Have any of you seen Phantom of the Opera yet? I saw it and it was fantastic. I thought it was probabaly one of the best films of 2004. What are your opinions on the film?

I loved it. Definately my favorite movie of last year - by far. My sister and I have already seen it twice. We dragged our dad to see it and now he's singing all the songs, has bought the CD, and is trying to figure out how to play "Music of the Night" on the piano :lol:

I'm just so happy to see musicals are coming back. And Phantom is one of the best musicals ever written.

Good movie. The music was the best part.

Best EVER. Holy crap. I love it so so so so much. I've already seen it three times, I'm planning on seeing it alot more.

The best song is "Point of No Return" :heart:

I'm seeing it next week. I love the play and have seen it six times. I know the music by heart.

My favourite songs in the film were Music of the Night, Phantom of the Opera and Masquerade. I've heard Crawford's Music of the Night though and prefer his rendition. I've been searching everywhere for the 2 disc movie soundtrack!

I agree with you Liza, I think it's brilliant musicals are making a comeback. So far, Rent, The Producers and Batboy are being made into movies, and Sam Mendes said he is going to do a movie adaptation of Sweeney Todd.

Excellent film. The day after, I went to FYE and blew $25 on the special edition soundtrack. Then I taught myself how to play the songs on my flute. I'm such a dork.

Really though, it was very, very good. I thought Emmy (Christine) had one of the purest voices I've ever heard.

I agree with you Liza, I think it's brilliant musicals are making a comeback. So far, Rent, The Producers and Batboy are being made into movies, and Sam Mendes said he is going to do a movie adaptation of Sweeney Todd.

THAT scares me, right there. RENT.

I generally hate musicals that have been adapted into movies. 'Phantom' was an execption, probably because they worked hand-in-hand with Lloyd Webber. The writer of RENT, Johnathon Larson, is dead. RENT is one of my favorite musicals and I'm afraid they're going to butcher it horribly.

It's not playing at any of the theaters around me...I think it's a conspiracy or something.

THAT scares me, right there. RENT.

I generally hate musicals that have been adapted into movies. 'Phantom' was an execption, probably because they worked hand-in-hand with Lloyd Webber. The writer of RENT, Johnathon Larson, is dead. RENT is one of my favorite musicals and I'm afraid they're going to butcher it horribly.

:eek: Did you hate Chicago?

It's not playing at any of the theaters around me...I think it's a conspiracy or something.

It's playing in 'select cities' until January 21. How Syracuse got to be a select city, God only knows.

I haven't seen Rent, or heard songs from it, but the plot sounds interesting. Have any of you seen it? Also, a film of the musical Hairspray is planned for release next year. It's great to hear of all these musicals, I think there could be quite a big revival over the next few years (though never as big as the 30's, or the boost in the 60's.).

There's been talk of a Guys and Dolls remake from Miramax ever since Chicago was released (I remember when Chicago was a hit lots of projects were announced but haven't got anywhere, such as a film of Footloose The Musical, but Guys and Dolls still has news coming out about it). Also, for ages there has been talk of Barbra Streisand producing a TV remake of Mame.

I haven't seen Rent, or heard songs from it, but the plot sounds interesting. Have any of you seen it? Also, a film of the musical Hairspray is planned for release next year. It's great to hear of all these musicals, I think there could be quite a big revival over the next few years (though never as big as the 30's, or the boost in the 60's.).

There's been talk of a Guys and Dolls remake from Miramax ever since Chicago was released (I remember when Chicago was a hit lots of projects were announced but haven't got anywhere, such as a film of Footloose The Musical, but Guys and Dolls still has news coming out about it). Also, for ages there has been talk of Barbra Streisand producing a TV remake of Mame.
HAIRSPRAY?!?!?!

I haven't seen Rent, or heard songs from it, but the plot sounds interesting. Have any of you seen it? Also, a film of the musical Hairspray is planned for release next year. It's great to hear of all these musicals, I think there could be quite a big revival over the next few years (though never as big as the 30's, or the boost in the 60's.).

There's been talk of a Guys and Dolls remake from Miramax ever since Chicago was released (I remember when Chicago was a hit lots of projects were announced but haven't got anywhere, such as a film of Footloose The Musical, but Guys and Dolls still has news coming out about it). Also, for ages there has been talk of Barbra Streisand producing a TV remake of Mame.

1] Hairspray is my all-time favorite musical. I'm going to CRY if they make a movie out of it. The original movie was made in '88, and starred Ricki Lake. Plot/characters were the same, but the music was not the same as the Broadway hit.

2] Guys & Dolls is one of the biggest musicals to ever hit Broadway... if they're going to make a movie out of it, they'd better do it right.

As you can tell, I'm not a fan of remaking musicals into films at all. They always get ruined, big time. Long live Broadway.

Whyyyyyy would they do another Hairspray movie? The first one was bad enough.

I saw Phantom last week and I loved it! I just melted when he sang "Music Of The Night". It was so quiet in the theater, you could have heard a needle drop. Great movie!

Whyyyyyy would they do another Hairspray movie? The first one was bad enough.

Yeah, it really was. You oughta see the musical. It's bloody brilliant.

I've seen the preview on my brother's computer over my home visit. My brother has a really old silent movie of "Phantom of the Opera" on DVD. It was produced in 1925. I saw bits and pieces of the original "Phantom of the Opera" that it was a silent film. It stars Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry. The remake is much better than the original 1925 silent version. It means that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the original "Phantom of the Opera".

Another musical to add to the list! It was just announced that Bill Condon is writing the screenplay for and directing a movie of Dreamgirls. He did great work with the script for Chicago. I'm so glad so many musicals are being made! It's great!!!

Phantom of the Opera was my favorite musical, when I saw this movie I was utterly disgusted. They could have done an incomprable amount more with the plot and different aspects of the musical. In addition to this, by justifying all the magical and superhuman aspects of the film so much is lost. I thought that it was a bad choice on the directors part to do this and also to change so many theaterical aspects of the musical for the movie, that really take so much away from the story that is being told. On another note, this movie was vocally HORRENDOUS. Emmy Rossum is way too young and inexperienced to be singing this part, she sets her voice too far back in her throat and loses a lot of articulation when trying to hit notes too high in her upper register. The Phantom was even worse, he killed that part vocally...he pushed his voice so hard and didn't accomplish anything by doing so. Minnie Driver's singing double had a very similiar voice to Emmy Rossum, which really confused me because a part of the plot is that the Phantom is supposed to be making Christine the new leading soprano even though Carlotta has quite a better voice than Christine, so that part just did not work. The best in the film vocally was Raoul, although I found his voice more of a musical theater type than classical singing. Moving on to the acting aspect of this film, it was horrible aswell. Rossum was doe eyed and kept her mouth open the entire film, if that's the best she can do with an ingenue character then she should not have been cast in the role. And Minnie Driver's overwrought attempt to portray Carlotta did not work well, in addition to her sad Italian accent. I could comment on a lot of other parts of the film, but I think my point is across. This movie was not well done and I was immensely disapointed.

I loved this movie. I bought the soundtrack last night :D

I saw the movie yesterday, and I loved it. It had great production value. It was a nice lavish musical. It was sad, scary at times and very touching. I can't wait to buy the DVD.

Ok, I know I'm sorta turning this into a 'support the musical revival' thread, but Hugh Jackman has signed a 3 picture deal with the people who exec-produced Chicago, and many other musicals including Bette Midler's remake of Gypsy! Jackman also said he hoped none of the films he does will be remakes- however he got rave reviews for Oklahoma, and starred in The Boy from Oz- so anything's possible!

Also, Sky News reported today Brad Pitt is taking singing lessons to 'do a Richard Gere' by starring in a musical- and it's a remake of On The Town.

Anyone here seen Wicked? I haven't, but I've heard a few songs, seen photos from it and love the Wizard of Oz! Hopefully they'll make a movie of it too!

I saw Phantom Of The Opera on Friday. It was awesome. I really loved the music and stuff. I need to go out and get the soundtrack now..lol.

I can't wait for it to come out on dvd!

I looking foward to seeing the movie, it comes out here next Friday. I saw that show in Baltimore this summer, it was the US National Tour and it's like completely changed me, I've been singing like crazy and I want to take opera lessons and act in shows omg, I wanna be Christine Daae. I'm gonna see it again in London...I can't wait, it's the most incredible show ever.

I don't know how I'm gonna feel about the movie, I've listened to part of the soundtrack and the singing was one of my favorite things about the show, and I thought Gerard's voice was very strained and wasn't cynical enough, I thought Emmy Rossum was alright and I like her, I always have, however, I think she sounded synthesized at times. Patrick whatever his name is voice is very nice, but I dunno, somethng about it doesn't really work for me...who knows. When I see it all put together I might really like it...but *shrugs*.

OH! And the swordfight?!?! What the heck is that...I think the Phantom of the Opera was a LITTLE past the whole swordfight era.

I'll give it a shot, I can't pass judgement until I've seen it all together, I can see myself liking it b/c I tend to like a lot of the movies I see, but I don't think it's going to be as great as the show...but who knows.

I looking foward to seeing the movie, it comes out here next Friday. I saw that show in Baltimore this summer, it was the US National Tour and it's like completely changed me, I've been singing like crazy and I want to take opera lessons and act in shows omg, I wanna be Christine Daae. I'm gonna see it again in London...I can't wait, it's the most incredible show ever.

I don't know how I'm gonna feel about the movie, I've listened to part of the soundtrack and the singing was one of my favorite things about the show, and I thought Gerard's voice was very strained and wasn't cynical enough, I thought Emmy Rossum was alright and I like her, I always have, however, I think she sounded synthesized at times. Patrick whatever his name is voice is very nice, but I dunno, somethng about it doesn't really work for me...who knows. When I see it all put together I might really like it...but *shrugs*.

OH! And the swordfight?!?! What the heck is that...I think the Phantom of the Opera was a LITTLE past the whole swordfight era.

I'll give it a shot, I can't pass judgement until I've seen it all together, I can see myself liking it b/c I tend to like a lot of the movies I see, but I don't think it's going to be as great as the show...but who knows.
Swordfight is fun. It's so slashy, you can just FEEL the undertones.

Couldn't they get someone other than Joel Schumacher?

Swordfight is fun. It's so slashy, you can just FEEL the undertones.


Blah, I heard the swordfight was kinda stupid, b/c in the show the Phantom shot like fire and there was explosions, and that was just awesome. I dunno, like I said, I haven't seen it yet. I have a feeling I'm gonna be disappointed in Gerard's performance, but I'm hoping Emmy Rossum won't be too bad. I've liked her since her days on the Disney channel, in "Genius".

Blah, I heard the swordfight was kinda stupid, b/c in the show the Phantom shot like fire and there was explosions, and that was just awesome. I dunno, like I said, I haven't seen it yet. I have a feeling I'm gonna be disappointed in Gerard's performance, but I'm hoping Emmy Rossum won't be too bad. I've liked her since her days on the Disney channel, in "Genius".
Well teh Kaitlyn loves teh sla****y, sooooooooo yeah, I guess I liked it. Hah.

Well teh Kaitlyn loves teh sla****y, sooooooooo yeah, I guess I liked it. Hah.

LMFAO OH MY GOD. I DIDN'T EVEN MEAN IT AS A SWEAR WORD.

Slash-ity. There.

Well teh Kaitlyn loves teh sla****y, sooooooooo yeah, I guess I liked it. Hah.

*tries to make out what that said*

*thinks*

*has no idea*

*smiles and nods, smiles and nods* ;)

LMFAO OH MY GOD. I DIDN'T EVEN MEAN IT AS A SWEAR WORD.

Slash-ity. There.

Oh, ok, that makes more sense...

i found the sword fight inane.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050120/D87O0CHG0.html

'Phantom' Tailored for Moviegoers

http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/ap/thumbnails//PHANTOMS_REVISION_.sff_NYET331_20050120114437.jpg (http://apnews.excite.com/image/20050120/PHANTOMS_REVISION_.sff_NYET331_20050120114437.html?date=20050120&docid=D87O0CHG0)
(AP) This promotional photo provided by Warner Bros.
Pictures shows actress Minnie driver as Carlotta in...
Full Image (http://apnews.excite.com/image/20050120/PHANTOMS_REVISION_.sff_NYET331_20050120114437.html?date=20050120&docid=D87O0CHG0)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - "The Phantom of the Opera" required a makeover for his close-up In its journey from stage to screen, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical underwent some tailoring to mend the holes in the gothic love story.

For the nearly 80 million theatergoers around the world who have seen it since it debuted in 1986, here are some new things you'll see in the film:

THE CHANDELIER:

In the play, the Phantom sends the opera house's massive chandelier crashing to the stage right before the intermission. Since films don't commonly have intermissions any more, Lloyd Webber said he proposed moving that famous moment to the end of the movie, which changes the climax of the story.

http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/ads/1x1.gif (http://c4.excite.com/adclick/CID=0000b69852922eb000000000/AREA=ENTERTAINMENT.MOVIES.NEWS/SITE=excite.ap/AAMSZ=336x280/CM=13225/CR=501/AD=179/CC=46744?)"It's a big change from the theater show if they analyze it, and I hope they don't," said the composer, who also served as screenwriter and producer. "What the Phantom's doing is destroying the whole world he loved by that one action. It's very different from what it is in the theater, which is a vague act of revenge toward Christine."

AUTHENTIC AGES:

The story involves the Phantom, a mysterious masked man, who manipulates the young opera house chorus girl, Christine, by speaking to her from the shadows and pretending to be the ghost of her dead father. He then unleashes his rage when she falls in love with another man, her childhood sweetheart Raoul.

Lloyd Webber, a fan of Joel Schumacher's vampire thriller "The Lost Boys," asked him to work as the musical film's director because he enjoyed the filmmaker's blending of song and action in previous movies.

"I said I'll do it on the condition that Christine be very young. She's supposed to be a teenager, and there's an innocence about this character so she must be young," Schumacher said.

For the film, the composer and director selected Emmy Rossum, who was 16 and turned 17 during filming as Christine, and Gerard Butler, who was 34, as the Phantom. Onstage, the characters are usually played by much older actors.

"It makes her more vulnerable. I wanted the relationship with the Phantom to be more of a sexual, passionate, darker, more obsessive, more destructive relationship," Schumacher said. "She's in the spell of her dead father ... and who's this voice speaking to her? I think if she's older, you just want to smack her. 'Will you grow up please? There's no ghost here, girl.'"

PHANTOM HISTORY:

How did the Phantom come to live in the underground lake below the Paris opera house?

Although the stage show doesn't answer the question, the movie includes a flashback sequence to put his past into perspective.

"I said to Andrew that movie audiences need whys and wherefores. 'Why? Who is the Phantom? How did he get there?'" Schumacher said.

Lloyd Webber said moviegoers will get a taste of "the backstory of the Phantom, what he was like as a little boy. That was fun."

It also explains the Phantom's relationship with get a better understanding of his relationship with Madame Giry, played by Miranda Richardson, the opera's ballet mistress, who is his protector and seems to be the only one who understands his motivations.

NEW SONGS:

Minnie Driver, who plays the arrogant, devious soprano Carlotta, is a singer in real life - but not an opera singer.

Driver is the only cast member whose screen singing is performed by another person. "I wanted a comic actress for obvious reasons," Schumacher said. "It's played very broad, a character to make fun of. I haven't found too many opera singers who can make fun of themselves."

But Driver gets to show off her pipes with a new song Lloyd Webber and lyricist Charles Heart wrote for the closing credits, "Learn To Be Lonely," which has a more contemporary feel.

Lloyd Webber also wrote a new song for the Phantom to sing in the movie, but it was ultimately cut from the final version. Look for it on the DVD's deleted scenes.

"It just stopped the movie. It was a lovely song, and it was a sort of inner monologue of the Phantom's, and it was actually information we knew already, about his longing for Christine. But we know that," Schumacher said.

HERO ON A WHITE HORSE:

The movie expands on the scene that opens the play, with Raoul as a frail old man who attends an auction of items from the now defunct opera house. That sequence now extends to various points throughout the movie and supplies a twist ending not included in the play.

Patrick Wilson, who appeared on Broadway in the most recent revival of "Oklahoma!" and in the TV adaptation of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America," got the part of Raoul, but said the character was written too thinly for the stage.

"Raoul's one of those roles where you're the third one down the cast list, the second guy. He's the solid guy," he said. "They wanted to make the movie more heroic, more energized, more passionate, so it only made sense to have Raoul more active and doing stunts. We gave him a real fight."

In the movie, Schumacher and Lloyd Webber said they wanted Raoul to be more dashing - a hero who literally rides on a white horse to save Christine and lock swords with the Phantom.

"I really wanted him to be a real person. I made him into an action hero here," Schumacher said. "Patrick is the kind of guy where if your daughter brings him home you're happy. And Gerry's the kind of boy where, if she brings him home, you lock her up."

Wilson said the movie manifests many of the things from the play that had to be imagined. "You finally get to see the lair and the water. You finally get inside the Phantom's eyes and really see the passion in his eyes and the disfigurement and what he's fighting," he said. "You get to see all these things happening. The chandelier really falls, and really explodes and really catches on fire. It becomes a very visceral experience."

I don't care for Lloyd Webber, he made a lot of bad decisions.

Thanks for posting that Janice, the deleted scene sounds very different- I'll definitely get the dvd!

I thought it was great how cinematic the film was- many say it's too theatrical but I think that by having such large, beautiful sets and sweeping shots and closeups (the closeup of Christine during 'Think of Me' was breathtaking) makes it something that's at it's best when projected onto an enormous screen. That's the only thing disappointing me about the film- it might lose some of it's effect on a smaller screen. I think it'll probabaly win oscars for set design and costumes.

That's a really interesting article Janice, thanks for posting that.

Ok guys, my friend Erin and I are leaving in 25 minutes to get tickets, go to dinner and then see it. *sings* Anticipation ;).

I really hope it's good...*crosses fingers*

That's a really interesting article Janice, thanks for posting that.

Ok guys, my friend Erin and I are leaving in 25 minutes to get tickets, go to dinner and then see it. *sings* Anticipation ;).

I really hope it's good...*crosses fingers*
TAKE ME TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

my comments are below

LOS ANGELES (AP) - "The Phantom of the Opera" required a makeover for his close-up In its journey from stage to screen, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical underwent some tailoring to mend the holes in the gothic love story.

For the nearly 80 million theatergoers around the world who have seen it since it debuted in 1986, here are some new things you'll see in the film:

THE CHANDELIER:

In the play, the Phantom sends the opera house's massive chandelier crashing to the stage right before the intermission. Since films don't commonly have intermissions any more, Lloyd Webber said he proposed moving that famous moment to the end of the movie, which changes the climax of the story.

"It's a big change from the theater show if they analyze it, and I hope they don't," said the composer, who also served as screenwriter and producer. "What the Phantom's doing is destroying the whole world he loved by that one action. It's very different from what it is in the theater, which is a vague act of revenge toward Christine."
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I really was upset when they changed when the chadlier fell. I really think that they should have included an intermission and leave the crash where it was. By moving it to the end it basically makes it seem like that is how the Opera Populaire was destroyed, and it isn't. Also, by this change the lyrics during "Masquerade" had to be altered, and the point of the masquerade ball had to be changed somewhat aswell. They were celebrating a new year and looking toward the future with an optimistic view since they had their new chandlier in place and hadn't heard from the phantom in quite some time.

AUTHENTIC AGES:

The story involves the Phantom, a mysterious masked man, who manipulates the young opera house chorus girl, Christine, by speaking to her from the shadows and pretending to be the ghost of her dead father. He then unleashes his rage when she falls in love with another man, her childhood sweetheart Raoul.

Lloyd Webber, a fan of Joel Schumacher's vampire thriller "The Lost Boys," asked him to work as the musical film's director because he enjoyed the filmmaker's blending of song and action in previous movies.

"I said I'll do it on the condition that Christine be very young. She's supposed to be a teenager, and there's an innocence about this character so she must be young," Schumacher said.

For the film, the composer and director selected Emmy Rossum, who was 16 and turned 17 during filming as Christine, and Gerard Butler, who was 34, as the Phantom. Onstage, the characters are usually played by much older actors.

"It makes her more vulnerable. I wanted the relationship with the Phantom to be more of a sexual, passionate, darker, more obsessive, more destructive relationship," Schumacher said. "She's in the spell of her dead father ... and who's this voice speaking to her? I think if she's older, you just want to smack her. 'Will you grow up please? There's no ghost here, girl.'"
-----------
Okay, yes, in the novel "The Phantom of the Opera" Christine is in her teens. But the thing is, the Phantom IS a ghost. He is an angel of music, that how he hypnotizes Christine into believing that he is the ghost of her father. And my personal opinion is that the ghost had contacted Mr. Daae, because Mr. Daae had promised Christine that this man would come to her when he died. And his prediction came true, the angel of music did find Christine and 'taught' her how to sing. If you listen to the words within the song the 'The Phantom of the Opera' the phantom sings a line, 'Your spirit and my voice in one combined.' When Christine sang, it was essentially the Phantom's voice being projected through Christine. He is a ghost, hence he could do this. This is why I beleive that an operaticly trained woman should have at least sung the role. The phantom is supposed to be extremely trained, so when he did sing for Christine it would display this extreme talent. Of course an ingenue chorine wouldn't be able to sing this well. If they did, they they wouldn't be a chorine! I totally agree with casting a young girl for the part of the ingenue, but there is no way a 17 year old can sing this part...the only one I can think of that could pull it off is Charlotte Church, and even that would be a stretch.

PHANTOM HISTORY:

How did the Phantom come to live in the underground lake below the Paris opera house?

Although the stage show doesn't answer the question, the movie includes a flashback sequence to put his past into perspective.

"I said to Andrew that movie audiences need whys and wherefores. 'Why? Who is the Phantom? How did he get there?'" Schumacher said.

Lloyd Webber said moviegoers will get a taste of "the backstory of the Phantom, what he was like as a little boy. That was fun."

It also explains the Phantom's relationship with get a better understanding of his relationship with Madame Giry, played by Miranda Richardson, the opera's ballet mistress, who is his protector and seems to be the only one who understands his motivations.
------
I love how Lloyd Webber made these major decisions because they are 'fun'. Jesus, the phantom is a GHOST. His Lair is where he resides and where all his encounters with Christine occur. I honeslty think that the lair does not exist in the way that we see it as an audience, Christine is hypnotized into invision this world where she is 'taught', but in all actualality is just a falasy that the phantom has created.

NEW SONGS:

Minnie Driver, who plays the arrogant, devious soprano Carlotta, is a singer in real life - but not an opera singer.

Driver is the only cast member whose screen singing is performed by another person. "I wanted a comic actress for obvious reasons," Schumacher said. "It's played very broad, a character to make fun of. I haven't found too many opera singers who can make fun of themselves."

But Driver gets to show off her pipes with a new song Lloyd Webber and lyricist Charles Heart wrote for the closing credits, "Learn To Be Lonely," which has a more contemporary feel.

Lloyd Webber also wrote a new song for the Phantom to sing in the movie, but it was ultimately cut from the final version. Look for it on the DVD's deleted scenes.

"It just stopped the movie. It was a lovely song, and it was a sort of inner monologue of the Phantom's, and it was actually information we knew already, about his longing for Christine. But we know that," Schumacher said.
----
Okay, Minnie Driver is by no means comedic...she is quite overwrought with all the characters i have seen her play. She really pushed Carlotta over the top. Carlotta was a diva, and diva's do not act like Driver did in the film, I have met many operatic diva's at NATS compitions..it is stereotyping a very real group of people. And I think they made it less funny by doing so...if they found a true operatic leading soprano who was able to play on the extremes of her work then this aspect of the film would have been a lot better. Her song sucked too, why include a modern song with music written by Lloyd Webber? Hmm...They don't compliment each other, especially with Driver's vocal technique.

HERO ON A WHITE HORSE:

The movie expands on the scene that opens the play, with Raoul as a frail old man who attends an auction of items from the now defunct opera house. That sequence now extends to various points throughout the movie and supplies a twist ending not included in the play.

Patrick Wilson, who appeared on Broadway in the most recent revival of "Oklahoma!" and in the TV adaptation of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America," got the part of Raoul, but said the character was written too thinly for the stage.

"Raoul's one of those roles where you're the third one down the cast list, the second guy. He's the solid guy," he said. "They wanted to make the movie more heroic, more energized, more passionate, so it only made sense to have Raoul more active and doing stunts. We gave him a real fight."

In the movie, Schumacher and Lloyd Webber said they wanted Raoul to be more dashing - a hero who literally rides on a white horse to save Christine and lock swords with the Phantom.

"I really wanted him to be a real person. I made him into an action hero here," Schumacher said. "Patrick is the kind of guy where if your daughter brings him home you're happy. And Gerry's the kind of boy where, if she brings him home, you lock her up."

Wilson said the movie manifests many of the things from the play that had to be imagined. "You finally get to see the lair and the water. You finally get inside the Phantom's eyes and really see the passion in his eyes and the disfigurement and what he's fighting," he said. "You get to see all these things happening. The chandelier really falls, and really explodes and really catches on fire. It becomes a very visceral experience."
---
Raoul IS a whimp, that's his tragic flaw as a character. Especially in this film where they make it seem like the phantom is just a man, if he is...then why is Raoul letting this all happen?? He could have stopped it with a little more energy. Raoul, if played correctly is a very selfish and vain character. There are many different things he says within the play the point this out. He is a wealthy man and is interested in Christine becasue of the past and her new found power as the leading soprano.

This is long...you've been warned...

Ok, so I went and I saw the movie, and as I sat there waiting for it to start I had to decide how I wanted to "watch it". Whether I wanted to sit there making criticisms every two seconds, or whether I wanted to watch it as I would any other movie, with an open mind.

I chose to sit there with an open mind and I loved the movie. I think I loved the movie at least. I love the story SO much that even if I was sitting there watching the story be told by Joe Shmo and Sally Sue I would still love it because it's such a beautiful story.

However, I'll give them credit, I think I liked more than just the story, I liked the movie. Did any of that make sense? Haha.

So my final verdict is I loved the movie...but as is the case with many shows turned movies, I still love the play more.

Now that all that fluff's out of the way, I do have a few criticisms

Criticisms:
-The chandelier...I knew it wasn't but it should have fallen during Il Muto
-All those flashes back to the black and white with Raoul when he's older...that was only supposed to be in the beginning and it seemed kinda pointless...and I didn't like it at the end, it should have ended right after Meg found the mask like in the play...speaking of which...
-The Phantom's disappearance...I think it was much more effective when he sat in the chair, pulled the cloak over his head and then Meg comes over and pulls off the cloak that it still looks like he's under and finds the mask...more mystery...
-The magic...the fact that there was no magic was horrible...I loved all the magic it added new dimensions to the Phantom's character.
-Emmy Rossum's voice...I'm not going to critisize this too harshly b/c I think she had a very nice voice and she did hit some of the high notes, however, most of the time her voice sounded deeper than it should have been, that she wasn't singing up in those high ranges...it sounded high...but not high enough...I can't explain it. I also thought in some songs she had too much melody to her voice, in the show they have a much more high range, articulate voice. I liked Emmy's voice and I think she did great in the role...but there was something about it...that was off.
-The mask...my friend leaned over to me during the song "The Phantom of the Opera" and said, "He's hot," and I AGREED with her...what's wrong with this picture here...oh...I know...THE PHANTOM IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HOTT! They should have used the original mask...I liked Gerard, but they should have used the original. Oh, and that black mask...it's barely covering his face and she pulls it off and he has distortions all up his face...um...how was the mask covering that, chief?
-The distortions...he just wasn't scary enough
-Carlotta...I didn't really like the portrayal of her...blah.

I think that's the most of it...I know that looks like a lot but it was just little things, I really did enjoy the movie...I thought the dummy of Christine made more sense because in the play it was played by a real person who crashed through a mirror so it's like...wtf...

I surprised myself in the fact that I loved Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson however...I ADORED Gerard Butler. I've liked him since his days in "Timeline" but he just made me cry the last 15 minutes. I missed the nasal-cynical voice of the stage Phantom but I really really really liked him. The Phantom's always been my favorite.

I'm gonna go see that movie again soon, I'm snowed in this weekend though. It was so weird seeing those songs that I love so much on the big screen, I got chills. To those who haven't seen the show...you need to see it...go now...go now and leave me ;)

Ok guys, time for me to ask a question. Ok...what was with the hair color change? At the end, when she took off his mask...I mean...it didn't even make sense...the Phantom turned blonde...

Yea, my friend and I couldn't figure it out so I had to ask.

This is long...you've been warned...
-Emmy Rossum's voice...I'm not going to critisize this too harshly b/c I think she had a very nice voice and she did hit some of the high notes, however, most of the time her voice sounded deeper than it should have been, that she wasn't singing up in those high ranges...it sounded high...but not high enough...I can't explain it. I also thought in some songs she had too much melody to her voice, in the show they have a much more high range, articulate voice. I liked Emmy's voice and I think she did great in the role...but there was something about it...that was off.
They took a large part of her vocal score down an octave to accomidate her voice.