Profile for chris d

I saw it last night and thought it was... Interesting. Very much a work in progress and tonally all over the place. It's subtitled "a musical reckoning," basically meaning trying to fit the book's themes into The State of America Today. It's sloppy at best in that regard: the racial elements are glib and the environmentalist aspect tacked on very minimally. Having Ishmael be an emcee-type of the present day is a great idea but handled unevenly throughout. Starbuck's act 1 finale is good but n...

Going to see this May 10 and I'm super excited.

Bullets Over Broadway is seriously one of my favorite movies ever and, after reading the reviews, I'm disappointed and probably won't make a trip to NYC to see it (as I had planned). I agree with Hackasaurus_rex: with all the quirky characters and colorful revisionism the movie is still a very intimate and human story. It has as much warmth as wit. It sounds like Woody and Stroman made some cynical and even egotistical decisions in bringing this to the stage. As much as I adore the movie's sc...

I'd love to see Aubrey Plaza as Little Red and Russell Brand as the Wolf. "Hello Little Girl" would be a SCENE.

I'm excited about Streep playing the Witch, and I hope they get someone with a good voice to play Jack cuz "Giants in the Sky" is my favorite song from the show. :)

I think Inigomontoya might be focusing on the recent tourist trend, which is more global and franchise-based (as well as family-based) than ever. I think that certainly started with CATS.

anybody who has a problem with volunteer ushers needs serious help...

based only on reading the script, it seems like they added more than they took away from the musical. I'm guessing it'll clock in at about 2:45. I'm sure the studio will nudge for trimming. I guess they can't touch the songs that, while least necessary to the narrative, are the show's signature hits (Master of the House, On My Own, One Day More, & Bring Him Home, which still makes no sense to me in the context of Valjean's and Marius' "relationship").

OMG! I can't believe my guiltiest pleasure will be a musical. can't wait to see how they musicalize Celeste's big breakdown scene ("I ruined three lives! THREEEE LIIIIVES!!")

re: switching LL & IDAD: I think on stage they deliberately put "Dream" first to allow us to "digest" all the exposition in the Prologue and "End of the Day." to have put "Lovely Ladies" after "Day" would have been too much, and would have cheapened Fantine's plot by rushing through most of her story in, like, 20 minutes. HOWEVER, I think it will work fine in the movie. (this is gonna be one long-ass movie; I won't be surprised if, like BrodyFosse says, they continue to make cuts, including t...

I think they wanted to put in a big romantic love story and what's more dramatic (and juicy) than a love triangle?! (also, I agree with broadway guy: Katie Hall was brill).

I tend to agree about Cosette getting the "shaft," and I always felt similarly towards Marius (even though he does get a solo, it's a bland one). It must have been tough for the authors to juggle all these characters' plotlines and bring in some emotional moments as well. I guess they were thinking about the overall tone of the show also (hence making the heinous Thernardiers likable to bring some comic relief to the show). Often Marius and Cosette appear just to tie the narratives together. ...

I totally agree, so maybe they made her brunette for superficial reasons (ie. having Anne be blonde would distract?)

Amanda's pic kind of looks like it could be on a box of hair dye?? but I still like it! and Anne looks angelic (as in, post-mortem...)

since Javert raises this trumped up morality play into something approaching art, Crowe's performance will make or break the movie for me. I hope he doesn't whisper through "Stars."

ten years ago I would've said Emma Thompson... maybe ten years from now Anna Paquin could rock it??

beautiful, fascinating portraits... if I saw only the photos and didn't know anything about the musical, I would think Russell is the good guy and Hugh the bad guy!

I'm glad Marshall is directing rather than you-know-who. I just hope he doesn't go craycray in the editing room...

that could be magical in the right hands. I think Boyle (primarily in Slumdog) balances grit with style, politics, fantasy, & romance perfectly, and Miss Saigon has the same qualities. we gotta make it happen!!

definitely true, but I still think Boyle's style and approach would be perfect for this material. I think Lee Daniels would try to make it as gritty as possible, which is never good when adapting a musical...