Win Les Miz on Blu-Ray/DVD

I have three copies of Les Misérables Blu-ray™ Combo Pack to give out to you, the musically inclined readership. But first a brief message from the generous studio who'll send it to you should you win!

Academy Award® nominee Hugh Jackman and Academy Award® winners Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway star in Les Misérables, the critically acclaimed adaptation of the epic musical phenomenon.  Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells the story of ex-prisoner Jean Valjean (Jackman), hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe), after he breaks parole.  When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever. 

 

Les Misérables arrives on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand March 22 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The Blu-ray™ Combo Pack is loaded with an extra 45 minutes of exclusive content taking viewers behind the scenes of the groundbreaking production for an unmatched entertainment experience and includes a Blu-ray™ disc, DVD, Digital Copy and UltraViolet™ for the ultimate, complete viewing experience.

Do you hear the people sing... about entering reader appreciation contests?

Here's what you have to do before March 21st at Noon to enter:

1. Send me a message with LES MIZ BLU in the subject line with your name & shipping address (kept private unless you win in which case the studio gets it to send you your gift) and...
2. answer the following three questions (which might be reprinted here):
   1) which type of bread would you bake for Hugh Jackman so he doesn't have to steal a loaf?
   2) which movie prostitute do you most wish had sung deathbed songs before a cruel passing a la Anne Hathaway?
   3) Bring Him Home? (Crowe, Redmayne, Jackman or Tveit?)
3. Not Mandatory.
   For 1 extra entry like TFE on Facebook.
   For 5 extra entries, you can sing your show-tune loving lungs out in a video.

THREE WINNERS WILL BE DRAWN AT RANDOM ON MARCH 21ST. Will You Join In Our CRUSADE Contest? Even if you aren't entering, I expect answers to the bread, hooker, and home-bringing question right here in the comments. You know you wanna

Posterized: The Land of Oz

With Oz: The Great and Powerful hitting movie theaters today and having just remembered one of the all time greats The Wizard of Oz with the season premiere of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" I thought we'd honor the land of Oz, the now 113 year old creation of L Frank Baum with this week's edition of Posterized.

The Wizard of Oz (1939), Journey Back to Oz (1974), The Wiz (1978)

Under the Rainbow (1981), Return to Oz (1985), Wild at Heart (1990)

Wicked (stage musical, 2004), The Muppets Wizard of Oz (2005), Tin Man (miniseries, 2011)

I'm sure I'm missing some titles that spin heavily from the Oz myth but I came up with nine entertainments, preceding Oz: The Great and Powerful so let's discuss. (If you can think of more like Wild at Heart or Under the Rainbow that trade heavily on Oz imagery or history, without being 'Land of Oz' films, do share.) 

How many have you seen?

 I can't say that I've seen that many of these as I tend to avoid anything I fear might shamelessly rip off one of the greatest films of all time and thereby tarnish its memory. There will most certainly be more grave robbers coming now that Oz has beenin the public domain for awhile. But, my reservations about all new Oz product aside, I'm still dying to see a film version of "Wicked. I couldn't stop thinking of it all through the new picture. (It was like when they made that Les Miz movie in the 90s and it wasn't the musical. Why?)

Smash: "The Song" & "The Read-Through"

What's happening on SMASH: They're trying to make Jennifer Hudson happen.Sometime last week between episodes four and five of Smash's ill-fated second season I had an unhappy epiphany: I was no longer looking forward to new episodes of "Smash". Last season, when everyone else was 'hate-watching' I was actually unironically enjoying. Yes, it had issues but where else were you going to see showtunes on TV? And besides, MANY shows have troubled first seasons as they find their voice. Bunheads, for example, recently leapfrogged from 'who-is-this-for?' curio to must-watch in the final episodes of its first season.

Yet, for all of my "Support the Musicals!" blog fervor, Smash is now a chore. They've basically cut the staged musical numbers and all we're left with is solos on bare stages or by pianos, usually by Jennifer Hudson. "The Song" as an episode was, and I couldn't believe it, a Jennifer Hudson concert. That was the plot! She's a fine singer but not a good actress and therefore hardly worth tuning into as the lead of a serialized scripted television. (I'm as surprised as you that the show suddenly thinks of her as the lead. I thought it was a guest arc!). Smash already fell on this sword in season 1 whilst trying to make Katharine McPhee happen. 

Ivy & Karen are reduced to back-up singers... wth showrunners?

More...

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Podcast: Oscar Night Season Wrap

For the final podcast of the season, Joe Reid, Katey Rich, Nick Davis, and me, your host, Nathaniel R let reader questions be our guide for this spontaneous Oscar Night Review.

Topics include but are not limited to:

• Musical Performances: Adele, Shirley Bassey, Babs, Jennifer Hudson, and Catherine Zeta-Jones's Jazz
• Future Nominations or Backlash for the winners: Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Lawrence or Anne Hathaway?
• Ben Affleck's speech
• Can Michael Haneke ever return?
• What were the best reaction shots and when did we do our best reaction shots from home?
• On Naomi Watts' career choices and Oscar's love of "it" girls
• Documentary and Costume Design
• Seth Macfarlane versus Jokes and Musical Theme
• Emmanuelle Riva cutaways

You can download the podcast on iTunes or listen right here at the end of the post. 

All That (85th Oscars) Jazz
The Big Night: Fun Arrivals, Winner's List, Jennifer Lawrence in the Press Room
The Look Back: Seth's Hosting, Funniest Tweets, & This Podcast
The Fashions: Fifteen Men, The Ten Nominated Ladies, Goodbye Glamour

Oscar Night Season Finale

A Musical Diversion

Composer Adam GuettelKnowing that the next 48 hours for most of us (well, the next 96 for me) would be filled with nothing but Oscar Mania, last night I went totally off-cinema to a night of cabaret with brilliant and unprolific composer Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins, The Light in the Piazza). [Tonight is the finale, the 8:30 is sold out but there's one more available at 11:00 pm]  Although I wasn't thinking it through properly exactly. The night didn't turn out to be all that off-cinema since the material and the train of thought kept rushing there.

Guettel is, famously, the grandson of the legendary and prolific composer Richard Rodgers, the first person to ever EGOT. Rodgers practically defined the American musical with his first partner Lorenz Hart and his second Oscar Hammerstein II: Babes in Arms, Pal Joey, The Sound of Music, The King and I, Carousel, Oklahoma... the list goes on and on and on. Guettel is an engaging witty stage presence (and unlike many composers has a beautiful singing voice to boot) but his grandfather's long shadow was ever present and referenced in self-deprecating hilarious ways.  And yet after I was done laughing I felt totally sad. The world's resistance to the musical form, and Guettel's own personal creative struggles have combined in an truly unfortunate way and we're all missing out!

Floyd Collins (1996) and The Light in the Piazza (2003) Guettel's two most famous shows are nearly breath-stoppingly beautiful musical works. I personally think both would make utterly rich film musicals if done correctly (The Light in the Piazza was already a movie, albeit a non-musical one) and since they're also serious period pieces they could be Oscar hits, too. Not that that matters... but it's just something for movie producers who might be reading to think about *cough*. If Floyd Collins, a true story of a miner trapped in a cave, was approached with the conviction and delicacy of something like Once it could be a movie masterpiece. And I've long felt that if Piazza went back to screen, there'd be a potential Best Actress winning role for the 40something/50something actress who got the plum lead role. 

In the years before/between/after? Guettel has written unfinished works and three musicals that are based on movies...

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