Les Miserables

Les Miserables, 2012
Directed by Tom Hooper
Nominated for 8 Oscars

Les Miserables is one of the most popular, beloved and well-known stage musicals. It tells the story, starting and ending, with Jean Valjean, a prisoner for 19 years in the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread. Finally, he is released on parole, but breaks it so to make a better life for himself. Years later, he has achieved this "better life", and when he learns one of the workers at his factory was let go, and has a child she is trying to look after, Valjean decides to rescue this child after the woman (Fantine) dies. Valjean, while still hunted, rescues the child, Cosette, and both their lives are changed forever.

I must confess something. Being the bookaholic I am, I decided to read Les Miserables before ever having seen the full musical (I've seen 45 minutes of the 10th anniversary a year before reading). Yes, you read that correctly. I read Les Miserables. Unabridged, and I skipped no pages. And once I read the final page of the book, I realized I`d screwed myself over for watching the musical or the movie. No play or film could ever accurately portray how beautifully written this book had been; how complex, how heartbreaking, and how glorious it was told. Yes, there were many parts that were drawn out or unnecessary, but when you got to the meat of the story, it was so incredible. And once I read the entire summary of the musical, I knew I was in for a let down. Because translating a 1200 page novel into a 3 hour musical meant that many things were going to be changed, and many would be simplified.

The problems I had with this movie were not the films fault (unless we're talking costume inaccuracies, or historical inaccuracies, but that's different), but that it was over-simplified from how the book had told it. Cosette and Marius did not take one look at each other and were in love. Eponine was not really a main character at all. The Thenardiers were not funny, but were incredibly evil people (and had more children than just Eponine). But I digress.

The first half of the film was incredibly done. Hugh Jackman is the powerhouse of the film, and carries it all on his shoulders. His performance is constantly great, and his singing is really quite good. The live singing, I thought, was incredibly well done. The group numbers were all my favourites and sounded so so good. Anne Hathaway, on the other hand, completely and utterly broke my heart. Her portrayal as Fantine was so emotional, and raw, and broken, that I believed her completely every second. Her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream was heartbreaking, and had me in tears (like everyone else in the theater). For only being in the film a short period of time, her character was properly fleshed out and had the right amount of development (something that the second half of the film lacked).

Everything, right up to where Marius, Eponine, etc come in, this film was really, really good. I had thought I wouldn't like the film whatsoever because of the book, but was surprised I liked the movie so much. Until then. Whether this is how it goes in the stage musical, or if this is just the film, I'm not sure, but everything felt very rushed and under-developed at that point. While Marius was my absolute favourite (Jean Valjean a very close runner up) in the book, his character was extremely diminished. We didn't get to know him on a deeper level like we had Fantine and Valjean. Same goes with Eponine. I felt like I hardly knew her at all before she dies. Which was such a shame. Had there been more time to flesh out these 2 characters, and the other revolutionaries, this would have been much better, but it felt too rushed, and too shallow for me to really care.

Overall, it's very hard to come to a conclusion of what I thought of the film overall. The first half was incredible, well paced and heartbreaking. The second half felt a little more rushed, less character development happening. It makes it very hard to decide what you thought overall.

So overall, I know that the live singing was well executed, and brought a lot more emotional, and a lot more acting in to the film. It made things seem a lot more real. I feel like I Dreamed a Dream would not have been nearly as heart-wrenching had it not been sung live. It would've sounded too perfect and not broken enough. The acting was all superb. Jackman, Hathaway were great. And I adored Eddie Redmayne as Marius. Russell Crowe was not nearly as bad a singer as I'd kept hearing he was (he was decent, ok people?). The visuals were stunning and the makeup for Jean Valjean was excellent. But there were pacing issues, lack of character development, etc.

I'd say Rotten Tomatoes hits it right when it gives it a 70%. It wasn't anything fantastic, but wasn't horrible either. It was a decent movie.

7/10

Black Sheep Reviews presents the 2012 Mouton d'Or Awards

It's that time again, ladies and gentlemen! And it is actually that time for me for the eighth time. I know it was seven years last year so the realization that this is the eighth year should not be so much of a shock for me but it is. May I present to you the 2012 Mouton d'Or Awards!

This year was such an incredible year for film, with so many filmmakers reaching new heights in their careers and abilities. With this in mind, what finer example is there to lead the nominations than Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER, which leads with eight nominations in total, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Next up on the leader board is the breathtaking, LIFE OF PI, from Ang Lee. It too is nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and four others for a grand total of six. ARGO, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD and MOONRISE KINGDOM round out the remaining Best Picture nominees and each earns five Mouton d'Or nominations in total. And though they may have missed out on the top prize, LES MISERABLES and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK still have a strong showing, also with five nominations apiece.

P.T. Anderson's THE MASTER

I would like to thank everyone who shared their favorite movies with me in the last few weeks for the Black Sheep Readers Choice Award. There was so much response and so much passion for films that went on to be nominated that I had to expand the category to ten nominees, up from six last year. Be sure to vote in the poll at the top of the right hand sidebar for your favourite! And again, thank you so much for your participation. Your enthusiasm was moving.

And so, without further ado, here are the 2012 Mouton d'Or Award nominations ...

(Scroll over any film title and click for the full Black Sheep review.)

BEST BIG MOVIE

THE AVENGERS
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
THE HUNGER GAMES
LES MISERABLES
SKYFALL

BEST LITTLE MOVE

AMOUR
KEEP THE LIGHTS ON
LAURENCE ANYWAYS
MAGIC MIKE
STORIES WE TELL

THE WORST MOVIE I SAW ALL YEAR

DETACHMENT
DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX
HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET
THE INNKEEPERS
WHERE DO WE GO NOW?

THE BLACK SHEEP READERS CHOICE AWARD

ARGO
THE AVENGERS
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
DJANGO UNCHAINED
THE HUNGER GAMES
LES MISERABLES
LIFE OF PI
LOOPER
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
SKYFALL

ANIMATED FEATURE

BRAVE
FRANKENWEENIE
PARANORMAN

BEST LOOKING MOVIE

ANNA KARENINA
LIFE OF PI
THE MASTER
MOONRISE KINGDOM
SKYFALL

BEST MUSIC

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
LES MISERABLES
LIFE OF PI
THE MASTER
MOONRISE KINGDOM

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

ROBERT DE NIRO in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
LEONARDO DICAPRIO in DJANGO UNCHAINED
DWIGHT HENRY in BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN in THE MASTER
EWAN MCGREGOR in THE IMPOSSIBLE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

AMY ADAMS in THE MASTER
SALLY FIELD in LINCOLN
ANNE HATHAWAY in LES MISERABLES
HELEN HUNT in THE SESSIONS
NICOLE KIDMAN in THE PAPERBOY

BEST ACTOR

DANIEL DAY LEWIS in LINCOLN
JOHN HAWKES in THE SESSIONS
HUGH JACKMAN in LES MISERABLES
JOAQUIN PHOENIX in THE MASTER
DENZEL WASHINGTON in FLIGHT

BEST ACTRESS

JESSICA CHASTAIN in ZERO DARK THIRTY
JENNIFER LAWRENCE in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
EMANUELLE RIVA in AMOUR
QUVENZHANE WALLIS in BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
NAOMI WATTS in THE IMPOSSIBLE

BEST ENSEMBLE

ARGO
THE HUNGER GAMES
MAGIC MIKE
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
SKYFALL

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

AMOUR written by Michael Haneke
LOOPER written by Rian Johnson
THE MASTER written by Paul Thomas Anderson
MOONRISE KINGDOM written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
STORIES WE TELL written by Sarah Polley

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

ARGO written by Chris Terrio
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD written by Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
LIFE OF PI written by David McGee
LINCOLN written by Tony Kushner
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK written by David O. Russell

BEST FIRST FEATURE

ANTIVIRAL
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED

BEST DIRECTOR

BEN AFFLECK for ARGO
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON for THE MASTER
WES ANDERSON for MOONRISE KINGDOM
MICHAEL HANEKE for AMOUR
ANG LEE for LIFE OF PI

BEST PICTURE

ARGO
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
LIFE OF PI
THE MASTER
MOONRISE KINGDOM

Thanks for reading. The 2012 Mouton d'Or Award winners will be announced February 16th and voting for the Black Sheep Readers Choice Awards will close at midnight on Sunday, February 10th.

Awards Watch: The 2012 Dorian Awards

Earlier this week, the Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA), of which I and my fellow Men on Film Chris Carpenter and Neil Cohen were members this past year, announced the winners of the 4th Annual Dorian Awards. These awards are designed to honor not just GLBT-themed films and television programs, but all films and television programs... albeit as seen through a "queer eye".

Topping the list for as the Film of the Year is Ben Affleck's Argo, fresh off its wins at the Golden Globes and the Critics' Choice Awards. The Film Performance of the Year Awards (now split by gender) went to Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln and our Dearie Award-winning Woman of the Year Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables. All three of these winners are poised for possible victory at next month's Academy Awards.

The searing gay drama Keep the Lights On, which was also nominated for Film of the Year, took the prize for LGBT-Themed Film of the Year, while the Oscar nominated How to Survive a Plague won Documentary of the Year. In the new category Visually Striking Film of the Year, Ang Lee's Life of Pi was deemed the most, well, visually striking.

A triple feature of Matthew McConaughey movies round out the film awards, with Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike and Lee Daniels' The Paperboy tied for Campy Film of the Year and Bernie named Unsung Film of the Year.

On the TV side, Homeland and American Horror Story: Asylum not only tied for TV Drama of the Year, the shows' respective stars, Damien Lewis and Jessica Lange won in the TV Performance of the Year categories.  TV Comedy or Musical of the Year went to Girls, while LGBT-Themed TV Show of the Year was shared by Modern Family and the Dearie Award-winning The New Normal. The Campy and Unsung TV Shows were the tragic biopic Liz & Dick and the sitcom Happy Endings.

Capping off the Dorians are a few prizes for individuals, including the "We’re Wilde About You" Rising Star of the Year Award, which went to The Perks of Being a Wallflower's Ezra Miller. "Wilde Wit" and "Wilde Artist" titles were bestowed on The Daily Show's Jon Stewart and Glee/American Horror Story/The New Normal creator Ryan Murphy.  And last, but certainly not least, the "Timeless" Award (the Dorian version of a lifetime achievement honor) went to the one and only Sir Ian McKellen, seen this year in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Congratulations to all of this year's Dorian Award winners! The awards will be presented on February 17 in Los Angeles at the Fourth Annual GALECA Dorian Awards Winners Afternoon Tea. See the comments section below for the full list of this year's nominees, and be sure to follow GALECA on Facebook and Twitter.

Dearie Awards 2012: Movie of the Year

Movie of the Year: KEEP THE LIGHTS ON

Ira Sachs’ authentic, explicit, occasionally bruising but ultimately hopeful depiction of the ups and downs of an addiction-fueled gay relationship over the course of a decade emerges as the finest gay-themed drama in several years.  Danish actor Thure Lindhardt and Zachary Booth(best known as Michael Hewes on TV’s Damages) command attention throughout as they dance their codependent tango but, to its great credit, the film never becomes histrionic and Sachs treats both wounded men with nothing but compassion.  (Booth’s character is actually bisexual, a big-screen rarity.)  Contemporary gay-themed movies just keep getting better and better — see previous Dearie Award Movies of the Year A Single Man and Weekendfor further evidence of this — and Keep the Lights On now takes the crown.

Honorable Mentions: THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER and LES MISERABLES

Perks, starring a post-Harry Potter Emma Watson and rising stars Ezra Miller and Logan Lerman, emerged as one of the year’s biggest indie hits after doing consistent business at the box office for several months.  While not primarily LGBT-themed, Miller gives an exhilarating performance as an unapologetically gay high school student in this cross-generational success.

And though the long-awaited movie version of the long-running stage musical Les Miserablesdidn’t please all fans or critics, it is suffused with enough emotional and spiritual intensity, tortured romance and visual flourishes to fill several movies, not to mention a spectacular lead performance by Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean.

By Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest, Rage Monthly Magazine and Echo Magazine.

Les Miserables (2012)

 (Disclaimer so people know where I am coming from with this review: I adore the musical “Les Miserables.” I’ve seen the musical three times on stage.  I love the score and listen to it all time on CD. It’s one of my all-time favorite musicals.

I consider the reading of the original Victor Hugo novel to be one of the most profound reading experiences of my life. I’ve seen most of the movie versions, and especially love the 1935 version with Charles Laughton and Frederic March. A five-hour French version from 1934 recently played by TCM and I was blown away by how gripping it was. I just love this story and its characters.)

 

Based on seeing the movie version of the musical “Les Miserables” (2012), I surmised that director Tom Hooper graduated summa cum laude from the Joshua Logan School of How NOT to Direct a Musical.

You know Joshua Logan. The guy who filmed “South Pacific” (1958) on location and then used colored filters throughout.

The guy who hired non-singers Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave for “Camelot” (1967) and filmed a lot of the numbers in close-up (Tom Hooper must have studied “Camelot” a lot).

Speaking of non-singers, Logan cast those iconic warblers Lee Marvin (!) and Clint Eastwood (!!) in “Paint Your Wagon” (1969).

Musical follies, one and all. Add “Les Miserables” to the list of one of the worst musicals of all time.

“Les Miserables” is the biggest disappointment I’ve had at the movies in years. It’s a soul-crushing disappointment from someone who has waited years for a movie version of this show.

Let’s call “Les Miserables” for what it is – an opera. Not grand opera, of course, but an opera nonetheless. If a story is told entirely in song, then it’s an opera. Sure there are a few scenes of dialogue, but Beethoven’s “Fidelio” is considered an opera, and that has long dialogue passages.  So “Les Miserables” is an opera.

And operas need voices. It helps if they’re good actors, but the first requirement is good voices. No, not good voices, but great voices.

Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and even Russell Crowe have good singing voices.

But not for this material.

Ten minutes in, with the largely laughably large-scaled CGI opening, and star Hugh Jackman, as Jean Valjean, trying vainly to hit the high notes, I had a sinking feeling I was going to be in for the long haul over the next two and a half hours. And I was.

The cast isn’t really to blame. They try their best. But they can’t sing these songs. It’s beyond their abilities.

 

The show’s two best known songs are “I Dreamed a Dream” and “Bring Him Home.” A lot of people have heaped praise on Anne Hathaway’s singing, and acting of the former, but I’m in the minority. Shot in extreme close-up, I was so distracted by the tears and running snot that it took me out of the scene. I know movies are more intimate than what is on stage, but I’ve always been moved by this song, so I don’t need the extreme close-ups to sell it. The less said about Jackman’s rendition of “Bring Him Home” the better. A tough song to sing, to be sure, but it was embarrassingly bad.

A friend of mine commented afterwards that maybe in the old days, Hollywood knew what they were doing when they dubbed the singing voices of their big stars. Sure no one would rush out to see Marni Nixon in “The King and I” (1956) or “My Fair Lady” (1964) but they would go see Deborah Kerr and Audrey Hepburn, respectively. Are those films really lessened by having the leads dubbed? Is Rita Hayworth any less a screen icon because her voice was dubbed singing “Put the Blame on Mame” in “Gilda” (1946) and in her musicals?

So you have a sung-through musical where the leads can’t properly sing the songs, and a director who doesn’t have the foggiest idea of how to stage a musical. Director Hooper use of extreme close-ups throughout gets tiresome after the fourth or fifth time. For me, these are most effective for key emotional moments, not 2.5 hours worth.

And let me get this off my chest. If I hear any more prattle from the cast and crew about the effectiveness of recording the songs live during the filming, I think I may yawn myself to death. Based on the evidence here, I don’t see what the big deal is.

I may be reading too much into these interviews, but there’s an air of condescension and smugness when the cast and director talk about how much more real it is singing live than to a pre-recorded track. It’s as if they’re brushing aside seven decades worth of musicals.

As one who decries the often rapid cuts of today’s movies, I should be applauding Hooper’s use of minimal cutting. But the camera work is static to the point of inertia and when Hooper does move the camera, it’s often the dreaded shaky cam effect, and tilted camera angles, and the whole thing becomes annoying to watch.

One of the show’s most famous songs is the comic number “Master of the House” and it’s a bit of welcome black comedy levity in the often grim proceedings. But it’s very badly staged here, with dumbfounded literalness played out ad nauseum. There’s no sense of movement and looks like it was staged for a community theater production. Like everything else in the film, it’s cramped and claustrophobic.

Adding blame to this disaster was the very poor musical direction, for which I blame orchestrators Anne Dudley and Stephen Metcalfe and music supervisor Becky Bentham. They do the music no favors. Everything is pitched in the most low-key manner possible. The orchestrations are depressingly small-scaled and the musical accompaniment isn’t allowed to soar. It also sounded to like a very poor sound mix, with the orchestra barely heard in the background. It could be one of the tinniest-sounding musicals I’ve ever heard.

(Despite my snarky comments directed at the top of this review to those three Joshua Logan-directed musicals, the musical direction by Alfred Newman and Ken Darby for “South Pacific” and “Camelot”, and by Nelson Riddle and Roger Wagner for “Paint Your Wagon” are superb and can’t be beat. They are by far the best factors of those movies).

 

I’ve done a lot of complaining. Is there anything good in the movie? I liked Samantha Barks as Eponine. She brings a real humanity to the part, and has a good voice. Playing the role on stage obviously helped. I thought all the guys who played the young revolutionaries had strong voices, well suited to the material. But it’s a sad state of affairs that the secondary and third characters in an opera are the best singers.

And while Russell Crowe has gotten the lion’s share of disdainful reviews, I’m going to cut him slack. True, he has the weakest voice of any of the leads. But for me, he was the only one who realized he was playing to the motion picture camera. I never felt like he was striving to reach for the last row in the highest balcony in the largest auditorium in the world.

 

I must admit to tearing up quite a bit at each of the live performances I’ve seen. There’s a little bit of that here in the final scene – how could there be not be – but I was curiously unmoved. I actually told my friends I didn’t want to see it with them, because it would be too embarrassing for them to see me afterwards. No problem here. I could have just watched “Skyfall” for all the emotion it generated for me

I know a lot of people who have seen this movie and just love it. Good for them. I’m glad. It could be their first introduction to this wonderful story and I’m glad they enjoyed it so much.

But it was such a let down for me. It’s been years since I was looking forward to a movie so much. I love this material. But alas, “Les Miserables” is the biggest disappointment I’ve had at the movies since Daniel Craig’s second 007 outing, the execrable “Quantum of Solace” (2008). “Les Miserables” is one of the worst movies of the year. It’s one of the worst musicals ever made. It’s an ugly film to look at and a painful one to listen to. It kills me to write that.

Dearie Awards 2012: Woman of the Year

Winner: ANNE HATHAWAY

Previous Oscar nominee -- and even an Oscar co-host -- Anne Hathaway scored iconic roles in two of this year’s major releases, The Dark Knight Rises and the current Les Miserables.  She not only stole both shows as, respectively, pseudo-villainess Selina Kyle (a.k.a. Catwoman) and Victor Hugo’s doomed factory worker-turned-prostitute Fontine, but is currently the front-runner to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Les Mis.  We at Movie Dearest have had our eyes on Hathaway for a long time and are thrilled to see her blossom into the star performer she is today, but she has also endeared herself to all of us in the GLBT community as an outspoken supporter of our dignity and equality.  Hathaway, who has a gay brother, even left the Roman Catholic Church rather than adhere to the church’s position that GLBT people are essentially second-class citizens.  Finally, we love her because she didn’t hesitate to twirl around in that fringy flapper-style dress she wore at one point when she co-hosted the 2010 Academy Awards.  You keep on going, girl!

Honorable Mention: JENNIFER LAWRENCE

This 22-year old came out of nowhere three years ago as heroine of the fantastic indie thriller Winter’sBone.  She received an Oscar nomination for it and instantly became one of the most sought-after actresses in the industry.  Lawrence proved her talent is no fluke this year as star of one of its biggest blockbusters, The Hunger Games, as well as a potential Best Actress-winning turn as a young widow in Silver Linings Playbook.  She’s obviously making all the right moves according to the Hollywood playbook.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest, Rage Monthly Magazine and Echo Magazine.

Black Sheep's Top 10 of 2012!

(Be sure to click the title of any film mentioned to read the full Black Sheep review.)

Ordinarily, when I look back at the year in film as it comes to its close, I also take a look at the milestones my career as a writer has reached in the last 12 months. This year, that is a little difficult for me. In early May, I felt like I had made it. I had just interviewed Mark Ruffalo for his much loved performance as The Hulk in THE AVENGERS, as well as documentary filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, whose BULLY had become a serious talking point across America. Both interviews were due to appear as cover stories on the same day, Ruffalo on Montreal's Hour Community and Hirsch on Ottawa's Xpress. I was about to go on the air on Montreal's CJAD 800 to talk about both pieces when I received an e-mail from my editor at Hour, telling me that my cover story would be Hour's last. My editor at Xpress contacted me just a few weeks later to let me know that it too would be ceasing production. In some ways, I'm still recovering from that one-two punch.

                  

I had grown up with Hour in Montreal. Hour was the first paper that ever published me. Not only was I sad for my editor, who had worked so hard to keep the paper afloat in difficult times, but I was sad for Montreal for its loss too. There was only one game left in town after that and it too shut down this year. Sadness for print journalism all around.

My best friend pointed out to me that writing, like other creative fields, is not always consistent. I remind myself of this whenever I need to and, although I do not know what 2013 has in store for opportunities, I do know that I will be heading out in search of them. And until I find one, I still have all of you. And there are more of you now than ever before so thank you. Thank you very much for your support and, more importantly, for reading. Without you, my words would fall upon blind eyes.

All the same, the year wasn't a total wash. I did get to interview this guy ...

This is about as scruffy as Jake Gyllenhaal was when we met to discuss END OF WATCH.

I saw something like 125 films in 2012, many of them quite good. Narrowing that list down was not as difficult as I had anticipated. I did get stuck at 11 though and that's when it got messy. Mission accomplished all the same, sort of. This list of ten films I feel best encapsulates my most memorable experiences at the movies this year. In alphabetical order, here in Black Sheep's Top 10 films of 2012!

AMOUR

Directed by Michael Haneke

Such a controlled film about two people who have lost all the control in their own lives. Simply put, AMOUR is exquisite. And aptly titled. It is a great and necessary reminder that love is a gift, and a fleeting one at that, and it needs to be appreciated for all its glory.

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Directed by Benh Zeitlin

This debut feature by American filmmaker, Benh Zeitlin, is a beast all unto itself. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD roars with pride for its unique style, tone and take, and it stampedes forward with an infectious strength. And who is leading this charge? Why, one ferociously brave, little girl, of course. It is imagination incarnate.

THE HUNGER GAMES

Directed by Gary Ross

Speaking of courageous, young women ... I do not care if this makes me an honorary teenage girl, but I am big Katniss fan, not to mention the actress who embodied her so brilliantly in THE HUNGER GAMES, Jennifer Lawrence. I got totally caught up in this movie's feverish hype after reading the book and loved every minute of it. PS. #TeamPeeta.

THE IMPOSSIBLE

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona

I respect THE IMPOSSIBLE for doing just that and daring to tell this true story. Sure, they changed the main characters, a Spanish family who was caught in the 2004 Tsunami, to an English family, but that just means we get to see all this heartbreaking hardship acted out by Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. You can't tell every story from that tragedy but I believe they've done this story, and family, justice.

LES MISERABLES
Directed by Tom Hooper

It is possible that I am very close to overdosing on LES MISERABLES. In the span of a week, I saw the film twice in theatres and have been moved to tears in my living room by the soundtrack more times than I'm willing to admit to. Easily the best movie musical since CHICAGO, "Les Mis" is designed to consume you and I have yet to tire of giving in to its song.

LIFE OF PI
Directed by Ang Lee

I wasn't sure even Ang Lee was going to be able to pull off LIFE OF PI, but I did suspect that if anyone was going to be able to make Yann Martel's biblical novel come to the life it deserved to on screen, it could be him. And within moments of the film starting, I breathed a great sigh of relief. I commend Lee for giving us the most visually groundbreaking film of the year.

MAGIC MIKE
Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Now, most people would assume I would put MAGIC MIKE on this list because I am in love with Channing Tatum. I mean, look at that picture. How can you not be? But what those people forget is that I've been in love with Steven Soderbergh for far longer. And only Soderbergh could make a stripper movie that inspires both cat calls and intellectual discourse from its audience at the same time.

THE MASTER
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Another aptly titled film but for very different reasons. Paul Thomas Anderson borders on genius with THE MASTER. After THERE WILL BE BLOOD, I didn't think he could go much higher and yet somehow, he has. Technically perfect, brilliant performances across the board and just plain mesmerizing, THE MASTER is well worthy of cult-like worship.

MOONRISE KINGDOM
Directed by Wes Anderson

Like the previous Anderson, Wes Anderson has outdone himself with MOONRISE KINGDOM. To watch his panoramic and meticulously detailed style become more vibrant and warmer than ever before, is a total delight. His voice is confident, comfortable, clearer than ever, and perhaps most remarkably, it still feels as though it is alive and new.

SKYFALL
Directed by Sam Mendes

I would never have imagined that the 50-year-old James Bond franchise would be able to provide one of the most exhilarating experiences of the year but then again, I never imagined that Sam Mendes would direct a Bond film. The cast, the cinematography, the writing, the risks - everything about SKYFALL is elevated by Mendes' presence and thus, Bond is reborn.

Honourable Mention:
STORIES WE TELL
Directed by Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley's first documentary and third feature film is only being considered for next year's awards race but there is no way I could not mention STORIES WE TELL when discussing the best films I saw this past year. Polley's bravery in telling this extremely personal story is moving and is somehow completely devoid of ego. Instead, she offers up her own history as an example that allows the audience to break down the many layers of storytelling itself. This is Polley's best film to date.

Oh, and this happened. My first quote!

There you have it! Ten amazing films (plus one!) from an incredible year at the movies. What about you? What made your list? Start thinking about it, in case you haven't already, as I will be calling on you to help shape this year's Black Sheep Readers Choice Award for the upcoming 2012 Mouton d'Or Awards. The nominations will be announced on January 25, 2013.

I'd love to take a break now but alas, I have a screening tomorrow morning! And so it begins again. Here's to an amazing 2013 and here's to seeing my name in print again before the year is out! 

Thanks again for all your support. I could not do this without you. Happy New Year!!

You can listen to me discuss this list further on CJAD 800 below.

Monthly Wallpaper - January 2013 - 2012: The Year in Film

As 2012 comes to a close, it is time to look back on the year in film, and what better way then with the Movie Dearest calendar wallpaper for next month!

Several of 2012's most talked about movies make up the collage, so you can spend all of January 2013 gazing at the likes of Abe, Bilbo, Cosette, Erik & Paul, Hitch, Hushpuppy, James, Merida, Magic Mike and Richard Parker. What a way to start off a new year!

Just click on the picture above to enlarge it to its 1024 x 768 size, then right click your mouse and select "Set as Background", and you're all set. If you want, you can also save it to your computer and set it up from there, or modify the size in your own photo-editing program if needed.

LES MISERABLES

LES MISERABLES
Written by William Nicholson
Directed by Tom Hooper
Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne

Cast: and remember, the truth at once was spoken, to love another person is to see the face of god. 

I would think it would go without saying that a musical that announces itself as an ode to misery in its title, would be a fairly dramatic and depressing affair but apparently this isn't so.  Some of what I'm hearing of Tom Hoopers extravagant restaging of the classic musical, LES MISERABLES, is that it is a relentless, melodramatic onslaught of singing out pain in your face for nearly three hours. Yes, it is most certainly all of this but it was designed to be precisely that. Whether they're forever running from the law or selling their body to feed their child or watching all of their friends die in the French Revolution, these people have every right to be as anguished as they are. And what better way to deal with this pain than sing about it?

LES MISERABLES has a massive following. It has been staged thousands of times and has played to audiences around the world for over thirty years. And yet, this is the first time it has been attempted on film, as a musical anyway. To say that anticipation for the film has been high would also a be a great understatement. Now that it is finally here though, will purists be happy? I suspect not actually. Hooper decided to have his incredibly diverse and talented cast, from Hugh Jackman to Anne Hathaway to newcomer, Samantha Bark, sing this intensely difficult show live on set rather than record first in studio and then lip synch on set. While the effect itself is most often very intimate and emotionally engaging, some of the musical prowess is lost amidst the emoting. While Hathaway's performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" is deeply moving, I am sure some will wish there was more clarity to her belt and less cracking in her voice from crying. All the same, the film does feel more spontaneous than most film musicals so while the decision will polarize some, it is still brave and commendable.

Many an eye is on Hooper here as LES MISERABLES is the follow-up to his Oscar-winning work on THE KING'S SPEECH. While that story was a grand one, it was still told on a much smaller scale. LES MISERABLES may have been a tad bit much for him to handle. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, this is the story of one man's struggle to forge out a life in times of strife and suffering. Jean Valjean (Jackman) once stole a loaf of bread and he has been paying for it ever since. While pretending to be someone he is not, he takes in Cosette, a young girl (played as an adult by Amanda Seyfreid) when her mother (Hathaway, who shines like you would not believe) passes away. When Cosette falls in love with a revolutionary (a dapper and delightful, Eddie Redmayne), Valjean does everything in his power to ensure they are together. While Hooper has a strong handle on his characters, his French Revolution feels slight at times, hardly like the source of all their misery. 

What I love about LES MISERABLES is the inherent sense of hope in the music itself. The poor sing of how the end of the day brings nothing but another day to a close at first and later, albeit still suffering greatly, sing of how they long for one day more. And what with all the political unrest and death and disease in the streets, to speak of things like love seems entirely frivolous at first but eventually love is the only thing that makes any sense. For it is true what they say, to truly know happiness, you must experience LES MISERABLES first.

Reel Thoughts: The 2012 Neelys

EDITOR’S NOTE: The day before his untimely death on December 8, our friend Neil Cohen filed his annual list of the best and worst movies of 2012, which would turn out to be his last article for Echo Magazine, Phoenix's long-running GLBT publication. He called these recaps of the past year in film the "Neely Awards", named after Neely O’Hara, the starlet played by Patty Duke in The Valley of the Dolls. Movie Dearest extends special thanks to Echo Magazine for providing us with the following for posting here.

If judged by this year’s best actor competition, 2012 was a very good year. Daniel Day Lewis, star of Lincoln, is duking it out with Bill Murray’s Franklin Roosevelt from Hyde Park on Hudson. Anthony Hopkins in Hitchcock is up against Ben Affleck’s faux 1979 filmmaker Tony Mendez from Argo. And Richard Gere’s 2008-era Robert Miller from Arbitrage is ready to join the fray against 1980s-era John Hawkes from The Sessions. For the most part, the best films of the year all seemed to be living in the past, including a trip back in time to Middle Earth in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and a blast from the past in the 1990s-set The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

THE BEST:

Les Misérables: The decades long wait is over, and while Les Misérables isn’t a perfect film, it features enough perfect elements to make it the best film of the year. Anne Hathaway’s heartbreaking performance as Fantine and Hugh Jackman’s tour de force Jean Valjean are reason enough to see the film, and director Tom Hooper keeps most of the show’s power and emotion intact.
Why it rocks: That music! The emotions! “I Dreamed A Dream” will bring tears to your eyes.

Hitchcock: Sure, Anthony Hopkins doesn’t look just like the Master of Suspense, but he creates an Alfred Hitchcock who garners our sympathy and respect. Helen Mirren as his long-suffering wife Alma is just as good.
Why it rocks: The delicious behind-the-scenes look at the making of Psycho is irresistible, with fantastic performances from Scarlett Johansson, James D’Arcy, Toni Collette and Jessica Biel.

Argo: Director Ben Affleck proves his talents with this story ripped from the history vaults of the best worst plan to rescue a group of Americans from Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis by faking a cheesy sci-fi movie. Affleck is great on screen as well, and his cast disappears into their ’70s personas perfectly.
Why it rocks: As with Hitchcock, the behind-the-scenes stuff in Hollywood and Washington DC is funny and entertaining, while the Iranian scenes have more nail-biting suspense than you’d expect, especially knowing the outcome. Plus, all those ’70’s trappings — the hair, the clothes, the old-fashioned technology — are priceless.

ParaNorman: The best animated film of the year featured a boy who is bullied because he’s different — he sees dead people. Norman’s fight to save his touristy, witch-obsessed town from its evil mascot is a lot of fun, but its anti-bullying message comes through loud and clear.
Why it rocks: With its message of tolerance, ParaNorman is the most gay-positive animated film yet. Plus it features a knock-out funny “outing” you’ll never see coming.

Magic Mike: If you’re going to make a sexy male stripper movie, you might as well cast some of the hottest men in Hollywood and get auteur Steven Soderbergh to direct it and give it some class. Drool-worthy Channing Tatum is funny and likable in the title role, which was inspired by his own life of taking-it-off in Florida. The story is straight off the Saturday Night Fever template of a sexy stud finding his way out of a dead-end life, but the on-stage scenery is way better.
Why it rocks: Let me count the ways. Hot and out Matt Bomer, ripped and rough Joe Manganiello, chiseled and dangerous Matthew McConaughey and even dull Alex Pettyfer make this the best-looking cast of the year. Sharp writing helps, too.

Bully: Lee Hirsch’s heartbreaking documentary shed much-needed light on the epidemic of bullying in our schools and created a dialogue from the moment the ratings board tried to slap it with an R rating. Particularly moving are the story of Kelby, a lesbian in Tuttle, Oklahoma who was openly mocked by teachers, and the story of Tyler Long’s suicide and his courageous parents’ quest to prevent the same kind of bullying.
Why it rocks: Documentaries can right a huge number of wrongs. Bully is an incredibly powerful weapon to effect change.

Safety Not Guaranteed: A trio of newspaper reporters goes in search of a man who posted an ad looking for “someone to travel back in time with me. Safety not guaranteed… I have only done this once.” Jake Johnson (New Girl), Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) and indie film regular Mark DuPlass enliven this highly unusual comic drama.
Why it rocks: The deadpan Plaza and possibly nuts DuPlass have great chemistry, and the story of investigating a tabloid topic like time travel is a perfect set-up for a film.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Fans of the book are thrilled that the author Stephen Chbosky wrote and directed this film version, but audiences were thrilled by the smart look at high school life and the excellent performances by Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller, who played his gay character with wit and depth that made him come to life.
Why it rocks: Some might say the rock soundtrack, but the ensemble of Watson, Lerman and Miller, as well as the early-’90s setting, is what really makes the film take off.

Silver Linings Playbook: This slice of crazy life in Philadelphia features Bradley Cooper in his best performance yet as a bipolar guy pining for his unfaithful wife. He learns to move on with the help of a fellow outcast played by a luminous Jennifer Lawrence. Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker all give amazing performances.
Why it rocks: It’s the ultimate date night compromise: sports fever meets ballroom dancing! The family dynamics between Cooper and DeNiro really strike a chord, as does the message about letting go of the past and seizing every moment you can. Plus, Lawrence has never been better.

Life of Pi: Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee brings the best-selling novel to the screen with the most breathtaking use of 3-D yet. This castaway story of an Indian boy trapped on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger is a life-affirming story of overcoming obstacles, while it doesn’t shy away from showing the death part of the “Circle of Life” either.
Why it rocks: The CGI tiger (named "Richard Parker") is amazingly expressive and lifelike, while the visuals throughout the film can’t be matched by any other film this year.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: This return to the Middle Earth of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is actually a prequel, just like J.R.R. Tolkien’s book. Hobbit Bilbo Baggins is summoned by Sir Ian McKellen’s wizard Gandalf to assist a band of dwarfs in freeing their homeland from an evil dragon. It is chock full of eye-popping action scenes, made even more so by being filmed at 48 frames per second, twice the normal speed.
Why it rocks: The message of finding courage when tested is a great one for kids, not to mention that Andy Serkis’ Gollum is just as certifiably crazy as ever. Is it worth three films? We’ll see, but it is filled with epic battles against orcs, trolls and goblins that will warm the heart of the geek inside all of us.

THE WORST:


A Thousand Words: Eddie Murphy stars in a bomb. That isn’t surprising, but what is shocking is how awful this bomb is, even by Murphy’s low standards. Every time he utters a word, a tree of life in his back yard loses a leaf on its way to dying. The audience feels the same way with every passing minute.
Why it sucks: A concept where Murphy is punished for every word he says would have been more fitting for Pluto Nash, but as it is, it’s the weakest premise yet for one of the actor’s flops.

That’s My Boy: Adam Sandler stars in a rancid comedy. Again, you might ask, “Which one?” Basing a comedy off of the Mary Kay LeTourneau molestation case wasn’t brilliant to begin with, but Sandler’s blind confidence in the charm of his annoying character, a man who was seduced by his teacher as a kid and is now a failure trying to reconnect with his son, is really deluded. Andy Samberg better pick better projects in the future if he wants to move past Saturday Night Live.
Why it sucks: Even compared to his usual characters, Sandler’s Donny is a blot on the history of cinema. Sandler brings out the worst in every actor he uses, but at least Rob Schneider isn’t in it.

October Baby: This story of a girl who sets out to find the mother who tried to abort her is right-wing propaganda supporting the ongoing “war on women.” The bad acting is just the icing on the rotten cake.
Why it sucks: The issue of a woman’s right to choose is far too complicated and important for this kind of ham-fisted propaganda. It’s a cheap shot in the national discussion.

Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure: These things are oogie alright, although I don’t think they’re supposed to inspire nightmares in kids and migraines in adults. If the warning, “From the makers of Teletubbies” doesn’t scare you off, the horrifying cameos by Jaime Pressly, Toni Braxton, Cloris Leachmen and Chazz Palminteri should.
Why it sucks: “We’re the Oogies!” shouted in voices that will peel paint.

Possession: Oooooooo, a spooky demon box at a garage sale possesses a little girl. How will Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick save their daughter? This PG-13 scare fest is light on the scares and heavy on the claustrophobic “we didn’t have a budget for a full cast or a good screenplay” schlock that plagues most of these Insidious rip-offs.
Why it sucks: Morgan seems more and more like a hungover Javier Bardem. Jumanji had more scares than this tired garage sale reject.

Joyful Noise: It pains me to diss a Dolly Parton/Queen Latifah movie, but since it takes place in a church, I have to tell the truth and shame the devil. A Joyful Noise is full of noise and short on joy. Parton can’t give a bad performance, but her squabbles with her rival for church choir director aren’t funny and the story feels like a tired Glee rip-off. A concert featuring Parton and Latifah, along with co-stars Kris Kristofferson, Newsies star Jeremy Jordan and Legally Blonde’s Andy Karl would have been a far better choice.
Why it sucks: Between the forced whimsy and the curdled fighting, you just want to shout “Shut up and sing!” at the screen.

Friends With Kids: With friends like these, who needs enemies? Cut from the “Problems Yuppies Have” cookbook, this bitter-tasting dramedy about two friends who decide to have a kid together is no Bridesmaids, even though it shares some of the same cast. Director Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein) should have hired a better writer and star than Jennifer Westfeldt if she wanted people to warm to her film.
Why it sucks: Westfeldt and Adam Scott’s annoying conversations late at night are meant to be Bridesmaids racy and hilarious, but they’re like something written by an alien who doesn’t quite understand human beings yet.

Damsels in Distress: Whit Stillman, who’s made a career of filming WASPs in their natural habitat, overdoses on quirkiness with this annoying film about a trio of do-gooders at a politically correct Ivy League college. Greta Gerwig plays a clueless queen bee who ineffectively tries to help everyone she meets, oblivious to her and the film’s shortcomings.
Why it sucks: The annoying preciousness of this film will send you to the dentist from grinding your teeth. It’s nice that Stillman makes movies he likes, but does he have to inflict them on us?

2016: Obama’s America: Just what this country needed : another divisive, race-baiting piece of propaganda intended to stir up the crazies in the Right Wing. Disgraced filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza wastes our time fabricating a fictional Barack Obama and fretting about what the US will be like after his presidency.
Why it sucks: Who won that election anyway? Americans are finally taking Nancy Reagan’s advice and just saying “no” to Right Wing conspiracy nuts.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green: Would you believe it’s the second film of the year about a person who dies when all the leaves fall, this time from the title character’s shins? Nothing goes right, from the tone to the acting to the awful framing device. Cutesy and saccharine, Timothy Green is odd alright, just not very good.
Why it sucks: YouTube was on fire with clips of permanently scarred children sobbing from the film’s manipulations.

One for the Money: Katherine Heigl ruins another movie. Not only that, she torpedoed the much-loved Stephanie Plum novels of Janet Evanovich as a potential franchise. Maybe the story of a Jersey girl who becomes a bounty hunter would have worked with an actress that doesn’t send audiences into fits of revulsion. It only took Hollywood 18 years to do this first film version, so don’t hold your breath.
Why it sucks: Two words: Katherine Heigl. And the script by committee didn’t help.

And now for The Chloe Sevigny Award for Worst Actor and Actress of the Year:
Worst Actress: In a year when Kristin Stewart produced multiple performances, she was handily beaten for this honor by the monumentally wooden and unwatchable performance of Cody Horn in the otherwise tasty Magic Mike. Why would anyone cast her? Perhaps because her father is Alan Horn, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios?

Worst Actor: The winner raised his status from annoying to insufferable in just one film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Dev Patel went from acclaim in Slumdog Millionaire to annoying in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, but nothing can prepare you for the full-on Indian minstrel show he puts on in Marigold. It is no wonder that audiences can’t wait to get back to the Brits, like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson, while watching the film. They’re amazing, but Patel makes every scene he’s in nearly unbearable.

By Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.