Crippie Reviews Les Mis!

Happy Holidays Y'all!

I hope everyone has been having an awesome Christmas week. I spent Christmas Day in the manner that any Jew would... at the movies. I saw Les Miserables with my family. Figured I might as well give a review for you guys.

First off... I've seen the show on Broadway, and my family is mainly comprised of theatre nerds. Now on to the review!

Holy crap this movie was long. 2 hours and 40 minutes to be exact... but it was a long ass show too, so it kinda comes with the territory. That being said I LOVED the movie. It stayed pretty damn true to show, which I approve of. I think the story transitioned to the screen relatively well... it was a little confusing at times... but then again so was the show. Most of the acting was incredible. Hugh Jackman was a convincing Jean Valjean, even though he couldn't hit all of the notes in "Bring Him Home" it was still passable. Amanda Seyfried and Samantha Barks played the parts Cosette and Eponine well... even though there really was never a whole lot to their characters. Oh well, Eponine didn't screw up "On My Own" so that's all that really matters. Eddie Redmayne was rather adorable as Marius, and he freaking nailed "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" (one of my favorite songs from the show). Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter played the Thenardier's in a delightful fashion. When I saw the show I thought those characters were really stupid and very forced comic relief. "Master of the House" was a surprisingly entertaining number in the movie, one I didn't particularly care for in the show. Of course Anne Hathaway was fan-freaking-tastic as Fantine. She added so much depth and realism to the part, it's amazing. When I saw the show I wasn't all that impressed with Fantine's character. I was like "ok, she's a prostitute... and now she's sad". Her performance was definitely a highlight. Also, the kids who played young Cosette and Gavroche were surprisingly good. Child actors can be hit and miss, but these guys sang and acted very well. Also, all of the student revolutionaries were adorable and I want to cuddle them all.

As far as acting goes, as awesome as everyone else was... RUSSELL CROWE SUCKED SO FREAKING MUCH! His voice was just not suited for Javert. Not at all. Most of his songs were terrible. Also, it appears that he cannot act and sing at the same time. Which is a problem. On the bright side, he didn't completely mess up "Confrontation" (my favorite song from the show). Hey Russell, take a cue from and NPH and put a little feeling into the role.

One of the great things about the movie versa the show is that in the movie the actors were allowed to make the songs more "realistic" and less "pretty". Definitely brought more emotion into the story as a whole (EXCEPT FOR RUSSELL CROWE DAMN IT). The thing was visually stunning also. Lots of interesting shots and camera angles. Not to mention the pretty typography whenever they had a time change.

Overall, if you enjoy musical theatre and Les Mis in general... GO SEE IT! TOTALLY WORTH IT! If thought the movie was about the French Revolution and some whores, well... then you might wanna skip it. My dad saw it was us and he HATED IT... SO MUCH. He had no idea what was going on, or what the point of it was. He may forgive us eventually for making him go ;)

In the meantime I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week. I'll be spending tomorrow in a car, going on a road trip to see some family and a few cripples! I should be able to post while I'm away.

Crippie's Tippie - If you don't like musicals... don't see Les Mis... YOU WILL HATE IT

NOMS!

Ohai Y'all

Hope you guys had a super fantastic Friday! I spent Thursday and today working and further bracing for surgery. Yesterday I started to makeover my crutches (pictures soon) and today I got my disability forms and I formulated my post-op grocery list.

After surgery I'm usually sick to my stomach and I lose my appetite for about 3-4 days. What food I do eat is usually on the bland side. I figured I'd share my list with y'all... maybe it'll be useful to someone

1) Ice Pops - If I need to be intubated during surgery, my throat will hurt like a mofo for a few days. Ice Pops (or Italian Ices) definitely help sooth a sore throat. Unfortunately ice cream is too heavy to do any service here :(

2) Ginger Ale - It has a tiny bit of flavor, and it helps with tummy issues... gotta love it

3) Coca-Cola - NOT PEPSI, Coke syrup helps with nausea

4) Bread & Butter - A classic "my tummy will kill me if I eat, but I have to eat" meal

5) Saltines - The classic "I think I'm gonna hurl I need to eat something" cracker

6) Turkey - When my appetite starts to pick up, Turkey is bland enough to not upset anything

7) Cereal (I like Cheerios) - Great for when you want a little nosh

That's about it there, do you guys have any post-op noms you wanna share?

Fanny will be removed in about 4 days, and I'm still not nervous. It's probably because I've been occupied with work, and said work has been really enjoyable. Keeping busy definitely helps the nerves. I'll be veeerrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyy busy on Monday so hopefully that'll keep the jitters at bay. If not, Monday night I'll take a handy dandy valium and that should do the trick! I have some potential plans to keep busy this weekend, gonna try and get out of the house for as long as possible... cause I'm pretty much gonna be spending the next 3 weeks at home.

I need to start coming up with things to do while I'm stuck in the house. Can any of you guys recommend and good movies or TV shows to watch? I have just been informed that the best show of the 90's "Dinosaurs" is on Netflix in it's entirety, that should take up a few days ;) The main thing I'll be doing is spreading the word about my Scentsy Fundraiser. If you guys could pretty please spread the word with me it would mean a lot :) You can now grab the button for the fundraiser and put it on your own blogs! (again, if anyone has a charity they want me to promote, hit me up)

A word to my local readers, I will be having a physical scentsy party on September 29th. Email me if y'all would like some info on that!

Well, that's about it for tonight, have a great weekend everybody!

Crippie's Tippie - Never underestimate the power of a glass of ginger ale and some crackers for an upset tummy

The Hunchback of Notre Lame

Bonjour!

I sincerely hope all of my wonderful readers are enjoying their weekends. Thus far mine has been pretty good. I saw a local children's production of "Godspell" that was rather adorable and tomorrow my friend is gonna come over for pizza and a movie.
Speaking of movies, for the past couple of days Crippie has been trying to think of any recent movies that are actually offensive to the disabled community. Crippie could think of plenty of movies that have used the word "Retard" or "Cripple"... but they're all intentionally offensive. It took a while and Crippie had to redefine "recent" but she found one... Disney's 1996 classic "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"! Why is it offensive? Prepare for the Crippie Rant!

<CrippieRant>
Okay, the cripple is considered a monster and is forced to live in a tower, I get it. That's not the problem. Let's think back to every Disney movie that involves a romantic interest, how many of them end up together? Hmmm... oh yeah... EVERYONE EXCEPT THE CRIPPLE! Poor Quasimodo loves Esmerelda but noooooooooooooooo he gets friend-zoned while she falls for the "hunk" Phoebus. It's not like Quasimodo saves Esmerelda's ass on countless occasions or pulls her off a burning stake or anything... oh wait... HE DID. Did him not getting the girl he pulled off a flaming stake help the story or prove a point? Yeah, it sure does prove a point... it doesn't matter how heroic you are... if you are horribly disfigured you will never get the girl! 
While yes, Quasimodo eventualllllllllyyyyyyyy finds love in the horribly contrived sequel, it had nothing to do with the original plot and I think it was their way of saying "fine... the Cripple can get a girl too, she's from a Circus. There. Happy?" The only thing I can say in the movie's defense is that the soundtrack was awesome... almost Broadway like.
</CrippleRant>

So there ya have it folks! That's probably the only recent film that has offended Crippie. What do you guys think? Agree? Disagree? Did you forget that movie even existed?

In unrelated guinea pig news, my prior post on piggie introductions was featured HERE, with a lovely picture of Mama Pig. Mama Pig is beyond flattered.

Crippie's Tippie - Wanna see a good Disney movie that deals with disabilities? Go find Nemo ;)