Oh, wow. Les Miserables was AWESOME. I will be pissed if Anne Hathaway doesn't get an Oscar nomination. She tore my heart out as Fantine! I don't think there was a dry eye in the theater. It was a very good adaptation of the stage musical, though a couple of numbers were shortened. The cast was great- Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as Javert, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen as the Thenardiers...the only weak link was Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. Her voice isn't strong or high enough for the role. I actually cringed during her high notes in "Heart Full of Love"! On the other hand, Eddie Redmayne as Marius and Samantha Barks as Eponine Were nearly perfect (she's played the role on stage).
Quite a few original West End and Broadway cast member popped up in small roles, too! The original Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, plays the bishop who shows Valjean kindness, and the original Eponine, Frances Ruffelle (who won a Tony for the role), plays a prostitute.
Anne Hathaway's mom played Fantine during a U.S. tour of the show! That was a neat bit of trivia.
I loved that the actors sang live while filming, as opposed to being pre-recorded.
I saw the show on Broadway in 1993- Fantine was played by Andrea McArdle, the original "Annie"!
Other movies- I saw The Hobbit last week. It was great, though it didn't grab me quite as much as The Lord of the Rings did. Martin Freeman was good as Bilbo Baggins, but Richard Armitage stole the film as Thorin Oakenshield. I love how all those tall actors were made into dwarfs! I just bought the soundtrack from itunes, because I had leftover money from a gift card I'd forgotten about! I wanted Les Mis, but it was a highlights only album. I'll wait for the full album to come out (supposedly there will be one). They left out a LOT of songs from the movie- including "A Little Fall of Rain", a stupid mistake!
Quite a few original West End and Broadway cast member popped up in small roles, too! The original Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, plays the bishop who shows Valjean kindness, and the original Eponine, Frances Ruffelle (who won a Tony for the role), plays a prostitute.
Anne Hathaway's mom played Fantine during a U.S. tour of the show! That was a neat bit of trivia.
I loved that the actors sang live while filming, as opposed to being pre-recorded.
I saw the show on Broadway in 1993- Fantine was played by Andrea McArdle, the original "Annie"!
Other movies- I saw The Hobbit last week. It was great, though it didn't grab me quite as much as The Lord of the Rings did. Martin Freeman was good as Bilbo Baggins, but Richard Armitage stole the film as Thorin Oakenshield. I love how all those tall actors were made into dwarfs! I just bought the soundtrack from itunes, because I had leftover money from a gift card I'd forgotten about! I wanted Les Mis, but it was a highlights only album. I'll wait for the full album to come out (supposedly there will be one). They left out a LOT of songs from the movie- including "A Little Fall of Rain", a stupid mistake!