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Les Miserables – Extended First Look

My good friend Sarv alerted me to this video. It’s an extended first look at the new Les Miserables movie that is coming out this Christmas. I always look forward to Christmas, but I’m especially looking forward to this Christmas.

Check this video out.

My thoughts:
– They. Are. Singing. Every. Take. Live! They’re not singing along to a prerecorded soundtrack. Instead, a pianist is playing along with the actors as they sing, and letting the actors set the tempo. No wonder Anne Hathaway’s rendition of I Dreamed a Dream was so haunting. And Tom Hooper is right. There is something false or unreal in people singing along to playback. It never looks as good as it does live.
-I like Anne Hathaway as an actress more than I ever have before.
– This will probably become my favorite Russell Crowe movie.
– The sets look amazing.

– I can’t help but think that One Day More is going to be EPIC.

– Hugh Jackman explaining his process for how he approached What Have I Done is awesome.
– I am somehow even more excited for this movie now than I was before.
– I’m going to end up watching the trailer at least 10 more times tonight.
If, like me, you feel the need to watch the trailer again, like right now, you can find it here:

-Billy
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Green Lantern (On The Couch 2012 #9)

As summer 2011 was approaching, with its hoard of superhero movies, I was excited for Green Lantern most of all. I am a huge fan of what Geoff Johns has done with Green Lantern since he started writing the character in 2004. When I found out that he was on set during the production of the movie, I had a feeling that we were in store for something amazing.

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for the Green Lantern movie puttered out before I saw it in the theater. It got so many bad reviews from critics and people on the street that I figured this would be DC’s version of Daredevil. The only people I know who like this movie are the guys who work at my local comic book store, one of whom has worn a Green Lantern ring since before I met him AND has a Green Lantern tatoo. So maybe he’s a little biased. 

Basically, I missed it last summer and wasn’t that upset about it.
Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim are two of the writers on the Green Lantern screenplay, and Berlanti produced the movie, so I’m shocked how flat and boring the whole thing felt. Usually at the end of a Greg Berlanti production, the response in my house is “Damn you, Berlanti,” but it’s meant as a compliment for his uncanny ability at tugging on our heartstrings and manipulating our emotions. Here, any exclamations of “Damn you, Berlanti,” would just be about delivering a disappointing movie.

I think they should not have had Parallax be the main villain. Parallax bogged down the movie with cuts that had to be made to what it was doing in space, which was usually making an angry face. We could have done without all the exposition as to what Parallax was. These wasted minutes in long movie. Instead, the story should have been borrowed almost whole form from Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’s excellent Green Lantern: Secret Origin comic book.

There were positives about the movie. I thought that Peter Sarsgaard was great as Hector Hammond. I think the movie in general would have been better off focusing on Hammond as the main villain, and Sinestro as Hal’s rival/future nemesis. But instead, I’m stuck on my couch wondering why we keep cutting back to a space cloud with a pouty face.

Go away, angry space cloud. You’re bringing down our green vibe.


Mark Strong was great as Sinestro. If I were involved in the production of this movie, my note would read, “More Mark Strong as Sinestro, less pouty space cloud Parallax.”

This is either Mark Strong, or Sinestro found his way into the bleed, made it to our earth and is hiding out in Hollywood. Crafty, Sinestro, very crafty.


In the past, I’ve liked Blake Lively in the roles I’ve seen here in. But while her last name might be Lively, she delivers a completely wooden, flat and basically DOA portrayal of Hal Jordan’s love interest Carol Ferris in Green Lantern. Carol Ferris is woman with a lot of spirit, but Blake Lively sounded like she was half asleep and reading off cue cards.

  
Blake Lively could have been replaced with a Blake Lively cutout to the same effect.


I still wish Nathan “Captain Tight Pants” Fillion was cast as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, but at least we got him as Hal Jordan’s voice in Green Lantern: First Flight.

The best part of the Green Lantern movie is the scene after the credits start rolling. I liked that scene so much that I almost forgave the rest of the movie for being such a disappointment. Almost.

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The Adventures of Tintin (At The Theater 2012 #10)

Except for while on the airplane, I didn’t expect to see any movies during my trip to Kauai. But when we heard on the radio that the Poipu Rotary Club would be hosting a screening of The Adventures of Tintin on Poipu Beach, we decided to check it out.

I was worried that with The Adventures of Tintin being a children’s movie, there would a mob of noisy, crying kids at the beach for the screening. The kids were there, but they couldn’t have been better behaved. I’m guessing a lot of the younger ones didn’t make it through the entire film, but they were joined by their fair share of adults in not staying awake for the whole movie. I don’t blame the movie. The Adventures of Tintin is great. I’m guessing that after a long day of hiking, swimming, surfing, kayaking or a combination of all four, it’s easy to fall asleep on your beach blanket, especially if you’ve had a glass or two of wine (the adults that is, not the kids!).

We were running late and didn’t get to stop by a wine store, so I was happy to find that the deli across the street from Poipu Beach sells alcohol. It doesn’t have the best wine selection, but I was very happy to find a chilled bottle of pink with a screw top. The guy behind the counter let me grab a couple of plastic cups as well, so more praise to them.

You guys, The Adventures of Tintin was so good. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you do. The tone of the movie is similar to The Secret of Monkey Island computer games I couldn’t play enough of as a teen. I’ll be honest, I have never read a Tintin book, so I can’t comment on how true to the original this movie is, but the movie definitely stands on its own.

I knew that Simon Pegg was in The Adventures of Tintin before seeing the movie. I also knew that he wasn’t playing Tintin. But for some reason, I kept expecting his voice to come out of Tintin’s mouth. That reason being that they kind of look alike.
Twins?
 


I look forward to watching this a second time, but I know my couch just can’t compete with a beach blanket and the breeze of the nearby ocean.

Thank you, Poipu Rotary Club, for giving us a great evening in Poipu. The Poipu Rotary Club is currently raising money to make the beaches of Kauai safer for swimmers. You can see what they’re doing and find out how you can help here.

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Win Win (On The Couch 2012 #8)

Win Win came on during our flight to Kauai as soon as The Lucky One ended. I had wanted to see Win Win in the theater, so I kept my headset on. But the combination of the beginning of Win Win being a little slow, the disappointment of The Lucky One and a bout of sleepiness had me wondering if I’d be better off taking a nap instead. I’m glad I opted out of the nap and watched Win Win. I really enjoyed it.

In Win Win, Mike, played by Paul Giamatti, is a down on his luck lawyer who does some underhanded things to keep his business afloat and groceries on his family’s table. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t start working for the mob. What he did falls into that gray area of “This is definitely wrong, but if I were in his situation, would I do the same thing?”

I really like Paul Giamatti for the same reasons I like Stanley Tucci and Mark Ruffalo. The three of them always bring a sense of realness to the characters they play. Can we get the three of them in one movie, please?

My favorite part of Win Win is when Kyle asks Mike to give him a slap across the face before a wrestling match. When we got to Hawaii, I asked my wife to do the same when we went zip lining. Based on their reactions, I’m guessing the other people in our zip lining group didn’t see Win Win on their flight in.


“Give me a slap.”


In the battle of movies shown on planes during my trip to Hawaii Win-Win beats both The Lucky One by a three count pin and Men In Black III via DQ (I fell asleep before the opening credits of MIB3).

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The Lucky One (On The Couch 2012 #7)

This one is more “On the Window Seat” than “On the Couch.” I saw The Lucky One, which I keep mistakenly calling The Vow on a flight from California to Hawaii. I’m not sure why I chose watching this movie over reading my book or playing with my iPad, but I did, and here we are.

Wrong movie.

The Lucky One is Rambo, if Rambo were made by Lifetime. Both Logan, Zac Efron’s character and John Rambo are veterans trying to find their place in the world. Both Logan and John Rambo move to new towns and immediately become unfairly targeted by a sheriff who has no respect for veterans. Rambo has explosions. The Lucky One has montages.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with montages as a storytelling device. But The Lucky One has lots of montages. I had to double-check to make sure the movie wasn’t directed by Garry Marshall. There are at least a half dozen montages in it. This just comes off as lazy storytelling. It seemed like whenever time needed to move forward, The Lucky One would jump into a montage.

I want to propose a new law. This law would limit the number of montages allowed in one movie. I’m calling it Logan’s Law. Please lend your support and contact your local congressman or screenwriter.

The Lucky One also has Zac Efron in a beard, because if he wasn’t, you’d spend the movie wondering, “What kind of country sends a 12 year old off to war?”

In the battle of Zac Efron movies involving dead brothers, Charlie St. Cloud beats The Lucky One.

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The Dark Knight Rises (At The Theater 2012 #9)

Yes, yes, yes. I loved The Dark Rises. This was my most anticipated movie of 2012 and it did not disappoint at all!

I loved it so much that I watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight again back to back shortly after seeing The Dark Knight Rises.

Thank you, Christopher Nolan. This trilogy has been amazing.

Anne Hathaway is definitely the sexiest Catwoman since Julie Newmar. I wasn’t sure what to make of her being cast at first, but she was perfect in DKR.

We can all pretend the Halle Berry movie didn’t happen now, right?

Tom Hardy as Bane was awesome. I loved how well he communicated without saying a word. I loved his voice. I’m very glad they didn’t go with Bane’s traditional wrestling unitard and pants costume from the comics. I’ve always found that costume to be ridiculous looking.

I really glad they didn’t go with this look.

I loved Bane’s jacket in Dark Knight Rises. Seriously, where can I get that jacket?

This jacket will be my closet’s reckoning.

Random thought: Is it me, or does Matthew Modine look a little too much like Aaron Eckhart? When he came on screen, I thought, “Didn’t you get horribly disfigured and die in the last movie?”

SPOILERS BELOW!


IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED, COME BACK AFTER YOU WATCH THE DARK KNIGHT RISES!

I really liked how Nolan mirrored scenes from Batman Begins in Dark Knight Rises, like when young Talia climbs out of the prison. It looked just like young Bruce’s ascent from the cave as a child.

Speaking of Talia, I called Marion Cotillard as Talia fairly early on. She was always being put in situations where if she was a villain, it would be very much to her advantage. Like, “Oh hey, here’s where we keep our nuclear reactor,” and “Hey, can you let me know which truck the Geiger counter says to mark? Thanks.” I was happy to see I was correct and I liked her Danny Ocean-esque plan for getting back at Batman. My only quibble is with Talia’s death scene. It was such a silly looking “And now I’m dead” death.

I don’t think Dark Knight Rises was better than The Dark Knight, but The Dark Knight is my favorite superhero movie ever, so it’s tough competition. The Dark Knight Rises is a great end cap for the Batman saga.

I would very much like to see a new movie with JGL as either Batman or Nightwing. There are so many Batman rouges left that Nolan didn’t touch. I know Nolan says he’s done with Batman, but it would be great if he came back on as producer if he doesn’t want to direct. Give us JGL as Batman like when Dick Grayson took over for Bruce after Batman RIP, or give us JGL as Nightwing. Either would be awesome. That said, I doubt it will happen. I think the next time we see a Batman movie in the theater, it will be a whole new franchise, in a whole new continuity.

That said, this would be all kinds of awesome.
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The Amazing Spider-Man (At The Theater 2012 #8)

I’m of two minds about The Amazing Spider-Man, On the one hand, I thought the story was great. I’m a big fan of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book, and I thought this movie was almost a direct adaptation of the first six issues of Bendis and Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man, just with the Lizard standing in for the Green Goblin and Gwen taking the place of Mary Jane. On the other hand, I felt like I wasn’t really watching a new movie, but rather a revised draft of 2002’s Spider-Man. There were some differences, but not enough to make it feel like it was a new movie.

That said, I thought Andrew Garfield was excellent as Peter Parker. I like that this Peter Parker wasn’t just a complete nerd, but still an outsider. It was Peter Parker by way of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.

“You know something? You read too many comic books.”

I also thought Emma Stone was excellent at Gwen Stacey. She is such an improvement over Kirsten Dunst as in every way. I never understood the casting of Kirsten Dunst in Spider-Man. I think the only movie I liked her in was Bring It On. But I’ve loved Emma Stone in everything she’s been in, including this movie.

Adorable.

Their chemistry together worked so well.

The dialogue was great. I can’t decide which was my favorite line. It was either:

Mrs. Ritter: “Peter, don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Peter Parker: “But those are the best kind.”
or

Spider-Man: “Oh, no! You have found my weakness. Small knives!”

I have to say, as much as I liked The Amazing Spider-Man, I am very glad that I saw it before The Dark Knight Rises. Don’t get me wrong, I thought The Amazing Spider-Man was a great movie, but if I had seen The Dark Knight Rises before it, I may have had bigger issues with the issues I have with it.

The Lizard looked a little silly. I wish they had gone with a more long-snouted gator head, like in the comic. Here he looks like a hairless, green ape. Even a roided up Geico Gecco would have looked better.

Sir, you’re needed on the SyFy lot for their latest Friday night movie.

My biggest problem with the movie was the scene where the crane operator gets all of the cranes to swing in the same direction, so that Spider-Man is able to swing uptown easier. It took me out of the movie completely. It might be the cheesiest scene I’ve seen in a movie this year.

The worst!

In a year where we have The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, I feel like The Amazing Spider-Man may get swept under the rug and not remembered. It did well enough to merit a sequel, but I can’t help thinking it would have been the biggest or second biggest comic book movie of 2011 if it were released last year.

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Top 5 San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Exclusives

Listeners of The Billy and Bryan Show podcast (FREE on iTunes!) know that my co-host Bryan and I are a big fan of Top 5 Lists.

Sadly, we’re not heading to Comic-Con to record an episode this week, but that doesn’t mean I can’t salivate over all the exclusives that are available at the show. Without further ado, here are my Top 5 San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Exclusives!

Honorable Mention #1: S.H.I.E.L.D. Super Helicarrier (Hasbro – $130)

When I was a kid, Hasbro released the be all and end all of awesome toys when it sold the G.I. Joe U.S.S. Flagg Aircraft Carrier playset. It was over 7 feet long! I begged my parents for it. My mom said I had to choose between the aircraft carrier and my bed, as both wouldn’t fit in my room. I still chose the aircraft carrier. Beds are overrated. Unfortunately, they didn’t go for it.

At Comic-Con this year, Hasbro is selling the Flagg’s little brother, the Super Helicarrier. It’s a little over 4 feel long and comes with action figures of Captain America and Maria Hill.

How you get this home is its own adventure. I think it’s too big for the carry on bins.

Honorable Mention #2: Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope DVD Set With Stan Lee and Harry Knowles Figures (NECA – $30)

I haven’t seen Morgan Spurlock’s Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope documentary on Comic-Con yet. I think that I would like it, but what’s getting me excited for this item is that it comes with figures of Ain’t It Cool News founder Harry Knowles and Mr. Marvel himself, Stan Lee! Seriously, where else are going to get a Stan Lee action figure?

There’s another version of the DVD set with Morgan Spurlock and Joss Whedon as the included figures. I saw photos online of a Joss Whedon figure for this as well. No offense to Mr. Knowles or Mr. Spurlock, but if the figures included in one set were Lee and Whedon, this would be closer to #1 on this list.

If you want to finally stage your Stan Lee vs. Joss Whedon battle, you’ll have to hunt down the version that includes all four, or buy two copies of each of the versions that includes two. If anyone asks, just tell them you want to watch the movie more than once.

5. Masters of the Universe He-Man Power Sword Letter Opener (Action Figure Express – $20)

I’ve never been one for letter openers. I always had an easy enough time opening envelopes with my hands, so I never saw the need for one. That changed the moment I saw the Masters of the Universe He-Man Power Sword Letter Opener, available at the Action Figure Express booth for $30.

Yell “I have the power!” every time you open up a utility bill.

4. David Mazzuchelli’s Daredevil Born Again Artist’s Edition SDCC Variant (IDW – $200)

Reproduced at the full size of the original comic art pages and scanned in full color, so that can see every blue pencil line and splash of white out, the Artist’s Editions by IDW are a godsend to fans of original comic art. IDW has set the bar even higher with the David Mazzuchelli’s Daredevil Born Artist’s Edition. Not only has the original art been reproduced, but so have all of the overlays that ended up being taped to the original bristol board. And the book is massive. The SDCC variant is signed and numbered by David Mazzuchelli and has a different cover than the regular version. There are only 250 copies of the SDCC variant, so if you want one, make sure IDW is your first stop when you get inside.

3. Shockwave H.I.S.S Tank with Destro and Cobra B.A.T. (Hasbro – $65)

G.I. Joe was my favorite line of toys when I was growing up. Transformers wasn’t far behind. The H.I.S.S. Mark II was favorite G.I. Joe vehicle ever. Shockwave was always the Transformer that I wanted to own, but didn’t. I owned Megatron, who transformed into a too-realistic looking toy gun, which was cool, but Shockwave turned into this badass futuristic laser gun that lit up.

And now the H.I.S.S. and Shockwave are combined as one!

Like last year’s Cobra Commander piloting the Star Scream Sky Striker combo, the Shockwave HISS Tank is full of awesome accessories. Destro comes with a suitcase of money, which is cool, but he also comes with his very own to-scale Soundwave tape deck and three cassettes! You even get a second action figure, one of Cobra’s Battle Android Troopers. I always liked how the B.A.T.’s sleeve was rolled up, as if it showed up to Cobra that morning and said, “Alright! I’m ready to work!”

The ONE downside to this tank is that it doesn’t transform. But, honestly, the only way they could have excited me more would be if the exclusive was Snake Eyes behind the wheel of G1 Bumblebee (Hint for next year, Hasbro!).

2. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Christmas Ornament (Hallmark – $25)

I love Christmas ornaments, especially if they are Star Wars or superhero related. I also love The Dark Knight Returns.  It is definitely my favorite Batman story ever. My Christmas tree will not be complete until I own this.


1. Peavey McFarlane Spider-Man Rockmaster Electric Guitar (Action Figure Express – $275)

I don’t play guitar (unless you count Rock Band), but if I owned this guitar, I would learn. True story: I was obsessed with Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man when I was in junior high school. At NYCC two years ago, 14-year old me gave present-day me a time travelling high-five when I got McFarlane to sign my copy of Amazing Spider-Man #300. At, $275, this guitar is the priciest item on this list, but look at it. It’s so pretty.

The first song I would learn? The Ramones cover of The Spider-Man Theme.

Looking over this list, I’m guessing that my bank account balance is very happy with me not attending Comic-Con.

Here’s hoping that the exclusives at this year’s New York Comic Con are equally good!

UPDATE:

Reader Dave wanted to know where Deadpool  is at in all of this. Here he is: Mongram has come out with a limited to 150 pieces Deadpool Bust Bank. It’s both sweet and generic looking. I can’t make up my mind on this one. I feel like you could get a similar Deadpool bank at your local comic book store, but the one at your local shop would be plastic and this one is a nice resin. Monogram is selling it for $25 at SDCC.

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Safety Not Guaranteed (At The Theater 2012 #7)

This is looking like it’s going to be a great summer for big summer movies. It started very strong with The Avengers, Pixar just released a new movie and the upcoming blockbusters The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises both look like they’re going to be awesome. Because of this, it might be easy to overlook a small budget movie like Safety Not Guaranteed when you’re planning your next trip to the movie theater. But overlooking Safety Not Guaranteed would be a mistake, as it is currently my favorite movie of this year.

Starring actors from three of the best shows on TV, Aubrey Plaza (April on Parks and Rec), Jake Johnson (Nick on New Girl) and Mark Duplass (Pete on The League), having a story involving time travel, and with music by Ryan Miller of Guster, this movie could not have been more directed at me without making overt Star Wars references. I’ve been excited to see Safety Not Guaranteed ever since I first heard about it a few months ago. Then I saw the trailer and started counting down the days until the movie opened.

The League is my new favorite show and I can’t stop talking about, much to the chagrin of any of my friends who don’t watch it.

Safety Not Guaranteed is a very funny movie that has a lot of heart. The humor is great and the characters feel like very real people. I liked how fleshed out everyone was. Aubrey Plaza gives a great performance as Darius, the magazine intern who helps Jake Johnson’s Jeff attempt to interview Mark Duplass’s Kenneth. I thought that Darius and Kenneth had great chemistry together. They have a reverse Taming of the Shrew-esque relationship and I spent much of the movie waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I loved the slow-moving car chase.

On a side not, it’s amazing how badly the wrong pair of glasses can make you look. The gaming laptop toting Arnau (played by Karan Soni) is a really handsome guy when Jeff gives him a five minute makeover. I wish somebody had done that for me in 10th grade when I was sporting over sized gold rimmed frames that helped cement me in the geek camp.

If you like Doctor Who, I think you will really like Safety Not Guaranteed. It’s like watching a Doctor Who episode from the point of view of one of The Doctor’s companions. Can this guy really travel in time? Is he just a nut? Darius and Kenneth reminded me a lot of Rose and The Doctor.

Does that make the beat-up yellow Trans-Am the TARDIS?

If you haven’t seen it already, my recommendation is to make Safety Not Guaranteed the next movie you see. You can check out the trailer below.


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Stardust (On The Couch 2012 #6)

A hunt for some good wedding readings led me to read Stardust. I’m a big fan of Neil Gaiman and thought it would be cool to have something he wrote at our wedding. There are only so many times people can hear Corinthian 13:4-7, right?

One Gaiman passage I found was from Stardust. I had never read it before and decided this was as good a time as any, so I took it out of the library, read the book and loved it. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember reading anything matching the passage I was thinking about using at our wedding. I looked it up on the web again and realized my error: it was from the movie, not the novel!

I immediately rented Stardust from Netflix.

I then immediately let it sit next to my TV for a month before I watched it. Side note: I need to reevaluate my disc subscription.

Stardust: the movie is great. In some ways, I love it more than Stardust: the novel. The dialogue was remarkably crisp, with a good deal of wit and humor mixed in, especially any time the ghost brothers were on the screen.

Robert DeNiro gives a performance that needs to be included in any career retrospective highlight reel. While his performance as Captain Shakespeare will never be as famous as his roles in Taxi Driver, The Godfather Part II or Raging Bull, his performance here might be one of the best comedic performances he’s ever given.

Captain Shakespeare is my favorite pirate since The Dread Pirate Roberts.

I can’t recommend Stardust enough. Unfortunately, it’s not available on Netflix streaming at this time, but it is available on Amazon Prime streaming (I subscribe to both). If you’re not an Amazon Prime member, you’ll have to hunt down the disc. But it’s definitely worth it. If you liked Time Bandits or The Princess Bride, then…well, why haven’t you seen this yet? Actually, I’ll tell you why. When Stardust was first released, I remember the marketing for it making it look like the cheesiest movie ever. It’s not.

Once you get your hands on the DVD, check out the deleted scenes and the special making of featurette with Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. I’m usually not a fan of DVD extras, but the ones in Stardust are a very welcome exception.

In the end, I don’t think we’ll have a reading from Stardust at our wedding, but I’m very grateful for the journey that led me to this book and movie. Now to hunt down Stardust: the graphic novel.