Let's Talk "Les Miserables"

Yes, this topic gets its own blogpost.
Deal with it.

Here are my detailed thoughts on the film {Spoilers}. 

• Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean): Absolutely brilliant actor. His performance in What Have I Done?/Valjean's Soliloquy was heart-wrenching. He played the perfect rescuer to Fantine and the perfect father to Cosette. A couple of nasally notes, however, overall a 4.5/5. 
• Anne Hathaway (Fantine): Scene stealing. Breathtaking. Oscar shoe-in. All these phrases and more apply to our darling Princess Diaries girl. How can you not be moved by her ONE TAKE I Dreamed a Dream???? Definitely a 6/5.
• Russell Crowe (Javert): This actor created a lot of controversy in the reviews. A lot of people categorized him as the weakest and out of his league. However, I wouldn't agree. He doesn't have the vocal ranges of the previous two actors, but his acting and attempts are still wonderful. I would give him a 3.5/5. I still get bored during Stars no matter who sings it. 
• Sacha Baron Cohen & Helena Bonham Carter (Monsieur & Madame Thenardier): They were hilarious and provided the necessary comic relief. Their interactions with each other and everyone around them were always enjoyable. The only criticism I have was the toned down version of Master of the House compared to the raucous version on stage. 3.75/5.
• Amanda Seyfried (Cosette): She was all the wide-eyed, in-love, innocent character that she needed to be. Plus she hit those difficult soprano notes with ease. Her chemistry with Marius was believable {difficult to pull off}. No complaints. Cosette is an interesting role because she is talked about for about 75% of the entire show, but she is actually only in it for approximately 25%. 4/5.
• Eddie Redmayne (Marius): Why have I never heard this actor sing before? He was absolutely brilliant, and his seasoned voice was very apparent. One of the best renditions of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables I have ever heard. I hope he has a long and musical career! Plus, he made Marius someone worth fighting for and not just a annoying, lovesick puppy. 5/5.
• Aaron Tveit (Enjolras): Another new face who also did a wonderful portrayal as the zealous revolution leader. I don't have much to comment on this guy other than I'm glad they kept the traditional death pose the same in both the film and stage. It was a respect move. 3.5/5.
• Samantha Barks (Eponine): As is with most gals my age, Eponine is the fan favourite. Everyone has related to her at some point in their life, so naturally everyone always roots for her. Why, I even sang On My Own during my brief singing stint back in high school. So then also naturally I would be the pickiest when it came to her role. Samantha Barks was excellent! She obviously knows the part inside out due to her long history with the role. Yes, she was the most inexperienced screen actor. My biggest disappointment was the sacrificing of Eponine's role for more screen time for Gavroche. Don't get me wrong, I love the kid, but not at the disposal of Eponine. A Little Fall of Rain and its emotional punch was cut short. She didn't even appear in the Valjean's Death number, which I see why they made that decision, but . . . ya . . . . Anyways, Miss Barks was excellent. 3.5/5.

Now, that I've officially written your ear off {um, what}, here are a couple other thoughts.

• Rearranging the order for I Dreamed A Dream worked brilliantly and dare I say, fit so much better where it was placed in the film.
• Lots and lots of added scenes and dialogue. Again, probably necessary in order to create a flowing storyline.
• Gavroche was cute and perfect.
• I liked the presentation of One Day More better on stage. The intercutting on the film takes away from the build. 
• What the heck was that whole Santa thing???? Unnecessary . . .
• The scenery was so good!!!! That is one thing that can't be captured on the stage.

Yet in all my picking apart and details, I absolutely loved it! Go see it. Go see it twice {I'm going again tomorrow}. And remember, do you hear the people sing???

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Trade Show

That title just makes me want to break out into that song from the old musical: Our state fair is the best state fair/Don't miss it/Don't even be late/It's dollars to donuts that our state fair is the best state fair in our state. Haha, anyways, here are some pics from the trade show last weekend.

Loads of sparkly jewelry.

Real flowers in vacuum-sealed containers.

Scrumptious cupcakes.

My partners in crime :)

This weird gel pack that heated up when cracked...

Please tell me you remember this movie?

Just in case you didn't, here's the song :P

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No. 343 - DIY Berry Bucket & The Tango

Easiest DIY EVER! I love my berry bucket, 

and I hope to have a variety of uses for it besides just berry picking.

All you need is a bucket and stickers.

Tune in tomorrow for our berry picking adventure.

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So for some reason this dance sequence has been in my head for the last couple of days.
It's from the movie "Take The Lead" where Antonio Banderas teaches ballroom dancing to a bunch of highschoolers from a rough neighbourhood. Here is a tango where he tries to convince them that dancing is worth their time.
Check it out.

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No. 333 - Four Things Spiderman

 

So, if you haven't seen the newest {and bestest} Spiderman yet, no apologies for the spoilers. It's been out for over a week, and it's amazing. Go see it! Here are four things that make it awesome.

1.  Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone {technically that's two, but together, they are awesome}
2. It is a lot more believable than the first three.
3. I felt like the first three were always SO slow moving. This one sucked you in from the get go.
4. Some of the storylines were the same, but they redid them so much better and added new parts and scenarios.

I didn't give away too much, just go see it!

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No. 317 - Reflection

This post reminds me of the song Reflection from Mulan.

Who is that girl I see?

Staring straight back at me?

When will my reflection show

who I am inside?

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No. 308 - DIY Ticket Book

So as some of you may remember way back from this post,

I am in the habit of keeping my ticket stubs as a way of reminiscing/journaling.

Well, I decided to find a new way to keep and display my ticket collection,

so I give you the Ticket Book.

Just take a small moleskine book.

And tape a ticket on each page along with thoughts and impressions of the movie.

I also included live theatre tickets.

I also always make sure to write the name{s} of who I went with on the ticket.

Here is another cool ticket idea from Pinterest.

{source}

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No. 302 - We're Not In Disney Anymore

Haha, so last night a bunch of us gals went to see "Snow White & The Huntsman."

Here are some thoughts.

• I couldn't get into it/take it seriously until about 45 minutes into the movie. I just kept laughing at everything that was supposed to be serious. Some things were just so . . . random.
• Kristen Stewart was better at Snow White than Bella but still not redeemed.
• The best part of the movie was that Sarah, my roommate, had never seen a trailer so she had no idea that Kristen Stewart or Chris Hemsworth was in the movie. This made for some hilarious commentary.
• I am going to incorporate the word "fetching" into my everyday conversation. Expect to hear it often.
• It was enjoyable to watch, but not a DVD I would buy.

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No. 298 - Movie In The Park

On the weekend, I attended a Movie in the Park put on by freshaircinema.

It was such an enjoyable night.

We watched "Blood Diamond" and just enjoyed being outside.

Also, thankfully, the rain {and smoke} held off!

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No. 280 - I Love Me

Don't worry, the title of this post wasn't to "toot my own horn" or tell you all how wonderful I am.

Let me explain.

Everyone person in this world deserves love and respect, but the hardest person to dole this out to is ourselves. It's because we have a front row seat to every screw-up and every mistake. Unfortunately, this paints a very altered perspective of ourselves in terms of value. So basically, we have to get over ourselves in order to value ourselves.

Today, the challenge is to stop looking at yourself through your own eyes and through the world's eyes. 

To quote Prince of Egypt, you must look at yourself through heaven's eyes.

Today, I bought myself flowers. 

This was to appreciate life and to . . . ahem . . . smell the roses.
This was how I looked at myself through heaven's eyes today.

So, what do you say? Want to join the dance?

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No. 260 - A Little Fall of Rain

Eponine: Don't you fret, M'sieur Marius.

I don't feel any pain.

A little fall of rain

Can hardly hurt me now.

You're here, that's all I need to know.

And you will keep me safe.

And you will keep me close.

And rain will make the flowers grow.

Marius: But you will live 'Ponine, dear God above.

If I could close your wounds with words of love.

Les Miserables is one of my favourite theatre productions (that and The Phantom of the Opera). In preparation for the movie coming out in December with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and Amanda Seyfried, I have been listening a lot to the soundtrack. I think my favourite song from the play is A Little Fall of Rain sung by Eponine and Marius. Eponine is my favourite character in the play, but also the saddest. Anyways, the rainy weather today reminded me of the song. Here is a cover by Nick Jonas and Samantha Barks (who will be playing Eponine in the movie) at the 25th Anniversary Concert.

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No. 237 - Fifteen Days

April 20th feels so close, and yet SO FAR AWAY! Only fifteen more days until (A) I am done my second year of school and (B) I am halfway done my nursing program. Here are some things I am looking forward to after April 20th!

• SOCIAL TIME! I just want to hang out with people without the looming threat of homework and assignments over my head. So excited to go to church on Sunday morning and then hang out with people all afternoon.
• CRAFT TIME! Lots of time for creativity! Prepare for sewing and scrapbooking and DIYs!
• WORK TIME! I am looking forward to making some money, not gonna lie.
• SUMMER TIME! Bring on the beautiful, warm weather. 
• SLEEP TIME! No more 5 AMers. (With my luck, I'll get a job that will require me to be there at 5, haha). 
• DOWN TIME! With no guilt.
• I guess the point that I'm trying to get across is I feel as if I'll have a lot more time to do things not related to school. Yay!

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Are you ready to go back to Titanic? 100 years.

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No. 232 - The Hunger Games

Wow, it finally happened. My inner geek was satisfied. Here is the story. 

So ever since Friday, I've been trying to go see The Hunger Games movie.
Friday night, we had just arrived in Calgary for our friends wedding (and even though Shawna told me later
she thought for sure I would be at the first theatre I could find), I refrained from going because it was opening night. 

Then on Saturday was the wedding and the difficult news about a family friend. 

On Sunday, we were travelling back, and I was too tired.

Monday night, I tried to go with Charlie, but our car broke down and the whole ride situation just wasn't working out.

Tuesday night, I had homework :(

Wednesday night, I had Political Science Class.

So that brings us to Thursday night (last night). I was sitting in girl's group, and we were just chatting about life when Larissa said she had seen The Hunger Games on Tuesday night. She was raving on about how good it was, and here were my thoughts, That's it. I can't wait any longer. I will find a way to be at the 9:40pm showing TONIGHT! Well, once the ball started rolling there was no way to stop me. I totally organized the whole ride situation, figured out the money, and roped in my brother and Sarah to accompany me. Needless to say, I thank them for putting up with my ecstatic attitude on the way to the theatre. 

And wow! What a movie! Here are my favourite parts (spoilers).

• My absolute favourite thing about the entire thing was how little they changed the book. I would say it matched the book about 90% of the time, and really, you can't ask for more than that.
• All the actors matched my idea of the characters so perfectly. I couldn't have asked for a better representation.
• When I was reading the book, I had a difficult time picturing what the Cornucopia looked liked, but the movie brought it to life.
• Two things I think they missed: (A) The whole dehydration/surviving/starvation sequence for the first part of the games. It was too easy for Katniss to find food and water. (B) The eyes of the mutant dogs at the end of the games. There was no reference that those were the eyes of the dead tributes. 
• I really appreciated that the gore and violence was as real and serious as it was in the books, but they didn't have to flaunt it in your face for you to get the point. In other words, the point was made tactfully.
• They really made the fire dresses/outfits wonderful! That was another thing I was worried they wouldn't do properly, but they did.
• All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and now, I'm not too certain whether I liked the books or the movie better, but I think that's a good place to be!

Here are some more pictures of my excitedness (made-up-word).

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No. 69 - Cutloose

Celebrating after OSCEs. Great movie! Great company!

No. 67 - Tangled

"You leave me no choice. Here comes the smoulder."

You Must Love Me

♫

Deep in my heart I'm concealing

Things that I'm longing to say

Scared to confess what I'm feeling

Frightened you'll slip away

♫

Tangled Inspiration

Today, I watched the new Disney movie, Tangled. It is the old story of Rapunzel with some twists.

This movie inspires the hopeless romantic side of me. Sometimes I think that part of me is naive and foolish to imagine that such things exist. I disagree. My romantic side (although not always evident) is very much a part of who I am and who I was made to be.

So even though I don't have a guy who looks like Flynn Rider...

Even though I'm not singing harmonious duets with Prince Charming...

Even though I probably won't ever be in the middle of a lake with floating lanterns around me...

Even though I probably will never need to be rescued from a castle by a knight and his horse....



I still believe in romance, and that it will someday happen to me.

Revisiting Indonesia (Eat, Pray, Love)

Just got home from the movie theatre, and as you can see from the title, the movie was the fall film starring Julia Roberts - Eat, Pray, Love.

My criticism: 

Too much “smorgasbord religion-type-themes”.

Now my favorites:

Just a little clarification for anyone who hasn’t seen the film or know what it’s about. It is the story of a middle aged woman’s travels around the world over the course of one year. She begins in Italy where, I quote, she has “a love affair with food”. The dealing with her past happens in India. And the final destination is … Bali, Indonesia! By far my favourite part of the film. 

Seeing those rice fields, the palm trees, rocky/dirty paths, beaches, brought me back to six months ago. I got extremely nostalgic when there was a scene in a marketplace and there was durian fruit and mangosteins being sold (sorry that only 14 of you will get that). Haha, I giggled when one of the characters drank a beverage out of a plastic bag with a straw. 

So, I know that it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But I also know that my dad actually told me to be quiet when I was getting too excited. What can I say? She said “Terima Kasih” and I knew what that meant (Thank You)

To Save A Life

So some of you have probably come to notice than when I find something I like/enjoy, I go through a mild obsession phase (please take note of the words “mild” and “phase”) revolving around this something. My latest something happens to be a film entitled “To Save A Life”. I’ve posted the preview on several walls on Facebook and mentioned it to several friends.

So let me blog about it…

To Save A Live is about teenagers but more specifically, Jake Taylor, captain of the high school basketball team, conditional acceptance into the basketball program of the university of his dreams, boyfriend to the school hottie, and all around popular fellow. The film follow him through his senior year (with frequent flashbacks) where he comes into contact with his old childfriend Roger, and the series of events with him that gets Jake taking a second look at what his life is about. Through a random (not to mention comical) series of events, Jake ends up in a Sunday morning youth group service. Chris, the youth pastor, plays a big role in affecting Jake’s life and thoughts. “I don’t want to settle,” Jake admits about his life. “Is it (faith in God) worth it?” he questions. And so we follow him as he finds out if faith is indeed worth it.

But not only does it bring up God and “religion”, but it also suicide, sex, teen pregnancy, divorce, drugs, cutting, and hypocrisy. Normally, I wouldn’t call those the good points in entertainment, but these issues are what make the storyline real. But they don’t expose these issues just for the sake of exposing issues that are in everyday lives, they expose them to show the reaction of the characters in the film towards those issues and ultimately towards God.

I’ve included the link below to the movie’s website where you can watch the preview for yourself. Do what you want with this information, but here’s what I want to do with the information. I want to show this movie to everyone. But then, I want to take the messages the film addresses, and I want to apply them to my daily life, to my work life, to my soon-to-be college life, to my family life, etc.

Basically, I want to learn the true meaning of how to save a life.

www.tosavealifemovie.com