The 85th Academy Awards was yet another one to add to the books. Hosted by the very funny Seth MacFarlane the winners were surprising in some categories and not in others. As always, what the celebrities wear to the awards is very important to the designers and to the public who judge the celebrities clothing; more for the women then men. There are 24 awards to be handed out and each won has many nominees hoping to get the award. The biggest movie names were: Skyfall, Argo, Les Miserables, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, Zero Dark Thirty and Paperman.
Skyfall was another James Bond movie that I would regard as one of the best, definitely Daniel Craig's best Bond movie but also one of the best ever. The new series of Bond movies captures the audience from the action movies we see today with the James Bond character we all like, except for Quantum of Solace. The Bond series celebrated 50 years of making movies and they are preparing to release another new movie with Daniel Craig in the next James Bond film. Skyfall won Best Sound Editing and Best Original Song.
Les Miserables did not do as well as everyone expected but it still won Best Sound Mixing and Makeup and Hairstyling. Silver Linings Playbook had its lead actress, Jennifer Lawrence win Best Actress. Life of Pi won Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and best director Ang Lee. Zero Dark Thirty left with less then expected just Best Sound Editing. Paperman won best animated Short Film. Finally Argo won Best Film Editing, Best Writing, and the biggest award of the night Best Picture.
Argo was a fantastic movie that I saw opening night. As soon as I left the theater I kowe it was going to win best picture. The movie followed a great story that was told ver well. The cinematography was amazing and every part of the story held meaning. I am very happy to see Ben Affleck win, because he has been working hard on this project and he did a great job. Congratulations cast and crew of Argo.
Yes, I know we just had a Les Mis post. And I just want to say that I agree with everything that was said. I loved the film, it was a great adaptation of the musical, and the acting and singing was incredible. In fact, I can almost say that Les Mis was my favorite movie of the year (there were so many good ones!). That said, I liked it so much that I can afford to be nit-picky. There were a few technical aspects that I thought suffered because of the uniqueness of the film.
Despite the great performance, the framing and eyeline do not match
In a way, this goes back to a lot of the discussion we had in class regarding acting for film and acting for theatre. Much of the film was shot in such a way to let the actors act as they saw fit. Because the musical performances set the pacing of the film, the cinematography suffered because the pacing was not as tight as it would be under normal conditions. For instance, there were framing issues throughout, as the steadicam operators struggled to keep up with the actors moving around so freely. There were also some weird eyeline issues. It is obvious that from a directorial standpoint, the performance was placed above the cinematography in terms of choosing which take to put in the final cut. That said, I am glad they made that choice because it led to the great performances that we saw.
Like I said, this was a great movie that I enjoyed very much, and it was innovative in a lot of respects. But because of these innovations, it led to some neglect of the traditional approach.
Also, in no way do I mean to knock the steadicam operators. They did some awesome work as seen in the behind the scenes video below.
Best known for his role as Wolverine or Logan in the X-Men series Hugh Jackman has come a long way from Australia to being nominated for an Academy Award with one of theaters most proud plays, Les Miserables. I like Jackman as an actor and I believe he fits the role of Wolverine perfectly which is why you don't see his face in many other places. When Hugh tried to play the role of Van Helsing the critics did not like him; not having seen the film since it came out in 2004, I have no opinion on his role.
Unfortunately for Jackman many directors and producers have not seen him in playing a lead role in a blockbuster other then Wolverine. But he was given a chance as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables and has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role. If he gets it, not only will it promote the movie even more but it will give Jackman another chance at other lead roles besides Wolverine. Jackman has been considered for many other roles for other comics but continues to be turned away for other stars or up and coming actors. The role of Wolverine is one that is going down in the record books for one of films favorite characters and for Jackman for playing the role consistently over 5 films, beating Christopher Reeve as Superman for 4 films.
Have you ever been online and were completely bored? My guess: Absolutely. Whenever I get caught in this situation, I tend to decide to go to the gym, or do homework, or do something reasonable with my life, but finals are fast approaching and my ambition is slowly declining. So, I spent some time on youtube, and watched some trailers for several films that will be released over the next few months.
I never really considered the importance of a good trailer before, yet it is the very foundation for building an audience. When we go to the movie theater as a family, my dad always makes us go about ten minutes late so that we don't have to sit through the previews. When I go by myself, or with friends, I try to get there early because I secretly love the previews. Not all previews, but the ones that are the most intriguing. It's like opening presents at Christmas. I love the feeling of finding the next great movie to go see.
What makes a great trailer? The music, the cuts, and the parts of the general plot that is chosen to be shown, all come together to entice people to go see the film. Most of all, the trailers that really strike me are the ones that leave me asking, "Wait! What's going to happen next?" or ones that leave me spinning through a "new world" or ones that have me sitting on the edge of my seat, tied down with suspense. Trailers that are not so successful are ones that make me say, "What's happening?" or are completely too realistic. Of course, it is a preference that varies between audiences and people, but overall a good trailer leaves people wanting to know more.
There is nothing worse than seeing an amazing trailer, going to the movie, and walking out completely disappointed. Most of the time I find that the trailer drew me in because they used their best scenes in the trailer. This has happened to me too many times to count. The biggest disappointment that I had was last year when I saw the new adaptation of The Three Musketeers. Talk about being disappointed. This has always been one of my favorite stories, and this ruined it. The acting wasn't the best and the plot just left a lot to be desired. Another film that disappointed me was Snow White and the Huntsman. It was alright up to a point, but again I wasn't really impressed with the plot or the acting as much as I was with the graphics and animation. With the exception of the Queen (whose character was played brilliantly by), I had been expecting so much more. The winner in disappointments was definitely the movie Eragon that came out a few years ago. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini is a great one, and this movie did not do it justice. Nothing really matched up character, setting, or plot wise, and left me feeling like I had entered a completely different world than the one I expected.
I'm hopeful that the trailers for these next films are in-line with what the actual movies will present. Here are some of the trailers (they are good ones!) for movies I'm really looking forward to:
The Hobbit
City of Bones
So, youtube is not letting me upload the others, but you should definitely check out The Host, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Les Miserables. ~Amber Capogrossi
After watching the first two editions of Everything is a Remix in class, I went home and watched the two following episodes. It got me to thinking about a new film coming out that is definitely a remix. Les Miserables is a film coming out on Christmas day that chronicles the life of ex-convict and refugee Jean Valjean, Javert (the man trying to catch him), and the love triangle between orphaned Cosette, young soldier Marius, and peasant Eponine. It is set amongst the backdrop of the 19th century French Rebellion.
Les Miserables started out as a novel written by the French author Victor Hugo in the year 1862. Since then, the novel has been remade a multitude of times through a variety of different media (ex: comic books, films, animations), most notably the 1980's musical of the same name.
The new film is based off of the stage musical, as it will follow the same plot arrangement and musical numbers. I'm particularly excited by this remake as it is directed by Academy Award winning director Tom Hopper (The King's Speech). It also stars some big names such as Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried, and Anne Hathaway. All of the singing is done live on set, which is different than most musicals which are pre-recorded. After watching some featurette footage on the making of the film as well as the trailer, it looks really well done!
I would like to bring your attention, if it has not already been brought, to a remake of a classic musical that is set to come out in 2012. Now, I am not one to like musicals in general, I think that Rent and Wicked have gotten played so many times, and now whenever I hear a song from them my brain clenches up like a fist. Yeah, you could say I'm sick of them.
There is one musical, however, that ever since I was in it in senior year of high school never ceases to bring joy to my heart and a tear to my eye. That musical, ladies and gentlemen, is Les Miserables. The tragic yet uplifting story of Jean Valjean and his pursuer Javert amid the chaos of revolutionary France is nothing short of amazing. And IMDB says that they are set to remake it.
Not only are they going to remake it, but the cast that is rumored to star is crazy good. Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Anne Hathaway as Fantine, Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert, Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier, and Geoffrey Rush is rumored to play Monsieur Thenardier. I mean...really. It going to be amazing.
It's going to be directed by Tom Hooper, who also directed The King's Speech.
You can read more about the new production here, and here is a trailer for the 1998 version starring Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Therman and Claire Danes.
Over spring break I watched the "Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert" on PBS. Although I've watched many of the shows that this station has covered on Great Performances and other programs, I was completely blown away by this special. Since theatre is most powerful when it is seen live in the audience, I did not expect to be as moved as I was by this televised event. Though the actors were of course phenomenal and the music itself is timeless, I believe it was the coverage and camera work that added to the overall feel of this piece. The cameras were cut with such precision that the viewer never got bored of seeing a singular shot for too long. I know this has a lot to do with studio production since it was directed from a remote truck, many of the features such as interviews and backstage tours can be viewed as field production.
