Les Miserables, or How no, I don't even want to hear the people sing

Les Miserables
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Written by:
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham-Carter & Samantha Barks.

Oscar Nominations: 8
Best Original Song ("Suddenly"), Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Make-Up & Hairstyling, Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway), Best Actor (Hugh Jackman) & Best Picture.

I have already aired some of my larger problems with the film and thus won't rehearse those here. Instead I'll just say that, as directed by Hooper, Les Mis attempts to zero in on the emotional intimacy of the piece at the expense of the very epic nature of its source material. Uneven in its casting (for every Anne Hathaway nailing an iconic "I Dreamed a Dream" there is a Russell Crowe mostly underwhelming in a dull "Stars") and incapable of letting the material (or its actors) breathe, the film suffocates its strongest moments in an otherwise overblown production. C-

Wolverine, or How Bad Films Make for Fun Reviews

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Directed by: Gavin Hood

Written by: David Benioff & Skip Woods

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schrieber, Taylor Kitsch, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Will.i.am, Dominic Monaghan & Ryan Reynolds.

Instead of railing against the blasphemous filmmaking that is X-Men Origins: Wolverine (dialogue: horrible, that 'Wolverine Pacific Northwest story' could have been good had it not been delivered so plainly and played for a joke; plot: infuriating, was it going anywhere? were there any stakes involved? what the hell was the boxing scene about anyways?; editing: appalling, re-watch the Gambit-Wolverine fight scene and tell me it's not one of the botchiest editing jobs ever in a big budget summer franchise film; directing: cliche here [walking into the sunset!], cliche there [they are animals, of course they'd run in the forest!], bad montage here [look! it's all these wars in 15 mins!], and don't even get me started on the CGI...) I figured I'd just throw some thoughts out there.

13 Random Thoughts I had while watching X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

- Hugh Jackman is a great actor. Given mediocre dialogue and thinly veiled metaphorisations all around, he grounds Wolverine/Logan in a place where you at least enjoy him on-screen. And yes, he's shirtless and/or naked enough to give us some eye-candy while at it.

- Okay so Weapon XI was Deadpool, correct? That's why it was Ryan Reynolds in his full-ab glory at the end right? So why is Scott Adkins billed as "Weapon XI"? Did something go over my head here?

- "OMG! That Nigerian building is where I spent most of my academic life in my undergrad years!": Who knew that Buchannan Tower at UBC worked so well as a diamond dealing fortress?

- Helicopter scene: Puh-lease. And no I'm not just talking about Wolvie jumping off with the help of the explosion's thrust onto the helicopter, but mostly about Agent Zero's jump into the helicopter... Oh who am I kidding, the whole scene was preposterous EVEN for a comic book film.

- Why do Wolverine's claws look like they're Hasbro-made when he's in the bathroom of that annoyingly nice elder couple? Also, why did they have to play that scene for comedy? That in it of itself seemed to be the biggest issue I had with the film, its tongue was so squarely placed in its cheek, I couldn't really follow through Logan's dramatic arc at all cause every time I did, one of the characters would spew out a useless 'zinger' that rang very hollow and it sucked me OUT of the film completely.

- Rule # 1 of good filmmaking: you DON'T need to show us everything. Was I the only one annoyed at the fact that Hood cut to this after Logan says that's what he wants his dogtags to say?

- Did we really have to get rid of Dominic Monaghan so quickly? His short scenes at the circus/fair were one of the highlights of the film for me.

- Can we get Liev more work? Better work?... What's that? He's playing a cross-dresser in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock? Good!

- Uh, why is Emma Frost's transformation akin to being bedazzled by diamonds?!

- "Am I seriously liking this LESS than X-Men: The Last Stand?" (But then, anything with Sir Ian McKellen makes me like a film more... though the Patrick Stewart was a welcome sight)

- Am I ever going to be able to take Ryan seriously as an "actor"? I'm thinking: No. I'm content with admiring his bulging biceps and his beautiful abs.

- THE END: Are they seriously doing the "walking into the sunset" thing?... And then again? And then again?!

- THE BONUS SCENE: Are you EFFING kidding me? That was it? He was "still walking"? WTF?

Verdict? C -

Australia, or How only Baz could make a film like this

Australia

Directed by Baz Luhrmann 

Written by Baz Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie, Ronald Hardwood & Richard Flannagan

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Brandon Walters, David Wenham & David Gulpilil

How do you follow a threequel of sorts (Strickly Ballroom, william shakespeare's romeo+juliet and Moulin Rouge!) with a film so confident/ambitious you've named it after an entire country? Well, if you're Baz Luhrmann what you do is explode the 'epic movie', add a pinch of the theatricality that marked your earlier work, stylize it to extremes, enlist a great tech team, a couple of gifted Aussie thesps (and an unknown!) and you head to the outback to shoot Australia. Is the result an accomplished success like his 2001 Oscar-nominated musical wonder? Not particularly; but you have to give Baz & co. props for aiming so high with a project as expansive and unconquerable as the land it tries to portray.

What works:

- Nicole as Lady Sarah Ashley. To those who say that Ms Kidman has no range and little facial mobility I dare you watch her scene with Nullah as she explains the plot of The Wizard of Oz and not be moved (Kidman attempting to sing 'Over the Rainbow' is probably one of my favourite scenes in cinema this year)

- Hugh as the Drover. Need we say more?

- The cinematography. So gorgeous. It almost... almost made me think again about packing everything and going walkabout. But then, Y: The Last Man memories kicked in and well... we all know how that ended, right?

- Brandon Walters. Such a natural thesp... or maybe such a thesp because he's a natural.

- The costumes. Need I say that Kidman's dress is this year's green-library Keira gown for me? (Though Kate's Revolutionary Road's yellow city dress might tie for it)

What almost works

- The CGI backgrounds. Too painterly to be taken seriously and too realistic-looking to be taken George-Lucas-ey. 

- The length. A clip here and a clip there... though where? I still wonder.

There's plenty more to say about this film, but I think I need a couple of more views to be able to critically assess it. For now, let's just say it's a film I would recommend to anyone who loves film-making and who relishes the grandiose nature of The Baz. B+

Hugh Jackman to host Oscars, or How really: you heard it HERE first

The AP is reporting that Hugh is hosting the Oscar telecast, which is all very exciting, cause it proves that Bill Condon is most likely reading my blog.

From a September 26th 2008 Post:

Hugh Jackman

- Talent (not just comedic: please see Kate and Leopold; not just musical: please see The Boy from Oz and not just dramatic: please see The Fountain but also of hosting: please see The 59th Tony Awards and no, you're not allowed to think about Viva Laughlin...)

- Class: don't he look good in a tux?

- Drool-worthy Oscar moments: I mean, isn't he dreamy looking?

- Musical medleys! Think Billy Crystal only hotter!

- Industry good-will and good timing: Baz Luhrman's Australia will be coming out later this year, and it might make a big splash with AMPAS and X-Men: Origins will be coming out next year; it's perfect timing to get Jackman in the spotlight!

- International appeal: he is Australian for god's sake!

- Box-office clout. Two words: X-Men.

Hugh Jackman or Tina Fey as Oscar Hosts, or How doesn't it make total sense?

Over at the Gold Derby blog, Tom O'Neil is spotlighting the conversation everyone else is/should be having: Who should host Oscars 2009? 

Many names are floating around: repeats (Stewart, Martin), newbies (Colbert, Gervais) but one that really struck me was Anne Thompson's suggestion of having Hugh Jackman host the Oscars - and then of course I had to throw Ms Fey, cause well... she's awesome!

Sure, Stewart and Colbert might have the political edge (which granted might be a little bit passé come February); Martin - and an unmentioned Whoppi - might bring back the glory of the 'ol days when people actually watched the broadcast; Ellen - who I thought did an amazing job two years ago might have the feel-good ambience around her and Gervais might have the buzz (with a post-Emmy bump) but Jackman and Fey would bring a couple of things the broadcast needs:

Hugh Jackman

- Talent (not just comedic: please see Kate and Leopold; not just musical: please see The Boy from Oz and not just dramatic: please see The Fountain but also of hosting: please see The 59th Tony Awards and no, you're not allowed to think about Viva Laughlin...)

- Class: don't he look good in a tux?

- Drool-worthy Oscar moments: I mean, isn't he dreamy looking?

- Musical medleys! Think Billy Crystal only hotter!

- Industry good-will and good timing: Baz Luhrman's Australia will be coming out later this year, and it might make a big splash with AMPAS and X-Men: Origins will be coming out next year; it's perfect timing to get Jackman in the spotlight!

- International appeal: he is Australian for god's sake!

- Box-office clout. Two words: X-Men.

Tina Fey

- Talent. Two words: 30 Rock. Or wait just one: Emmy (times 3!)

- Experience doing/writing live TV. You don't get to be head writer at SNL for nothing y'know!

- Industry good-will and great timing. If 2007 wasn't the year of the Fey (Baby Mama + 30 Rock + Palin impression at SNL) I don't know what's wrong with the world.

- Comedy at last! That need not be political Stewart/Colbert style, but SNL (sans Michael Phelps) season premier style!

- Class: I mean didn't Alec say she was the Elaine May of her generation? And don't she look good in a crazy/classy entertainment garb-outfit?

- Drool-worthy Oscar moments: remember how the best part of Oscars for some of us are the Red Carpet dresses? Imagine that on stage what with Tina changing her outfit Heidi-Klum-at-the-Emmys style!

We'll see in the next couple of weeks who AMPAS picks as their host, but let's hope the broadcast is better than the last couple of awards shows we've seen (the godawful VMAs with Russel Brand who's wasted in such a cookie-cutter role; the Reality TV-infested Emmys and the last-minute Oscar telecast we saw in February due to the Writer's Strike)