The Miserable Movie

Hello people of the Interwebs!

Today's review is of Tom Hooper's Les Mierables. (Sigh. Let's just get this pain over with...)

Image credit to IMDb

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

Don't get me wrong, I love this musical to death. In fact, I was in a production of it over the summer! It is my favorite musical of all time. But this movie just sucks. The only good aspect is the acting ability of most of the cast. (Note: most.) Also, there are a few good voices, but I'll get to that later.

Les Miserables is the story of a fugitive turned, I dunno, saint? named Jean Valjean, who is constantly being hunted by Inspector Javert. Valjean ends up adopting the daughter of a dead female factory worker turned prostitute, named Fantine. Her daughter, Cosette, lives with the Thenadiers, a couple of unpleasant people with a lust for money. A few years later on, Cosette falls in love with a student named Marius, who is plotting a revolution with his best friend, Enjolras. Eponine, the daughter of the Thenadiers is also in love with Marius, but he doesn't notice. I don't have much to say on the story. I really, genuinely love it. (Well, the love at first sight thing between Cosette and Marius is a bit, you know, cliche.)

The actors in this movie are amazing. (I'm not discussing the singing; that comes later.) The passion with which the actors perform is astounding. Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean has so much power and depth in him, and he portrays Valjean beautifully. The same can't be said for Russel Crowe as Javert. I've been told that he's a good actor, but he just doesn't act. It not that he acted badly, it's that he didn't act at all, However, there is one scene in the "Second Act" where he does show some emotion. Anne Hathaway was amazing as Fantine. She captured that role perfectly. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bohnam Carter are the Thenadiers. As usual, they bring out the crazy, funny characters very well. Cohen does have some good moments where he seems genuinely... evil, as the character is supposed to end up. Amanda Seyfried as Cosette wasn't a bad choice. It's just that the character is so bland, so there's not much to work with, and I think that Seyfried has quite a bit of acting talent. Eddie Redmayne as Marius wasn't a bad option either, he did the role justice. Arron Tveit was a great Enjolras, and Daniel Huttlestone was a great Gavroche. Last, but not least, we have Samantha Barks. She's the only principal in this movie to have played that role before, and she does it beautifully.

The music. I love the music. But that's just a general note about the musical itself. So let me move onto...

The singing! By god, do I loathe the singing. However, I did mention that I liked some of the voices. Those voices belonged to Daniel Huttlestone (Gavroche), Arron Tveit (Enjolras), and Samantha Barks (Eponine). They all have fantastic voices; especially Samantha Barks. However, the rest aren't good. Russel Crowe can hold a tune, but his voice doesn't fit with the theater style. Hugh Jackman cracks too much, as does Anne Hathaway. Amanda Seyfried's voice is just annoying, as is the voice of Eddie Redmayne. The ensemble's not bad, but the soloists in the ensemble are slightly cringe worthy. Colm Wilkinson is a sort of saving grace at the beginning as the Bishop of Digne, but they changed quite a few of the lyrics for him, so it sounded wrong.

Actually, that brings up and important point. A lot of the lyrics and songs are changed into speaking or just plain silence. While I think that it's fine in some cases, in others, it lengthens the scene. They cut quite a few of the student solos, which was a blow to my happiness with the movie, since in my production of Les Mis, I played one of the students whose solos they cut. 

This movie sucks. Just plain sucks. Even with some redeeming qualities, I wouldn't particularly recommend it. If you really are dying to see Les Miserables, go see a staged production of it.

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off!

Like The Teenage Critic on Facebook here. You can email the Teenage Critic, at criticteen1@gmail.com. Feel free to send me your suggestions for movies to review, or just to send me your opinions and fan mail. Follow me on Twitter here, at @Thomas_Pflanz

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na BURTON!

Hello People of the Interwebs!

I'm back! After my unsuccessful attempt at NaNoWriMo, I'm back to my old ways of watching and reviewing movies. This week, I'm reviewing Tim Burton's 'Batman'!

 Image credit to IMDb

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

The story of the 1989 adaptation of Batman centers around the Joker. Weird, right? Okay, 'centers around' may be a bit of a stretch. Let me put it this way. In this story we don't find out much about Batman himself, or even Bruce Wayne. Not until later in the movie, anyway. Rather, we see the evolution of Jack Napier, a higher-up in a gang, into the Joker, when he falls into a vat of toxic waste during a confrontation with Batman. This was a really interesting way to format the story, focusing more on the creation of the villain, and leaving the back story of the main hero a mystery until near the end.  This is very different from Christopher Nolan's movie, 'The Dark Knight', where we know everything about Batman's back story, and know nothing about the Joker.

The story follows a photographer named Vicki Vale, as she and a reporter, named Alexander Knox, try to prove that Batman is real. Meanwhile, a mob boss, named Grissom sets up his second in command, a man by the name of Jack Napier, who has been seeing his boss's mistress. Grissom tells Jack to go to a chemical plant, to remove some evidence which connects the plant to the mob. Grissom tips off the police, and they show up to take on Jack's men. A large figure, dressed in a black costume swoops in; Batman has come to save the day! Jack tries to escape but he ends up falling into a vat of toxic waste, and gets flushed out into a river. Napier's face is dyed white, his lips are dyed cherry red, and his hair is dyed green. He goes insane, and kills Grissom.

Okay, I just tried to type out a short synopsis of the story, and it took up two more paragraphs, so, I'll try again. Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale start dating. Jack Napier takes the name 'The Joker'. The Joker "falls in love" with Vicki, and sets up a trap, which Batman saves her from. Vicki Vale releases a list of beauty products that the Joker had infected with his 'Joker Venom', which makes people die laughing. Bruce tries to tell Vicki that he's Batman, but is stopped by the Joker. Bruce realizes that Jack Napier was the one who killed his parents. Bruce tells Vicki that he's Batman.  The Joker entices the public out of their homes in order to kill them off with Joker Venom in gas form, by offering $20 million in cash. Batman stops him. The Joker takes Vicki Vale up to the top of a clock tower, and has a confrontation with Batman, which ends when the Joker falls to his death from his escape helicopter. 

The cast is pretty good. Michael Keaton's portrayal of the caped crusader is classic, and is very well done. I really enjoy the mysterious vibe he lets off. Jack Nicholson plays the Joker, the best known Batman villain. His performance is of a very cheesy Joker. I really enjoy it, but at times he seems more like a cheesy cartoon-ish version of the Joker, like Cesar Romero's Joker. I may be a bit colored, considering that my first Joker was Heath Ledger. who played the Joker in a very dark and gritty way, leaving an impact on many, including me. The supporting cast is fine, but they're not really anything to hoot at. Vicki Vale is played by Kim Bassinger, and Alexander Knox is played by Robert Wuhl. Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent are played by Pat Hingle and Billy Dee Williams respectively. 

The action is fun and cheesy, and that's about it. It reminds me of the 1960s Batman action scenes, in the complexity of the action. It's fairly simple. Punch, kick, throw, choke, etc. Really nothing special about it.

TIm Burton's 'Batman' has an interesting take on Batman and the Joker. It's much grittier than the Adam West Batman, but still has the cheesy comic book-y feel to it. And I think that that's fine. I enjoy the Christopher Nolan film more, mainly because of Heath Ledger's amazing performance as the Joker. He provides what I consider a much more "realistic" Joker, with a more psychotic and frightening feeling. Nicholson's Joker felt funny. He wasn't intimidating, but he was fun. And that's mainly my opinion. It's a damn fun movie to watch and enjoy, with plenty of cool visuals and interesting portrayals of classic characters. 

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off!

Like The Teenage Critic on Facebook here. You can email the Teenage Critic, at criticteen1@gmail.com. Feel free to send me your suggestions for movies to review, or just to send me your opinions and fan mail. Follow me on Twitter at @Thomas_Pflanz

Mermaids!

Hello People of the Interwebs!

Today, I'm going to review a different kind of piece than I usually do. It's a 10 minute animation by Alexander Petrov, entitled "The Mermaid". 

The story is beautiful. A young man falls in love with a mermaid that he keeps seeing. His mentor, an old man, recognizes her as his bride from when he was younger. While the story is simple, it's done in a very elegant way. The ending is peaceful and thought provoking, and it should be watched.

The details of the animation are spectacular. While the pictures don't flow together like modern day movies and animations do, it has a very melancholy and natural feeling to it, like each frame was carefully crafted with the tender and caring hands of a passionate artist. It's truly an awe inspiring creation. It brought tears to my eyes as I watched.

You can watch it here. It is very short, and every second of it is amazing!

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off!

(You can like us on Facebook! Go to https://www.facebook.com/criticteen and hit the like button! Every like is appreciated! You can also follow me on Twitter to get instant updates about new posts and other projects that I'm working on! @Thomas_Pflanz)

The Old Man and the Old Moon

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"Oh, shadow puppets and fake animals" I thought as I first sat down in my seat, to watch "The Old Man and the Old Moon" by PigPen Theatre Company, at the New Victory Theater. "This is going to be painful". Boy, was I ever wrong.

This well written, well told story is about an old man who fills up the moon every day, so it is always full. His wife wants to go adventuring, but he doesn't. She leaves, and he follows her, leaving the constantly leaking moon unattended.

It truly is a journey of whimsy and magic. All of the actors portray their (multiple) characters with such skill and mastery, that it's hard to believe that there are just seven of them! The show itself filled me with a warmth, and gave me chills the entire time. The set is a simple color, but has a very complex design, and the use of shadow puppets and regular puppets to portray the story is done exceptionally well.

All in all, it's possibly one of the best theater experiences that I've ever had. I've actually now seen it twice, bought their CDs, and had one of the CDs signed. My friend Sydney, whose blog is really good, asked the actors to sign her neck! (They did, by the way!) The actors are brilliant, and really kind. It was such a pleasure to see the show as many times as I did, and to have met the actors! If they're performing near you, go and see this magnificent show!

Check them out at http://www.pigpentheatre.com/, and support them! Their show is at the New Victory Theater in New York City, and runs until October 13th.

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off!

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Here's my friend, with her neck signed by the actors!

Mean Girls

Hello People of the Interwebs!

Today's review is of Mean Girls!

Image credit to IMDb

This movie is one of the first movies classified as a comedy to actually make me laugh. There's some fantastic comedy in this movie, and it does a good job with its serious moments too! The first thing that got my attention is that the main character is a homeschooler. And I like that. To be honest, if I were to return to school after three full years out of it, my idea of it would be like hers during the scene where she's walking through the halls. Now, let's get into the story!

The story is pretty great. A homeschooler named Cady joins high school and makes new friends with two "outcasts", who, after Cady gets the attention of the popular girls, ask her to infiltrate them. At some point, Cady falls in completely with the popular girls, known as "The Plastics", which is made up of Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith. After a while, Cady's grades fall, and she falls... in love with the ex-boyfriend of Regina, the leader of the Plastics. After a while, Cady gets fed up and starts sabotaging Regina. That's where it gets a bit more complicated. All in all, the writing and story are quite good! Tina Fey really did do a great job with the script.

The acting is surprisingly good. Lindsey Lohan plays the main character, Cady Heron, and she does a really good job. Rachael McAdams as Regina George, Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners, and Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith all do great portrayals of stereotypical "popular" girls. The outcast friends, Janis and Damian, are played by Lizzy Caplan and Daniel Franzese respectively, who both do very well. Tina Fey also does a phenomenal job as Mrs. Norbury, one of the teachers at the school. The rest of the supporting cast are very good, and, well, support the film very well.

All in all, this is a really good movie. It's funny and well written, and also very well acted. So, if you haven't seen this, rent it right away! Or, if you have Netflix, it's available there for completely free!

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off!

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The Matrix

Hello People of the Interwebs!

"What?" you must be thinking. "Today's a Tuesday! There's not supposed to be a new review until tomorrow!" You are correct; it is indeed a Tuesday. I am changing the release date of new Teenage Critic content to Tuesdays! This is a trial, so I'll see how well it works with my schedule.

Today's review is of the popular (and rightfully so!) action/sci-fi film: The Matrix!

Image Credit to IMDb

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

I really enjoyed this movie. Like, really really. It's possibly one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies! So, let's get started!

The story is very complex. I barely grasped it and its concepts when I first watched it. It's inventive, it's brilliantly written, and the world and characters are given multi-dimensional personalities. The concepts are also very creative, and I commend the Wachowski siblings for this work of genius.

The acting is also brilliant. Of course, Keanu Reeves is brilliant as Neo, as is Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, and Carrie-Anne Moss is on par with the both of them. The rest of the supporting cast is very strong. Now, let's talk the villain. As you may remember from my First Avenger review, I praised Hugo Weaving's acting ability. And I add to that claim even more. With both examples of Red Skull and Agent Smith, I must say that I love his ability to act as a villain. 

The action is fantastic. Bullet Time was, of course, a revolutionary technique. It adds to the suspense of the action even further. The rest of the action is pretty great too!

All in all, I really love this movie. It combines revolutionary film making techniques with great acting, and one of the most phenomenal concepts I've ever seen put to film. If you haven't already, watch this amazing film!

Teenage Critic, signing off!

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Guardians of the Galaxy!

Hello People of the Interwebs!

Today, I'll be talking about a recent blockbuster hit: Guardians of the Galaxy!

Image credit to IMDb

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

I genuinely love this film. The basic story is about a Terran (Earth) male, named Peter Quill, who is picked up by aliens when he was a kid. He becomes a renowned thief, and calls himself 'Starlord". He teams up with a group of criminals to stop the warlord Ronan, who is originally under the command of Thantos. 

The story itself is simple, and the execution is pretty much flawless. It's also one of the cheesiest, silliest movie that I've seen in a while. This movie pulls out every cliche, and uses it to its extreme. But, it doesn't seem unintentional. In fact, the movie seems very aware of itself, which can sometimes be bad, but it is very well done here. 

Another aspect of this movie, which I think led to its popularity, is it's soundtrack. The soundtrack is mainly songs from the 1970s and 1980s. This lends a feeling of nostalgia to the film. Well, at least... I think it does. I'm about to turn 16, so... I didn't really have a connection to the songs before, or any significant memories of them . However, that's another interesting point by itself. This movie introduces a new generation of people to the popular music from before their time, which their parents most likely enjoyed. I can vouch for that plan myself, as I had no knowledge of these songs before, and I've grown to love them since watching this movie. (In fact, I'm listening to it right now, as I write this review.)

Now, the acting. The entire cast is really quite fantastic. Our heroes are: Chris Pratt as Starlord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Vin Diesel as Groot, and Bradley Cooper as Rocket. These guys are fantastic. Their onscreen chemistry is fantastic, and they all bring fun and clever aspects to their respective characters. 

The villains are: Lee Pace as Ronan, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Djimon Hounsou as Korath, and Josh Brolin (uncredited) as Thantos. These actors are all fantastic, but I'll focus one one that I'm partial to. Karen Gillan. Her popularity really soared after being cast as Amelia Pond on Doctor Who, a show that I love dearly. (If you read my Thor: The Dark World review (http://criticteen.blogspot.com/2014/06/thor-world-of-anti-light.html) you'll know that I'm partial to actors who have starred on Doctor Who.) Karen Gillan shows just how much of a great actress she is, by giving this character a great performance. Another villain that I want to focus on, at some point, is Thantos, my favorite Marvel villain.

The supporting cast consists of: Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, John C. Reilly as Corpsman Dey, Glenn Close as Nova Prime, Benicio Del Toro as The Collector, Peter Serafinowicz as Denarian Saal, and Christopher Fairbank as The Broker. Once again, they are all great in this movie.

The action. The action is fresh, fun and innovative, yet with all the cliches packed in. It's a great show of how Marvel can do all sorts of action.

A quick note about the credits scene: Baby Groot dancing was a cuteness overload. Just saying.

One feeling that I get from this movie is that Marvel is effectively saying "Hey, we've been pretty heavy and serious for the past few years. Here's a really cheesy and fun movie, which still adds to the overarching story that we're preparing!" I recommend this to everybody. The audience that this movie reaches is so diverse. people wanting silly, people wanting a good action flik, people wanting good story, wanting good acting, good videography, good soundtrack, etc. I think it's a defining movie for this generation of Marvel movies. So, go catch it while its still in theaters, or buy theDVD as soon as it comes out!

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off.

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