"So dear, how would you like a nice dinner and see the movie Lay Ms.?"

[unintelligible gushing sound from her mouth]

"I'll take that as a yes."

Hugs, sobbing and more unintelligible lovey-dovey stuff.

"By the way, me and a few guys at work want to celebrate MLK by going to Vegas for 3 days, you cool with that?"

More unintelligible sobbing..blah blah blah.

"Score"

But hey, I didn't like the play, either. I will not be seeing that movie in the theater, I don't care how much I'm pestered.

The book, however, is every bit the classic it is cracked up to be.

Honestly, the music is the only thing that was ever worth a damn. The story has always sucked. And I can't see the music coming across on screen as it does on stage, so I have no intention of actually seeing this movie.

As in the one written by Victor Hugo? "Sucked", are you kidding?

...Pere Goriot.

Victor Hugo was to France as his contemporary Charles Dickens was to England.

There have also been two excellent movies produced, non-musicals.

1935 with Fredric March as Jean Valjean and Charles Laughton as Javert.

1998 with Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean and Geoffrey Rush as Javert.

Laughton, BTW, also was the Hunchback of Notre Dame (another great film, 1934) so he had that Hugo thing nailed.

I saw the movie yesterday with my wife, who went for the third time in a week.

Generally, I hate musicals. This was better than most. Hugh Jackman was excellent.

I can't stand Amanda Seyfried, though. She was a big negative for the movie.

Although in retrospect the part where Jean Valjean got Cosette away from the Thenardiers was pretty cool.

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long imprisonment. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let the girl go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

But the '98 one is worth watching.

Partially the difference between a 108 minute and a 134 minute version of the story.

The musical version in theatres now is 158 minutes.

Samantha Barks, who plays Eponine, and did so on Broadway in London as well.

I thought Marius was good as well.

The problem with making a movie musical is that, when you cast it with box office draws, they had better be able to sing. I don't think Russell Crowe can sing well enough, and Corky (Amanda Seyfried) was awful. How does she get any parts? She looks like a bug.

Probably because the actor played such an utter douche in "My Week with Marilyn" that I'll never think highly of him again.

You're right, he was a good singer.

"I Dreamed a Dream" scene. Womenz iz weird.