Evidently there is an embargo on Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables that screened yesterday. The review was up for twelve hours or so before I had to pull it down until December 11th.
I can talk about some points from last night’s Q & A with director Tom Hooper and stars Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, and Samantha Barks. Also, general shape of the race Oscar talk as it stands now.
- Lincoln and Argo have an official competitor in Hooper’s film. It could either tie or surpass Lincoln as the most nominated film on Oscar morning.
- Anne Hathaway wins Supporting Actress in a walk. Too much applause and crying all around during her number.
- Samantha Barks could join Hathaway in a Supporting Actress lineup but she needs precursors more than anything for the simple fact, she’s relatively unknown.
- Depending how much the Oscars LOVE Les Miserables will determine if Supporting Actors Russell Crowe and Eddie Redmayne stand a chance. One of them deserve a spot more than the other.
- Standing ovation when the credits rolled. RAPTUROUS applause as Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Hooper’s names came on the screen.
- Hooper says he finished the film at 2 am the night before. He also lied and said we were the first crowd to see the film, not knowing we all knew SAG members saw a screening right before us.
- Film is nearly 3 hours. Not too sure because I never looked at the time which SAYS A LOT!
Review will be back up on December 11th or sooner, depending if Universal lifts the embargo. Talk among yourselves at the prospects of Les Miserables. Tomorrow, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty will have its big unveil and can be spoken about tomorrow following the screening. Early word is it BLOWS the race WIDE-OPEN!
Comment and discuss!
Related Stories:
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway, Carl Barks, Cinema of the United Kingdom, Director, Eddie Redmayne, ER, Film, kathryn bigelow, Les Miserables, Nationality, Oscar, Samantha Barks, Seyfried, Tom Hooper
19 Comments
The NYT, I think, just posted their thoughts on the screening for Zero Dark Thirty. Sounds like Bigelow will be playing hardball with the boys again. I believe, this year, more than any other year in the last decade or so, is presenting us with a race so tight, so close, in so many fields that the upsets and wins will be legendary. The campaign PR teams better suit up!
GL(Quote) (Reply)
Well… With Argo, Lincoln, Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty I guess that “REVOLUTION” is the theme of the year!
Mikael(Quote) (Reply)
I will never fully understand the deal with embargoes. I get that the studio wants to control the hype, but then if you don’t want people to talk about your movie, then why even let people say they’ve seen it? Why show it at all for that matter if people can only pinky swear not to say anything for another two weeks? Feels a little ridiculous to me.
Anyway, it certainly sounds like with this film being a strong contender, the race is anybody’s game at this point. However, all that means is that we won’t have a clear picture until the precursors start rolling out. It’ll be interesting to see what the different organizations start to pick. If the top awards start to go to different films (like in 2006), then it’s going to be difficult to find a frontrunner, which is great news for us. I don’t care who wins an Oscar, I just like there to be some mystery as to who it will be.
Josh P.(Quote) (Reply)
Josh, most embargoes are to control spoilers, and hype. From an Awards PR point of view you don’t want your film to blow up to soon and fade out later on, you also certainly don’t want your film to be seen later and struggle to develop interest. Examples of that would be the classic “Up in the Air” campaign trail versus “Precious”. The latter was an earlier release that survived through word of mouth. Usually films released around award season are judged much more critically therefore backlashes are almost inevitable if not handled properly. That’s why I find award’s campaign so interesting. The consensus is that most films released around this time are brilliant but which one will they convince the public is the best is what the game is all about.
With Argo timeliness will be the important thing. The same can be said about Zero Dark Thirty. If Zero takes off, Argo will probably struggle a lot. Silver Linings Playbook is being sold as a feel good comedy, even though it’s a little more dramatic. It will struggle mainly because of that. If they want to win their campaign needs to regroup and start catering to a specific vital branch of the Academy, the Actors! Life of Pi is playing the same game Slumdog Millionaire played, it will be interesting if that works again. Lincoln is playing the epic card, a card which will probably be used by Les Mis. Django and The Hobbit are the last real contenders left. It will be interesting to see if Django plays well, if the The Master crowd will jump on that band-wagon instead.
This race is really tight in so many levels. It’s going to be a really good year.
GL(Quote) (Reply)
I get that studios want to control the conversation around their films. I just feel that if you don’t want people to talk about your movie until December 11, then why not wait until then to show them the movie? Even under embargo, you can just gather up all the reactions from twitter and get a sense of the film. I remember the big upset last year with a review of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” going up before its embargo lifted that was causing some waves. For me, it just seems like the best way to control the conversation about your movie is plan when you want people to see it, because in this world, everything is instantaneous and you should work with that.
Regardless, I’m still eager to see the film.
Josh P.(Quote) (Reply)
embargo or not this winning BP will not be happening unless there’s a split
John Rivera(Quote) (Reply)
Sorry, Clayton, i still have the review opened on my PC. I haven’t read it… but I will…
I think that if Les Mis or Lincoln win BP, it will be very hard for them to win BD. Spielberg’s won 2 and Hooper’s won against Fincher and Nolan in 2012 (and people can’t seem to shut up about that even after two years)! Therefore, I think that if either of them were to win, PTA would get the directors’ love and win (at least that’s what I’m hoping for, since I know The Master doesn’t have a prayer in BP).
Kathryn Bigelow, however… I could see her pulling of a BP and BD. She’s beloved (even though i didn’t think The Hurt Locker was the greatest thing ever and much prefered Up in the Air).
moviewatcher(Quote) (Reply)
Oh, and Hooper also won against Aranofsky for Black Swan!!!
Ok… I loved the king’s speech… but Inception, The Social Network and Black Swan are just masterpieces… 3 in one year…
I wouldn’t be surprised in 2012 has 3 or 4 masterpieces as well. The Master is one. Cloud Atlas is certainly a near-masterpiece (I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw it a week ago…). I haven’t seen Lincoln and am really looking forward to The Hobbit, Django, ZDT and Les Mis. they could all be 5* movies.
It’s only when this happens that I realize that… 2011 was such a crappy year for film…
moviewatcher(Quote) (Reply)
If anything 2012 has been slightly disappointing with The Dark Knight Rises, Lincoln and The Master being very good/great but not the masterpieces we all believed they could be. Both Nolan and PTA seemed destined to be lost in the shuffle of the Best Director race unless the NBR saves them. 2011 had some really great films some of which I consider masterpieces (Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris, Harry Potter, Jane Eyre, Shame), I can’t name five movies that are better than those so far, although my expectations are extremely high.
The Hurt Locker is a real American masterpiece. 94 on metacritic and a slew of awards including 6 Oscars doesn’t lie. That’s why I think Zero Dark Thirty is going to be the real dark horse and possible Oscar winner.
Now, my expectations for Les Mis couldn’t be higher. I will be getting my tickets for a Christmas showing stat. But above all, The Hobbit is coming out soon. The wait is almost over.
Will(Quote) (Reply)
I wouldn’t be surprised if Zero Dark Thirty wins pic and director due to how incredible The Hurt Locker is and that a woman is coming out with the ballsiest movie of the awards season. While there might not be a Tree of Life-like masterpiece this year, there a plenty of great films that have been released (The Grey being my favorite of the year and a true masterpiece I think).
Other great films of 2011: Drive, Warrior, The Artist, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, A Separation, Tintin, and The Muppets.
George(Quote) (Reply)
If Zero Dark Thirty is on the same level as Saving Private Ryan then it will defently be in contention
John Rivera(Quote) (Reply)
The Dark knight Rises had 2h and 20 mins of greatness (I’m talking TDK-level greatness) but then the last 20 minutes destroyed the whole thing for me.
But The Master… now that was an amazing experience. Two actors at the top of their game. Some of the most amazing scenes ever put on film (such as the first processing scene, the scene where joaquin walks back and forth wall/window, their parting scene, the scene where PSH gets questioned by that guy at the party, the scene with the motorcycle…). But then again, I do love PTA and his aesthetic. he’s my favorite of the 3 “young directors” (Tarantino, Anderson and Aranofsky).
Like I said, I’ve got 4 films that I’m really looking forward to seeing. So far, i’ve given 5 stars to 3 movies this year (The Master, Cloud Atlas and Amour). Holy Motors comes next. And Argo is right behind him. I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up giving 5 stars to those other 4 movies.
moviewatcher(Quote) (Reply)
The Master had some of the best scenes in the history of the medium? Don’t think even the biggest fans of that film would say that. Watch more movies moviewatcher.
Will(Quote) (Reply)
Only one of those I mentioned would make my “Great Scenes List”. The first processing scene. The other 4 are great but not as great.
moviewatcher(Quote) (Reply)
The Dark Knight Rises and The Master are my two favorite movies so far this year. Also, I know it may be annoying but I don’t think I’ll ever shutup about Hooper winning over Nolan, Aronofsky, and especially Fincher.
Jeremy DC(Quote) (Reply)
Both of you sound like 16 year old boys who love PTA and Nolan and haven’t seen enough actually great movies.
George(Quote) (Reply)
What about Affleck snagging director? Argo’s definitely still in the game.
UBourgeois(Quote) (Reply)
It’s all really very exciting! Hopefully Zero Dark Thirty packs more of a punch (for me) than did The Hurt Locker. I just felt THL was a bit long and diluted because of it.
Matthew Barker(Quote) (Reply)
For anyone who is having a problem with a “movie musical” or feeling as if they are not connecting with the story for any reason, I would recommend downloading the BBC radio broadcast of the 21st anniversary concert version and then seeing the movie as this version has a full narration before every song and was done in front of a live audience so you get the full spectrum of the background story, the music, and the audience reaction. Better for those not used to musical theater than even the 10th or 25th stage events. http://www.mediafire.com/?elhwq1yq4hqymhx
Jamie(Quote) (Reply)