Django Unchained Review

Justin, Dad and I saw Django Unchained on December 27, 2012. This movie followed the Quentin Tarantino formula utilizing elements from his previous films and other inspirations on his career. I have seen every major Tarantino movie, and I can honestly say this is my favorite of all them. I thought the story in this movie was excellent with a team of bounty hunters: one professional-Dr. King Schultz played perfectly by Christoph Waltz, and his recruit over personal issues with slave owners around the American South, Django played very well by Jamie Foxx. I have yet to see a movie I didn't like Christoph Waltz in. Foxx is usually somebody I dislike, but he filled the role well. The friendship between the two men constantly grows, and I felt that the actors interacted well on screen integrating what the character called for naturally. Django is also on a mission to rescue his wife, played by Kerry Washington-who is quite beautiful and I expect will have a great career just like her father. If you didn't know her father is Denzel Washington. They go from plantation to plantation trying to find her while also collecting the bounties of the wanted owners like the Brittle Brothers. Eventually, they cross paths with the ruthless Calvin Candie and his estate appropriately named Candieland in order to acquire Broomhilda (Django's wife). They create gimmicks for themselves in order to gain favoritism with Calvin. Leonardo DiCaprio played an exceptional villain. He was cunning, ruthless, warped, and indicated how dark of a character he can play. DiCaprio has been my favorite actor for at least 10 years now, and I think the Candie role could finally land him his first award win for Best Supporting Actor. Him and Waltz both deserve it, but it would be nice to see DiCaprio finally win. If you think the chemistry between King and Django is good, wait til you see the chemistry with Calvin and his loyal servant Stephen played very well by Samuel L. Jackson. The scenes between the four of these characters range from calm to extreme anarachy. In fact my favorite scene in the movie takes place in a dining room between these characters turning from a conversation into a huge Scarface mansion shootout. DiCaprio and Waltz stole the show, and both deserve their nominations. This movie combines dramatic elements, great comedy (specifically a scene involving the KKK which had the whole audience laughing, and Stephen's over-reacting to Calvin's jokes), and intense bloodshed. I still think the best scene in any Quentin Tarantino movie is the Showdown at the House of Blues in Kill Bill Volume 1, but this is my favorite overall movie of his, and I believe deserves the praise it's getting. From the excellent cast to the animated characters to the dialogue to the story/plot to the bloody showdowns, the movie easily warrants a 5/5 for me. Awesome to see Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio both nominated this year. I'd love to see both win, specifically DiCaprio as he deserves it after putting out excellent movies since 2002 from Gangs of New York to Catch Me If You Can (still baffles me why he wasn't nominated for this) to Blood Diamond to Body of Lies to Shutter Island to Inception and I am sure I'll enjoy his work in The Great Gatsby-of course Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan in that which is a completely different topic but she's one of my favorite actresses so it's worth mentioning it). Definitely enjoyed Django Unchained!! Remember, the D is silent!!

Les Miserables Review

Justin, Dad, and I saw Les Miserables on December 26, 2012. I absolutely loved this adaptation. The theater was packed and the emotions were at an all time high, and it's to be expected. I love the music, and I love the interwoven stories whether it's the ongoing feud between Jean Valjeant and Inspector Javert, the struggle for Fantine to find a good home for her child, Cosette, the love triangle with Eponine, Cosette, and Marius or the Revolution. I have always loved the book (definitely one of the best I've ever read) and then Cameron MacIntosh created this phenomenal play about the book interwoven with larger than life characters and music that has stood the test of time. This has been one of the most successful plays in Broadway history, and I enjoyed this movie very much. Tom Hooper did an excellent job in the director's job as he did for The King's Speech, and the approach he took for the singing worked well in my opinion. Having the actors sing live put them into the mind of the character, and once they become that character the orchestra starts up and it is pure gold. I loved the cast from Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjeant to Russel Crowe as Javert to Anne Hathway as Fantine. Each of the songs was well put together. I felt it presented an amazing visual imagery of the play. The costumes, art design, and cinematography were magnificent. I kept reliving scenes in my head as I've actually analyzed and studied both the book and the play on my own. As a nerd, I do things like this. I felt the facial expressions and the method acting put into the roles really helped deliver into the magic of the music. The songs I really liked were Fantine's I Dreamed A Dream-I thought Anne did an excellent job with this reflecting on her downward spiral, On My Own sung by Eponine (my favorite character)-I had goosebumps during this song. I'll discuss this after this piece. One Day More-really loved this with the preparation for revolution amidst the different characters, and the finale which always has a Titanic feel to it with Valjean's death and the joining with Fantine. In my personal opinion, I felt that Samantha Barks stole the show. She did an excellent job as Eponine-she actually plays her in the UK version and has really cemented herself into that role. Without a doubt, she had the best voice, and Barks is absolutely beautiful. Always liked the Eponine character with her sacrifice for Marius and participation in the Revolution as well as standing up to Thernadier. I hope Samantha Barks gets more roles. If you need somebody to play Elphaba in the new Wicked movie, please consider her. Great cast, great music, great songs-I've listed the ones I liked the most, and fantastic usage of cinematography and editing. After the film ended there was a huge applause, and I agree. I give this a definite 5/5 and hope it dominates the awards shows. I really wish that Samantha Barks was on the list, but the Eponine part is smaller than the others (even though it's the best one-haha).

Silver Linings Playbook Review

Justin, Dad, and I saw Silver Linings Playbook on December 18, 2012. This was a great movie with phenomenal acting, and a decent story. The movie follows former teacher Pat Solitano played brilliantly by Bradley Cooper (probably his best performance to date). He is in a mental institution over an incident involving a co-teacher and his ex-wife, Nikki. He returns home to live with his parents on a plea bargain. His father is played by Robert DeNiro, and its definitely one of his best roles in the 2000s. You see how both father and son have afflictions affecting them, but it really adds some great emotion to the movie. In his quest to reconcile with his ex-wife, he meets a girl named Tiffany, who could very well be even more messed up then he is. In my opinion, Jennifer Lawrence's performance in this is what stole the show, and I wouldn't be surprised if she actually wins Best Actess at the Golden Globe. She certainly deserves it, and is fast becoming the new It Girl of Hollywood. It's great to see as I've actually enjoyed everything she has been in thus far: Winter's Bone, X-Men: First Class, The Hunger Games, but this is by far her best role. The chemistry with Lawrence and Cooper comes across as natural and you become invested in the characters because their acting is well done. Tiffany is dealing with the death of her husband and being fired from her job. Both realize they can help each other to realize their own goals. The combination of the characters brings out the best and worst of both. The movies takes us through Philadelphia whether its at an Eagles game (Pat's dad is obsessed with them and bets on the side to make profit off the games), a dance competition (incredible scene showcasing comedy and drama) It combines the interests of Pat's dad with Tiffany's goals and Pat's assistance in achieving those, while also realizing his pursuit of Nikki is not what his focus should have been as Tiffany has been there the entire time since he got out. This is a great movie that many of us can relate to even if we don't share the same afflictions. Great cast, great acting, and a pretty good story about how we may all have problems, but there are ways to solve them. Definitely a 5/5 and worthy of the nominations its getting.

Les Miserables (pre-review and review)

Hi My name is Jacqui. You may know me from other entries on this blog, though I admit they don’t happen as often as I would like.

I am here to discuss Les Miserables. This is a movie I have been waiting for since I was a little bitty child. When I was younger and my parents were mean, I would imagine I was Cossette waiting for someone to rescue me from the Thenardiers. As I got older, I thought of most of my relationships as the one-sided love of Eponine and Marius. Additionally, I was bullied mightily as a child. When I was down or saddened, I would retreat to my room or the corner of a field and listen to the soundtrack. Truth be told, there was a time when I knew the whole thing in 3 languages (Original French, Hebrew and English). To this day, I can tell you the differences between the original London Cast and Broadway. As well as the subtle ways, they changed the show for the symphonic recording, 10th and 25^th anniversary concerts (10^th was by far the most amazing). 

I only give that introduction so you as the reader can understand my bona fidas to totally destroy this movie. I haven’t seen the film yet; I have only heard the recording. To me, that is enough to explain my dislike for what I will see tomorrow.

Tom Hooper chose an unorthodox approach to film this movie. The nature of Les Miserables is a very emotional piece of music. As a result, he chose to have the actors sing live on set and using long takes to accommodate this manner of filming.   I understand why he made the decision and I appreciate what he tried to do.

However, what seems like a great idea in theory is not always good in practice. I feel like Hooper who is not a musical guy didn’t quite grasp what he asked his cast to do. Hugh Jackman, a Tony nominee and true Broadway veteran sounds tired. He is capable of this Hugh Jackman Oklahoma Opening. The same goes for Samantha Bark  (A West End “Eponine”) and Amanda Seyfried. Anne Hatheway has done some Sondheim and other sort of soundtracks (Ella Enchanted).

Hearing Hugh Jackman sing “Bring Him Home” is painful. This man has a range and power. While I didn’t expect him to sound like Colm Wilkinson or Anthony Warlow; I did expect him to sound like he was able to pull off the high notes. Again he sounds tired when he sings it.  Another example from earlier in the movie,  “Who am I?” I will provide an example to illustrate what you will be walking into:

Jackman

Alfie Boes from the 25^th Anniversary concert (whom I dislike)

The notes of the song where in the show it transitions to the courtroom, (lyrics: “Who am I? I’m Jean Valjean”) are some of the most badass sung notes in the musical. By talking through it, he fails to convey the full emotion of the moment. I also grant that he doesn’t have to make the transition that the stage Valjean has to make during this song as the magic of film takes care of that for movie Valjean. I feel this reflects how truly tired Jackman was during the filming and the lack of understanding Hooper has for the show. 

Nowhere is this more evident than the way he directed some scenes in the movie. Example: Traditionally, actors who share certain singing attributes play the roles of Javert and Valjean. The main reason for this is because the actors are asked by the score to act as a counterbalance. Again, I understand the choice of a Russell Crowe. He does have some singing experience mostly in rock and not in a musical setting (though I did find this little gem: http://youtu.be/somEd35Xz2Q).  Jackman while "forcing it" still has more power than Crowe. With Crowe unable to sing it, the least Hooper could have done is “fix” scenes like the various Confrontations scenes to adjust the levels so the proper counterpoints occur at their proper times (http://youtu.be/rlYVHOUa3Vo though the same thing occurs on the movie soundtrack as well).

Sorry I have to say it. Hooper was given a collection of some of the best voices Hollywood has to offer and he failed to allow them to meet their potential. He also was unable to fully grasp the material he was working with. Again, I understand the idea of “let the actors be actors” but it fails in this medium with this score. My hope is that when they release the DVD/Blue ray, Cameron Macintosh sends the cast to the studio to record a proper recording and re-engineer the movie.

Pre-movie Rating: 1/5

Updated on 12/25

Following the usual Jewish Tradition of Movies and Chinese; I went to Les Miserables with the family. My above critique of the vocals still stands. I will stay that the movie is well done in almost every other respect. I even cried at some points.

Anne Hathaway will get an oscar nod for this performance. Hugh Jackman I believe will get the globe but Hooper sabotaged him. Valjean is hard to sing in normal circumstances, Hooper really hurt Jackman's ability to sing it properly. His edits of the confrontation scenes to remove the counterpoints between Jackman and Crowe really bothered me and also hurt the ability to tell the story in a proper way.

Hooper's use of the super-closeup was also something that I found beyond troubling at times. He often used the technique to "show" you who was singing; something that would not have needed to happen if the film was properly mastered in a studio and not on set. For what Hooper attempted to work, you needed voices who could pull it off and he lacked them/ tired out the ones that could. I go back to "Bring Him Home" which sounds like Jackman made a choice between proper technique and drama. Never cause vocal damage was something teachers always taught me.

While I have spent the majority of this entry completely panning this movie, I will spend some time complimenting a few of the changes made to the script. A big complaint of the show is the lack of background given on the characters, Hooper appears to remedy this in a couple places (actually introducing Marius by showing his grandfather. They  also explain where Cossette and Valjean ended up after she is rescued from the Thenardiers).

Another touching change occurs at the end. The show finale has Eponine and Fantine escorting Valjean to heaven. In the movie, Fantine and the Bishop (played by the Original "Valjean" Colm Wilkinson) escorting him gates.  A very touching finale to an otherwise lackluster movie. 
    

Post Movie Rating: 3/5

Rumor has it they are going to make a 3D version.. ABORT ABORT 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

Justin and I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on December 15, 2012. This was a fantasy driven movie with incredible effects, amazing characters, and great scenes that take you back to memories of reading the book. This was honestly one of the first big books I read back in 6th grade for Mrs. Christie's Reading Response Journal entries. I loved the book, and I loved the movie. Bilbo Baggins is one of my favorite characters: He is a character that starts out as somebody that is a recluse and wants to keep to himself, but through interactions with Gandalf and the dwarves, who want to reclaim their mountain kingdom from a dragon known as Smaug, he becomes a brave, intelligent companion keen on helping the cause and showing what a hobbit of Bagend is made of. I've always liked Bilbo, and disliked Frodo because I feel Frodo is weak, whiny, and crying for Gandalf to help him all the time. I liked the intro showing what happened to the Dwarf Kingdom, and the issues with the Elvish kingdom. It is a great way to show why Legolas and Gimli disliked each other at the start of the LOTR trilogy. The dinner/meeting scene to organize the fellowship to gain control of the kingdom was hilarious. Justin and I were laughing at the line: "That's a bit excessive isn't it?" when the heavyset dwarf comes out holding a wheel of cheese to eat. The audience follows this troupe on their adventure and feels the intensity in each scene whether its the encounter with the trolls, or the obstacle of survival with the Stone Giants and the encounter with the Goblins in the caves of Moria. My favorite scene is the Game of Riddles with Gollum and Bilbo, and I absolutely loved watching it unfold. I felt it was well done and I always have liked Andy Serkis's portrayal of Gollum. I like the schizophrenic nature of the character, and how obsessed with the ring he is. Bilbo is intelligent and is able to get away from Gollum, but the riddles exchange was perfectly executed. The battle scene at the end with the orcs and the Fellowship of the Dwarves displayed why I love the fantasy drama: characters that your creativity imagines battling each other through walls of fire, sword fighting, and brave risks. Thorin was basically obliterated and Bilbo rushing to save Thorin elicited a big applause from the audience. I knew the eagles scene had to be where the movie was going to cut, and the way they ended the movie for the second installment was perfect. Great action, scenes, effects, characters, and tremendous performances by Martin Freeman (Bilbo), Ian McKellan (Gandalf), Richard Armitage (Thorin), and some nice cameos by Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, and Christopher Lee, to which somebody turned and asked me: "Is he still living?" I said: "Yes, surprisingly enough." This is a definite 5/5. It was so well executed and personally I've always liked the actual story of the Hobbit better than the Lord of the Rings trilogy.