We're about to enter the heart of darkness for the Oscar season, where a number of big pictures are going to make their bid to be the front runner. But all bets are off until December 25, when 'Les Miserables' hits screens. Now there are two TV spots to sell the scale and importance (and perhaps inevitability) of the film.

The film was directed by Tom Hooper, who recently won the Best Director Oscar for Best Picture winner 'The King's Speech,' and stars Hugh Jackman (who'd surely like a gold man on his mantle), 'The Man With the Iron Fists's Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried. And they're all in it together to adapt one of the most famous musicals to the big screen yet again (the last of time being the 1998 movie adaptation starring Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush and Uma Thurman), so  there's the strongest of possibilities that this will win a number of awards (even if it's mostly costume design and cinematography).

Here's the synopsis:

Les Misérables is the motion-picture adaptation of the beloved global stage sensation seen by more than 60 million people in 42 countries and in 21 languages around the globe and still breaking box-office records everywhere in its 27th year. Helmed by The King’s Speech‘s Academy Award®-winning director, Tom Hooper, the Working Title/Cameron Mackintosh production stars Hugh Jackman, Oscar® winner Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne, with further casting to be announced.

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption–a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.

In December 2012, the world’s longest-running musical brings its power to the big screen in Tom Hooper’s sweeping and spectacular interpretation of Victor Hugo’s epic tale. With international superstars and beloved songs–including “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Bring Him Home,” “One Day More” and “On My Own”–Les Misérables, the show of shows, is now reborn as the cinematic musical experience of a lifetime.

And here are those TV spots:

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