Any Good Movies to See?

I'm so happy for you!

Rob wrote:

I'm so happy for you!

Thank you!

Click Here----->  Kids in Mind: Movies 

Julia, he sounds like a really neat guy!  Just wanted to mention, I heard that "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" is out...I know it's a cartoon, but those can be really fun too, with great humor.  Staying home is fun, but there's nothing like going out on a date and holding hands IN the theater.  It's just 'different' somehow. 

Amy wrote:

Miss Oleson, did you see Les Mis yet?  I knew you were planning on going right after Christmas.  We just went  today and I absolutely loved every minute of it.   I feel physically drained though, because of the emotional whirlwind it takes you on.  So many tears....I'd think I'd be done, and then yet another tear-jerker song would come a short while later!   But Oooooh, so good.  I can't imagine any musical lover not loving this.  I have a hard time comprehending some of the negative reviews.

I'm anxious to hear what you thought!

I am SO SORRY to not having been able to see this until now. When I saw it I was REALLY sick (which you know  ). My nephew wanted to see it and my brother asked me on Christmas if I wanted to take him. I looked at him and said "I'm sick". I thought it was obvious! He seriously started a guilt trip thing with me about not having to take him. So I said "I'll take him on New Year's Eve". My mother sat below with him (and she said he didn't take his eyes off it the entire time) and I sat above and by myself. I was NOT well that day. I was miserable. And I was so bad that as I was watching it, I thought to myself "I don't care about your stupid love affair." I was in a mood! I came to the realization that "On My Own", which I love, works on stage as a scene changer (for lack of a better way to describe it) but it didn't really need to be in the movie (it had to be because it is a big song from the show - otherwise it was kind of pointless). Anyway, through all of my sufferings, I just wanted to hear "Do You Hear the People Sing?". It is my favorite in the show. And I was getting more unhappy by the second because it wasn't being sung. Then they surprised me and it came on. And do you want to know something? I seriously started to feel a little better! Not good but better!  I was satisfied then.

Well, since then I have had time to think about it. I have the DVD but I haven't watched it yet. But since I saw it, I really thought about it. And I really liked it. I really did. I didn't understand the negativity about it either. I could've tolerated someone other than Anne Hathaway, but otherwise, I really liked the movie. What did you think of Russell Crowe? I liked him in it. I liked him better than Hugh Jackman, actually. I thought his voice was better. I don't understand why everyone had an issue with him. Did you? But then again, maybe I liked Russell Crowe in there because I like Javert. He is so absurd that I actually like him.  

Davetucson wrote:

Summer 2013

I know a lot of people didn't like this movie, but I really liked this, too. The one complaint I had was that I thought the fight scene went on a little too long (and I don't think Amy Adams is a good choice for Lois Lane), but I liked the movie. I did. He was a better choice for Superman than I thought he'd be.

For anyone reading this who hasn't seen Les Mis, don't read ahead...spoilers abound!


Honestly I couldn't stand Russell Crowe in it, and he is actually one of my very favorite actors.  To me, he was all wrong for the part.  I never felt like he was the believable 'bad guy', and I think Javert's singing voice should be much lower, like a baritone.  I 'accepted' Russell...I wasn't sitting in the theater laughing at him as I was Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia ( ), but I could have liked to have seen someone else in that role.  Both my sons went with me to see this though and they both liked him in the role, so what do I know? 


Oh wow, I *love* "On My Own" in the movie and I felt it needed that song to convey Eponine's feelings for Marius.  I am a person who had NO idea about the story ahead of time, so you have to see it from that point of view, that so much of the audience is viewing the actual story of Les Mis for the very first time.  Through that song, I could be more sympathetic about Eponine's death.  I honestly don't think I would have given a hoot about her without it.

I also thought Anne Hathaway was absolutely irreplaceable.  I have never felt emotions, EVER, in a movie theater, as I did in that scene, during her song. She was SO 'real'...I don't see any other actress being able to pull that off.  As the director said, this is a girl who gave up all vanity, no sense of 'Oh look at me, look how amazing I can sing', and chose to act it rather than sing it perfectly. I really respected that in her.  I was a weeping mess during that song.  And the girl CAN sing, that's just it.  I love her voice in the song where she 'takes Jean Valjean on his journey'. Just beautiful. 

Oh, I was just thinking, a close second to 'most emotional musical song in a movie' would be Meryl Streep's "Winner Takes it All" in Mamma Mia.  I was stunned...STUNNED, I tell you, watching that in the theater.  I wanted to watch the whole thing all over again, and I think it's seriously the SOLE reason that movie did SO well in the box office...I wanted to go right back to see it again and again and again, just for that.  And Lord knows I've watched it again and again on my dvd! 

Quite frankly I was a bit annoyed by Hugh Jackman, but I'm not sure what actor wouldn't have annoyed me.  There is SO much going on with Jean ValJean.  I think Hugh was brilliant actually, NO other actor could have done that, I just was annoyed and by the end was ready for him to die. 


And I LOVE "Do You Hear the People Sing?"!  Oh my gosh, GLORIOUS!   One of my other favorites is the Red and the Black. There's very few songs I don't like in Les Mis. 

I own this DVD now (because I'd rented it 2 or 3 times after it came out so my hubby finally just bought the darn thing for me, lol!)....I have probably seen it somewhere around 7 or 8 times and it never gets old for me.  It actually gets better.  I can totally see why so many people go to see Les Mis on broadway over and over again.  I am dying to get to see it on stage finally!!  It was here last year and I wanted to see it, but funds didn't allow.  Hoping it comes back next year.

Catching Fire, the second film in the Hunger Games series, is coming out on November 22, which is in just over a week! I saw the first film in the series three times while it was still in theaters, it takes a really good movie for me to do something like that! I'm planning on re-reading the Catching Fire book before I see the movie, so I'll know what's going on.

Amy wrote:

For anyone reading this who hasn't seen Les Mis, don't read ahead...spoilers abound!

I figured that I'd better include this in my post, too.   

I agree with you about someone else in the role of Javert but I didn't really have a problem with him.  Did you ever see the 25th anniversaey concert?  I saw it when they showed it in the movie theatres, but they have also shown it on PBS multiple times since I first saw it.  I can't think of the name right now but I REALLY liked the guy that was Javert in that.  And I said the first time I saw the concert (they also made the announcement of the film at that time) that that man should be Javert in the film.  The girl that was Eponine in the 25th anniversary concert was the one that ended up playing her in the film.

Oh, I see.  I can see why you wanted "On My Own" in the movie.  I think that if it would've been placed in a different spot in the movie I wouldn't have said a thing about it.  A lot of the music was rearranged in the movie.  As soon as it was done, I went down to where my mother and nephew were sitting and I said "They pulled a 'West Side Story'".  She actually knew what I meant by that statement as soon as I said it, which was that they changed the songs around from how they are in the original stage show.

As long as we're talking about "On My Own", did you know that song was originally intended for Fantine?  Also, I just have to ask this.  Have you ever seen anyone as skinny as that girl?  I saw the one woman in front of me make her hands into a small circle to the other woman that was with her when she was singing "On My Own".  I don't see how people function when they are that skinny!  It is kind of amazing to hear her voice come out when it looks like there is nothing to her!   

Really?  Anne Hathaway did nothing for me.  Maybe I am just heartless.  The one actress that ever really moved me in a film (yes, I tend to be more moved by men's performances) was Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" and she was completely ignored for that role.  So I have kind of been down on the Oscars since then.  Anyway, another bit of pointless info for you , Anne Hathaway's mother was Fantine in a touring production.  So I bet this would've been a really big deal for her.  Don't you think?

You were ready for Valjean to die?  That is how I kind of felt about Fantine.    We are bad people.   

I thought you knew the story before seeing the movie.  Actually, I thought that you saw the stage show.  But you answered that for me.     I've seen it 3 times on stage.  There is going to be revival on Broadway next year.  So they will probably go on another tour.

Like I said, I have the DVD. I still haven't watched it. I just haven't gotten around to it. I really should. What is the point in having it if I am never going to watch it?! So, I probably will have something different to say then as I won't feel like I am on the verge of death this time while watching it!  

I honestly don't remember that much about the movie of "Mamma Mia".  I saw it only once in the theater.  Isn't that terrible?!  I can remember Meryl Streep singing the song "Mamma Mia" vivdly and that is it.  I was going to watch it on TV the last time it was on and then I forgot to!

Did you ever see ANY version of "The Phantom Of the Opera"?  I am saying live, the movie adaptation or the 25th anniversary show (it was shown in theaters but they also showed that on PBS)?

I am VERY HAPPY about this one!!!!  I LOVED the stage version!  So this makes me happy!    

Miss Oleson Wrote:
Did you ever see ANY version of "The Phantom Of the Opera"? I am saying live, the movie adaptation or the 25th anniversary show (it was shown in theaters but they also showed that on PBS)?

I saw Phantom on the stage in New York. The way it is suppose to be seen. They can't make a film that duplicates seeing it on stage.....An unforgettable experience.....even for heartless people!

Davetucson wrote:

I saw Phantom on the stage in New York. The way it is suppose to be seen. They can't make a film that duplicates seeing it on stage.....An unforgettable experience.....even for heartless people!

I agree with you.  No film version could compare to the stage production.  I have see it 3 times.  The first time was incredible.  The second time I got second row.  Hated that.  It completely ruined it for me because I could see all of the "tricks".  So I saw it a third time to cancel the second time out (seats much further away that time!).     I am going to see it for a 4th time this July.  BUT the version that I am seeing this time is a NEW production.  It is the same music and everything but the production is new.  It should be interesting.  Maybe there will be better parts to this version.  Maybe there won't be.  I don't know.  I am just pretty obsessed with this show.  So I kind of couldn't miss it.      This is a promo for it:



Anyway.....This is what I watched last night:

Kind of depressing (at least I thought so).  But a very good film!   

The Fault In Our Stars, based on the bestselling novel by John Green, will be in theaters in two weeks. I am really looking forward to seeing the film- I could not put the book down.

A movie that I am not particularly looking forward to, but I know I will still sit through it. Why? Because it is a Stephen Sondheim musical that I love. Yet, there are some big alterations to the story that I find frustrating. That is why I am not as excited about the film as I should be. If Disney bought the rights just because it involves fairytales, that is ridiculous. If Disney felt that they had to change parts of the story, they shouldn't have made it at all, in my opinion.

Having just said that, though, of course, I will go see it! I said I wasn't going to, but I know I will! If nothing else, the orchestra sounds incredible (I know what the music is that is featured in the trailer and I love the way that it sounds!).

I am looking so forward to this (especially now since the teaser came out) that it is borderline pathetic to feel the excitement that I do about this.

OK.  So the second one was released when I was out of town.  So there I am in the hotel room smiling and talking to myself about what is being shown in this.  I suppose that does officially qualify me as a dork, huh?  

And then that had to be followed by this one:

I love Superman so much.

And for a completely different film, I think this looks pretty good: