*insert appropriate Les Mis quote here*

Just in case anyone's counting, only forty-eight days remain until the Les Mis movie is released to the public.  (Those of you who pay attention to such whims and inconsistencies may notice that in the past I've abbreviated the title as Les Miz, but on further consideration I decided it's more logical to say Les Mis, so that is how I shall write it henceforth and forevermore unless I forget.)  I'm not planning on seeing it in theaters, but I'm still incredibly excited about its release.

As the thrilling date approaches (December 25th, if you don't want to bother to do the math), Working Title Films has been releasing more and more photos and videos related to the movie, and all the mounting excitement is making me want to run around the house singing Red and Black at the top of my lungs.  Which I have not actually done.  My family, I think, is grateful.

Anyways.  In light of the severe lack of Real Blogging I've been doing lately (it's Half NaNo's fault), it seems a bit silly to write a post comprised mostly of movie posters and a wee video stuck at the end (no, no, don't scroll down to see it now--be patient and wait, it will not go away).  But half a loaf is better than no bread, and certainly better than stolen bread (please politely giggle at my apropos reference), so I give you the Les Mis posters and pictures I've been sighing over recently.

This one may well be my favorite.  I just love how they took the original logo (see below) and used it as a prototype for the photo.  I mean, that image is iconic, and the fact that they're honoring it in this poster just makes me happy.

The only thing that bugs me a bit with the poster is that they quite obviously Photoshopped her eyes.  And the blue looks... odd.  Now, I realize Amanda Seyfried (Older Cosette) has blue eyes and maybe they just wanted to make it look consistent, but if so, why isn't Little Cosette wearing blue contacts in the actual film? In the picture below her eyes look pretty brown to me... and even if they are blue (it could just be the lighting that gives an impression of brown) they're certainly not as Windex-blue as in the poster.  Just a minor quibble.

One of my biggest fears about Hugh Jackman playing Valjean was that he might not look old enough for the later scenes.  This poster, however, is reassuring, because he definitely looks older than in those first-scenes-as-a-convict pictures.  Again, though, the eyes are weird.  Too translucent, somehow.

This one pleases me so, so, SO much.  Not just because I think Russell Crowe has the perfect looks for Javert, but because of the pose.  Er, the expression on his face.  Whatever.  A Javert poster could easily and logically have depicted him snarling or angry or vengeful looking, "watch out Valjean I'm gonna get you," but instead he looks sad and almost lost.  Which is exactly what Javert is.  Hooray for the most complex kinda-villain of all time!  Oh, and I like his coat.  Not Philip-Quast-worthy, but still interesting.

I'm not overly thrilled with the Fantine poster.  On the one hand, she still has her hair, which is nice because most of the trailer shows her without it, and Anne Hathaway has gorgeous hair.  So that's all good.  But I would have liked to see a slightly more interesting facial expression.  Something tragic, you know?  Heartbroken, or even dreamy.  Instead, she's just kind of... there.  Not smiling, not sad, just looking at you, and not even looking at you with the haunted eyes I imagine for Fantine.  And the eyes are just weird.  Again.  I know I'm making a big deal about the eyes, but really, with the weird color, this could almost pass for a Twilight poster.  *does the oy-vey-and-spit thing from Fiddler on the Roof)

Enough with the negative. This poster of Older Cosette has taken away the last shred of doubt that I had about Amanda Seyfried.  She just LOOKS like Cosette ought to.  Hair down and all.  Now, I know young ladies were supposed to wear their hair up by that age in 1832, but you have to remember that Valjean tended to baby Cosette and didn't want her to grow up.  So it's quite logical that her hair should still be down in a little-girl style, even though she's sixteen.  (Or is it eighteen?  Why can't I remember? Somebody help!)

Her dress, also, is pleasing to my critical eye--I'm not a huge fan of the traditional Cosette dress with the wide lace bib.  I realize Valjean babies her a bit, but come on.  This one (what we can see of it) looks much prettier.  So in that respect I'm okay with a deviation from the traditional stage costumes, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to weep for the tragic loss of Enjolras' Red Vest of Power and Awesomeness.

Here we get a slightly better view of the dress, and a pretty awful view of Marius, but it's an adorable picture so I won't fuss.  And yes, I've been sighing over every appearance with the two of them together in every single video.  They're just so CUTE.  I am completely reconciled to Eddie Redmayne. Completely.  I still would rather have picked a guy who was slightly more aesthetically blessed, as a friend of mine puts it, but I really think he's going to make an amazing Marius.  As long as he shaves a little bit.  What's up with the chin stubble?  

...All right, all right, I WILL stop being cynical.  In all honesty, I think this poster is sweet.  The whole talking-through-the-railing thing looks so romantic in the sneak peek, and I liked that they used that scene for the poster.  

In a sense I'm pleased with this next one because it gives us our first look at the Thenardiers, but at the same time I'm annoyed that they chose to use M. and Mme. Slimebucket for promotional pictures instead of Enjolras or Eponine.  How about a Little Fall of Rain poster, folks?  Now THAT would be ducky.  At any rate, I'm not disappointed with Mme. Thenardier in this picture (not that I really care about her, heh) but Thenardier himself... ewwwwww.  My initial impression was that he looked like a seriously disturbed version of Gussie Fink-Nottle from Jeeves and Wooster.  Not a pleasant thought.  Plus, he's too young.  So is she, I suppose, but I always imagined Thenardier with gray hair.

However, I really do like the fact that they're both dressed up in their Christmas "finery."  I think this was done for a reason-- not because the film is being released Christmas Day, but because in the novel (pardon me, "the brick") Valjean rescues Cosette on Christmas Eve.  This isn't mentioned in the stage musical, but it looks like the film producers are trying to stick as close to the book as possible in little details such as that, and Amy is pleased.  Muchly so.  Now, if only they had ignored the passage about Enjolras being blonde...

I haven't seen any more posters from the series above, but if you find any more, do send them my way.  I've come across a few others, though, which are also highly satisfactory.  Like this one.  Love, fight, hope, dream seems to be the tagline for the movie, which isn't quite as evocative as I might have hoped (hey, Do you hear the people sing? gets the message across beautifully) but I like how they've combined the tagline with the characters for this one.  If this is, indeed, an official poster and not just a piece of fan art.... ha.  I realized just now that there is no release date at the bottom, nor is there any title or the name of the film company.  So this may very well just be a fanmade picture.  As Aristotle said, "You cannot believe everything you read on the Internet."

I don't care if it's in a foreign language, I absolutely love this poster.  Probably my favorite of them all.  Doesn't it just give you shivers to look at it?  Red and black and clouds and light streaming everywhere... so many of the posters have dark backgrounds but this one is full of light and I like that, because Les Mis IS full of light.  Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise--ooh, now, if I were in charge of taglines, I think I'd use THAT one.

And just one more little tidbit of delight-- the latest Les Mis TV spot!  Please tell me I am not the only one who gasped and squealed over Marius-on-the-horse-with-the-flag and got goosebumps when Javert whipped out his sword and melted into a little puddle when Valjean said "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

Are you excited or what?

Don't say what.