arts & entertainment
Dec. 14, 2012
11
winter
movie
PREVIEW
By Tom Schueneman & Andrew McVea
OPINION EDITOR & FEATURE/IN-DEPTH EDITOR
ZERO DARK THIRTY
In 2009, The Hurt Locker made a surprise sweep of the major Academy Awards, winning not only Best
Picture, but Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor for Jeremy Renner, and Best Director for Katherine Bigelow. It did not take long for Bigelow to begin work on a follow-up, Zero Dark Thirty, this time with the
much wider focus of U.S. efforts to capture Osama bin Laden. Production actually began before the raid
that killed bin Laden, and the screenplay had to be dramatically revised in order to account for this.
The film encountered controversy during the presidential election, when it was asserted it was a political propaganda piece meant to highlight President Obama’s role in the killing of bin Laden. As a result,
the release was pushed back to Dec. 19, after the election.
Though set in a war, Zero Dark Thirty’s predecessor was more of a character study set in a war than a
conventional war movie. However, given Zero Dark Thirty’s wider focus, it will be interesting to see if it
can manage the level of character development that made its predecessor so brilliant. Regardless, it will
no doubt be an exciting and engaging thrill ride.
DJANGO UNCHAINED
Quentin Tarantino is a name that should need no introduction. The director of Pulp Fiction and Kill
Bill has made a career out of stylizing violence. But there is more to his films than just outlandish situations and gratuitous bloodshed. Tarantino’s films are wonderfully absurd, and stylish. They’re also surprisingly thoughtful, steeped in cinema tradition — specifically low-budget cinema tradition: kung fu movies,
50’s B-movies, exploitation films and especially spaghetti westerns. The influence of this last genre is readily visible in Tarantino’s most recent film, 2009’s Inglourious Basterds, but this year’s Django Unchained
promises to be the director’s most literal interpretation of the genre yet. Set in the pre-Civil War South, the
film follows Django (Jamie Foxx) working alongside a dentist turned bounty hunter played by Cristoph
Waltz (who won an Oscar for his portrayal of a Nazi officer in Inglourious Basterds) as he attempts to free
his wife from a brutal slave owner played by Leonardo DiCaprio. It may not be the most conventional of
ensembles, but it’s definitely not short on talent, and the premise is certainly promising. Expect to see this
one on top-ten lists, and perhaps even for it to be given an Oscar nod. It should also be safe to expect at
least one Mexican standoff.
THE HOBBIT
One does not simply ignore the new Hobbit
movie. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which
comes out Dec. 15, follows Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, which is a short humanlike creature with hairy
feet. One day, the wizard Gandalf the Grey brings
a band of dwarves into his home in the Shire, and
before you can say “my precious” they are off to save
Lonely Mountain from the hideous dragon Smaug.
The film is based on The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The
Hobbit will be divided into three movies, the first
two based directly on the book and the third more
loosely based on it. The first film will have to do
with the group’s journey to Lonely Mountain.
Many of the actors from the Lord of the Rings
trilogy will be reprising their roles, including Ian
McKellen as Gandalf, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
and Andy Serkis as Gollum. Directing the film is
Peter Jackson, another familiar face. Jackson directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy and won Best Director for The Return of the King, and he will again be
leading the audience through Middle Earth. This is
great news, because Jackson has more than proved
himself before with Tolkien’s material. He is very
true to the books, but is not afraid to take creative
liberties to improve the transition of the books to
film. His movies are also filled with tons of great
references to the Tolkien universe. Many of these
come from The Silmarillion, which is essentially
a history of Middle Earth. This book extensively
details the history and culture of Middle Earth,
including some of the languages like Elvish and
Dwarvish. Jackson uses this book to craft deeper
cultural identities and characters, and his use of it
is one of the reasons why he is so perfect for the job.
Playing the lead role of Bilbo is Martin Freeman, an actor new to Middle Earth. While previously best known for his comedic acting as Tim in
The Office, he has begun turning heads as a more
serious actor as Watson in the BBC series Sherlock.
His Holmes colleague, Benedict Cumberbatch,
will also be in the movie as the voice of Smaug, the
dragon and main antagonist of the film. Cumberbatch will also be playing the Necromancer, also
known as Sauron, who created the ring to rule
them all. The remainder of the cast is filled mostly
with unknown actors who will be playing the band
of dwarves that accompanies Bilbo on his journey.
So far, little about the new Hobbit movie has
been revealed in the trailers. Most of what is shown
is small snippets of action and some setting of the
scene. One portion that is shown with some length
is when Bilbo meets Gollum. Jackson’s interpretation of Gollum was one of my favorite aspects of
the Lord of the Rings films, and Gollum’s frightening madness and aggression are on display for this
scene.
If the new Hobbit trilogy manages to stay close
to the quality of The Lord of the Rings, this will be
a movie worth seeing. With the addition of three
new movies, The Lord of the Rings might become
the film series to rule them all.
LES
MISÉRABLES
“I dreamed a dream in time gone by when hope was high and life worth
living.”
So begins the song “I Dreamed a Dream” from the timeless musical classic Les Misérables. After much waiting and anticipation, that time has finally
returned. The popular stage musical is being brought to the big screen Dec.
25 in a movie adaptation.
A movie version of Les Misérables has been a long time coming. It was
originally set to go in production in the early nineties, but was shelved until
the recent surge in popularity of the musical brought it back into the limelight. Much of this can be attributed to the British singer Susan Boyle, whose
rendition of the tune “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent created
newfound interest in the musical. Although the movie will be directly adapted from the popular stage musical that came out in 1980, the original source
material comes from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, which is considered
one of the greatest novels of all time. The book follows the lives of multiple
Frenchmen leading up to the June Rebellion in 1832. The main character of
the novel is Jean Valjean, a man who was imprisoned for 19 years because he
stole a loaf of bread for his starving children.
Starring as Valjean is Hugh Jackman, probably most famous for his portrayal of Wolverine in the X-Men movies. Despite being known as mostly an
action-film star, Jackman is an accomplished musical actor and won a Tony
award starring in the musical The Boy from Oz. When he hosted the Oscars
a few years ago, he showed off his Broadway chops with fellow cast member
Anne Hathaway. She will be playing Fantine, who sings the musical’s most
famous song, “I Dreamed a Dream.” The cast is filled with great actors, and
there is plenty of movie-musical experience to go around. Amanda Seyfried,
who starred in Mamma Mia, and Helena Bonham Carter, who was in Sweeney Todd, both play minor characters in Les Misérables. The only possibly
miscast part is Javert. Russell Crowe plays the coldhearted inspector. Although Crowe is a great choice because of his acting style and overall aura, he
is not known as a singer. While he certainly won’t need to belt like Hathaway
or Jackman, Javert does have multiple singing parts, and based on the previews, Crowe will not be wowing anyone with his musical ability.
Tom Hooper, who recently directed the critically acclaimed film The
King’s Speech, brings us this adaptation of Les Misérables. This is his first
foray into the world of musicals, yet he is already bringing in innovation that
may radically change how movie musicals are filmed in the future. In most
musicals, before the cameras start rolling, the cast gets together and records
an album with all of the songs that will be in the movie. When they film the
music sequences, the actors lip-sync to this album while also acting. Instead
of using this approach, Hooper had the actors sing live on camera. While this
means the actors will have to sing perfectly and act at the same time, it also
means the music and the visuals will be more connected emotionally.
Clocking in at over two and half hours, Les Misérables will be a very long
film, but even at that length I worry it may not be able to include everything
important. The novel lasts over 1000 pages, and the stage version, which lasts
over three hours, is unable to suitably cover everything in the original novel.
There have already been a few test screenings of the film, and many critics
are buzzing that it could be an Oscar contender for Best Picture. Like the love
of Fantine, hopefully it will “fill [our] days with endless wonder.”