)
Both versions handled it well. The staging was more hilarious in the movie, but Donna's dialogue on the Broadway soundtrack is funnier ("I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to clean out my handbag... or something")
6. Chiquita (Hollywood)
-Broadway- I don't remember this number quite as well, but it was a sentimental pep talk
-Hollywood- lots of hilarious moments that made me fall in love with Tanya and Rosie in this version
7. Dancing Queen (Hollywood)
-Broadway- great vocals
-Hollywood- great vocals, great humor, great use of the set and company
8. Lay all your love on me (Broadway)
-Broadway- vocally superior and I personally prefer their aesthetic to the movie
-Hollywood- great humor with Sky's friends marching in their masks and fins
9. Super Trooper (tie)Both versions were great with the movie being more on the sentimental side
10. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Broadway)
-Both versions did it really well, but again, I prefer the vocals and the dialogue of the Broadway version to the movie
11. The name of the game (Broadway)
-vocally, Amanda Seyfried sang this really well for the movie... but the producers, for whatever reason, decided to cut this scene and include it among the DVD extras... so I had no choice but to give the point to Broadway
-personally, this number is another sentimental one for me because it makes me think of my dad... after all, this is the point in the story where Sophie confronts Bill about whether he's her father.
12. Voulez Vous (tie)
-prefer the Broadway dialogue, but both versions did this really well
-Tally so far:
Broadway (5), tie (5), Hollywood (2)
13. Under Attack (Broadway)-obviously because this number was omitted from the movie entirely... one of my favorite songs... this dream sequence was one of the most memorable moments... Sophie's in a bed that's being moved back and forth across the stage by Sky's friends wearing snorkeling gear
14. One of Us (Hollywood)-technically, this song was omitted from the movie, but they made the smart choice by limiting its involvement to dialogue... the song is so short, I completely forgot about it
15. S.O.S. (BROADWAY)
-Broadway- remember this number really well too... they had spotlights on Donna and Sam depending on who was singing
-Hollywood- bad singing aside, this number felt kinda phony because it had one singing while the other was doing some random activity without hearing them singing... as if it was something from "Glee" (and I'm a huge Gleek, btw)
16. Does your mother know? (Hollywood)
-the Hollywood version was more hilarious (thanks to Christine Baranski's performance) and memorable... don't remember much about the Broadway version
17. Knowing me, knowing you (Broadway)
-my biggest disappointment from the movie was cutting this, my favorite song from the musical... I agree it would have been repetitive in the movie (since we already had that impressive "S.O.S." number) and Pierce Brosnan's voice would have ruined it, but I almost wanted to cry because they didn't include it
-the man who played Sam... both on the soundtrack and on stage, I loved their vocals on the final note leading to the chorus... "...Goodbye" and "...say"... one of my favorite vocal numbers in the musical
18. Our Last Summer (Broadway)
-Broadway- a duet between Donna and Harry, revisiting their "hippie summer" in Paris
-Hollywood- took the place of "Thank you for the music," much earlier in the script and instead featured Sophie with the three men... I just didn't buy into that interpretation of it :(
19. Slipping Through My Fingers (Hollywood)-Hollywood handled the sentimentality of this number really well... I don't remember it nearly as well on Broadway
20. The Winner Takes it All (Broadway)
-in the movie, this number felt very long and drawn out...
-Broadway- had this been a concert, this would have been the penultimate standing ovation number... that big note at the end is just... WOW... the movie missed a huge opportunity here
21. Take a Chance on Me (Hollywood)
-Broadway- still remember how Rosie was chasing Bill through the empty church before the wedding :P
-Hollywood- the 2nd to last song with lots of hilarious turns and we also get to see Harry's other half (they also clarified in the church scene that Donna was the first [and last] woman he ever loved... which kinda makes sense when you really think about it]
22. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (Hollywood)
-I don't really remember it in the Broadway version... it was kinda funny in the movie where Sam flashes the ring at Donna and she stammers through the titular lyrics :P nice touch
23. I Have a Dream (Reprise)... (tie)
-Broadway- I don't remember the scene all that well, but the ending of the song gave me chills... and made me so sad this thing was ending... that's a great feeling to have at the end of a show, hating to see it end
-Hollywood- it was a pleasant send-off and great ending... hated to see it end, but it didn't elicit an "ugly cry" response...
The great part with both versions is that they had the encore at the very end... in the Broadway musical, after being sad it was ending, the cast came out and sang a couple more songs for us.
It's great they kept this in the movie for the ending credits, including everyone wearing the ABBA-style costumes :D
Tally-
Broadway (5), Hollywood (5), tie (1)
So by my math, the musical numbers give Broadway the upper hand...
Another difference between the two was the inclusion of two new songs in the movie...
"Waterloo" was in the ending credits, and we also getting another excellent Pierce Brosnan vocal for "When all is said and done"... which takes place before "Take a Chance on Me"..
Even if the vocal was decent, I felt like this song added absolutely nothing to the movie... painfully forgettable...
So there you have it... over the three times I've done this, Broadway has won against Hollywood... I'd do one on "Phantom of the Opera," but my memory of the Broadway show is basically nonexistent at this point...
I don't remember much about the Broadway show beyond the following...
1) the first scene where Christine and Raoul meet each other for the first time since they were kids
2) where the Phantom has the road around Raoul's neck in the catacombs and I was freaking out that he was going to kill him (even though I freaking knew the ending!!)
3) been a hot mess for a good 15 minutes after the show ending because of #2
It just wouldn't be fair to compare the two when I don't remember enough about one side of the argument. And I've grown far too fond of the 2004 movie with Gerard Butler that I probably won't accept any other version anyway :P
Code-name: So Fetch!
Director: Mark Waters (also behind "Freaky Friday," "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" and my #85 film "Just like Heaven")
Writer: Tina Fey
Type: high school, comedy
Cast:
The Plastics
Cady Heron- Lindsay Lohan
Regina George- Rachel McAdams
Gretchen Weiners- Lacey Chabert
Karen Smith- Amanda Seyfried
"The Greatest People You Will Ever Meet"
Janis Ian- Lizzy Caplan
Damian- Daniel Franzese
Hot Man Candy
Aaron Samuels- Jonathan Bennett
Shane Omen- Diego Klattenhoff
Mathletes
Kevin G- Rajiv Surendra
The Teachers
Ms. Norbury- Tina Fey [SNL alum #1]
Mr. Duvall-Tim Meadows [SNL alum #2]
Coach Carr- Dwayne Hill
The "Cool Mom"
Mrs. George- Amy Poehler [SNL alum #3]
The Herons
Mr. Heron- Neil Flynn [aka The Janitor from "Scrubs"]
Mrs. Heron- Ana Gasteyer [SNL alum #4]
Honorable Mention [astonishingly uncredited]:
Glen Coco- David Reale
Write-up:
I know! I missed the 10th year anniversary of this movie's release by 2 weeks... I'm just hoping that people aren't so sick of all the movie talk from two weeks ago that I won't get any comments on this :-P
Lindsay Lohan got me here... and is one of 100's of reason I always come back
I loved her in "The Parent Trap" remake (the original pales by comparison cuz I saw that version first).
I couldn't wait to see "Freaky Friday" because it was the first movie I'd seen her in since. After loving it, I got the soundtrack and got highlights in my hair.
Loved her in "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," a movie all the critics hated but I could totally relate to. Also got the soundtrack (liked it much more than "Freaky Friday")
I bought both of her albums and loved them both. Even wrote an entire album fic around "Speak." Plus she worked with great songwriters like John Shanks and Kara DioGuardi (those years, I listened to a lot of Ashlee Simpson and Michelle Branch).
I did not see "Mean Girls" in theaters, but I did rent it from Blockbuster as soon as it came out...
it was so awesome that I HAD to watch it a second time before I had to return it. And that's something that didn't happen often.
Now, when it comes to Lindsay, I've seen all of her movies except for the most recent ones, "Liz and Dick" and "The Canyons" (still planning on the latter at some point). I'm a huge fan and still am a huge fan.
I read all kinds of headlines about her, but never read a single article. With the industry of tabloids and the TMZ, I didn't know what to believe, so I waited to get some truth. Got that just recently with her doc-series on OWN. It had its ups and downs, yes, but I enjoyed every minute of seeing her for realz. [FYI, not a typo]
Hands down, though, this is my favorite of her movies. Probably my favorite performance of hers.
...in case nobody noticed the omission, this was one soundtrack I didn't get... I don't know why I never bothered :-P maybe I should just to complete the set.
The Story
Before I get into the 100's of other reasons why I love "Mean Girls," I'll go through the main plot for those who don't know (in which case, you've been missing out BIG TIME).
Up until this year of high school, Cady Heron was homeschooled by her parents while they lived in Africa. So this was her first year of actual public school. As expected, her first day didn't go well.
Then her next day, she meet the duo of Janis Ian and Damien who showed her the ins and outs of North Shore High School and its clique system. At lunch, she winds up sitting with The Plastics, the exclusive group of mean girls that rule the school.
For whatever reason, they recruit her to join their group and Janis wants in on all the gossip (most of which comes from the notorious "Burn Book").
But when Cady falls for Regina's ex-boyfriend, Aaron, and Regina steals him back, she and Janis brew a plan to overthrow the queen bee.
One by one, they cut off her "resources": turning Aaron and the other girls against her and tricking her into gaining weight.
In doing so, Cady becomes the new queen bee and morphs into an even worse version of Regina George... all kinds of crazy ensue and the clique system at the school warrants investigation from the teachers. Especially after the Burn Book's contents are made public.
The 100's of Reasons.. Some Closer to Home Than Others
For me, this movie has a little bit of everything. I gravitate to certain movies because they have clever writing. It's best when it's a little something different, things I haven't experienced before and commentary on things I've often thought about but never thought other people did.
I gravitate to movies because they have memorable characters. Cady is relatable to anyone who's in a new place and has trouble making friends. Then they go through a transformation when they meet the right people (Janis & Damien) and when they meet the wrong people (Regina and The Plastics). As she says in the final scene, through the course of "Mean Girls" she goes from being "homeschooled jungle freak to shiny plastic to most hated person in the world to actual human being"... and throughout this journey, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm pulling for her every second of it.
Years later, I would find my own Janis and Damien in my college besties, Sam and Dave. It took me a while to realize the connection, but it is so true. Not just because they relate to each other the same way and they have similar body types, but Sam accepted me into her friend circle when I didn't have anybody...
This came about more than halfway through my college experience but better late than never. Once I accepted that friendship into my life, everything else fell into place. They were also the people I turned to when I had guy trouble... or rather dealing with the painful reality of harboring a secret crush and wanting to be the #1 girl in said crush's life.
But, I digress...
All the characters are so well defined that what they do is predictable but we love them for it.
We recognize that as much as Gretchen grows to hate Regina, she still wants to be part of her life because it's better to be Plastic than not.
We know Karen is the easily swayed dumb girl, but we find her endearing for it.
Of course I relate to the clique system at the school. I was one of those people who really didn't have one. I was an outsider. Yeah, I was in drama class, concert choir and companies of high school musicals, but I was never really a part of those. I was either alone or I was in my own social circle that didn't belong to any given clique. Except for college where I had my friends in our animé club that I hung out with every now and then too. They happened to be friends with my friends so it worked out really well.
The other easily relatable part of the movie for me is the guy trouble. Cady wanting to be with Aaron Samuels. I absolutely get that, wanting to find excuses to talk to him and such. But I never went so far as to dumb myself down just to achieve that.
That's just stupid... plus I know my folks would kill me if I let my schoolwork slip over a boy of all things.
The Plastics have their own code of feminism. It's really interesting how they make Cady over when they bring her into their group, what that does for her image, how she carries herself, but it's also a relationship that turns toxic from overexposure. But I guess that's understandable: Cady never being in public school before is a clean slate ready to be molded and shaped into something different.
Even more interesting is how smart Cady is when she's not dumbing herself down for Aaron Samuels. Ms. Norbury keeps pushing her to join The Mathletes because she's just that good at calculus. Everyone keeps telling her it's Social Suicide.
Of course... the best part of this movie is the quotes.
We all have our favorites.
So I absolutely MUST give props to Tina Fey in her screenwriting debut. I haven't read the source material, the nonfiction book "Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence" by Rosalind Wiseman... although I should.
I missed her run on SNL by a couple years. I started watching after she and Jimmy Fallon left and just before Kirsten Wiig and Seth Myers left. But from start to finish, there are so many good lines. The degrees of funny vary from straight-up hilarious to slow-burning hilarity... gotta love that variety.
...found this out after watching the special features... Tina Fey didn't just write it, but she loved this book so much that she approached Lorne Michaels about adapting it to a movie. So really, there'd be no "Mean Girls" without Tina Fey.
I salute and thank you for that!
Also interesting is that this movie was R-rated originally and trimmed to PG13... some jokes were changed and other scenes were rewritten
And it's not every day where almost every line in a movie is this quotable and it gets to a point where they're iconic... becoming Internet memes and taking over Facebook and Twitter.
To loosely quote "Legally Blonde," I thrive on inserting movie quotes into everyday life... whether people get them or not. So movies like this are what I LIVE FOR. 8-)
Sadly, "fetch" never happened and I never tried to make it happen. Although I did say how the American Idol producers were trying so hard this year to "make fetch happen" with Sam Woolf, pushing him as the designated hottie until he went home in 5th place.
But probably the most popular line is "you go, Glenn Coco!"
The most iconic moment in the movie was me is "Jingle Bell Rock" where The Plastics are dressed in Santa outfits doing the sexy dance... once I even watched this scene on Christmas day because I just couldn't help myself. Great stuff, even cooler that Cady thought to sing the song after they lost the boom box. Lindsay's got a great singing voice and I still hope for another album to happen.
Also love how Janis insists on calling Cady "cad-ee" instead of the way it's really pronounced ("kay-dee")
The Cast
It's so strange that I'm ending with the cast when that's usually the first thing I got into with my movie reviews.
Any SNL fan notices the excess of alums cast in this movie as the adults. It took me a few years to realize that was Amy Poehler as Mrs. George and just the other day, Ana Gasteyer as Cady's mom.
When this movie came out, everyone knew Tina Fey from SNL. I knew this without even seeing the show. But in her writing and with this character, just love watching her. She's engaging, she's good-hearted and she has just the right amount of sarcasm.
In name only, I recognized Jonathan Bennett as one of the various guys cast as JR Chandler on "All My Children" after Jesse McCartney left (missed him by a couple years) until they finally ended up with Jacob Young.
...with the web-based reboot, I don't care much for the new JR. If he just accidentally shot himself in drunken grief in the "AMC" finale, everyone would be happier...
And Lacey Chabert I knew then as the voice of Eliza Thornberry in "The Wild Thornberries."
Everyone else, I really didn't know. This movie, for me, was about Lindsay Lohan. It was about the story and the memorable characters. Then with the different names, I had my eyes and ears open for them in other projects.
This only really extended to Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried. Both have done great movies I love coming back. Some, not so great.
It took me a little while to get in my head that Amanda is actually really bright in real life because she was so conceiving as the dumb girl in this movie. She was one of the better parts of the film adaptation of "Mamma Mia" (which I have some strong opinions about for a later date) and was one of 3 reasons I had to see "Les Miz" (the others: Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway).
Coming Soon
Next week... I guess "2 weeks" is the common factor with everything here.
2 weeks ago, I reviewed "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2014/05/theatrical-review-grand-budapest-hotel.html
and next week I'll go into the Wes Anderson movie solely responsible for me going to see it.
Now that's a unique movie experience, unique look, unique combination of puppetry and animation... and another great all-star cast.
And at the helm... George Clooney 8-)
Pretty much gave it away, didn't I? I don't really care. What's done is done :-P
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Date: Sunday, June 2, 2013
Time: 12:15pm
Party: 2 (my sister & I)
Cast:
M.K.- Amanda Seyfried
M.K.'s dad, Bomba- Jason Sudekis
Ronin- Colin Farrell
Nod- Josh Hutcherson
Mub- Aziz Ansari
Grub- Chris O'Dowd
Mandrake- Christoph Waltz
Nim- Steven Tyler
Queen Tara- Beyonce Knowles
Bufo- Pitbull
[Coming Attractions]
The two of us had the theater all to ourselves... with the exception of a boy about 5 or 6 who claimed he'd seen the movie three times already and his dad was seeing "Fast & Furious 6."
Question 1:
Why was he completely on his own?
It wasn't as if he talked through the entire picture, but he had trouble staying still a lot of the time and his attention wasn't where it ought to be.
:sigh:
I don't pretend to understand any of this. This movie could have gotten away with a G-rating, but I guess the MPAA people thought there were enough somewhat scary moments and bits of rude humor to bump it up to PG.
Are there no G-rated movies anymore?
At least that was my question until I saw that "Monsters University" got a G-rating.
Pixar can be counted on for that about 90% of the time.
The previews were all animated movies and included 2 sequels.
"Smurfs 2"
I saw bits and pieces of the first one. Not quite as bad as I expected, but I don't see myself seeing this unless it's on cable.
"Planes"
The trailer looks nice. It seems they're promoting it as a spin-off of "Cars" because there are cars in the movie. Again, nothing to get super excited about.
"Despicable Me 2"
Saw this trailer during Star Trek and it still looks great. We did go to see the first one, after all.
[Write-up]
Question 2:
Why did nobody like this movie?
Richard Roeper claimed that the celebrity voices were a distraction and that it has more stimulation for a younger audience than adults.
Hmm, maybe I answered my first question right there.
Maybe it just caters more to younger people because it has that "child-like wonder" factor. The animation is simply incredible. I remember seeing the teaser trailer last year (it was during a 3D movie so the trailer was in 3D... sadly we didn't have that luxury) and simply being in AWE of all the bright colors and such.
That's just one of the many ways I roll when it comes to movies.
It has an environmental message at its heart, but it's not preachy like a lot of movies people groan at merely the mention of.
Right now the only example I can draw up is "The Lorax." I didn't read the book as a kid so I didn't know what to expect, but I felt deceived by the trailers that promoted it as a funny, light-hearted kid's movie. In the dark parts, it got REALLY dark.
And before anyone cries out that this is a deliberate rip-off of "FernGully"... I can't speak on behalf of that one way or the other. I saw the movie so long ago that I have no recollection of it.
The end credits said it was inspired by a children's book.
Thankfully, us humans aren't the bad guys in this one.
They're merely visitors.
The movie begins when teenager M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) arrives at her dad's place, which happens to be in the middle of the woods. He'd been spending his life searching for an "advanced civilization of little people living the forest," leading to his estrangement from society and his own family. M.K. wants to explain how she feels about his way of life, but he's too busy tinkering with his latest discoveries (via several of his motion-sensitive cameras strung throughout the forest) to even listen.
But as she's on her way to leave, she ends up having to catch their dog- an old three-legged pug with bad eyesight- who ran into the woods. Did he need to have three legs? No, but even though he's animated, he was freaking cute.
In the forest where the leafman (the little warriors who ride hummingbirds) live, they're preparing for a special day that only happens every 1,000 years. The queen of the forest (a warm performance from Beyonce) has to choose an heir. She picks out a seed blossom from a pond that must be bloom under the light of the full moon when it's at its peak.
But our villains, who are fully aware of this, arrive to complicate things. Their leader Mandrake (Christoph Waltz) wants to make everything in the forest decay simply because that's the way he likes things.
Sadly this massive chase scene that ensues ends with the Queen Tara getting killed, but not before she and M.K. meet and she gives her the task of looking after the seed. Not to mention she shrinks her down to their size.
A few voices stand out and gave decent performances, but I viewed this film as a whole rather than the sum of the parts.
It's nice to hear Colin Farrell with his Irish brogue for a change. Josh Hutcherson, we all know as Peeta from "The Hunger Games," plays his young charge who is going through some growing pains and rebels, but evolves into somewhat of a love interest for M.K. It isn't explored terribly well, but it's a kid's movie- what do you expect?
He gets a little friendly competition for M.K.'s affections from Mub the slug (yeah, I totally see that couple happening [rolls eyes]), and his friend Grub continually brings up his dream to become a leafman (despite the fact he's actually a snail).
Christoph Waltz plays a good baddie, but his voiceover work doesn't hold quite as much water as he does in the flesh where his accent alone gives me chills.
Steven Tyler is probably the biggest stand-out other than Beyonce, making us totally believe that Nim is an eccentric "uncle" wise-man type.
The storyline is pretty easy to follow from there. After consulting Nim on what to do with the seed, they have to take it Moon Haven where the full moon will shine the brightest. The bad guys get a hold of it, Mandrake wanting it to open in darkness so he can use it to destroy the forest. Of course, the good guys have to infiltrate the evil lair to get it back and even then, the battle isn't entirely over.
The action comes and goes as it's needed so the movie is paced really well. And when the chips are down, everyone plays a part, even M.K.'s dad, and you get the desired happy ending.
Overall, it's straight forward, well-written, acted decently, provides a feast for the eyes and has a little something in it for everyone.
I really enjoyed it and hope anyone who reads this decides to give it a shot at some point, no matter what the critics say.
Grade: A
[Program Note]
Speaking of those critics, they all panned the magician heist film "Now you see me." Yet it managed to beat out this week's designated Blockbuster "After Earth" in box office earnings.
I'll be going to be seeing that solo on Wednesday. Not just to prove the wrong critics (something I like to do every now and then), but also because the trailers looked more awesome each time they showed them in theaters.
Location: Pocono Movieplex
ShowTime: 1:15pm
Duration: 157 minutes (+4 trailers)
Party: 2
The short version of this post is as follows:
"It was freaking amazing"... those exact words.
I previously remarked that "The Hobbit" was one of those movies where you had to mentally prepare for the commitment of giving nearly 3 hours of your time to watching a film.
"Les Mis" was the same thing, but with one difference:
ironically I bring up the Lord of the Rings prequel because it's a comment that had been used to describe the trilogy's finale.
The last 20 minutes was similar in that I kept expecting the ending to come at least 3-4 times until it finally did.
But at the same time, I kinda didn't want it to end. You spend a lot of time in this other world, really getting to know all of these characters and how they tick, etc, etc. You get engrossed to the point where breaking away is hard.
My mom and I were 2 of 9 people. The first two were a young couple around my age, which had me pondering if "Les Mis" was a good date movie. And part of me also wondered if it was going to be like that "Seinfeld" where Jerry and his girlfriend were making out for the duration of "Schindler's List." (As it turned out, they were cozy through most of the movie and he was probably a good shoulder to cry on if needed).
Another couple came in during one of the previews and there were three older ladies sitting at the back of the theater.
There were 4 previews:
I'd only seen a teaser of the "Oz" prequel and this is going back to maybe August when I saw "The Bourne Legacy." It was so visually stunning and intriguing (which witch is the bad witch?) that I've started to consider it as well.
"Epic," I saw the teaser trailer before the final Ice Age movie and it looked amazing then. The animation only gets more impressive.
I'd seen the movie poster on IMDB a number of times for the movie "Identity Theft" where Jason Bateman, oddly enough, has his identity stolen by Melissa McCarthy. Most likely the studios want to capitalize on her success with "Bridesmaids" and give her a starring role. With the one huge LOL moment in that trailer, I get the feeling it might do all right.
Finally, there was "Oblivion." When I first heard of it, I was asking myself how Tom Cruise had time to do all these movies (especially when I have enough trouble with my favorite actors starring in more than ONE movie each year... 2010 had me spoiled rotten, let's just say). It's one of those post-apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers with all the great special effects and CGI. There's no huge rush on that one, but I'll have to remind myself to get around to watching "Minority Report" because the spacecrafts were giving me major Blade Runner/Total Recall vibes.
Now onto the actual film.
The only version I saw of "Les Mis" was in 8th grade French Class... in French... and it may have been the version with Liam Neeson as Jean ValJean. My memory is so foggy that I remembered very little about the movie except for the four main characters and the fate of at least two of them.
(This is also part of the reason why I had no idea when the cut-off point would be).
It didn't take very long at all to say that all of the props the cast and crew received were very richly deserved. Coming off his Oscar win directing "The King's Speech," Tom Hooper did so well with this that I doubt anyone else could have managed quite as well. As with any musical being translated to the movie screen, it's amazing how grand a scale they use to bring that extra something to the material. But the grandeur of THIS, I'd never seen anything like that before. Colossal sets, doing incredible justice to a show already larger than life to a lot of people.
The actors singing everything live made it feel all the more genuine. At times, it felt like I left my body for a couple minutes because I was that absorbed. And all the voices were amazing. Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, I expected to be amazing and of course, expectations were surpassed. Despite the comments in one reviews, Russell Crowe, I think, impressed me the most out of everybody. His stage presence as the complex and often conflicted Javert, about an hour into the film, I just had to sat back and say "WOW."
It comes with not knowing the play all that well, but a few questions sprang to mind that had me wanting to pause and find answers to.
It started when Fantine was thrown out of the factory. It was a mix between the reasoning behind it and also why she was victimized by the other women and singled out. Was it because she was the prettiest one there (wearing pink where everyone else wore drab colors)? Was it because she was the only one who wasn't a virgin? Was it because she had a daughter and rejected the foreman's advances? Some of it got lost in translation, obviously, but that bothered me. (Strangely, even more so than what came next for her).
There were examples everywhere about how things were at that time, like all of the things she did to get extra change in her pocket (how locks of hair and teeth were even worth a couple francs). A major example were the duo of Helen Bonham Carter & Sasha Baron Cohen, inn-keepers, but also pickpockets at every opportune moment. For sure, they were scene stealers and in the otherwise emotional and somber musical, Sasha Baron Cohen produced the only laughs (and always welcome, they were).
With all of the character development that happens throughout the story, it boggles my mind why this isn't one of those books we were assigned in school. We could have easily done an essay on whether Jean ValJean or Javert went through the most changes from the beginning of the story to the end. Personally, it's a hard decision at the moment.
Act I came and went. Jean Val Jean assumed another identity and the role of fatherhood to Fantine's daughter, Cosette.
Act II opens with the backdrop what seemed to be a 2nd French Revolution, led by the youth no less. (Funny enough, it was giving me major "Occupy Wall-Street" vibes).
This was also around the part of the film where I had no idea was what going to happen from this point on. Wasn't even aware that there was a love triangle in this movie.
Samantha Barks, as everyone who'd followed the production of the film knows, played Eponine in the stage show and she was every bit as professional as everyone else.
My friend Dave posted a couple of bits on his Facebook page, poking fun at the fact she's singing how she's in love with this guy, Marius and at the same time, he's singing about how beautiful Cosette is, despite the fact he'd only just seen her for the first time.
I had to ask myself. "Dude, you just saw her for the first time and hadn't even spoken to her yet. How can you be in love with her?"... apparently forgetting all about her storyline with Jean Val Jean.
Then again, they did the same thing in "Sweeney Todd" with Anthony and Johanna, but I didn't question it then.
Marius and Cosette spent a lot of time pining for each other, only sang in each other's company once and suddenly, it's a relationship. I didn't buy it for a while.
Eponine is a tragic character in a number of ways, but I don't think anything made me feel bad for her more than who her parents were (take a wild guess!).
Another confusing moment was when Javert passed himself as part of the resistance, I assume to be a fly on the wall, get inside information to inform his troops... he was found out quickly enough. Bring Jean Val Jean back into the mix (he's all but forgotten about in the 2nd act until he receives the note from Marius to Cosette) and more conflict ensues within Javert.
Not to give too much more away, Jean Val Jean escapes with a wounded Marius via the sewer line and they did not skimp on the graphics at all... really is as gross as it sounds. The revolution comes and goes. There's one happy ending in this entire show, but when it finally gets here, the finale was pretty spectacular.
From an aesthetic POV, take away the length, it's probably the best executed musical they'd done in a long time.
From a personal POV, it was amazing, but at the same time, I don't see myself watching this as many times as my other favorite musicals. If anything, it's a one-time-a-year thing.
Grade: A
