Les Misérable

This week I went to see the newest adaptation of Les Misérable that came out on Christmas Day. The film was very well done with an excellent cast. Les Misérable is based off the musical, which is based French book of the same name. Victor Hugo published the book is 1862 and the story is just as powerful now as it was then. The film is an excellent adaptation, as far as I can tell from last reading of the book in my high school French class.  

Tom Hooper, the man behind The King’s Speech, directs Les Mis. It has a long list of stars who deliver career performances: Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, and relative newcomer Eddie Redmayne. My favorite performance was by far SachaBaron Cohen. It took me a while to place his off the wall character, but now I cannot see anyone else in that role. This film is sure to give him more respects among audiences. 

One thing that bothered me was that every single line was sung. Now I am aware that this was an adaptation of the musical, but this was too much. If ever word of the film is turned into a song, it takes away from the powerful songs. And there are many powerful songs in Les Misérable.

I cannot say enough about Anne Hathaway’s performance. She nailed the role of Fantine. I expect to see an array of awards in her arms this season. The film will also win its fair share of awards.

As a warning, Les Mis is very graphic. For anyone who is not familiar with the story, it documents the life of the poor in 19^th century France and includes slavery, prostitution, and revolution. I thought the film did an excellent job touching all the issues in a delicate manner. However, I did hear some gasps from other audience members. The film is rated PG-13. 

Christmas Day Box Office

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas at the movies! This was a huge Christmas box office. Les Misérable took the top spot with over $18 million. Quentin Tarantino’s newest film, Django Unchained, was close behind with $15 million. Prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, grossed $11 million, still strong during its second week in theaters.  This is one of the best Christmas Day openings in recent years.

Les Misérable’s $18 million was the best opening since Sherlock Holmes in 2009. The Warner Brothers’ release grossed $24.6 million. Avatar came in second that year with $23 million. Avatar was released December 18, 2009, taking The Hobbit route by hitting theaters the week before Christmas. After a strong showing from the top three, the list drops off.

The utterly ridiculous looking comedy, Parental Guidance, earned over $6 million. Tom Cruise’s newest film, Jack Reacher, brought in another $5 million on Christmas Day. The  “sort-of sequel to Knocked Up” This Is 40 grossed $4.3 million. This rounds out the top six for the Christmas Day box office.

This is a huge season, as most of the award contenders are not hitting theaters. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association released nominations for the Golden Globes on December 13. The awards will be handed out on January 13, 2013. Notables nominated are Les Misérable in the Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and Lincoln, Argo, and Zero Dark Thirty in the Best Picture – Drama category. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce their nominees on January 10, 2013.

Award season is my favorite season of the year! I will have updates on the award shows as they happen. The best place to get information on all the award shows and the winners as they are announced is my twitter: CinemaStephanie. I’ll have recap blogs for you as well!

Compiled using boxofficemojo.com.

Box Office Returns for Nov. 30 - Dec. 1

This was a very slow weekend at the theaters. No film grossed over $20 million. In fact, the top five films on the list collectively made just under $73 million. This is extremely low; especially since two weeks ago the number one movie grossed $141 million. The main reason for the total gross being so low was the lack of new releases. All films in the top five have spent time on the chart before.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II remained the number one movie this weekend. However, it is down 60% from last week’s gross. The movie fell to under 20 million dollar, only bringing in another $17 million. Skyfall remained in the second spot on the box office list.

Next week is shaping up to be another slow weekend at the box office. The biggest new release of the week will most likely be Playing for Keeps. This stars Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, and Dennis Quaid. It follows the story of former Scottish soccer star that moves to America to coaches his son soccer team. George (Butler) is forced to grow up and tries to win back the mother of his son. This romantic comedy also stars Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Judy Greer. My predictions for this movie is that it will open strong and hopefully dethrone Breaking Dawn Part II from the top spot. 

Also coming out this upcoming weekend is the FDR biopic in limited release, Hyde Park on Hudson. This follows the story of FDR and his cousin Margaret Stuckley. The film combines comedy and drama in telling the twisted love affair between the two over a weekend while the King and Queen of the United Kingdom are visiting.  This film stars Bill Murray and Laura Linney. Hyde Park on Hudson is going to be an award contender in the upcoming season. It has already debuted at film festivals around the country.

Statistics were complied by boxofficemojo.com.