Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Les Mis thoughts- 4/5 stars



Well, I just got back from a Christmas outing seeing Les Miserables after a lovely Christmas dinner with my family. I love Les Mis (obviously not as much as Phantom, but quite a lot) so I was nervous/excited for the movie, though a bit apprehensive about the casting. I wanted to get my thoughts out so if you haven’t seen the show it may spoil it. If you’ve seen the show, not the movie, well they’re essentially the same(ish), but this will spoil some of the changes. 

If you're not into Les Mis, you should probably skip this post.

Notes about the cast:
Hugh Jackman- he does a really excellent job acting wise and pretty good singing, though he’s a bit nasally at times and his Bring Him Home didn’t blow me away like I wanted it to. That song done right is a breathtaking tear jerker

Anne Hathaway- Awesome. She does a great job with Fantine.

Russell Crowe- He tries but fails at making an impact with  his singing. Stars is underwhelming at best. He does a fine job acting , I mean all he has to do is be stern, so that wasn’t bad. But singing, eh

Eddie Redmayne- An adorable Marius, but he shakes his head like crazy when singing and it gets distracting because of the many close-ups in the film

Samantha Barks- despite the massive cuts to her character, Sam does a great job. She is excellent

Amanda Seyfried- I shudder to imagine what the other auditions were like if she was the best Cosette they could get. Seriously hun, learn to hold a note please.

Helena Bonham Carter + Sasha Baron Cohen- a great comic relief duo.

Along with some casting issues, the camera work left something to be desired. Anytime someone was singing a serious song, the camera was just in their face and it was a close-up, which was alright for some scenes but for others it made me really mad. Like in Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, I wanted to see some ghosts of his friends or something, not just him looking sad. Because the song is about how he is sitting around despairing about how he is the only one that lived, and he can see all of his friends and imagine them sitting there singing about revolution instead of being, you know, dead.

Before I talk about the bad scenes/songs specifically, let me talk about the good:

I liked the change of position of I Dreamed a Dream, it actually makes a ton of sense to put it there cause that’s Fantine’s lowest point. It makes sense for her to be singing about the dreams she had after being reduced to a prostitute.

The new song, Suddenly, is sweet and adorable.

Little Cosette is a-freaking-dorable. Her and Valjean in the beginning are soooo cute.

Eddie Redmayne during In My Life was super adorable and skipping around and happy in love. It was sad to see how oblivious he was to Eponine

The students were all awesome, and I enjoyed spotting actors I knew, like Killian Donnelly.

Gavroche was really good- Javert pinning his medal to Gavroche post barricade was really emotional and really helped me like Javert a lot more

I enjoyed how they changed Enjolras’s death but still kept the traditional hanging-by-his-foot death position.

I didn’t miss God Eat Dog, so I didn’t mind that cut

Javert’s Suicide was pretty great. Like I knew it happened and it still was like “Holy crap!!!” and it had a nice parallel to Stars while he was walking the edge

Colm Wilkinson actually made me care about the Bishop, and I liked his inclusion at the ending, like him welcoming JVJ since he was the one that helped him turn his life around.

Song/scene issues:
A LITTLE FALL OF RAIN- Not only was the intro cut (“I don’t think I can stand anymore… Eponine what’s wrong… Oh god, it’s everywhere!”) but my favorite verse that includes “I’ll sleep in your embrace at last” was cut so it was essentially the high school version of the song. I get the realism thing, but would a little more of one of the best songs have killed you? NO. And then the outro “She is the first to fall, the first of us to fall upon this barricade” was cut, and she was quickly carried away, giving very little time to show Marius grieving... So her death takes all of 2 minutes when it is actually quite important and sad. It also didn’t give much fire to the Marius/Eponine friendship, nor did it show how Marius sent Eponine with a letter to Cosette to save her from the barricade, only to tragically return and get shot on the way back.

I will say, I love that she saved Marius by pulling the gun to her. Very nice change.  But the barricade and its cuts just made Marius seem more like a douche than normal and just didn’t lend itself well to his character development.

Didn’t like that Drink with Me was cut, I think that song is very important for the atmosphere of the barricade and shows a lot of different perspective people are having.

Come to me- I liked that they used the evening star verse and had visions of Cosette in there, but I missed the “But I will sing you lullabies and wake you in the morning” part as well as the “Take my hand, the night grows ever colder” lines but the death had the desired and necessary emotional and heartbreaking impact, with a great transition into Confrontation.

Confrontation- I’m mad they cut the “I will be there” ending of the song, I just really like that part and missed it. Though them singing and fighting at the same time was crazy awesome

Stars- Russell Crowe just never gets to that level of awesomeness that I wanted out of him. My sister described it as sounding like Crowe had just gotten the song and hadn’t grown into the role yet. I think they could have gone for a lesser known for this part and still been fine with the star power of Jackman and Hathaway
Javert chasing Valjean after Suddenly- if I was Cosette, I would be like WHO THE FUCK AM I WITH THAT WE HAVE TO RUN AWAY FROM THIS DUDE???? And it would have freaked me out. Also, it makes Valjean look like an idiot for staying around there when Javert would be looking for him. Shouldn’t he have moved far away to avoid Javert?

Anything with adult Cosette- Seriously. I did not enjoy her high notes at all. She was pitchy and couldn’t hold them. Cosette is not a mega part, I think they also could have gone with a lesser known here and been fine

Bring Him Home- Also never attained the awesome I wanted out of Jackman. I especially did not enjoy the ending of the song.

The Ending- Valjean doesn’t mention Fantine to Cosette, which I kind of missed.

And finally, as much as I liked the new song, it seemed like it didn’t fit as well, probably because it hasn’t been in the show for the last 27 years but still. My sister did like it, but she too felt like it didn’t fit, mostly because it’s a completely new melody and doesn’t use themes from other songs in the show like most of the other majors ones, so there’s no melodic connection (unless I’m missing it).


Overall, these things might seem really nitpicky but I would love to see the movie again (and especially the stage show) and I did really, really like the movie. I think to non-obsessive theatergoers it will surpass expectations of awesomeness, and I am content with how it turned out. I really want to take my parents to see it cause I think my mom would really enjoy it. 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

If I had 1 wish...

IT WOULD BE TO WIN THIS CONTEST:

Help me out. Click this link. Give me the tickets if you win.

I get another entry for every person that clicks this and enters. If you've looked at my blog at all, or know me, you know this is the biggest deal. Ever.

http://woobox.com/qddx6f/2h0221



HELP ME OUT.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Theme Parties!

These past few weeks have been crazy but fun (despite the upcoming week of doom known as finals week). 

Buuuuuuuut before I get too stressed out, I wanted to post some pics of the two awesome events I've been to. 

The first was our Senior Semi Formal, From Ithaca with Love (It was James Bond themed)

Andrea, Fiona, Liz and Me

I don't have too many pics of that one, only cause there was this photo op and that's about it

Next was a friend's ABC party (anything but clothes). Liz and I shopped and designed endlessly to come up with these masterpieces:


Why yes, that is Disney princess
wrapping paper

Fiona and Andrea being adorbs

Jen, Liz and Me

hashtag ABC party

Cute right? Liz even pleated the skirt,
though you can't see it from far away

Finals, COME AT ME. Cause I get to be home in like 8 days. CAN'T WAIT.


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Fun times before finals

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the last week of classes, and I could not be more excited. This semester has been tough and exhausting, and I can't wait to go home and relax with my family.

Yesterday was Chowder Fest on the commons, in which a bunch of the restaurants in Ithaca make chowder, you pay money for tickets and then get samples of all the chowder. Since I'm not an overly huge fan of seafood and most of it is some sort of seafood chowder, I don't eat a ton there. But it is still lots of fun and I actually got to taste some really good ones.

Chowder fest also means that ICE WARS. Ice wars is a big ice carving competition. Sadly, the weather was really warm yesterday so they were melting, but here are a bunch of examples of the artistry and skill














This statue is the mascot of the commons
Not sure why/what for.



Monday, November 26, 2012

Thanksgiving, Short Hair and Other Things

So Thanksgiving break has come and gone. It's hard to believe it's the last one of my undergraduate career... er... was the last one... Damn, time really does fly.

I had a lovely break, starting with seeing Cesca Friday night. It was my first time driving home alone, which was scary, but once I got there I got to hang out with my sister and my dad, which is actually one of my favorite things to do. Ever. I think we watched the Vampire Diaries and like 3 horror movies.

After some family time, I headed back with Cesca to Bonaventure for a couple of days, where we enjoyed Fakesgiving with her roommates (Emily is a vegetarian, so everything was meatless). Tofurkey is an interesting thing. Not bad, though. I attended some of Cesca's classes and got a multitude of stares, and then went to her Zumba class, where I even got to teach one of the songs with her, since I had shown her one from the classes I take and she really liked it! We had an excellent time hanging out with her grad school friends, who thankfully are awesome and like shows like Parks and Rec and Doctor Who. I met them last time I went, but it was nice to hang out a bit more with her friends and see what her life is like out there.

We spent Thanksgiving at an aunt's house who I haven't seen in ages, and it was nice to catch up with the family and chat about our lives, since now all of my cousins are in high school or above, so we actually can relate to each other. Despite the fact that I am 21, however, I did still have to sit at the kid table, though the lowest age there was like 15. Still amusing.

Aside from that, I did a lot of catching up this week, on sleep and on work. I also persuaded Cesca to catch up on my recent obsession, Once Upon a Time. If you don't watch, you should. It's awesome. I also went and got my hair cut. I got it cut a little shorter than I intended, but I think it looks cute and am really curious to see it curly, as I had my hairdresser straighten it to see the color. NERVOUS





In other news, I almost finished my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course, so there's that. Korea here I come (most likely!)


Lastly, drinking tea became more awesome than normal today, as I finally received my new Doctor Who mug!!!

Tea Time with the TARDIS. Yeah, I know I'm a dork

3.5 weeks left of the semester! Can't wait for Christmas break!!!


Saturday, November 3, 2012

So Good

Just a quick update to show you pictures of our Sophia Grace and Rosie Halloween costumes:


Aren't we soooo cute?

My friend Daniel also dressed as Justin Bieber and since he and Sophia Grace and Rosie hung out on Ellen once I thought it was really perfect and had to get a picture with him

No wonder the girls in his psych class
think he should be in a boy band!


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Sorry

I haven't posted in forever and I don't have a ton of time so I'm just going to upload a bunch of pics, caption them and call it a day. K? K.

Alright so first of all I hate seeing Christmas stuff come out even before Halloween, but last weekend Liz and I were shopping and I saw these guys and had to have them.

Rudolph is my favorite

In other news, since I haven't blogged about Fall Break, here's a bunch of pics from that. Liz came to my house and I took her to Niagara Falls/Canada for the first time

Roomies!

Finally in Canada
 We went on the Maid of the Mist- from the Canadian side, it's cooler.
Breast Cancer awareness ponchos


View of Canada

windy boat ride!

In front of the falls

Lizzie at the Falls
She also met my cats
My baby Nymeria

Bootsie following standard cat logic- "If I fits it, I sits it!"

In Halloween Town

Getting my Katniss Everdeen on and using
my new archery skillz

I want everyone to know this was not planned
They both happened to dress up like
characters from Aladdin

My daytime costume for Halloween-
50 Shades of Grey. I know, so witty.

I will have pics of my duo costume with Liz later once we finally put them on tonight. That's all for now!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Fair of Sandwiches

So last weekend we FINALLY made it to Sandwich Fair, the thing that Liz has talked about for 3 years straight. She's told us repeatedly how awesome it is, and so last Friday we packed up and headed out. 8 hours later, we arrived at Liz's house at 11:00 pm (after eating Papa Gino's, a pizza place Liz also talked about for 3 years). The next morning, we got up and headed off to Sandwich Fair.

Now, contrary to what you may think, this was not just a fair about sandwiches. It has lots more! It was way bigger than any fair I've been to in recent years, and even though it rained a bit, it was a ton of fun. Here are some highlights of the trip:
Meeting some of Liz's pets

backseat in blue

One of the first signs we saw

I liked this shop

Deep fried milky ways

Liz is the most elegant eater. Ever.

This hat isn't ridiculous or anything

GIANT 

Sheep!

Feeding the llamas- this one was particularly pushy

Liz was not a fan of the llamas. You can tell by her rigid posture

baby!!!! SO CUTE

Andrea loves animals. And they love her back!

this one stole the little feed cup from me

Goats be tryin to steal our cotton candy

Apples!

Eating a sandwich at Sandwich fair. Life goal complete
also that sandwich was buffalo meat. It was pretty delicious!

"Smile, if you're hungry!" Which clearly,
Andrea is not

Beautiful fall colors!!

The very next day we crammed  back into the car and drove back to IC. 15 hours in the car wasn't an ideal weekend, but getting to see NH, Liz's home and this fair she's raved about for years made it totally worth it! I had a great time, and I'm glad we all went together.

In other news, here are some other things that are going on in my life.


I MISS MY BABYYYYYY

Family weekend at Bonaventure. Dad
found the perfect shirt

Lovely fall colors 


being a badass in archery class

So that's life. FALL BREAK IN A WEEK!!!!!!!!!