Movie Monday - 12/31/2012

There are still many movies that are getting Oscar buzz that I haven't yet seen.  I'm trying Y'all!

I've seen the 1998 film version of Les Miserables with Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush and Uma Thurman, but I've never seen the musical.  The latest version is a musical adaptation on film.  It stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, Sasha Baron Cohen and Samantha Barks.  It was the first time I'd ever heard most of these people sing, and I have to say - only Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks and Eddie Redmayne have real talent in that department. The story is played rather dark and serious; so, I really didn't get the comic relief provided by Helena BC and Sasha BC.  (Ha!  They have similar initials!)  I thought that their performances seemed a little out of place.  Despite all that and the fact that it was rather long - because they sing it...it was alright.

Sparkle is the last time we will ever see Whitney Houston perform.  She died not long after the movie wrapped.  The movie is about a girl group in 1960s Detroit who have a momma (Houston) that doesn't approve singing outside of church.  There are jealous boyfriends, abusive husbands, drama and intrigue, as well as a lot of singing. Jordin Sparks, one of the American Idol winners also stars.  It was pretty good.

Bradley Cooper plays a struggling writer who just cannot get published in The Words.  He happens upon a manuscript.  He starts reading it and immediately is taken in by the story.  He ends up passing the work off as his own and it gets published.  Because of the popularity of this book, he is able to publish other works of his that would have gone unnoticed.  One day, he meets an old man who starts to tell him an astonishing story...then, the movie becomes a study of how he handles the information.  Jeremy Irons and Dennis Quaid also star in this film.  It was good.

MK out.