Check out the Amazing Chicago/Dreamgirls/Les Mis Medley from the Oscars Again

My favorite moment of Sunday’s Oscar telecast was the musical medley of the fantastic and Oscar-winning musical films Chicago, Dreamgirls and Les Miserables. Oscar winner Catharine Zeta-Jones did a nice job opening the segment with “All that Jazz” but it really kicked into gear with an astounding performance by Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson singing her iconic Dreamgirls song “And I Am Telling You I am Not Going”. It was a brilliant moment that netted her a much deserved standing ovation. Following J Hud, was the wonderful ensemble of Les Miserables featuring newly minted Oscar winner Anne Hathaway, Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Russell Crow, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveitt, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter with a medley of “Suddenly/I Dreamed a Dream/One Day More” that also yielded a standing O. I have to say that Barks and Tveitt stole that number which is not too surprising considering they’re the seasoned stage performers of the group. All in all, I absolutely loved the whole musical shebang and I’m thrilled that these amazing movies and performers were singled out again. It’s an incredible moment and I have it for you again below. Enjoy!

Chicago/Dreamgirls/Les Miserables Oscar Medley

“Les Miserables” Sings on the Billboard Charts

The Soundtrack to the smash musical film Les Miserables spends a second week atop the Billboard Soundtracks Chart and makes a huge charge up to # 2 from # 33 on the overall Billboard Albums Chart as well. The soundtrack also yields a Hot 100 hit for Oscar front-runner Anne Hathaway as her version of “I Dreamed a Dream” debuts at # 69… Another soundtrack leaps back into the top ten due to its release on dvd and post holiday gift card spending as Pitch Perfect zooms from # 45 to # 10. It also yields a Hot 100 hit for its star Anna Kendrick whose “Cups” debuts at #93…. Several other albums get big post Xmas boost but all of them still trail Taylor Swift‘s Red which nabs a 7th week on top. Take a look at the new top ten below and head to Billboard for more info on all the Albums Charts.

Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Red- Taylor Swift (last week~ 1) * 7 weeks on top
2. Les Miserables soundtrack (lw~ 33)
3. Take Me Home- One Direction (lw~ 4)
4. Unorthodox Jukebox- Bruno Mars (lw~ 3)
5. Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head- T.I. (lw~ 3)
6. Night Visions- Imagine Dragons (lw~ 46)
7. Unapologetic- Rihanna (lw~ 19)
8. Babel- Mumford & Sons (lw~8)
9. Lumineers- The Lumineers (lw~ 24)
10. Pitch Perfect soundtrack (lw~ 45)

Back on the Hot 100 Singles Chart, Bruno Mars leads for a fourth week with “Locked Out of Heaven” as Taylor Swift is rising fast. Also charging back up the charts was Psy’s “Gangnam Style” which got a huge post Xmas sales bump all the way back up to #6. For more on all the singles charts, head here and check out the latest top ten below.

Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “Locked Out of Heaven”- Bruno Mars (last week~ 1) * 4 weeks on top
2. “I Knew You Were Trouble”- Taylor Swift (lw~ 4)
3. “Diamonds”- Rihanna (lw~ 2)
4. “Ho Hey”- The Lumineers (lw~ 3)
5. “Beauty and a Beat”- Justin Bieber w/Nicki Minaj (lw~ 5)
6. “Gangnam Style”- Psy (lw~ 17)
7. “Die Young”- Ke$ha
8. “One More Night”- Maroon 5 (lw~ 7)
9. “Home”- Phillip Phillips (lw~ 9)
10. “Thrift Shop”- Macklemore & Lewis (lw~ 10)

And before you go, please enjoy a taste of my favorite song from the Les Miserables soundtrack, “On My Own” by first time film actress and potential Supporting Actress contender Samantha Barks below.

My Take on the Best of the Movies in 2012 and my Top 30 Films!

2012 was a pretty good year for films. Despite a wonky start with dreadful fare like The Grey and what seemed like 400 Channing Tatum movies, we got a bunch of box office hits that were actually good movies too like The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. As the year wore on, we were also treated to the return of the great studio drama with Lincoln, Flight and Argo plus one tremendous and transcendent musical, the exquisite emotional and brilliant Les Miserables... Independent films also offered us some great cinema with the likes of the fantastic teen dramedy The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the inventive Beasts of the Southern Wild.... So, just what movies did I love the best? Well, after seeing over 100 plus movies this year, I’ve got my top 30 for you below. I’ve also listed my favorite performances and the five worst films I saw this year. Check it out below and then let me know your favorites in the comments section…. Then enjoy your holiday and get ready for one crazy unpredictable Oscar season.

Top 30 Movies of the Year:
1. Les Miserables
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
3. Zero Dark Thirty
4. The Impossible
5. Any Day Now
6. Argo
7. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
8. Flight
9. Lincoln
10. Skyfall
11. The Dark Knight Rises
12. The Intouchables
13. Hitchcock
14. Beasts of the Southern Wild
15. The Avengers
16. The Hobbit
17. Arbitrage
18. Pitch Perfect
19. Gayby
20. Hope Springs
21. The Amazing Spiderman
22. The Hunger Games
23. Smashed
24. End of Watch                                            
25. The Silver Linings Playbook
26. Django Unchained
27. The Bourne Legacy
28. Life of Pi
29. Quartet
30. The Sessions

Best Male Lead Performance: Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Runner up: Tie: Denzel Washington (Flight) & Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Female Lead Performance: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Runner up: Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Best Male Supporting Performance: Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables)
Runner Up: Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Best Female Supporting Performance: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Runner Up: Samantha Barks (Les Miserables)

Best Debut Performance: Tom Holland (The Impossible)
Runner Up: Samantha Barks (Les Miserables)
3rd place: Quvanzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Best Ensemble: Les Miserables
Runner Up: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Best Comedy: Pitch Perfect
Runner Up: Gayby

Best Action Film: Skyfall
Runner Up: The Dark Knight Rises

Biggest Tearjerker: Les Miserables
Runner Up: The Impossible

Best Foreign Film: The Intouchables
Runner Up: Rust & Bone

Best Comedic Performance: Rebel Wison (Pitch Perfect)         

Most Award-Worthy Performance No One is Talking About: Tommy Lee Jones (Hope Springs)
Runner Up: Alan Cumming (Any Day Now)

Best Documentary: How to Survive a Plague
Runner Up: Vito

Movie that Got a Bad Rap but was Really Entertaining: Rock of Ages

Best Villain: Javier Bardem (Skyfall)

~And now for the bad news….

Worst Movies of the Year:
1. Killer Joe
2. The Grey
3. The Master
4. This is 40
5. John Carter

Take an Extended Look at Oscar Bait Film Les Miserables

The movie I can’t wait to see more than anything in the world opens on Christmas day and wouldn’t you know it, it’s a musical! Of course it is and I am so excited for the big screen adaptation of the Tony winning masterpiece Les Miserables. The film is directed by recent Oscar winner Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) and stars Golden Globe nominee Hugh Jackman, Oscar winner Russell Crowe, Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter, Tony winner Eddie Redmayne, Golden Globe winner Sacha Baron Cohen, Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia), Aaron Tveitt (Broadway’s Next to Normal), newcomer Samantha Barks (who has done Les Miz on the West End in London) and Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway. It will be the first filmed musical to feature the actors singing live as opposed to lip synching to a track and if you’ve watched the trailer, the results are stunning. Hathaway who sings the iconic “I Dreamed a Dream” is already being hailed as the front-runner for the Supporting Actress Oscar, and I think the film is gonna clean up at awards season. For an in-depth look at the making of this incredible musical, watch the clip below and head here for more on Les Miserables.

Les Miserables extended preview

And while I’m talking about Awards season, here’s how I see Les Miserables Oscar chances…

Good Bet Nominations~
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean)
Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway as Fantine)
Best Supporting Actor (Russell Crowe as Javert)
Best Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Production Design (formerly know as Art Direction)
Best Costume Design
Best Sound Mixing
Best Original Song (“Suddenly”… yes the original musical composers wrote a brand new song for the film)

Likely Nominees~
Best Supporting Actress (Samantha Barks as Eponine)
Best Sound
Best Makeup
Possible Nominees~
Best Supporting Actor (Eddie Redmayne as Marius)
Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried as Cossette)
Best Supporting Actor (Aaron Tveit as Enjolras)
Best Adapted Screenplay

“Les Miserables” is Singing Out for Oscar

My second favorite musical of all time, Les Miserables, is finally coming to the big screen. (In case you’re wondering, my favorite is Rent). Due to hit theaters on Dec. 14th, this big budget adaptation of the Tony winning classic is directed by recent Oscar winner Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) and features an All Star cast including Golden Globe nominee Hugh Jackman, Oscar winner Russell Crowe, Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway, Golden Globe winner Sacha Baron Cohen, two-time Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter, Tony nominee Eddie Redmayne, Broadway vet Aaron Tveit and British stage newcomer Samantha Barks as Eponine. The film is sure to be a tear-jerker, and judging from the first trailer below. It looks like a big Oscar contender. I foresee a ton of nominations across the board with best bets for Acting nominations going to Jackman and Crowe in the Best Actor Category and Barks and Hathaway in the Supporting Actress Category… Tveitt, Baron Cohen and Redmayne will likely have to fight for a nod in the Supporting Actor category while Seyfried and Bonham Carter will have uphill battles in the Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories. Regardless, I have high hopes for this film and I think it will be fantastic. Just listen to the heartbreak in Hathaway’s beautiful voice on the iconic “I Dreamed a Dream” in the trailer for Les Miserables below. It’s gonna be good!

Les Miserables (2012) trailer