Glad to be able to help!
“Les Miserables (1998) - Starring Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes”
Watch Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhhsylxYafE
Real men don't do theater or musicals. I think metrosexuals is what they are called, not men.
A political interpretation of Les MiserablesThe acclaimed French literary classic Les Misérables contains many powerful images, particularly relating to the political views of author Victor Hugo. The political stance of the novel can be interpreted in relation to the conclusions of theorist Karl Marx, as both have a focus on the lower classes, a concern with social and economic injustice and their effects, and both believe that revolutionary change is inevitable but must come from the working class. http://www.stuartfernie.org/mispolint.htm
Les Misérables is a novel very much focused around characters fighting against their oppression and exploitation. Some of them, like Jean Valjean, are successful in their struggle, others, such as Fantine, are not. The main form of exploitation and oppression in the novel is that of economics, as Hugo portrays characters forced into terrible positions by poverty. Hugo also portrays the struggle between classes, for example, Fantine is unfairly arrested for retaliating to a bourgeois who taunted her for being a prostitute and threw snow down her back[10]. Marx devotes the opening to his landmark work The Communist Manifesto to this class conflict, saying that throughout history, social classes have fought against each other as “oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight”[11] and one which Hugo revisits throughout the novel.
Just got back from the 10pm showing of Les Miz here in Grand Forks. Have never seen the show in any format. Very redeeming show and lots of young people at the theater. Definitely not to be missed. A bit slow in the middle, but very well done.
Last movie I went to see was the original “Matrix”. Used to take the kids to the cinema (”Monsters Inc” being the last before they didn’t want us square parents around.)
Wouldn’t spend a dime in Hollywood’s direction.
As far as I’m concerned Tarantino can practice his “artistic
license” with somebody else’s ten bucks. And since the star
of the flick thinks Obama is God and also thinks joking about
killing all the white people is humorous, I’ll just stay home and
clean my assault rifles, thank you.
Are u kidding?
Django?
Geezuss.....wtf forum am i on nowadays?
They opened very well.
I was going to see Django, but I’ll wait for dvd or cable.
IF it ain’t on Netflix or TV, it won’t be visited. Liberal hollywood gets little or no cash from me.
I will not give the America-hating Hollywood even one cent if I can avoid it.
That said, as a former single woman, I would advise you to look elsewhere to meet women. It’s awkward to sidle up to a girl in a dark theater without looking like a stalker of some sort. :)
I am guessing that one of the best places to meet women is in the grocery store. Everyone has to buy groceries, and it does not look suspicious if you cruise an aisle more than once to check out a chick, as long as you make it look like you are looking for a grocery item.
Women like to be helpful and to give advice, and a man looking helpless in the grocery store is kind of cute. (Looking helpless around a flat tire = not cute.)
If my idea sounds like a good one to you, I suggest you do a little homework first. Figure out the time when your local grocery store has the most singles shopping. I am thinking Sunday afternoon or Thursday night, but you need to do your research.
Follow-up homework assignment is to find a recipe and add its ingredients to your regular store list. You now have the perfect premise for asking an attractive total stranger for some help.
“Do you have any idea of where I can find thyme? I don’t know anything about cooking, but I made a New Year’s resolution to learn, so I am going to try to prepare ___.”
Well, you may not want to jump right in that quickly, but you get the idea...
I have men ask me for help frequently in the grocery store. Most of the time they are young men, and I am sure they pick a married 65-year-old woman to ask because she has probably been cooking for a long time. So chatting up a stranger in the produce aisle is perfectly normal, and, when your real motive is to meet a nice woman, you are in a nonthreatening setting.
Well, my inner advice columnist sure is going on today. FReemail me if you want more. :)
Glad to be able to help!
I wouldn’t see another Quentin Tarantino film if my life depended on it. It doesn’t matter that Django might have been an anti-white screed. It could have been “Atlas Shrugged” and I’d still avoid it like the plague.
Les Miserables is a must see, unless you can’t sit still for a 2:38 musical. If that’s the case (like the jerk in front of me who spent the entire time on her Facebook or Twitter account) do yourself and other moviegoers a favor and stay home.
Political/Spiritual commentary follows. Skip this if you just wanted the opinion of the movie.
The story is not only timeless, but it is timely. Les Miserables is a story about the struggle for social justice, and there were plenty of parallels for our time. Paying attention to the moral of the story might just help America, if it’s not too late.
The various characters attempted to achieve social justice, either for themselves or for others, in various ways:
Jean Valjean - theft and revenge
Factory Workers of Montreuil-Sur-Mer - honest work
Prostitutes of Montreuil-Sur-Mer - abandoning morals
Poor of Paris - begging
Enjolras and his revolutionaries - government order
Eponine - selfless love
Javert - law and order
Only one of them found his answer by the end of the movie. Valjean and his family (Cosette and Marius) found a way. It happened when the Bishop of Digne, living out the life of Christ, granted Valjean mercy when he deserved a harsh judgement. Valjean, moved by the Christian example, searched his soul and dedicated his life to God. Only then was he able to break the back of his misery and find joy - even in the midst of struggle. It was the cross that brought justice, not any of those other things.
I tend to forget this and get caught up either in the role of Javert (stand firmly on the law) or Enjolras (create a good social order). But America won’t be saved by hard work, legalizing sin, taking from others, giving to others, a strong law, or a strong political party. America will only be saved by God through prayer. After establishing that foundation, we can take our places in the other spheres as God directs.
Enjoy the movie.
I wouldn’t see another Quentin Tarantino film if my life depended on it. It doesn’t matter that Django might have been an anti-white screed. It could have been “Atlas Shrugged” and I’d still avoid it like the plague.
Les Miserables is a must see, unless you can’t sit still for a 2:38 musical. If that’s the case (like the jerk in front of me who spent the entire time on her Facebook or Twitter account) do yourself and other moviegoers a favor and stay home.
Political/Spiritual commentary follows. Skip this if you just wanted the opinion of the movie.
The story is not only timeless, but it is timely. Les Miserables is a story about the struggle for social justice, and there were plenty of parallels for our time. Paying attention to the moral of the story might just help America, if it’s not too late.
The various characters attempted to achieve social justice, either for themselves or for others, in various ways:
Jean Valjean - theft and revenge
Factory Workers of Montreuil-Sur-Mer - honest work
Prostitutes of Montreuil-Sur-Mer - abandoning morals
Poor of Paris - begging
Enjolras and his revolutionaries - government order
Eponine - selfless love
Javert - law and order
Only one of them found his answer by the end of the movie. Valjean and his family (Cosette and Marius) found a way. It happened when the Bishop of Digne, living out the life of Christ, granted Valjean mercy when he deserved a harsh judgement. Valjean, moved by the Christian example, searched his soul and dedicated his life to God. Only then was he able to break the back of his misery and find joy - even in the midst of struggle. It was the cross that brought justice, not any of those other things.
I tend to forget this and get caught up either in the role of Javert (stand firmly on the law) or Enjolras (create a good social order). But America won’t be saved by hard work, legalizing sin, taking from others, giving to others, a strong law, or a strong political party. America will only be saved by God through prayer. After establishing that foundation, we can take our places in the other spheres as God directs.
Enjoy the movie.
Les Mis is one of my favorite stage musicals. I’ve seen it four times, including once in London. I’ve been hoping for years that it would come to the screen, but it was going to need a very gifted hand to do so properly. At one time, years ago, Alan Parker was floated as a potential director, and I think he would have been a good choice.
I generally enjoyed the movie, but came away somewhat disappointed. As others have noted, the director made what was clearly an artistic decision to do the most personal songs in continuous close-up, which I think was a mistake. That’s one reason why movies are movies, so you can use the camera. I understand the concept of using the closeups to achieve a level of intimacy, but it places the burden of every ounce of power a song has onto the performer to a degree that even the stage doesn’t. By not utilizing multiple angles and shots, the director misses opportunities to ratchet up the power of a song beyond the performer’s emotion.
The unfortunate result of this enhanced intimacy is that it reduces the overall energy of the film and makes the pace feel slower than it should be, to the point of dragging.
When Joel Schumacher made Phantom, it was obvious that he really didn’t understand how to film a musical, though it had its moments (and I think Hooper’s approach to Les Mis demonstrates the same weakness, though to a lesser degree). I was actually pleasantly surprised at the job done on Sweeney Todd by Tim Burton, and I think he would have been a better choice for Les Mis.
I did think that the performers acquitted themselves well with their vocals. My biggest musical complaint is that many of the amusing lyrics to “Master of the House” get lost in the delivery. It might pay for those not familiar with them already to turn on the subtitles when they watch the movie on DVD.
The preview was so impressive -- and no singing in it -- that I just forgot what I knew to be true about the movie, and was expecting a lot of shooting and gashing and storming of barricades. I had the same problem with "Evita" -- dismay that they were actually and literally going to sing and dance their way through the whole thing with Madonna and everything.
"Django" isn't a musical, is it? I was bowled over by "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" back in the Nineties, but "Kill Bill" killed any interest I had in seeing any more Quentin Tarantino movies (especially since "Django" is basically the same formula as his "Basterds" movie). If you're really a movie fan, though, you might get a kick out of seeing which movies QT ripped off to make this one -- or you could just rent James Garner and Lou Gossett Jr. in "Skin Game."
Maybe it's time for a comedy next ...
We saw it on cable last night. Overly long, needlessly bloody, boring, simple-minded, racist, and a waste of three hours. Makes “A Fistful of Dollars” look like Shakespeare. Every human victim in this movie contains approximately 50 gallons of blood. The hero is psychotic and just plain mean. The supporting characters are one-dimensional morons. 1858 cap and ball revolvers contain 12 or 15 rounds each. The plot is formulaic and boring. The only good performances are by DeCaprio and Waltz. Costumes are over the top. This movie is so bad it makes brutality look wholesome. Yuch. Glad we didn’t pay to see it.
I should have seen The First Hobbit.