le blog

I have been waiting months for December 25, 2012 to arrive. No, not because it was Christmas and I couldn't wait for Santa, but because it was the release of Les Misérables ! It has been out for four days now, and I have already seen it twice. Of course, I plan to go at least one more time. And yes, I know. I'm ridiculously obsessed. I just accept that fact about myself, and so should you. Critics have panned it as being too long, too big, and too over the top. Forgive my blunt delivery here, but they are morons who have clearly never seen the stage version of Les Mis , and/or who clearly do not understand the history and period behind the story. Regarding the too long, I must point out that Victor Hugo's novel upon which the musical is based is over 1,200 pages. Tolkein's  The Hobbit is about 275 pages, yet the movie runs 10 minutes longer than Les Mis - and that is just the first of the pending trilogy! There is nothing that could be removed from the film versi

"An Historic Group: British and German Soldiers Photographed Together"  The Daily Mirror Every year I show my students the award-winning film, Joyeux Noël . I would estimate that over the years, I've seen the movie about three dozen times. Despite the ridiculous number of times I have watched it, I never grow tired of it (not to mention the fact that I get choked up every time!) Joyeux Noël  (see the trailer below) is a film about the impromptu/unofficial Christmas Truce of 1914 when soldiers along the Western Front laid down their rifles on Christmas Eve in a gesture of peace and good will. According to The New York Times, it is estimated that about 100,000 men, predominately German and British, (but also some French) were part of this Christmas miracle.   It truly is miraculous when you consider that mere hours before this temporary truce occurred, these men were literally murdering one another. Then, almost as if a magical spell had been cast, the spirit of