So it’s Christmas eve. And life… is good? I guess it goes like Carter put it: it’s odd to be back in Cheyenne. Cheyenne truely is timeless, which is to say unchanging, stagnant, dead. And I feel myself sliding back into “Cheyenne life.” So it’s Chistmas eve, and I still have shopping to do. It’s warmer outside today; it was well below zero last night. Last night? Crazy times. Hell, good times.
The point of this is for me to try to post something upbeat and happy. Somehow I seem to be failing. So let me just say sucks to all this superflous blather and say:
1. I miss some of the people from Bozeman.
2. Until I have a permanent address, Cheyenne will always be “home.”
3. My abs hurt.
4. I’m eternally confused and conflicted.
5. I’m having a good time.
6. I’m… unable to bring myself to type “I’m happy.” Instead: I’m happier now than I’ve been for a long time. I feel like I say that a lot, almost as though I’m trying to convince myself.
7. I have shopping left to do.
8. I want orange juice.
9. I feel like I should round this out with ten things.
10. (your emotion here)
10. anxious
What a bastard I am… but because I’m too lazy to get around to writing my own blog, I’ll just write my movie reviews right bloody here! HA!
The Phantom of the Opera
****/*****
Wow. I’m simply taken aback. This movie should have been perfect. It should have been 500 out of 5 stars. The MOVIE was 5 stars. The MUSIC was 5 stars. Unfortunately, director Joel Schumacher leaves the two (for the most part) mutually exclusive. For a musical, one would think the correlation between the two would be necessary, so why then would I give this movie a solid 4 stars? Because it was still THAT good.
The cinemetography, usage of color, variance in film grain and most importantly, the lighting were some of the best I’ve EVER seen. Watching this movie is, simply put, mesmorizing.
The music, as we all know, is the best ever written for broadway, and with Webber producing the movie and teaming up with Schumacher to write the screenplay, it is no surprise that its all there, and its just as good as its always been.
The problem is the correlation. The actors and actreses are the ones singing the words, but not live. Everything sung is dubbed, and for the most part, poorly dubbed. The “Masquerade” scene (my personal favorite from the play) is butchered watching hundreds of characters on screen mouthing words VERY different from what you’re hearing. This consistantly poor sound editing creates a definite dilineation between what you are seeing and what you’re hearing, almsot transporting you to two different worlds at the same time. Additionally the timing of cuts to music is poorly done. There are SO many times when a cut from scene to scene is timed right before or after a huge crescendo in the music… It makes the film look a little more sporadic and less congrious than it should, however its not as bad as it could be because the music and visuals are already so detatched.
That being said, I’m being overcritical. This movie is amazing. Emmy Rossum’s (Mystic River and The Day After Tomorrow) performance as Christine Da’ae is nothing short of heartstopping. Her voice is amazing, her performance is beyond convincing, and the whole while she looks fantastic. Thus far, she is my definate pick for best actress this year. Gerard Butler, as the phantom, starts out weak… but as the movie progresses, so does his performance. By the end, he’s managed to build up enough emotional conflict within you that his last monologue is one in which only someone as inhumane as Bush could not be moved by. The unfortunate dead weight of the movie is Patrick Wilson as Raoul… You don’t really notice how bad he is when he’s in scenes with Cristine because she manages to steal every scene she’s in, but when alone… the scenes drag.
Music and musical aside, there is an unfortunate sword fight sequence between Raoul and the phantom that is terrible. Its poorly choreographed, poorly shot and poorly edited. Worst of all, however, is that the background music during the fight is SO out of context that it breaks the flow of the musical. Its unfortunate, but thankfully the continuation is so good that 5 minutes after its over you’ve forgotten it was ever there.
One more point to note (especially for those who have had the chance to see The Phantom live in a theater) is that the public’s favorite scenes (Masquerade and Music of the Night) have lost their flare in this film rendition. The almost surreal atmosphere the theater manages to convey is gone… This isn’t to say that the scenes are BAD, in fact they’re terrific, but they aren’t sublime as they originally were. On the other hand, The Point of No Return scene during the phantom’s opera is breathtaking. It is just fantastic. The chemistry between Rossum and Butler is fantastic and the editing to involve the reactions of the audience makes the whole scene my favorite in the movie.
Finally, to comment on the accuracy of the movie. Its almost exactly the same. A few minor additions that very effectively break the movie up into the acts in which the musical has function really well as transitions.
All in all, a solid and very well put together movie with a number of Oscar nominations in store. Namely:
Best Picture
Best Actress
Best Song
Best Costume Design
Best Cinemetography
Best Adapted Screenplay
[maybe a couple more I missed]
I’d say it wins actress, and adapted screenplay for sure, with a few more potentially (however, it won’t win best picture)
Get your own damn blog!