Les Miserables - The Movie Review

As anyone who has read my status updates lately can tell, I have been super excited about the movie adaptation of the musical, Les Miserables (which is based on the book by Victor Hugo).  After hearing me talk about it so much, my parents decided that they wanted to see it, too, so we decided to see it on Christmas Day while I was in Amarillo.  I bought the tickets ahead of time online so that we could go to the showing that we wanted to see.

Les Miserables is the first Broadway show that I saw on Broadway.  It's actually the only show that I've seen on Broadway in NYC (though I've seen several traveling shows like Lion King & Wicked).  I still remember seeing Les Mis my senior year of high school (almost 15 years ago...wow, I'm getting old!) on choir tour with Bel Canto.  I remember how powerful the show was...I remember crying the entire second act.  I am not a mega fan by any means (I don't know everything there is to know about the show), but it is one of my favorite musicals.  

All that to say...I was really looking forward to this show!  And overall, it did not disappoint!  For the most part, I loved it!  I didn't hate anything in the movie.  There were just a few things I thought weren't as good as others.

***Spoilers ahead:  Just a warning  ***

What was just okay about:

THE CAST:

Russell Crowe as Javert

As Javert, Russell Crowe did an excellent job with his PRESENCE on the screen.  And he really does have a pretty voice.  His voice just isn't strong or deep enough to be Javert's voice.  Stars was extremely disappointing.  The last note is supposed to make you feel his passion in catching Valjean.  It was just kind of "eh." I found myself thinking, "I wish the guy who did this in Amarillo Little Theatre's show was singing this instead."  (He was incredible!)  Also, Javert's Suicide was just so-so.  What I did love about Russell Crowe was that he made Javert more human.  You could really see more of the struggle that this character is going through.  My favorite Javert moment was when he laid his medal on the body of Gavroche.  But vocally, I just didn't love him as Javert.

Amanda Seyfried as Cosette

The adult Cosette has never been one of my favorite characters anyway, so this didn't bother me too much.  Amanda Seyfried did fine, except her voice sometimes sounded like Snow White in the Disney movie.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0niwn2pOEno

DIRECTION:

Tom Hooper overall does a good job.  But he chose to have a lot of the movie shot REALLY, REALLY, REALLY close up.  It made for some awkward feeling moments that didn't need to be that awkward.  The whole time during Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean) singing Valjean's Soliloquy, a very important song, I was distracted by how close the camera was to Jackman's face.  It wasn't that way the whole time, and it got better later on in the film.

What was good about:

THE CAST:

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean

Hugh Jackman did a great job as the lead, Jean Valjean.  I wasn't blown away or anything, but he was right for the part.  Bring Him Home was not as good as I was hoping, but he was good overall.  (He's no Colm Wilkinson, but who is?  I also enjoy Alfie Boe on the 25th anniversary concert).  The chemistry between Jackman and Russell Crowe was just what it should be.  The Confrontation was really good.  They did it as a sword fight, so it was more realistic than Valjean and Javert just singing across Fantine's deathbed.  

Sasha Baren Cohen & Helena Bonham Carter as the Thenardiers 

Cohen and Carter did a good job as the Thenardiers.  This was not too much of a surprise, though.  My mom laughed several times during their parts.  What I did like about them was how they had them pickpocketing the various guests during Master of the House.  They provided the much needed comic relief in what is overall a very serious and often very sad (duh, the title!) movie.  

THE DIRECTION:

I don't know if this falls under direction or production or what.  

The order of the story:

The order of the story was switched around a bit.  And it actually did make sense, for the most part, the way they did it.  Instead of having Fantine sing I Dreamed a Dream right after she is fired from the factory, she sings it right after Lovely Ladies when she has given up and become a prostitute.  It was just more powerful to have it sung at that moment.  There were some other things as well, but I won't go into them here.  They worked the story out just fine, and the changes helped move the story along.

The "live recording" style of shooting:

Most movie musicals have the parts that are sung recorded in a studio and then the actors lip-sync their parts as they shoot the rest of the movie.  Because there is very little spoken dialogue, Tom Hooper chose to have the actors wear ear pieces and have a keyboard playing the accompaniment following the choices the actors were making as they sang.  The orchestration was added later.  This allowed for a more natural and realistic feel to the movie.  It did mean that some of the songs weren't as "pretty" as they are in the Broadway show.  I didn't always love the outcome, but they were pretty powerful this way.  

What I loved about:

THE CAST:

 Isabelle Allen as young Cosette 

and  

Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche

These two child actors did a brilliant job in their parts.  Isabelle Allen was precious in the few moments on screen as young Cosette.  Her Castle on a Cloud was very good!  And she just captured your heart just as she did Valjean's.  Huttlestone was also excellent as the precocious Gavroche.  He really shone in Look Down and his death was the only moment that I had to cover my eyes. (And then soon began to cry again).  And when the students are ready to give up, him starting to sing Do You Hear the People Sing? brought tears to my eyes.

 Anne Hathaway as Fantine

Anne Hathway deserves all the press she is getting.  She was heartbreaking as Fantine.  That being said, she surprisingly wasn't my favorite performance.  Maybe it was because it was so early in the film.  She did a wonderful job with I Dreamed a Dream.  I had always wondered about this song because it is one of the saddest of the songs, but it never seemed to be quite as desperate as it sounds in the Broadway show.  In the movie, it is one of the lowest points that a character reaches.  You just feel the hopelessness of her situation.  But that being said...

Samantha Barks as Eponine

Okay...so I FULLY admit to coming into this with a BIT of a bias!  Eponine is my favorite character by far, and I was super excited that Samantha Barks would be playing her in the film.  I was so relieved that they didn't cast Taylor Swift or any of the other actors rumored to be in the running.  And she did not disappoint!  Barks provided some much needed vocal chops to the cast.  I know she is not getting some of the praise that Hathaway and other cast members are getting, but I thought she was one of the best vocally.  She was very in the moment with her parts, and was just as heartbreaking in On My Own (My favorite song) without sacrificing the beauty of her voice.  I ENJOYED her songs more than all the others, which, in a musical is a big part of what I'm looking for.  

And the surprise of the cast:

Eddie Redmayne as Marius

I knew little to nothing about Redmayne going into this movie.  I heard a few clips of him singing and thought he would be fine.  He was more than fine, he was wonderful!  Like Barks, he was very in the moment with his character, but didn't sacrifice the quality of his sound for the moment.  And he has an incredible voice!!!  I loved every moment he was on screen.  He and Barks had more chemistry together than he and Seyfried did.  It made him choosing Cosette over Eponine a bit of a puzzle...A Little Fall of Rain was one of my favorite moments in the film.

THE LOOK: 

Aside from the weird close-ups on the characters, I loved the overall look of the film.  The opening scene was amazing and every transition left me a bit breathless with how they shot it. 

And finally...

What blew me away...

THE ENDING:

This sounds a bit funny to say, and I don't mean it in the negative way at all, but the ending completely blew me away!  From the moment Fantine begins to sing Come to Me through the reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing? I was overwhelmed!  Instead of having Eponine join Fantine, they had Colm Wilkinson come back as the bishop. As much as I LOVE Eponine, it never made sense to me why she was one of the ones that Valjean saw as he was dying, considering he doesn't have much contact with her.  Having the Bishop, who plays a huge role in Valjean's turning point at the beginning of the story, be singing with Fantine made complete sense.  Then they moved outside and you see a huge barricade with all those lost in the battle, including Fantine, Valjean, Gavroche, Eponine and Enjoras, along with lots and lots of people singing Do You Hear the People Sing? It was an uplifting and beautiful ending to what was overall a very good film!  

I still love the musical on stage more...I'm just too much of a musician not to want the people to really SING, but I loved this movie and will probably be seeing it again very soon!

Christian Singles Dance?

So...it's been awhile since I blogged, but I'll blame it on my busy summer!  :-)

It's hard to believe, but in about a month, I will have been in Hereford for a year!  It has been an amazing year, and I have loved every minute of it (even the not so fun moments).  Hereford has become home for me, and I have met so many wonderful people!

I mentioned my good friend Briar before.  She is probably my favorite person in Hereford to spend time with.  We have a good time together and always laugh a lot!  Tonight we had quite the adventure that we will be laughing about for quite some time!!

Recently, Briar and I decided that we needed to get out more and try to meet new people.  Briar mentioned that she thought she had heard an advertisment on K-Love about a Christian Singles dance in Amarillo that was coming up, and that it sounded interesting.  I did some research online and discovered that it was going to be tonight.  We decided that we would go to the Saturday night service at Hillside (because I like to go to a worship service sometimes when I don't have any responsibilities to worry about), and then to dinner, and then to the dance.

The first part of the night was great and worth the trip we made.  The service at Hillside was wonderful, and Briar saw a friend of hers who even joined us for dinner afterward.

Then we headed to the dance....we both had admitted how nervous we were....We weren't really sure how this would go!  When we got to where the dance was being held, we were both close to giggles because we couldn't believe we were doing this!  And then we walked in, took one look around, and immediately ran to the bathroom to giggle some more.  When we decided to do this, we had pictured an event with people around our age...instead, we found this...

Ok...so it wasn't QUITE that extreme, but Briar and I were easily the youngest ones there, probably by at least 10-15 years!  We decided to go ahead and sit down and see if anyone closer to our age came.  No one younger ever showed, but we did manage to have fun in the maybe 30 minutes that we were there!  I was asked to dance after only about a minute, and Briar was asked soon after.  I will have to say that I've never been asked to dance that quickly at a dance before!  I didn't have to sit for very long at any point while we were there.  We each danced like 4-5 times with some very nice, polite, older men, but decided to dart out and go to Starbucks instead!

So...not quite what we were expecting, but I wouldn't have traded this night for anything!  We had a great time, and I was reminded again about one of the great friends that God has brought into my life this year!  I am truly thankful for moments to laugh and to just spend with other believers.  The time that Briar and I spent in the car talking and building our friendship was time I loved having.

And now we have a funny story to tell our other friends and family about!  And we'll always be able to say, "Remember that time we went to the Christian Singles dance?"  and laugh and laugh!


Sunday update:  Briar reminded me this morning that I forgot to mention HER favorite part of the night.  On the way to the dance, Wilson Phillips came on the radio, and Briar and I were transported back in time as we turned the radio on and belted "Hold On" as loud as we could!  Fun times!

Another version of "Pulling a Nissa"

As I've mentioned previously, I am a bit of a klutz...and by a bit, I mean, I have been known to fall over when I was just standing there simply from shifting my weight from one foot to another (True story...happened when I was in high school).  No matter where I have ended up in life, this particular characteristic becomes apparent quickly to the people who I get to know.  The phrase "pulling a Nissa" was born (I'm not sure who said it first, but I even use it now), and because I learned to laugh at myself a LONG, LONG time ago, it usually doesn't bother me when I have one of these moments.

"Pulling a Nissa" can take many forms, however, and one of them reared its ugly head this week more than once...

To give you some background:  When I was a junior in high school, I started going to lunch every day with two of my friends from choir who were in choir with me--Janet and Jackie.  These two precious Christian girls started to notice that at least once a week, we had to make a mad dash to my house (thankfully, my family lived only a couple of blocks from AHS) so that I could change shirts, because I managed to drip something down my front. They teased me about it, and it became one of our inside jokes.  Every year at choir banquet, we had a senior will.  This was a time for the seniors to get up and give a gift to the underclassmen.  Most of them were silly and fun.  So of course, along with two other classic "Nissa moments" they shared with me, Janet and Jackie willed me a BIB! 

Now, that was almost 14 years ago, so you'd think that I would have outgrown it, but no! 

Since moving to Hereford, I have started to make some really great friends.  One of them is Briar.  Briar is one of my favorite people to spend time with, because we always spend so much of that time laughing.  She is very funny (sometimes unintentionally!) and it is just always a blessing to be around her.  She's also become the friend that I can send random texts to...even silly texts...and she will laugh and send me something funny back!

Briar and I went to lunch awhile back, and I managed to drip something down my front.  We had a good laugh about it, and I mentioned that I did that quite often.  She sent me a funny ecard that had to do with it later on.

Then this past Wednesday I was sitting next to her at dinner.  We were sitting at a full table with some of our friends, and I managed to do it again...but no one saw me...well, almost no one!  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Briar begin to TRY not to crack up...unsuccessfully!  :-)

I think that's what I like the most about having good friends...They get to know you...the real you, quirks and all...and can laugh and joke with you...but also love you for those same quirks! 

On a related note, I pulled another Nissa this morning right before giving the announcements!  I was trying to adjust the pulpit microphone and managed to get it to slip right out of the stand and onto the floor!  Luckily it was during the welcome, so most of our church family missed it!  Everyone on stage noticed, and were there to lovingly rib me about it!  :-) 

Like I said...I love having friends like these!

Our Father, who art in Heaven...

It seems like every time I turn around this week, I'm having a conversation with someone about the subject of prayer.  I even wrote a shortened version about this subject for our church newsletter this week.  I think I know why...

I'm a minister, so prayer is something that I do often, but I think that it's an area of my own life that I need to be more deliberate about. 

Our grade school kids will be learning about the life and calling of Samuel this week in Sunday School.  Hannah (Samuel's mother) was greatly troubled because she had no children.  What troubles you?  At what point do you turn to God for help in dealing with an issue?  I know for me personally, it's easy to ask a bunch of people--staff, friends, family--to pray for a situation, and then I forget to lift my need up to God myself!

Have you ever come to someone with a need or concern and received an "I'll pray about it" response?  Or have you ever promised someone that you would pray about something...then promptly forget to?  Imagine how life would be different if people said, "I'll pray about it," and they actually did.  Even better, when someone comes to you with a need, maybe instead of telling them that you will pray for them, maybe you need to stop right there and pray WITH them.  That's something that for some reason is uncomfortable for me to do, but I've started doing it, and I think it makes a difference. 

Here's why I think praying with others often is important...On Mondays, I'm a part of a great group of women who get together to pray in a group called Moms in Prayer.  I'm not a mom, but because I have a burden for the children in my life, they have welcomed me into their group.  It has been a wonderful way to start my week each week.  Yesterday, after praying for each of the children of the women in the group, they began to lift ME up in prayer asking God to equip and strengthen me and to give me wisdom in my ministry.  I was unbelievably humbled by their prayers...and it has connected me to those women in a very amazing way.  Rather than just telling me they were praying for me...they were actually praying for me right then and there.  Hearing those prayers was so encouraging and really made my day better for it. 


Because I'm single and have to take care of a lot of things in my life by myself, I tend to be TOO independent.  I tend to not to want to bother others with my problems, but that is something that I am trying to change.  I don't believe God intends me to live my Christian life on an island all by myself.  Yes, He is all that I need, and where I find the strength and courage to live my life, but as Christians, we are meant to be part of a community.  We share the most important thing in common and that binds us in way that nothing can.  Because of that, I need to invest in others and allow them to invest for me.  And I'm noticing that prayer is a huge part of that.

The Silly Duck Story

The Duck Church Parable

There is an old story about a church of ducks. Every week they would waddle to Sunday services, open the duck book, sing duck songs, and listen to the duck preacher expound on the meaning of being a duck.

One particular Sunday all of the ducks waddled in and the service began. Shortly after, the duck preacher opened the duck book and began to preach. This Sunday, however, the message was different. With a new determination and fire in his eyes, the duck preacher began to convey a new message.

“We are ducks!” he said with confidence.

“Amen!” said all of the ducks.

“We have waddled too long!” he continued. “We have wings! We can fly!” he shouted as all of the ducks joined together in a resounding “amen!” The service came alive as all of the ducks began to see their potential. “We have been confined to this mundane existence of waddling for far too long!” exclaimed the duck preacher. “We can spread our wings and fly!” The service continued with enthusiasm for over an hour as shouts of “amen” filled the duck church.

When the duck preacher concluded the service, the congregation of ducks applauded and closed their duck books. Then they all waddled home.


"Quack!  Quack!"  Isn't it funny how God chooses to work things in our lives.  Kyle brought me that silly duck story on Sunday morning and asked me if I could incorporate it into my Children's sermon.  Although it was silly and made the kids laugh, it was also a good reminder to everyone about how we view church sometimes.  We come in, sit down, and say our "Amens!"  We like (or don't like) the music.  We laugh at the cute children's sermon.  We like the sermon and think that the pastor did a good job, but do we allow God to speak to us and mold our lives based on His Word spoken to us through every aspect of the service. 

I went home after church, and as is my routine, changed out of my "Sunday morning clothes" and into my "hang out around the house clothes".  I started to laugh, because the clothes I pulled out of the top of my drawer to change into had...you guessed it...DUCKS on them!  And then I realized how quickly I had already forgotten about the message and time of worship I had just been a part of.  Like those silly ducks who were told they could fly and then waddled home, it is so easy to go back and settle into our mediocre routines. 

John 10:10 tells us that "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."  Life...but not just life...life ABUNDANTLY!  This doesn't mean a life of fame or fortune or easy living, but a life that is fulfilling because we are becoming more like Jesus.  We can only do this by continuing to allow God to mold and shape and change us.

So, the question is...Are you a silly duck?