Les Miserables

Synopsis: (hijacked from IMDB)

In 19^th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s daughter, Cosette.  The fateful decision changes their lives forever.

Why did I watch this movie again?

I’ve always loved the musical production of this story.  I read about 2/3 of the unabridged novel, got tired of tangents, and got the abridged version from the library to finish it.  The story is beautiful, and the trailer alone for this movie made me cry.  I brought tissues.

5 out of 5

Characters

These characters are not new to me, and I think most of the actors did admirable jobs capturing the emotions of the story on the big screen.

However, I do have to say that Russell Crowe made Javert more flat than a cardboard cutout could have.  I’m pretty sure his facial expression didn’t change more than twice throughout the whole movie.  Javert is supposed to be passionate, not bored.  Sheesh, come on guys.

I especially loved Anne Hathaway as Fantine.  She had me crying at the end.

4 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Yes.  Even though I knew the story I was excited to see what happened next, because this was a film adaptation of the musical.  Well, I thought it was going to be more of a film adaptation of the musical, and less of extreme close ups of people singing.  So yes, I cared, but it was lacking something.

3 out of 5

Plot Holes

Pretty sure I’d get drawn and quartered if I pointed out any plot holes in Les Miz. 

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

I didn’t yawn, but I was surprised that the film followed the musical so completely.  I was expecting at least one or two bits that made me go “Ooh!”

Don’t get me wrong, they did a few cool things, but not as many as I wanted.  Yes, I’m needy.

4 out of 5

Cool Factor

And this is where this movie failed for me.  Now don’t get crazy on me, if you love this story (like I do) then see the movie. It is good.  The story is sound, the characters are already alive in people’s minds, the music is awesome and the delivery is okay.

But I feel like they missed something, and this is what I think it is.  This is a film, not a stage theater performance. In the scene where Fantine is dying, they actually showed Cosette coming through the curtains—a hallucination.  Pretty sure in the play you never see Cosette, but it was really powerful in this film.

My favorite song is Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.  Let me remind you again that this is a film. In film, you should use your advantages.  This scene is super powerful and usually has me bawling like a kid who just lost their ice cream cone to the neighbor’s dog.  But this one didn’t.  The guy can sing, and his delivery was fine, but at this point I was really tired of extreme close up shots of people singing.  Seriously, nose hair counting close ups.  I wanted them to actually show us this guy’s friends (now all dead) in the room with him. Phantom faces at the windows.  But NOoooo…he sits there and we see his face for 90% of the song. Not even much of the empty room.

They missed a great opportunity to add just a little, using film as their medium, and make it an even deeper experience for the audience.  Show, don’t tell, especially in a movie!

That is my rant.  Don’t judge the movie just by the rant. Almost everyone I’ve talked to who has seen the movie loved it.  Go see it yourself, and get back to me.

2 out of 5

The End

Cried, like a baby.  Almost everyone behind me was sniffling. Nicely done. Anne Hathaway did such a good job!

4 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

Wanted to like it more, but I won’t tell anyone not to go see it.

4 out of 5

Score=30

That's a high Purple Belt!

Some of My Favorite Things

You know, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens?  Although I prefer central air and chocolate, but that’s the idea.

This week is Christmas (if you’re just realizing this, it may be time to panic), which means too many treats, too much family bonding time, traveling no matter what the road conditions are, a last minute trip to the store or six, bows, packages, singing, decorations, cold, snow (I’m hoping) and wassail.  Whatever wassail is.

I love the whole Christmas experience, and I swear every year the Christmas season gets longer (hello, carols in October on the radio?) while it seems my time to enjoy it becomes shorter.  How this works is a mystery that I want to ask the Doctor about when I finally catch him.

One thing I particularly love is the music of Christmas.  Now I don’t personally support Christmas carols until after Thanksgiving, but once the turkey has been eaten, it’s on!  And I usually sing in the choir at church during December.

Now I’m not much of a singer.  More of a background alto than anything even remotely resembling a soloist or even good.  But I like it and I’m another voice and no one has kicked me out yet.  It’s church, being nice is kind of important.

Anyway, I’ve been fighting off a stupid cold for almost three weeks.  That by itself is frustrating because my immune system is usually more aggressive than this, and a cold is gone within a week.  So I’m cranky about it.  And somehow, my voice keeps getting weaker and lower as time goes by.  I haven’t lost it (which is what generally happens) but it’s diminishing.  The other day my boss accused me of having a sultry and seductive voice—not sure any boss should say that, let alone mine!

So today when the choir went up to sing, I didn’t join them. L  I can only sing about three notes in a row, and my range is now a solid tenor.  I suppose I could have gone up and tried to hit every third or fourth note with the tenors, but didn’t think that would be terribly helpful. So I got to sit in the audience and listen.

Which turned out to be a nice change.  I closed my eyes and listened to the words and the message and thought about Christmas and everything it encompasses.  I won’t wax all spiritual on you, but suffice it to say that I love the Christmas season and all of the joy and service and kindness and love that it brings into the world.  It brings out the generosity in most, and shines a light on those who could use some help.  I admit to feeling quite fulfilled after being forced to just listen in church today instead of participate.

Take a moment over the next few days to stop and listen, or look, or read or something that will give you that measure of peace that always seems to get squished under the weight of family, friends, parties, gifts, carols, decorations and hustle & bustle.  You’ll like it, I promise!

Getting Through the Drought

For whatever reason, winter seems to be a time of drought for writing conferences.  (Unless you count the cruise that just happened, but we’re not talking about that, because I didn’t get to go.)  Summer, spring and fall are much more active for the writing community.  So when a couple of the guys in my writing group mentioned that Brandon Sanderson would be at the Salt Lake City Library today, I decided to put the effort into going.

Honestly, I’ve been to so many writing conferences, that I can probably recite most of the basic information.  I now have to delve into the presentations and look for an ounce or two of gold under all of the other stuff that I already understand.  Today, I’m happy to report that I did glean a few interesting tidbits from Mr. Sanderson.

First off, I noticed how easy it was for him to speak in front of a crowd. He’s a college level instructor for Fantasy writing, and it’s not hard to see that he has a great deal of experience being the focus of a roomful of people.  Also, he’s a big supporter of conferences, and he speaks at them quite a lot.  Having now sold my first book, I try to look beyond the “Get butt in chair, keep butt in chair, get writing” messages and go deeper.  Watching him handle a crowd was fascinating, as well as something I’m not sure I could do very well.  Yet another thing to put on my “to work on” list.  Practice public speaking now goes on the list with losing weight, being able to kick above my own chest, dodging phone solicitors and staying close to the sane line. I don’t think small, people.

The first bit of gold I pulled out of the pile was this: Your story should be about an interesting conflict, or an event having an interesting effect on a character.

I thought that was a good way to boil down to your ideas or your characters, which is what most stories are about.  It sparked a whole slew of new ideas now fluttering around in my head.  Mostly I liked the “event having an interesting effect on a character.”  I thought of Smallville, and how it applies.  Although I think that most stories end up having both of these things in them.

The second sliver of gold I fished out was this: Follow your instincts as a writer. If you don’t have them, write until you do.

Brandon Sanderson mentioned following his writing instincts quite a few times today, and I kept wondering if I had any of those.  I guess that means I need to write more.  Sometimes I do feel the writer in my steering a story in a different direction than I normally would have taken it, but sometimes I don’t trust my inner writer, and shut her down. Perhaps I shouldn’t do that.  Then again, who knows what might come out, right?

But seriously, both of these tidbits are great.  Especially for someone who has written a few novels and isn’t exactly at the beginning of their writing journey anymore.  The next steps are more vague, less “finish your novel.”  That’s where I am, and I can use all the help I can get!

Rise of the Guardians

Synopsis: (hijacked from IMDB)

When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

Why did I watch this movie again?

Uh, look at the cast of voices.  I’d follow Jude Law into a hot pink Barbie house if he promised to talk whenever I told him to.  And Hugh Jackman.  But besides the impressive cast of voices, the story looked intriguing, and I hoped it would be both a funny movie and a great story.

5 out of 5

Characters

The characters in this movie made the story.  Santa Clause felt like a Russian mobster, the Easter Bunny used boomerangs, the Tooth Fairy is a little too infatuated with teeth and Sandman was awesome.

The story revolves around Jack Frost and his desire to be accepted, recognized and believed in.  Considering this is a kid’s show, I thought the development of Jack worked wonderfully.  Deeper than I’d imagined, but not too deep to bore you to tears.

I’m still loving the Yeti as well.  So funny.  The writers utilized every single character they introduced.

5 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

I totally got sucked in.  Again, it was the characters and their rolls that pulled me into the story.  Who is Jack Frost and why did the moon save him?  Does Santa really have tattoos?  Is the Easter Bunny afraid to fly?  Will the kids finally see Jack Frost?  Will Pitch (bad guy) overcome the Sandman and turn dreams to nightmares?  I wanted to know all of these things.

4 out of 5

Plot Holes

My inner editor did not raise any alarms for this movie. I loved how the Tooth Fairy and the teeth played into the story, and I felt like everything tied in at the end.  The kid who first sees Jack even gets his friends involved for the final battle.  The story felt tight.

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

Not once.  Paced fast enough to keep kids entertained and slow enough to not be confusing

4 out of 5

Cool Factor

A movie like this is all about the visuals, and Dream Works did a great job with the animation.  I didn't love some of the style, but didn't find it distracting from the story.

Sandman’s cool factor is about 100.  Love that guy.

The writers were very creative about the powers each guardian had and how to best use a visual medium to show them.

4 out of 5

The End

Bah, the end made me tear up. I liked it.

4 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

Walked out of this movie thinking that it is one of the best I’ve seen this year.  I just watched Arthur Christmas a few weeks ago, and loved it.  Both it and Rise of the Guardians are going to be new holiday classics for me.  I recommended this movie to a few people, and no one has been disappointed.

5 out of 5

Score=35

That's a Black Belt!

You Win Some and You Lose Some

The three of you who read this blog may have noticed a distinct lack of me lately. Uh, yeah, you would be right about that. I have reasons (er, excuses), and I'm going to share, but allow me to say up front that trying to do everything quite often leads to a whole lot of nothing getting finished.

I could attribute my lack of presence to Nanowrimo. Writing 50,000 words on a story in a month is kind of an insane idea. And yes, the few times I thought, “Hey, I should blog,” I shook my head and typed a few thousands words towards Nanowimo instead.

Okay, that's fair, right? Busy writing the next, awesome, sarcastic seasons of Babes in Spyland. It has to get put into the computer at some point anyway, so why not now?

Well, I did indeed write a whole lot of Babes in Spyland rough draft in November. But (and this is where it's confession time), I didn't actually get finished.

That feels very nasty to type—makes me want to fling it off of my fingers like the slimy goo from the mystery container in the fridge. This is the first time in probably eight years that I haven't finished Nanowrimo. And the really pathetic thing is...I missed it by 2,000 words. 2,000 stupid, stinking I-can-type-that-in-an-hour words. In my own eyes, this makes me pathetic. If I had typed for an hour just one more day in the month of November, then I would have made it. But NOOoooo, I didn't. Instead I pushed through about 4,000 words the day before the end and another 3,000 words on the last day, but by the time I got back from whatever I was doing that night it was already 11:45pm, and I didn't have time to finish.

My OCD twitches every time I think about it. I like to finish what I start. Heck, half of the time if I don't think I can finish, I don't start. (But that's just a personality flaw, I think. Either that or some scar from childhood that I still haven't worked out.) So I've been stewing about this all week. And, I admit, pouting.

Now for the excuses. First off, November is just busy in general. I worked more extra hours than I care to admit last month, which put a big dent on my writing time. Second, I'm overly stressed and have a hard time writing funny stuff when I'm cranky. Babes in Spyland is supposed to be funny, and when I noticed I wasn't laughing as I was writing I would stop. It must be funny. Third, and this is the biggest offender, my personal life is a bit out of control. I already work a high demand job. Three or four days a week I have a self defense class—one night I help teach. Family obligations seem to spike every time I have to buckle down and get some writing done. And I'm dating. Not to go into it, but hello, time suckage at its finest. Worth it, but insane.

My question is, how do people with kids and families get anything done??? They have super powers. That is the only thing I can think of. They can live without sleep or something. Go parents, you guys rock the world. I am a pansy and bow to your superior everything.

I'm trying to look at the bright side and tell myself that I now have 48,000 more words than I did a month ago, but my competitive spirit (which only really fights against itself) is still upset.

When I get over it I will let you know.

Kudos to whoever participated, and bigger kudos to those who made it! I will be more diligent with blogging. I will find my funny. I will finish what I started.

But first, I need some Tim Tams.