Did it imply the torture yielded useful info? That is the complaint I heard.

It definitely does. I was sort of surprised that there was nothing about people just saying whatever to stop being tortured, but pretty much all the information that comes out of torture is treated as truth.

I saw Django Unchained this morning, and it was fun times, but it was pretty linear and not very complex. Very Tarantino, but not amazing.

Finally saw Le Miz, cried buckets, but not necessarily at the places I was used to, which I think was an effect of being able to see faces better due to close ups.

I found myself surprised that I thought the actor playing Marius, Eddie Redmayne, had a much better voice than advertised here. I put him vocally above Crowe, Jackman, and Seyfried for sure. I thought his performance of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables was more than adequate and I bawled like a baby.

I also felt Jackman's vocal performance to be hit or miss. There were times he did very well and others where his voice was so thin and nasal sounding I could hardly bear it. Still, he acted the hell out of it and I thought he put in an excellent overall performance.

I got exactly what I wanted from Ann Hathaway both vocally and performance-wise. Her I Dreamed a Dream just tore me up. I thought it had more depth to it than the version that Samantha Barks sang later.

And while I enjoyed Samantha Barks I wasn't wowed by her. She probably had the best vocal control of any of them, but her performance left me kind of blah.

Amanda Seyfried made a very affecting Cossette, and while I don't mind vibrato, I thought her voice was much too thin and she had to strain for the high notes. She hit them, but with so little force that she was drowned out anytime she had to sing with anyone else.

Crowe played the stalwart Javert very well, but I have to agree that he really didn't have the voice for the part. I enjoyed his rendition of Stars, but more for the setting and direction he was given. The only thing about his suicide song that I liked was when it ended and he threw himself in the river. That really was a majestic drop.

Still, I enjoyed this movie as much as I've enjoyed any stage performance of Le Miz that I've been to because the story itself is a classic and so very affecting. I would have felt the same way if every word had been spoken rather than sung.

The thing that most struck me during Stars was that the framing for much of the song featured Crowe being stared at by an incredulous-looking eagle statue who seemed to be thinking to itself "I specifically requested no singing roommates!"

JJ Abrams et al. are a class act: [link]

I saw Django Unchained this morning, and it was fun times, but it was pretty linear and not very complex. Very Tarantino, but not amazing.

I saw this yesterday afternoon, and I concur. However, I do think the linearity fit the subject matter, though I can't articulate beyond "it felt right." And Christoph waltzed off with another movie (sorry, couldn't resist). I KNEW we were going to see his wrist pistol in his last scene, but it was still so satisfying, as was his final apology.

I loved the little details, too. Like whenever Schultz introduced his horse by name, the horse nodded his head politely. Also, while I thought it was an utterly unnecessary and goofy cameo, I like that Tarantino had a "blowed up real good" finish for himself.

However, I do think the linearity fit the subject matter, though I can't articulate beyond "it felt right."

I agree. It was a spaghetti Western, so it worked.

I didn't realize there was an animated movie version of The Rabbi's Cat coming out.

Gah. People are really hitting spoilers for the end of the Hobbit hard on tumblr right now, and major sadface. Like, I know one song by Ke&ha, and it's Die Young so naturally it's accompanied by pictures of FIli and Kili.

PJ is giving me months and months to not have to dwell on that. Why are they forcing me to click the play button?

Oscar noms are out: [link]

Nothing too surprising among the lot. I guess they decided to champion Beasts of the Southern Wild over Moonrise Kingdom as the token indie.

I did think it was surprising that Zero Dark Thirty got nominated for Picture, for Screenplay, for Editing, and for Actress--but not for Directing. Gee, I wonder why.