Now, I'd generally try to avoid any movie adaptation of Victor Hugo's famous
LES MISERABLES novel, since it's a rather grim and monotonous story, but this piece of news might just change
my mind: according to "MovieWeb"
Hugh Jackman has signed on to play one of the two lead roles in the story about a prisoner named Jean Valjean, who is on the run from a policeman named Javert during the French Revolution. He will probably be Jean and
Paul Bettany might take the role of Javert. As you remember, HOLLYWOOD SPY has informed you before that the director of the film will be
Tom Hooper, whom we loved as the director of THE KING'S SPEECH and the famous ELIZABETH 1 mini series with
Helen Mirren. And maybe this film could bring Hugh his well deserved first Oscar?
SHORT HEADLINES Now this sounds as a super adorable and totally unusual match: delightful
Melissa McCarthy (of GILMORE GIRLS fame, currently enjoying the spotlights after her role in BRIDESMAIDS) and dashing
Jon Hamm(MAD MEN)
will play in an unconventional love story in which his character will be obsessed with hers. The untitled project will be helmed by
Judd Apatow (THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN).
Famous TV mogul
Darren Star will produce HBO's new show
THE VIAGRA DIARIES in which
Goldie Hawn will be a woman who struggles with being single for the first time in 35 years, after her husband has a midlife crisis at 65 and leaves her.
It's official -
Hugh Jackman's
THE WOLVERINE will be directed by
James Mangold (3:10 TO YUMA, WALK THE LINE, IDENTITY).
As "Entertainment Weekly" reports, the movie adaptation of
Joyce Maynard's novel
LABOR DAY has just got its two lead
stars: our British rose
Kate Winslet and
Josh Brolin. The story follows a divorced, broken hearted mother, an ex dancer, and her 13 year old lonely and friendless son, who are spending their Labor Day weekend in New Hampshire when a mysterious bleeding man approaches them and asks for a help. In the next few days he will teach the boy many things he didn't know - from how to throw a baseball to how to put those we love above ourselves. The biggest surprise is that the man who has joined them is an escaped convict and a murderer.
LINK OF THE DAY Our favourite Irishman,
Lurk, over at
THE ANGRY LURKER brings his review of
Jason Statham's THE MECHANIC.
I listened to an interview with Jon Hamm the other day. He's such an article and intelligent person. I've gained a new respect for him. Learning that he's in a new Apatow project (comedy-romance story) has me intrigued.
ReplyDeletethe most intriguing, and charming, part is that they will finally match a dashing man and an adorable big girl in a romcom :) We haven't seen that before.
ReplyDeleteI actually saw the Les Miserable play on dvd at a friends house. I am slightly interested to see the this adaption of i(I personally don't think the play was all that grim)
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add, Apatow seems to be one of the few writer/directors that consistently makes good R rated comedies. I personally look forward to anything he's doing
ReplyDeleteWell, Les Miserables is grim and a little monotonous, but I always get sucked into the story. Hugh Jackman and Paul Bettany would definitely make it worth watching again.
ReplyDeleteAnd Josh Brolin makes a good convict type. Played against Kate Winslet, that could get very interesting.
Oh. My. God. Melissa and Jon are starring in a dream movie of mine, a rom com in which a lovely woman of size is pursued by a handsome man. I'm pinching myself to see if I'm dreaming. Can I just say how much I adore Melissa? This going to be magnificent.
ReplyDeleteLove Les Miserables ever since I I saw the stage production and read the novel nearly 20 years ago. It is spectacular and Hugh will certainly make an outstanding Jean Valjean. Paul always does a delightful villain and Javert is one of the very best.
The other problem with Les Miserables is that it's so friggin' long. A real historical sweep. It's hard to boil it down to a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteohmy PAUL!!!!!
i LOVE les mis! ok, to be honest, i've never read the book! ummm... or seen the whole play...
BUT i've listened to the soundtrack over and over and over and over again!!!! in high school, i ruined my sister's tape by playing it so much!!!! Colm Wilkinson(sp?) will always be my Jean ValJean!!! but Bettany <3 <3!!! he can play ANY role, we know! but he'd make an excellent javert!!!
and judd apatow's works are one of my guilty pleasures! freaks and geeks is an all-time classic. :)
I went to see the play LES MISERABLES in London many years back. It was fantastic so I imagine the movie adaptation has the potential to be good.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the mention sir but this is where people come for the real movie news, looking forward to Wolverine especially.
ReplyDeleteYAY KATE!! No matter what the story is about, Kate's in there =P
ReplyDeleteLucinda
Yeay!! I love that little THE WOLVERINE news Dezzy!! Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteThat picture of Josh Brolin makes him look like he is slowly turning into Steven Seagal hehehe
It's because of the unfortunate Wolverine sequel that has been pushed back again, leaving Jackman free to finally do Les Miserables.
ReplyDelete"Labor Day" sounds good... In the words of Bart Simpson "it just took a knife wielding ax murderer to show us the way."
ReplyDeletei sort of liked the liam neeson version of les miserables.
ReplyDelete@Dirty
ReplyDeleteyou must read the book to realize its grim and dark side. And you might enjoy the film if it really gets done
@Luanne
those are some interesting combinations, aren't they? Hugh and Bettany, Winslet and Kate :) I'm not a fan of Brolin but I thank God they're not putting KAte again with that horrid Leodecapricoso :)
@Melsy
I'm also super satisfied with the pairing of Melissa and Jon, she's cute and he's hunky, what an unusual and adorable combination :) Hope they will have naughty scenes too :))
And Hugh and Paul are match made in heaven :)
@Debra
ReplyDeleteyep, I forgot to mention that as well, it's long as a century :)
@Vics
he he glad to see you excited. I've never connected LES MISERABLES with music or a play as most of you in USA, so I don't know what kind of soundtrack is that one, but I'm sure it's good if you fought with your sis for it :))
@Lyndy
what? You've been to Europe, and didn't even stop by for a coffee? :)
@Lurk
ReplyDeletebe welcome, Lurk, glad you like THE WOLVERINE news, we do like some of Mangold's films, IDENTITY especially!
@Lucinda
we do love Kate unconditionally :)
@Custie
it really does, he does look like Seagal in that picture :)) And we DO NOT like Seagal :(
Glad you like the WOLVERINE news :)
@Jaccsy
ReplyDelete'tis possible, but we want Hugh in as many movies as possible, so we don't mind :)
@Jimmy
he he ... Bart's pearls of wisdom :)
@E
Neeson can be good from time to time, even though he's not a superstar material. He had quite a lot of films recently, even though he lost his wife recently too.
Melissa McCarthy is one of my favourite female actors, nice to see her in another role
ReplyDeleteLike the idea of Les Miserables with Jackman and Bettany and Hooper. I love Les Miserables. I also liked the Neeson and Geoffrey Rush version, but maybe a bit gloomier (if that's possible!) than other versions and I don't know if it was that successful at box office.
ReplyDelete@Germs
ReplyDeleteshe is truly cute and charming, and deserves to be one of the biggest Hollywood stars!
@Fabo
it wasn't successful at the box office, but this one could be with Hugh and Paul in the cast :)
@Dezmond: yes we do, she's a goddess :D
ReplyDeleteAnd about the wedding, it would have been difficult for me to flirt with some guys, in fact my long-time boyfriend was the official photographer of the wedding, so... XD
Cheers!!
Lucinda
Thanks for visiting my blog and for your sweet comment - much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is fabulous!
Have a great day...
:-}) Anna
Hugh Jackman...in Les Miz...*faints*
ReplyDeleteGreat post Dez, loads of info. Looking forward to The Wolverine already!
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing Melissa McCarthy in the Doug Liman's GO back in the 90s and then she was never seen again till this month... now she's a pretty big star. I think THE WOLVERINE deserves a better director than Mangold.
ReplyDeleteKate Winslet is very pretty. I was a fan ever since she did Titanic. I saw the 1998 movie of Les Miserables with Liam Neeson. My friends didn't really like the movie, but I thought it was fantastic. Story matters! :)
ReplyDelete@Lucinda
ReplyDeletewell, there you go, then you were able to flirt with the photographer :)
@Anna
thanks, gorgeous, you must share the secret of the shampoo you use for those magnificent mustaches ;)) Hope we shall be seeing you here often ;)
@LC
I'm splashing some water on you :P
@Ricky
ReplyDeletethanks, Ricks, it was one of those great days in the news department :)
@Movies
Well, she actually shinned throughout the late 90's and early 2000's in GILMORE GIRLS which was a worldwide popular show :) And Mangold was great in IDENTITY.
@HiFi
she is pretty. I've been her fan since her very first film HEAVENLY CREATURES, which was directed by Peter Jackson :0
Liam Neeson made a better Jean Valjean than Hugh Jackman would. I like Hugh Jackman, but the character of Jean Valjean requires a delicate touch that Hugh Jackman does not have. The most tender that Hugh can muster was "Kate & Leopold" or the scene when he's just laying in bed with Ashley Judd in "Someone Like You." Jackman is more of a ladies man rogue, not the silent, strong type. Paul Bettany could do Javert, but Geoffrey Rush was, for lack of a better term, amazeballs opposite Liam Neeson's Jean Valjean.
ReplyDeleteGeoffrey Rush always steals the show no matter who's beside him :)
ReplyDeleteBut I wouldn't agree with you on Hugh, he is one of the most versatile actors today, able to show everything from brute and rough (WOLVERINE), to sensual and profound (THE FOUNTAIN), seductive and charming (SOMEONE LIKE YOU, KATE AND LEOPOLD) to magnificent, tough and brave (AUSTRALIA).
I enjoyed the book, Les Miserables. It was dark. Lots of great doings you have listed here.
ReplyDeleteit was one of those good days, Mary :) And the Saturday post which is coming in about half an hour isn't that bad :)
ReplyDeleteHugh Jackson and Paul Bettany, are very well cast. LES MISERABLES, will definitely be a film I'll look out for.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I have to agree with, Custard, that picture of Josh Brolin makes him look like he's turning into Steven Seagal!
Hey, Wendy dearest, nice to see you in the Elven woods again :)
ReplyDeleteYep, Hugh and Bettany will make one helluva cast.
Hope you're all right, I heard southern island had quakes again :((
With a name like Le Miserables it certainly can't be a happy go lucky story, Dezzy :D I've been wanting to see the play but haven't got around to it. The casting is great, though generally I'm not super crazy about Hugh Jackman like most women.
ReplyDeleteHeh, I don't care for Josh Brolin... I do love Kate though, she's so stunning in that photo!
The Viagra diary???? come on! odd.
ReplyDeleteNice to know Paul is going to play another movie. The only blond actor that I really like
@Flixy
ReplyDeleteyes it is bound to be le miserable with that title :)) It constantly shocks me that Hugh isn't among your favourites since he falls into that dashing kindred hunks category with Berry Gerry and RufRuf :)
I don't care for Brolin either, I don't get his appeal. But Kate we DO adore :) in that pic and all others :)
@Novia
ah, you Indo girls aren't into blond men, yes? :)
Well....I find blond men less charismatic, dark hair (be it brown or black) is much more appealing than any blond one
ReplyDelete