While soon to be Country superstar Tate Stevens was crowned winner of the X-Factor last week, the boys from One Direction wowed the nation with a performance of their new single “Kiss You” from their sophomore album Take Me Home: Yearbook. Take a look at the fun performance below. Take Me Home: Yearbook is now available nationwide for digital download on iTunes and retail outlets everywhere from Columbia Records.
When Les Miserables opened on Broadway close to 30 years ago, it was panned by many critics who called it “The Miserables” and labeled it a depressing musical that was sure to shutter within weeks. Yet despite these criticisms, the show went on to become one of the biggest hits of all-time and was nominated for an astonishing 12 Tony Awards, winning 8 of them, including the coveted Award for Best Musical. So it’s no exaggeration that the film version, which opened to a record $18.6 million on Christmas Day, has taken close to three decades to come to fruition. And this film version of the famed musical does not disappoint. Producer of the Broadway and West End (and tours and multiple revivals) staging Cameron Mackintosh followed the entire production closely; and his talented and skillful hand is evident throughout the film.
And director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) has also brought every detail of the musical to vibrant life. A few key elements of the story have shifted here and there and there have been some much appreciated details added to the historic context of the storyline. But when film adaptations like RENT and Rock of Ages failed in their attempts to augment their source material, Les Miz is unbelievably successful. Perhaps the biggest strength of the film is its cast. Hugh Jackman gives an absolutely flawless performance as Jean Valjean; and Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Fantine is likely to win her the Academy Award, and deservedly so. Her singing is pitch perfect in just the right spots; and her intonation and timing is impeccable as she brings the plight of her character vividly to life. It is important to note that the actors all sang live during filming. This is in stark contrast to the manner in which prior musicals have been filmed, with actors recording their roles in studio and then lip-synching during filming (note the 1996 film EVITA also featured some live singing; but only a few very small parts were orchestrated in this manner).
Other key performers, including Samantha Barks (Eponine), Amanda Seyfried (Cosette), and Eddie Redmayne (Marius) are spot-on perfect while the Thenardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) provide comical relief adequately. Unfortunately, Russel Crowe ultimately falls flat as Inspector Javert. Like Pierce Brosnon’s performance in Mamma Mia!, Crowe’s singing ability is questionable; and while his acting is superb, in a movie musical, the vocals are essential. With an ensemble of veteran stage actors and other highly talented musical theater actors, Crowe sometimes feels out of place and is definitely outmatched by his costars. And the live recording of the actors, while innovative and certainly appropriate, sometimes drowns out the beautifully lush and full sound of the accompanying orchestra. But even with these minor drawbacks, Les Miserables soars! It is by far the most outstanding film of 2012 and should (hopefully) sweep the awards. Rightly so, the movie is nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Picture; and Anne Hathaway (Supporting Actress) and Hugh Jackman (Actor) have received nominations for their performances as well. “Suddenly” the one new song written specifically for the film (which I wasn’t overly impressed with) is also nominated for Best Song. Let’s hope it wins all four of its nominated categories.
Les Miserables is now playing nationwide from Universal Pictures and is rated PG-13.
The UCF Knights (10-4; 6-2 C-USA) most likely played their last game as members of Conference USA in their 38-17 victory over Ball State (9-4; 6-2 MAC) in the 2012 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl. The win was the Knights second ever bowl game victory (the other was 2010’s Liberty Bowl win over Georgia). UCF will now move on as members of the Big East Conference and are scheduled to become full-members in the league in June 2013. However, the Big East Conference UCF thought it was joining has been severely depleted in the shifting alignments in the NCAA IA conferences, with West Virginia, TCU, Syracuse, Rutgers, Louisville, Notre Dame, and the 7 Catholic universities that were basketball-only members committing to join other conferences. All UCF can do now is wait to see where the final chips in the alignment process fall. But with the additions of East Carolina and Tulane (along with other several C-USA teams), it’s looking more and more like the Big East is not nearly as an attractive conference as originally perceived.
Another issue lingering for the Knights is an NCAA appeal that is scheduled to be heard in January. UCF received strict sanctions as a result of serious recruiting violations; and a several penalty believed to be harshly unfair was a 2012 post-season ban that would’ve prevented UCF from playing for a Conference Championship and bowl matchup. The University hired college sports attorneys and other legal experts to help in their appeal process. If UCF loses the appeal, then it will face a post-season ban in the last remaining season that the Big East qualifies for an automatic BCS bowl slot, which could be quite costly as it would allow seniors to transfer and result in a loss of millions of potential revenue. While the Knight Nation is proud of UCF’s successes in 2012, the uncertainty of the future for UCF’s athletics programs and the fate of its 2013 football post-season leave some serious concerns that only time will answer.
Photo Courtesy Orlando Sentinel.
The UCF Knights (9-4; 6-2 C-USA) lost to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (10-3; 7-1 C-USA) 33-27 Saturday in the Conference USA Championship Game broadcasted nationally on ESPN2. The Knights’ loss came after a very controversial third quarter punt return that was marked as dead by game officials; review of the film of the game showed that the field referee called the play dead, waved his hands to signify that, and then a player from Tulsa came off of the sideline and blocked a defender, setting up the touchdown. While the score probably gave Tulsa the win, there was struggling by UCF both offensively and defensively throughout the game. And penalties were costly for the Knights. The loss cost the Knights a berth in the Liberty Bowl, where Tulsa will now go on to face Iowa State. UCF instead will play the Ball State Cardinals (9-3; 6-2 Mid American Conference) in the St. Pete Bowl (sponsored by Beef O’Brady’s) on Friday December 21st. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm and the game will be nationally broadcast in the primetime spot on ESPN. Below, take a look at the highlights of UCF’s loss in the Championship Game to Tulsa from Conference USA’s Point After:
Photo Courtesy Orlando Sentinel.
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