Tag Archives: Cameron Mackintosh

Bah humbug. It’s going to be a very Misérable Christmas.

30/11/2012 – 12:50

“Do you hear the people sing, lost in the valley of the night?

It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light

For the wretched of the earth there is a flame that never dies

Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”

The first comments and reviews of the new screen adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Misérables are in, and sacre bleu, they’re good. I was very worried about this film when I first heard about it happening as I am not the biggest Russell Crowe fan in the world, and the idea that he would be playing the iconic role of the righteous and God-fearing Inspector Javert caused my head to crash down with such despair on my keyboard, it left me with a Harry Potter-esque scar on my forehead. As time has gone on however I can no longer deny that my opinions have changed and upon obsessive views of the 02.31 international trailer, I can honestly say that I have never been this anxious or desperate to see a new-release film in my life.

So the lucky swines that have had the privilege of seeing the previews have been in full praise and the word ‘Oscar‘, excitedly, has not been omitted from their opinions either. It’s fantastic news for the fans of the stage musical of Les Misérables who like Trekkers, Duranies, Browncoats and Twihards, are fierce in their passion for what they love and woe betide anyone whom screws about with a Monet.

Les Misérables is the second longest-running stage musical in the world and the longest-running musical in the West End. Not bad achievements for a musical that was rubbished by critics when it first opened in 1985 and had to win the love of the masses to prove how good it actually was. We Will Rock You knows what I mean. Tom Hooper’s (The King’s Speech) film adaptation of Cameron Mackintosh’s crowning glory might have felt like a long time coming, but I have every confidence that it is going to be more than worth the wait. Vive la France!

To say I am excited about its release is an understatement of cosmic proportions. Never mind popcorn, as admitted I shall be watching the film in the cinema from behind an enormous bowl of humble pie. Damn you Crowe, and your amazing singing. But before you all gloat, can you actually blame me? Look at Joel Schumacher’s attempt at filming a stage musical with Phantom of the Opera in 2004. For every Cabaret there is a Phantom as far as their screen adaptations go, that should give you an indication of how I felt about Phantom on film. And believe me on stage I love Phantom, but the film could’ve been a lot better and deserves to stay in the confines of the dungeons underneath the Paris Opera House.

One of the most exciting things I am looking forward to seeing in the film of Les Mis however is how the cast sound singing live. And by that I mean no studio-recording then dubbed over, actually live on scene with full musical accompaniment (off-screen, of course). This is genius if not certainly ambitious of Hooper and I can’t wait to hear the results. I believe Anne Hathaway’s I Dreamed a Dream is in one take. Incredible.

The casting of Les Misérables is superb as well. A natural choice of ingénue Cosette is Mamma Mia’s Amanda Seyfried, and how wonderful it is to see Samantha Barks reprising her role as the tragic Éponine, the character she made her own in the West End production and the 25th anniversary concert at the O2 in 2010. I am going to be highly interested in seeing Sacha Baron Cohen as Monsieur Thénardier as he wouldn’t have been my first choice to play him, nevertheless I am eager to see him take on Les Mis’ most colourful and corrupt character. Helena Bonham Carter’s vocals might not be giving Jenny Galloway sleepless nights but she’s perfect to play the cruel and heartless Madame Thénardier. I’m sure we’ll be reminded of Bellatrix Lestrange and Mrs Lovett in her performance. And what’s this? Wolverine playing Jean Valjean? I promise you I’m not worried any more.

If you look closely you’ll spot a wealth of current and classic West End musical theatre stars with uncredited roles too, the best one of the lot is Colm Wilkinson, the original 1985-stage Jean Valjean, playing the Bishop of Digne. Mon dieu!

Musicals have always divided people in popular culture in the same way Marmite does when selecting the breakfast condiment. Most of them are too happy and showy, “all that singing and dancing stuff!” But Les Misérables is not a happy musical by any stretch. It deals with prostitution, suicide, depression, war, uprising, unrequited love, poverty and murder to name but a few themes. But if you’re a fan of the stage version and are as excited in seeing the transition to cinema as I am, then I sincerely hope you have a very Misérable Christmas.

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Les Misérables is released in the UK on 11th January 2013.

For further miserable delights you can check out the official website here.

Fancy more book-screen adaptations? Check out our fabulous new Pinterest board highlighting recent and new releases here!

By hivenetwork | Posted in Hive's Blogs | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Boys and girls of every age – wouldn’t you like to see something strange?

31/10/2011 – 11:28

… come with us and you will see

this our town of Halloween!”

It’s Halloween! Woo hoo! The day of the year where we crack out the pumpkins and dress up as Mike Myers to scare the willies out of the neighbours. To coincide we naturally have a Halloween section on Hive, with products for children and adults alike. And check out the book on the making of Michael Jackson’s iconic Thriller video – it’s on the homepage and it has a very cool holographic cover, detailing from start to finish how his arguably greatest ever video was made. Spookness galore!

The Phantom of the Opera comes to DVD & Blu-ray in two weeks

Les Miserables celebrated its 25th birthday last year

Staying with all things Gothic for a bit, yesterday I finally got to see the 25th anniversary concert of the Phantom of the Opera at my local cinema. In the same way as one of Cameron Mackintosh’s other stratospheric phenomenons, Les Miserables, was celebrated last year when it saw its 25th birthday too, the concert was broadcasted live to various cinemas around the UK from the Royal Albert Hall on the night it was staged earlier this month. And so I went to see it yesterday, all three glorious hours of it, and what an absolute show it was. The lead roles were perfectly casted by Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, both fresh from playing the same roles this year in the West End in the Phantom’s sequel, Love Never Dies. These two were perfect as the Phantom and Christine respectively, and you could more than be forgiven for wondering, “Sarah who?” as you powerlessly allowed yourself to be captivated by Boggess, effortlessly gliding her way through the much-loved songs as the Phantom’s tortured heroine. I certainly did. Karimloo I know has played the Phantom many times before and incidentally has just won the role as the new Jean Valjean in Les Mis, so to see him here onstage where he belongs as our tragic disfigured composer of operas was something I just couldn’t wait for. Prior to this I have only heard him play the Phantom on the LND soundtrack, so this was a real treat for me. The film was followed by a small speech from Lord Webber after which he then introduced four Phantoms from past and present, Michael Crawford, who made the role what it is today, and his original Christine, Sarah Brightman. Crawford had chosen not to sing at the event, but one hardly missed this because Brightman was more than happy to as she sang an absolutely electric performance of the title song with the five Phantoms; three from past incarnations including the legendary Colm Wilkinson, the current West End one, John Owen-Jones, and Ramin Karimloo. The DVD and Blu-rays of the concert will be released on 14th November and I highly urge anyone who didn’t get to see it live or the live broadcast, or even if you did and you want the memories, to splash out on yourself and make it yours. That’s all I ask of you.

The Frozen Planet is on BBC1 right now

Back on television last week was David Attenborough and his latest series for the BBC about life on Earth, The Frozen Planet. I will brag a bit here and say I had the luxury of seeing it in HD and to be honest, this is the kind of television high-definition was made for. From the sped-up forming of snowflakes to the isolating-tragic beauty of vast plains of ice, Attenborough once again took us on a journey were very few – if any –cameras had taken us before. Being made by the same team as my favourite of his, the Blue Planet, I knew I would not be disappointed. A highlight for me was seeing the courtship of polar bears which had never really been filmed before in the wild. I tried not to focus too much on the bizarre and barbaric way orcas catch and “play” with their pray; they are one of the eternal mysteries of our oceans as we learned of their behaviour in the Blue Planet. While I understand that animals eating other animals is nature and all part of the food chain, quite why killer whales behave in such macabre ways is still a great sphinx-like riddle for marine biologists. However the majestic beauty of the ice and snow which Attenborough and his team endured through on their trek from the North to the South pole made up for it, and I for one cannot wait to see the next episode this Wednesday and to eventually own it on Blu-ray.

If you like your television slightly less glacial but still with ice-stares, perhaps you watched the start of the new series of Young Apprentice, which began its second run on BBC1 last Monday. The same formula as the adults’ version applies to Lord Sugar‘s new bunch of young candidates; a team of 16 and 17-year old boys and girls prove how good their business acumen is and that they can outsmart a calculator in order to win guidance and nurture from Lord Sugar to kick start their futures. A lot of the teenage contenders are self-made businessmen and women in their own right, but by appearing and battling it out against their rivals – which they can only do by working in a team – one of them in the end will win over and impress Lord Sugar and his sidekicks Karren Brady and Nick Hewer. It makes for great television at the very least, watching the young business-brains of today struggle now and again with basic mathematics and discounts, profit and margin. I’m sure it makes a lot of us adults at home secretly think, phew, I don’t know what 35% off £7.99 is either, or sigh in relief as you realise you thought you knew which part of London Hackney was in, and it certainly wasn’t West, but that’s okay because they don’t know either!

One other thing that I was excited to learn about last week was that my favourite TV chef, Nigella, has announced that she will be releasing a brand-new cookery book next autumn. This book will see her very much focusing on her roots and heritage as she goes right back home to Italy, where she promises to show us traditional and non-traditional dishes from her motherland, complete a coinciding TV series too. The recipes will be given the “express” treatment also, so I’m already looking forward to lots of authentic Italian dishes with the Nigella twist on them. Not that I can always afford her ingredients, but she is a joy to watch in all her programmes and no doubt she will deliver another iconic and must-have dish somewhere along the line. Marmite spaghetti, anyone?

By hivenetwork | Posted in Hive's Blogs | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

“Bazinga!”

20/09/2011 – 11:19

You know when they say that you should never see a film after you have read the book from which it has been adapted, because in your mind no director or producer or writer can convert to the screen how you have imagined your beloved protagonists and characters to look and feel; how they will appear, act and talk is just completely different to what your imagination has created for you and more often than not, you are left disappointed. As much as I think Rene Zellweger was magnificent in Chicago, I was somewhat reserved in her casting as Bridget Jones. Such an opinion is not complete folly, and of course there are rare exceptions.

Les Miserables at the O2 last year

However to this end, my head came crashing down onto my keyboard a few days ago when I learned that Russell Crowe has been cast in the iconic role of Inspector Javert in the film-of-the-musical adaptation of the stratospherically-popular Les Miserables. Cameron Mackintosh’s musical masterpiece, which some might argue has been long overdue a proper silver screen treatment has all the great ingredients so far, including production input from Mackintosh himself and the original score and lyrics from the musical. Also keen to shed his mutton chops, white vest and giant claws is Hugh Jackman, who has been cast as Jean Valjean. This I’m not too worried about because Jackman comes from a background of musical theatre before he became an actor, but although he can sing, can he live up to the likes of stellar actors such as Alfie Boe whom have made the role of the bread-thief their own on-stage? I don’t know, but I really do hope so. I’m waiting to see the biggest transformation since Charlize Theron played Aileen Wuornos in Monster when I see Russell Crowe as Javert.

And you can go to the DVDs & Blu-rays page to see some more musicals we’ve selected this week for your entertainment, including the seminal 25th Anniversary concert of Les Mis, shot last year at the O2.

Now out in paperback

Last week saw the annual tribute to possibly the greatest children’s author of all time, Roald Dahl, and his wonderful works that he gave to us. We’ve a Roald Dahl selected products page here, where you can find his books, eBooks and DVDs listed. Which ones are you missing? I’d like to think you’ve read all his books – the children’s ones at the very least! I won’t tell you the title of my personal favourite, but I’ll give you a clue and say that it’s the tale of a young, her genius often-overlooked, misunderstood girl and her powers of telekinesis. If you know your Dahl, you’ll know which book that is. However if you’ve read all your Dahl and are looking for something new, we recommend the newly-published Storyteller: the Life of Roald Dahl now out in paperback. Select to pick it up from favourite local indie and enjoy learning just what went on in the greatest children’s author of all time’s mind as he concocted up his stories of fantastic foxes and dyslexic vicars.

Hark! For 'tis Twitter in all her bestowed glory!

And staying with even more literature, (I will go onto film & DVD shortly!), I guffawed to myself when I was sent this little titbit a few days ago about the best 10 literary fakes on Twitter. The list is comprised of ten accounts pretending to be masters of history and literature and what they would be tweeting if they were alive today, or indeed if Twitter had been around in ye olde days. Ye Twitter! You can find the list of chuckle-some spoof laureates here, and my personal favourite is undoubtedly number 9 and this:

Can just picture Joseph Fiennes declaring his love to her instead of Gwyneth Paltrow.

Tintin in modern CGI...

...and in 2D from our childhoods

So… going onto films, my failing-miserably-to-deny-excitement is increasing begrudgingly whenever I see new screenshots from Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson’s first Tintin adaptation The Secret of the Unicorn, due to open in cinemas next month. The pictures I saw today have not helped one bit in my trying to divorce myself of emotion towards the adaptations. I consider myself a Tintin purist, loving the comics and the small-yet-perfect TV series that was made of Herge’s Belgian journalist and his faithful fox terrier in the 1990s… and so when I learned that Tintin was going to be given some kind of Star Wars-treatment where the merchandise would be everywhere and the – gasp, shock! – the entire film would be in CGI, it did make my heart sink rather dramatically. As much as I love Tintin and Snowy and Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus in plain, flat, bright 2D form, I might just be being pessimistic and I guess at the very least it will keep the legacy of Tintin alive for the future for new generations. As these new screenshots show, one can’t deny just how exciting and stunning the movie looks and it’s a superb cast they’ve got too to play the beloved characters. Ah I think we’ll be fine; we have the creative minds on board who gave us Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones. Just no-one mention The Flintstonesfrom 1992.

Nominated for 11 Emmys, picked up six of them!

Rather fabulously it was the prestigious Emmy Awards two nights ago, with British talent doing very well indeed. Our own British rose, Kate Winslet, triumphed winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Mildred Pierce, so well done to her. Congratulations also to ITV’s not-just-another-period-drama Downtown Abbey, being nominated for 11 awards and winning six of them, and scooping the coveted Outstanding Miniseries or Movie award by battling off strong competition from American shows.

The genius that is The Big Bang Theory

My personal favourite award winner of the night I was so pleased to see went to the thoroughly-deserving Jim Parsons for his role as the highly-strung physicist Dr Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory. He won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for the second time running, and if you watch The Big Bang Theory, you’ll see why it just had to go to him.

Be sure to check the DVD section next week as we’ll be doing a feature on the winners & nominees of the Emmys on DVD & Blu-ray, so you can keep yourself entertained and see why they won their awards!

And I leave you now for another short while with this piece I came across on the world wide web entitled: X Factor finalists & winners: where are they now? You will chuckle.

Laters!

By hivenetwork | Posted in Hive's Blogs | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)
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