Movie Review: Les Misérables

In a nutshell Les Misérables was a great experience. There was nothing so bad in it that it was actually bad, there were only things that probably could have been better. And the things that were great were exceptional.

I will not go into any plot or deviations thereof here. I can't imagine that people don't know at least the basic plot by now, and I generally don't care about deviations unless they completely change the tone of the source. Onto the cheers and jeers, in reverse order.

First let me say that even though I'm a general fan of Broadway, I'm not always a fan of "Broadway voices." Often I find, that for my tastes, Broadway singers sound a little too brash or have a little too much vibrato. So my biggest letdown for the movie was my own fault, because somehow I was expecting little or no Broadway voices, fool that I am. And since Hugh Jackman, who did the most singing in the cast as Jean Valjean, had the Broadway-iest voice, I had to adjust quickly. Other than that, Hugh Jackman was excellent with an emotionally bared and raw performance.

I fear that poor Mr. Russel Crowe may be getting the brunt of any general bad feelings towards Les Misérables. I knew going in that his singing wouldn't be bad, per se, but it wouldn't be great. He is the lead singer of his own rock band, but I think that's about how far it goes. Oddly enough Mr. Crowe reminded me a wee bit of David Bowie when he sang, which is a good thing. The only thing I found lacking in Mr. Crowe's performance was during his big solo numbers. Simply put, the emotional side of the performance wasn't at the level it should have been. When he sang bits or with other people, the passions and hardness of Javert were there, it was just the solos that fell short. Unfortunately his self-awareness (and likely self-consciousness) about his singing was apparent instead of a deeper emotional performance. But his solos were not awful in the least. There was this tender, sweet moment with Javert towards the end that, for me, made up for whatever emotion he lacked in his singing performance. I won't spoil it here, because it's definitely something that didn't or couldn't come across in the stage performance. It was also the moment that I knew the my tears would likely not stop until the credits rolled. (I cry a lot in movies, so that's no shocker.)

My lowest expectations going in were of Anne Hathaway. It's no secret that I think she is an over-rated actor and an even more over-rated singer. But her performance was very good indeed with only a few moments of "performy" distraction.

The best singer, and perhaps the best overall performance, was Eddie Redmayne as Marius. His voice was so clear yet it had so much depth for his highest of high tenor (and I'm sure falsetto). And as far as his emotional performance goes, he was Marius. "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" has never been so heartbreaking. Also there is something absolutely perfect about Marius being covered in freckles.

I know that Jean Valjean and Javert are supposed to be the leads, but I have come to the conclusion that Les Misérables is really about Marius. His passion and sense of justice reflect the best part of Javert, and his compassion and capacity for love reflect the best of Jean Valjean. Marius is Javert's fixation on right mixed with Valjean's capacity for good. As that amalgamation, Marius becomes the light and the hope in a thoroughly depressing story; he is the person who can begin to make the changes and live the life that everyone is fighting for or longing for in some way.

My favorite part of the film adaptation was the presentation, and the best bits of the presentation were the tight, unwavering shots of characters during their solos. Each solo was about being in that emotional moment, and director Tom Hooper honored that by staying close enough that nothing could distract or detract from that. It was intimate and truthful, and the intimacy was what made it more superior than an expansive stage production. Yes, I said it. And I mean it.

Movie Review: The Hobbit (And general views on adaptations)

I felt spurred to write something about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey because 1) it's been getting middling reviews overall, and 2) I didn't see any of the major problems that people were complaining about. (I mean, I get what they're saying, but I just didn't seem them as problems.)

The biggest complaint I've heard is that people are upset that director Peter Jackson broke The Hobbit into three movies, and that he apparently did this to "make more money" or "milk us for all we're worth" or to "extend the hype machine." And while those things are happening--whether by design or default--breaking An Unexpected Journey into three movies is not doing The Hobbit as disservice. At least as far as I'm concerned. 

I've heard and read so many reviews that state this break up of the book made the pacing of An Unexpected Journey too slow. So I went into it expecting long drawn out bits that would make me roll my eyes and squirm in my seat. Instead I had almost no problems with the pacing, and when I did think the movie was going too slow, it was because of other factors. For instance, when the adventuring party finds itself in the goblin caves, I couldn't wait for that to be over, but it was mostly because I didn't like the overly comical interpretation of the goblin king, in personality and CGI-ness. 

In the end the pacing felt just like the pacing of the Lord of the Rings movies. There was certainly plenty of action, and there were certainly slower bits (but not too slow or too long) that involved the characters actually talking (oh no, not talking!), which, ya know, moves the plot forward and helps you feel connected to the characters.

The other biggest complaint, which is the biggest complaint whenever a book is made into a movie, is the plot and/or nuance changes in the adaptation. But I have two things going for me that reduce my anger towards plot changes: 1) I don't often remember plots of books I read in minute detail, but rather in general arcs and feelings, and since I don't remember minutiae I'm not upset if it changes; and 2) I decided long ago to do my best to look at adaptations as their own entity. They are different mediums and must be treated and consumed differently. To be clear I do get attached to plot points and details that I hope to see in an adaptation, and I am disappointed if my "pets" don't make it into the film, but I try not to let minutiae ruin my experience. However neither of these were really a factor with this adaptation, because I didn't love the book in the first place (I know, I'm a monster), so I ended up liking the movie much more than the book.

Now that all of that is off my chest, let's move on to the part where I talk about whatever I want with no through line and little focus.

I can't imagine anyone being more perfect as Bilbo than Martin Freeman. Since Mr. Freeman has a solid background in comedy and drama, he was able to play Bilbo's fussiness and inexperience as an adventurer without making Bilbo overly naive or ridiculous. His facial expressions, body language, and perfectly timed stutterings endeared Bilbo to me in a way that I didn't experience in the book. 

The other best bit to me was the introduction in the movie. It not only gives a lot of history that's needs to understand the movie's climate and the character's motives (without being boring), but it connected us back to the LOTR series. In fact, I had a couple of aha moments that brought some things full circle for me. 

Other stuff:

1) It was weird to see Gandalf as Gandalf the Grey, I just got used to Gandalf the White at the end of the LOTR series.

2) It was very hard to not immediately see Saruman as evil because of LOTR. And it didn't help that there were devices that could have been implications or foreshadowings of his turn to the dark side. 

3) I loved the solemn song the dwarves sang and that it became the theme music throughout the movie.

4) I loved that many of the actors playing dwarves weren't directed to change their native accents, so we had dwarves from, at the very least, Scotland, Ireland, England, and New Zealand. 

5) I was also very pleased with Richard Armitage's performance, even though I already knew he is stellar at playing intensely serious and overly proud characters. (See North and South [2004].)

6) And just for fun, this video of Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage.

Project Runway All Stars: "Up Your Aerosol"

With an episode title like "Up Your Aerosol," you gotta expect some drama. The drama was pretty much about how rich Lauren is and how no one else wants to hear about it. And I don't care one whit.

The actual challenge had the designers creating their own graffiti-inspired (or "aerosol art"?) fabric using spray paint. The idea was that their garments would be "wearable works of art." The designers' success in this challenge was incredibly mixed with most designers falling into an unmemorable middle.

Before I move on, I have to talk about the guest judges, Jeffrey Castillo and Robert Tagliapietra. I mean, did you see them in all their casual Santa, hipster lumberjack-i-ness. They looked both imposing and adorable. Plus their critiques were insightful and interesting.

I can't say I agreed with the judges' tom and bottom three, but I knew as soon as I saw Suede's dress in the workroom that he would likely go home. His dress was a mess. It looked swampy and not unlike a witch costume. I don't know why he had to emphasize the polka dots on the skirt with cutout polka dots. The bottom line is that his taste level always falls short, so he went home. Check another off my list of who will go home first.

Now, I'm not saying that Kayne's dress was good, in fact it was pretty bad, but it was much better than I anticipated when I saw it in the workroom. So I probably would have put Andrae's (bottom left) raffia bow-inspired dress or Casanova's (bottom right) odd patchwork dress in the bottom three instead. They both were poorly constructed with not-quite-right proportions.

Laura's dress was just okay. The judges had it right when they said that the top of the dress had potential silhouette-wise, but the skirt looked like a different dress. I really didn't like her fabric; the colors were muddy and the pattern was messy. A graffiti-inspired design should in the very least be crisply graphic and should probably include bold colors too.

I was shocked that the judges put Ivy in the top three; it was awful. Her fabric was lackluster and too literal to say the least, and her silhouette was boring and similar to her leather and lace design. And I don't even want to talk about that ridiculous chiffon lower skirt. The judges keep saying that she's an impeccable tailor, but her jackets are shapeless. To be clear, her construction skills are just fine, but tailoring is not the same as sewing well.

I would have put Joshua in the top three instead. Even though his fabric design was a literal city landscape, it didn't read too literally in the garment (excepting the road lines at the waist). But the interesting thing for me was the his silhouette and structure themselves somehow evoked a city landscape.

Emilio and Anthony Ryan duked it out for the win. Anthony Ryan tends toward clean, graphic looks anyway, so it was no surprise that he did well in this challenge. The lines of this dress were crisp and clean, which is a breath of fresh air among this group of designers. My only complaint: because the waistline was slightly raised, I would have liked the skirt a titch longer to avoid a 90s babydoll silhouette completely.

Emilio snaked the win in the end, and I think he deserved it. The colors were perfect. And while his oversized jacket is not part of my aesthetic, the overall silhouette was well-proportioned and more or less well-made. I would have liked it better if the sleeves were slightly narrower with a more fitted cuff, and the decorative zippers on the sleeve and skirt front should be nixed completely. They weren't needed in his already visually interesting garment.

Project Runway All Stars: "Put on Your Dancing Shoes"

I was confused by this week's challenge. The designers had to make "party wear" drawing inspiration for from disco and 70s-inspired shoes. When did that 70s come back? I mean, geez, the 70s are so 90s.

As seems to be the case recently on PR, the judges didn't actually judge based on all the parameters of the challenge; there was no mention of party wear in the judging as far as I could tell. Believe me you, I'm no party wear expert, but I didn't think many of the designs were party wear.

I cannot believe that Andrae didn't go home with another fussy chiffon jacket. It was so boring, it didn't evoke disco, and it didn't have anything to do with party wear. But I wouldn't mind owning that skirt. Also Andrae's weird affectations on the runway during critiques are off-putting.

It was a surprise that Kayne (left) was in the bottom instead of Suede (right). Kanye's was nothing special, except his exceptional work in matching the chevron stripes, but Suede's was a tortured, grecian mess where dreams go to die.

Of course Wendy went home. Her design was completely atrocious. Those gloves alone deserved the boot, but the whole outfit was a weird mix of 90s reference to the 70s and Russian prostitute. Yes, that's mean, and yes, it's true.

Even though I oddly didn't hate Casanova's design, I'm not quite sure how he made it into the top three. Sometimes a surprising color choice can go a long way, I suppose.

I liked Ivy's dress in theory, but not in production. The green and gold combo was lovely, but the green fabric was overworked and poorly finished. And the overall proportions were off, but the idea of a boy short under a sheer skirt is kind of fun...for someone to wear who isn't me.

Uli was certainly best of the top three. The dress had so much movement, which was fun and a bit exciting--perfect for party wear. And since no one else really wowed me, which happens when I'm overly tired, I was certainly okay with Uli's win.

Despite their design flaws, I will give honorable mention to Anthony Ryan (top) for his monochromatic graphics, Althea (left) for the interesting texture on the front of her dress, and Emilio (right) for his use of movement and volume.

 

Project Runway All Stars: "Redemption on the Runway"

Yes, this episode aired over a week ago, and yes, I'm going to post about it anyway. However:

I hereby pledge to post Project Runway rundowns in a timely manner. Please feel free to call me out if I do not.

Again we have our old friends Isaac Mizrahi, Georgina Chapman, and the refreshingly blunt Joanna Coles. But there is a new model-cum-host, Caroline Murphy. And she is even worst than the last All Star host. I understand why they pick models to host, after all Heidi Klum is a model and she does a great job, but Heidi Klum has a sassy, strong personality, and that cannot be said of Caroline Murphy. So incredibly bland.

They've also upped the prizes a little bit this time around, which is kind of bananas as it all adds up to a value of about $750,000. Prizes include, but are not limited to, a spread in Marie Claire and a one year gig as a contributing editor of the same, trips to all of next year's fashion weeks around the world, one year of paid office space, a studio of Brother equipment, and $150,000 cash. Rather gluttonous, no?

The first challenge was a team challenge, horror of horrors. Each team had to design around a single "attitude," and each designer was responsible for one whole look. You can see both collections here.

Team Bold included Joshua, Emilio, Suede, Laura, Peach, and Andrae.
Team Confident included Althea, Anthony Ryan (love), Ivy, Casanova, Kayne, Wendy, and Uli.

I didn't love either collection, but team Confident, despite their tired theme of leather and lace, won the challenge, which means the top three came from this group.

Ivy's jacket and short were a mystery to me. I thought it looked a little dated, a little 80s. The placement of the lace was interesting and flattering, but the silhouette did not wow me in the least.

I was also nonplused with Casanova's dress (left). The lace placement and finishing felt sloppy and awkward, if that's possible. Again, it was nothing special and it wasn't very flattering. Althea's very similar dress was more interesting to me. It was more flattering, and the high contrast felt more exciting.

My sweet, Southern cherub, Anthony Ryan, was the first winner! Yay! I loved him in his regular season, and I hope he's grown enough as a designer to win this competition. His design was graphic in the front, and soft and surprising in the back. Simple and lovely in great proportions.

Out of team Bold, the bottom three were Peach, Andrae, and Suede. No surprises there. I probably could've picked the bottom three before seeing their designs. I thought Andrae's was the worst, it was fussy, overworked, and a little 90s.

Suede's handkerchief student work was pretty bad too, but at least his craftsmanship was on par.

Peach's dress wasn't too far behind with her boring, sloppy, under-designed, phone-in of a design. She went home, but it really could've been any of the bottom three.

Laura from team Bold deserves a mention here, her silhouette was gorgeous, easy, and flattering.

I'm going out on a limb here to make predictions about the designers likely to go home first and the designers likely to make it to the end.

First go-homers:
Wendy, Suede, Kayne (he just can't stop making pageant looks!), Andrae, and maybe Casanova.

Make-it-to-the-enders:
Emilio, Anthony Ryan, Uli.

Joshua, Althea, Laura, and Ivy could go either way for me at this point.

Project Runway: Finale, Part II

"Finale, Part I" must have been highly edited, because my expectations for the fashions I'd see for "Finale, Part II" were in the subbasement. But I think this was one of the best showings on a Project Runway finale, partly because each designer had a strong showing on some level, and partly because I agreed with the judges' assessments.

I will only post the best of from each collection, not all 40 looks, but you can see all 40 HERE.

Generally speaking no one had a 100% satisfactory collection, but some were more success than others.  As is my wont, I will break it down from worst to best.

Melissa
With Melissa I simply felt like I've seen all of her stuff before. I thought her new "blood orange" dress looked almost exactly like one she did for a challenge. (I think it was brown.) Also her long white dress was horrific. All she had to do was split one of the seams for a slit; it wouldn't have been a perfect fix, but it would have been far less embarrassing. For me her two best pieces were her white asymmetrical dress, and a simple black dress with the surprise of a white halter in the back. I also liked the mohawk chignons.

Christopher
Sadly Christopher just couldn't make it come together. Again, I loved his x-ray print and splattered leather, but the judges spoke truth about the lack of cohesion in Christopher's collection. I think he focused on showing everything in his repertoire instead of editing for cohesion. He had some great pieces though. I liked his odd, shiny leather jacket, the craggy front opening was especially interesting; the blue, slashed fabric jacket, although it didn't fit into the collection; and his finale dress, which isn't shockingly new, but I thought the train had an interesting, structured yet fluid shape.

Fabio
Fabio and Dmitry sized up almost equally, which shocked me. I never connected with Fabio's point of view during the season, and I can't see myself ever wearing any of his pieces, but he made a strong collection. It was cohesive, it was true to Fabio yet unexpected, it was light and fluid, and it felt fresh. And I have to hand it to him, he really listened to the judges and tweaked his collection just enough to make it look sophisticated and expensive. (Most importantly he hid all his bad craftsmanship.) I liked this little white dress the best. It had a slouchy, freehand sort of drape, but it looked easy to wear and flattering.

Dmitry
I'm pleased as punch that Dmitry won. He worked hard, stayed calm, listened to the judges, has enough craftsmanship to choke a horse, kept cohesion, and ultimately made a strong collection. I certainly didn't love all his pieces--I still hate the mesh tops and I kind of hate those fringe sleeves--but overall it was good. My favorite piece was the black origami bodice dress. It was visually interesting and it looked easily wearable. I also liked his fringed geometric dress and the finale gown, even though both were borderline ballroom. I especially loved the top of the ball gown; the neckline is perfection. Congratulations, Dmitry!

A fond farewell to season 10, you were a good one, and a warm welcome to the start of All Stars next week! The contestants I'm most excited about are my beloved Anthony Ryan, Emilio, and Uli. See all the All Stars HERE.

Trailer Tuesday: Starbuck, Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook

Well, well, well, what can I say? I've been absent partly because I'm busy, and partly because there aren't many new movie trailers that I find exciting. That being said, I have sifted three trailers out of the pile to place in lap for your consideration.

Starbuck
Now stick with me here. Starbuck is a French film about a man named David Wosniak who fathered 533 through sperm donation. David is unaware of his immense progeny until he learns that over 100 of his biological children are trying to learn the identity of the sperm donor known as Starbuck. (The main character must be a Battlestar Gallactica fan.) Basically it looks like Starbuck is a man child, perhaps with Peter Pan syndrome, who has to face his past in order to live up to his future. Clear as mud? Just watch the preview. It's sweet, charming, and lightly funny.

Django Unchained

Warning: Strong hints of to outright violence in this preview.

I can't say I'm a big Quentin Tarantino fan. I mean, I generally see his movies, and I enjoy them to some degree, but then I never really think about them again. However I think Django Unchained might be different. I'm not sure why, per se, but I like the look, the setting, and the premise better than anything I've seen from Tarantino before. Also Leonardo DiCaprio looks supremely and delightfully icky and creepy. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see how it shakes out like the rest of the unwashed masses. 

Silver Linings Playbook

To finish up, here's a nice palate cleanser of a romantic comedy starring Bradley Cooper and the delightfully awkward Jennifer Lawrence. Basically both main characters are depressive neurotics who find comfort in each other. Comedy and romance ensue. 

Project Runway: "Finale, Part I"

I tend to look forward to Tim Gunn home visits, it's a great bit of voyeurism that I don't have to feel weird about. So it was a shame that both Dmitry and Fabio weren't living and working in their own spaces, but in spaces lent to them others more...successful then they. Half of the fun of the episode was destroyed. And since there's nothing else to say about the home visits in a blog post, let's move on to one of my Project Runway pet peeves.

No matter how many seasons air, when the designers have to show a mini part of the final collection, they never show their best or favorite pieces, and the judges always ream them for it. Have the contestants never seen the show? Do they somehow not realize that one of them is probably going to be eliminated before the final runway show? I'm baffled every time, and this week was no exception.

Let me break down what the designers did show in order of worst to best, with the understanding that they all pretty much came out even for me.

Fabio
What I liked:
I liked his color palette, mostly because he was the only one with color. I thought I would hate the tie-dyeing he did, but somehow the incongruity of the tie-dye in relation to his usual aesthetic made me like it. And, shockingly, I liked his weird plastic, Southwest 80s accessories. They tell more about what he meant his collection to be than his clothes.

What I didn't like:
His craftsmanship is subpar, both in stitching and fit. Even though his clothes are supposed to look slouchy, they shouldn't look sloppy, but they do. To me it looks like he doesn't understand or have a relationship with his fabrics. You have to get to know each fabric to understand how it will react to stitching, easing, unpicking, pressing, and more, in order to make a clean-looking garment. Some people have the gift of fabric-whispering, some people acquire the skill through time and attention, and some people never realize they don't understand their fabrics so their craftsmanship will always look sloppy.

Melissa
What I liked:
Maybe I should have put Melissa as the worst, because there's not much that I liked, but I'll keep her in this spot because her craftsmanship is better.

What I didn't like:
Her tank with the shorts was horrific. I don't even have words to describe my horror. On top of that, I feel like we've seen all these pieces from her before. And just imagine what a joy it would have been if she used color in surprising ways. She could have kept her black and white sensibilities, but added a boldly colored lining here or a peek-a-boo of color there. No fuss, no muss, but high-impact touches. C'est la vie. Also, the wigs she chose made puppies weep. Awful.

Dmitry
What I liked:
I'm always raving about Dmitry's craftsmanship, and this showing was no different. He also showed a nice mix of hard, structural pieces and soft, feminine touches, which he aptly described as "flowing architecture."

What I didn't like:
That being said, I hated his sheer tops. I get it for runway, but they're not good for much else. Also the judges were spot-on about him putting so many "special" pieces together that their specialness gets lost in fussiness. His fringe-sleeved jacked was certainly lost, and I might like it better if it was shown with more simple pieces. Warning! Sweeping generalization to follow. In my experience, Eastern Europeans tend to style themselves and others as wealthy, middle-aged women from the 80s, and Dmitry was no exception with his models.

Christopher
What I liked:
I loved the x-ray fabric. Sure, it was literal on it's own, but in the garments it became an interesting, unique fabric. I also loved the bleach-treated leather, and now I'd like to own a bleach-treated leather something or other.

What I didn't like:
I was thoroughly disappointed that not only did he have two pair of leather short shorts in his 10 looks collection, but he showed both pair in his three looks collection. And on top of that, one of the outfits was put together and styled so poorly, that it was a weird, boring, 90s look.

I hope all the designers take the judges' advice and really change and amp up their styling. If the styling is great, it will certainly create more impact for each collection.

Lastly, I'm so pleased that all these designers get along and are kind to each other. I know it's reality TV, but I just want the fashions (and more Tim Gunn), and amicability lets fashion stay in the forefront.