MOVIE REVIEW - '"THE GREATEST SHOWMAN"

I managed to watch the human side of Hugh Jackman on screen finally. All this while he had been a Wolverine. Playing the character of P.T. Barnum, the founder of the Ringling and The Barnum & Bailey Circus, "The Greatest Showman" tells the life story of one of the prominent figures in American entertainment industry. 

I always wanted to go to Singapore to watch a live theatre performance, but for now, I had to settle for this musical. Even though the setting was of New York's 17th century - the music and the dance were very contemporary, and I enjoyed the whole movie very much.

I just hope this film will win at the coming Academy Award for Best Costume Design or Best Make Up and Hairstyling, or Best Original Score/Original Song.

"The noblest art is of making others happy."
~ P.T. Barnum ~

MOVIE REVIEW - "LES MISERABLES"

"Do you hear the people sing?

Singing a song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!"

I just had to go watch this movie after all the hard work that I had done before the registration day and the first day of school, before I have to continue with other endless list of tasks to be completed.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to write the synopsis of the movie. The characters were all French and I could not even spell them correctly. The plot was a bit complicated, moving from one setting to another within a long span of time. That didn't matter as the three main actors, Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe and Anne Hathaway, displayed superb performance as if I was watching a live theatre show. The scene that had made me to believe that everything was real and not acting was when Fantine (Anne Hathaway) was singing "I Dreamed a Dream" after she was forced into prostitution - I will not be surprised if she will be nominated for the Academy Award for that. I would give the movie a standing ovation and then shout "encore, encore" while clapping my hands until my palms turn red.

For the plot of the movie, which was a blend of romance and actions set against the era of French Revolution, click here.

We are so used to seeing Hugh Jackman and Russel Crowe playing the roles of other prominent characters like Wolverine and Gladiator, I found this very funny review posted on a friend's FB wall.

It was a good start for the year 2013 and I am looking forward to a few more movies coming after this. However, I do hope that I will have the chance to watch a real theatre (the last time I did that was like trillion years ago) and perhaps I need to cross over to the neighbouring country, Singapore, to do just that. Any follower?

And to conclude, here's a video of Susan Boyle singing one of the songs from the musical in her audition for "Britains Got Talent". Enjoy!

*NOTE to Mr. Amin Ahmad: It was a surprise that you enjoyed watching a musical like this too :)