the most anticipated movie of my life?

About two years ago, completely out of the blue, my sister Val posed the following question to Blendy and me: If you had to marry an old guy, who would you choose?

Blendy chose Liam Neeson. Val chose Jeff Bridges. I chose Dennis Quaid. They said my choice didn't count because Dennis Quaid isn't old enough. In actuality, Quaid is only two years younger than Neeson and three years younger than our parents ... so I think that qualifies him as an old guy in this scenario. However, I'd still like to change my pick. But before I tell you who I'd change my pick to, watch this video. THIS is why I love Dennis Quaid!

Dennis Quaid is here! OK, now that we have that out of the way, which old guy would I marry? Hands down, no question about it: I'd pick Colm Wilkinson. Have you heard the man sing? He was the original Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (the musical). I have the CD and DVD 10th Anniversary Concert sets, and I can't get enough of them. And then there's this video from the 25th Anniversary Concert. Or this one. Love!

I fell in love with Les Mis (and Wilkinson) in 1999 when I saw the 10th Anniversary Concert on PBS. Since then, I've seen the Broadway touring company twice, and I watched the 25th Anniversary Concert on PBS three or four times (in my opinion, neither lived up to the amazingness that was the 10th Anniversary Concert). So when I heard that the stage musical was being made into a movie musical, I eagerly devoured each piece of news I could find. And the best news? That Wilkinson would play the Bishop of Digne. It's a very small role, yet I was thrilled that he would at least get to sing in the film.

As the movie's release approached, I got more excited by the day. I even spent nearly as much time listening to my Les Mis 10th Anniversary Concert CDs as I spent listening to Christmas music in the last couple weeks.

And then Friday happened.

That's the day the movie soundtrack released. Well, actually it's a "highlights" album, though I have no clue how they decided what to call a highlight. "Do You Hear the People Sing?" didn't make the cut! That quibble aside, I still wasn't thrilled with the album. There's a lot more acting than singing going on—something that I expect to work marvelously in the film, but it doesn't make for a good listening (or sing-along) experience. I was so disturbed that I even reviewed the album, even though I didn't have to (something that very rarely happens anymore).

Now, Les Miserables is in theaters. My mom, sisters, and I will see it at 12:30 this afternoon. And now I find that, while this has indeed been the most anticipated movie of my life, my expectations are no longer in the stratosphere, just in the clouds. And I'll probably enjoy the film much more with my lowered expectations!

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the. best. news.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Taylor Swift being offered the role of Eponine in the Les Misérables movie. Tonight, Les Mis fans breathed a collective sigh of relief—Swift will not be playing Eponine. (OK, so I didn't sigh so much as clap and cheer ...) Instead, the role has gone to Samantha Barks, who played Eponine in the 25th Anniversary Concert in 2010. She will be fabulous!  

hating on thomas and tswift

I haven't done a bulleted list of randomness for a long time. So here you go!

• I'm sick of reading. This is not good for a book blogger, but it's where I am right now. I've been sticking to my goal of only requesting books I'm really interested in reading, but this does not help me now, as the books due in January and February were requested in December or earlier. For the most part, these are books that I really wanted to read at the time ... I just don't feel like reading them now!
• Are you watching Downton Abbey? If not, why not? Season One just won a Golden Globe last night, and it won several Emmy Awards last year, also. Downton is set in the time leading up to and during World War I. It's in the vein of Upstairs, Downstairs in that it deals with an aristocratic family and the family's servants. Season Two is, so far, a bit toned down from Season One—the "evil" characters are, for the most part, less evil, and much of the family conflict has diminished. I still absolutely loathe Thomas, though ... so much so that I tweeted the following last night:

  Thomas doesn't even have to be on screen for my loathing of him to grow--all it takes is a mention of his name! #DowntonPBS

  Also, I would marry Matthew Crawley or Mr. Bates in a heartbeat. Downton airs on PBS on Sunday nights through February 19, and you can watch Season One on pbs.org through tomorrow or on Netflix.
• Les Misérables — the musical version — is finally coming to the big screen. I was so excited when I first heard — but one of the casting choices has given me pause. Let's start with the ones I (more or less) approve of. Colm Wilkinson is Valjean. However, he's getting a bit old and wouldn't have the draw of someone with the star power of, say, Hugh Jackman, who has been cast in the role. Jackman does have a wonderful voice (see his 2009 Oscar performance here, which also features Anne Hathaway, who has been cast as Fantine), and I'm sure he'll do the role justice, but I still worry about "Bring Him Home." Though I don't know anything about Russell Crowe's vocal chops, I can buy him as Javert. And Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen strike me as the perfect Thénardiers. But Taylor Swift as Eponine? Please excuse me while I throw up. (As far as I know, she hasn't accepted the role yet, but it's been offered.) I'm normally pretty ambivalent toward TSwift, but Eponine? Really? I could see her as Cosette, perhaps, if they absolutely had to cast her (her popularity will probably bring girls to the theater). I shudder to think of what "On My Own" would sound like coming out of Swift's mouth. (Lea Salonga, who in my mind is the definitive Eponine, sings it here.) Was Lea Michele unavailable or something? 'Cause she would be perfect. (Plus, we already know how she would sound singing "On My Own." Fabulous!) ***Update 2-1-12: Taylor Swift will not be playing Eponine. I feel like we Les Mis fans dodged a bullet here!***
• I've discovered a way to get in more steps for the Ja-La-Sta 10,000 Steps Walking Challenge while also keeping up with my commitment to read through the Bible this year — I pull up YouVersion on my computer and listen to the AudioBible! My house is basically set up in a circle with the living room at the front and the kitchen at the back. So I crank the volume on my computer and walk in a 25-step circle for the 40 minutes or so it takes to get through the day's chapters. It's a bit monotonous, but having Scripture to focus my mind on makes the time go faster.
• I've once again been sucked into the trashy world of The Bachelor. (I prefer The Bachelorette because the guys aren't so catty, but I'm enjoying this, too.) Normally, I seek out Reality Steve's spoilers, but I decided that this year, I would just wait and watch the season play out. Then I accidentally ran into a major (MAJOR!) spoiler. I was not happy. My sister Blendy has ended her long blogging hiatus by writing her thoughts after the first two episodes. See her post here and give her some comment love! 
• Southwest Airlines rocks! Low fares. Bags fly free. And now this: Blendy and I got ridiculously cheap tickets to fly out to see Val next month, and a bunch of us decided to go together to buy tickets for our friend Jamie to go with us. Because we didn't get her tickets during the sale, they were much more expensive. Well, we didn't exactly clear the dates with Jamie first (not a smart move, but it was supposed to be a surprise), and she has parent-teacher conferences on the day of our return. So tonight I went to southwest.com to change her itinerary ... and I was pleasantly surprised to discover they don't have any trip change fees! And, since they're currently running a sale, I was able to get her new tickets for less money than her old tickets! Unfortunately, the first tickets were non-refundable, but if she wants to fly anywhere else before next November, she has a $30 credit to work with! 

There's my list of things that have been on my mind. What about you? Any books, movies, or TV shows you're loving? Want to throw things at me for suggesting Taylor Swift may not be right for the role of Eponine? Want to get something else off your chest? Tell us about it in the comments!