Phantom of the Opera (2 Viewers)

[Phanatical]

Hey, fuck you.

Musically, the musical wouldn't have worked if it were shorter, since it would be less coherant. Unless you establish each musical theme, AND develop them, it doesn't work, and while you may have character development and plot development, you don't have musical development, and in a musical, the musical development is the most important element.

That's the problem with the ADHD music listening youth of today. Everything has to be 3 or 4 minute songs. Nobody can listen to a work that goes for 10 minutes, or 20 minutes, or 15 hours (like Wagner's Ring), because they're already sick of it in the first twenty seconds. Instead of developing a musical idea, and experiencing its nuances, a lot of modern "music" just lumps idea after idea into one incoherant piece of shit, puts it on a CD with a nice cover, and then calls it "music".

 

[crazyhomo]

Hey, fuck you.

Musically, the musical wouldn't have worked if it were shorter, since it would be less coherant. Unless you establish each musical theme, AND develop them, it doesn't work, and while you may have character development and plot development, you don't have musical development, and in a musical, the musical development is the most important element.

That's the problem with the ADHD music listening youth of today. Everything has to be 3 or 4 minute songs. Nobody can listen to a work that goes for 10 minutes, or 20 minutes, or 15 hours (like Wagner's Ring), because they're already sick of it in the first twenty seconds. Instead of developing a musical idea, and experiencing its nuances, a lot of modern "music" just lumps idea after idea into one incoherant piece of shit, puts it on a CD with a nice cover, and then calls it "music".

no, that is just shear laziness and self-indulgence. sometimes long is good, but in this case it was most certainly not needed. the skilled composer can introduce and develop a musical theme in a little time as is necessary. andrew lloyd webber just likes to hear his own work as many times as possible, whether or not it is actually required to achieve the ends

 

[glycerine]

it couldn't been any less coherent than it was anyway! no one i know who's seen it even realised that christine thought the phantom was her father until it was SAID (not sung) outright!

i'm sorry, but as someone who loved the book, found it intriguing, sexy, and more importantly, COHERENT... i don't think 'developing the music' should be considered any more important than the other elements such as plot development, character development et al. a good musical manages to combine all these things. it was not a night at the orchestra, it was a musical film and i think it could've strongly benefited if they had been willing to sacrifice some of the score in favour of the movie actually moving at a decent pace.

phantom of the opera doesn't exactly have a fantastic score anyway.

 

[aimstar555]

i'm not sure about it. Phantom was the first musical i ever saw (was about 8 years old) and it was incredable. i'll see it, but i'm not sure if i'll like it...peace out

 

[stella8h8chang]

I loved Phantom of the Opera. It's not the greatest movie ever (dear oh dear, guys, what happened to LOTR?) but it's certainly a beautifully constructed piece of work. It's visually stunning, and the acting is pretty much stellar throughout.

Of course the singing isn't as good as the stage musical. I can understand how hard it is, particularly these days, to find actors who can both sing and act well, and appeal to the public at the same time. Remember today's public is a superficial mess who look to actors as aesthetic ideals (think body image, people!). Christine has a brilliant voice and definitely vocally leads the movie, Raoul does a good job as well.

Phantom is the weakest of the leads, but his raw and earthy rock-singer voice appealed to me. Plus, he managed to put heaps of emotion into his voice. As a fan of the novel as well, I'd like to add, now where the hell would Phantom have gotten any vocal training from? Afghanistan? (if you didn't read the book don't worry...just basically, he'd been hanging out around the Opera House for ages...and he didn't exactly get a chance to be vocally trained there). In addition, the supporting roles were good, Carlotta was hilarious; Meg & Madam Giry were a heart-warming pair.

My other pet peeves were the technical details, but since a lot of people haven't read the book/seen the musical/viewed the movie yet, I won't spoil them for you.

I know people have gotten peeved at the ages of the leads (particularly Phantom); some people think they're too young. But in my opinion, it makes more sense to have a young Phantom, because having a 16-year-old Christine and a 60-year-old Phantom might have been OK in Victorian times, but today that borders on paedophilia. At least if he's thirty-ish, it's not that disgusting. My aunt and uncle are sixteen years apart. And he still has the potential to form the father-figure for her (read the book for help on that) - act like the father's messenger angel-of-music. I like them young too, I feel I can almost relate to them in some scenes.

Phanatical has a point. I think a lot of us these days get bored with long pieces of music. Nothing on the radio goes for more than 4 minutes at a time. In fact, nothing in our world seems to have any substantial size anymore. Everywhere, thick books, long movies, hefty electronics (believe me, I just went camera shopping), big portions, generous figures...basically everywhere we look we are bombarded with messages of "small is good". Now as a short and small person myself, I'm not really picking on this, but I think a balance in our lives would be much appreciated.

And, don't insult ALW's music. It's the work of a genius, in my opinion. I'm not alone either. Thousands of people throughout the world have loved ALW's music, why do you think he was like the first composer to have 12 simultaneously successful running musicals (or something like that)? My dad's a huge fan; he has masses of discs hanging around. I grew up listening to "The Very Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber" as my lullaby disc (to help me sleep), and I know basically all the words to every song on the disc, except the Spanish one. My dad already got upset about the music they apparently cut out of the movie; cutting any more would irritate fans of the musical.

The trouble with this movie is that it's tried to appeal to too many crowds at once. In trying to catch the musical group, they kept every single song. In pleasing the novelists, they added in things that weren't in the movie but were in the book. For visual people, they've created breathtaking sets. For the kiddies, they cut back on the spooky stuff. For teenagers, they made the cast a lot younger, and in many respects, physically attractive. The adult audience is meant to be dazzled by the acting. However, in doing this, they've made many compromises, too many of them to list. These compromises are going to really rile a lot of people. They didn't rile me, though, again, I thought it was splendidly done.

 

[crazyhomo]

Phanatical has a point. I think a lot of us these days get bored with long pieces of music. Nothing on the radio goes for more than 4 minutes at a time. In fact, nothing in our world seems to have any substantial size anymore. Everywhere, thick books, long movies, hefty electronics (believe me, I just went camera shopping), big portions, generous figures...basically everywhere we look we are bombarded with messages of "small is good". Now as a short and small person myself, I'm not really picking on this, but I think a balance in our lives would be much appreciated.

yeah, nothing has any size anymore. all the number one's are tiny. like the best selling book. oh wait, that would be harry potter which was almost 800 pages long. but i guess the highest grossing movie. oh wait, that was lotr, which was 3 and a half hours long (which the extended edition being over 4 hours). and how stuff on the radio is now averaging 4 minutes...compared to 2 minutes 50 years ago....hmmm....that seems to have gotten longer as well....maybe food portions are getting smaller....oh wait that is complete bull as well. least you can safely say that 'hefty' electronics are out...wait....aren't most people looking for the biggest tv screen and the loudest speakers. i'm sure you said something that wasn't pulled out of your arse in there, i'm just having a hard time finding it

And, don't insult ALW's music. It's the work of a genius, in my opinion. I'm not alone either. Thousands of people throughout the world have loved ALW's music, why do you think he was like the first composer to have 12 simultaneously successful running musicals (or something like that)? My dad's a huge fan; he has masses of discs hanging around. I grew up listening to "The Very Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber" as my lullaby disc (to help me sleep), and I know basically all the words to every song on the disc, except the Spanish one. My dad already got upset about the music they apparently cut out of the movie; cutting any more would irritate fans of the musical.

in your opinion? of course, that means you cannot insult his music. you wanna know why i think he was the most successful composer of musical theatre in the 20th century? because he turned musicals into rock concerts. he wrote a single, released it, and people flocked just to hear that one song. once they were sold on the single, it was easy enough to convince them that being bored for the rest of the musical was ok, because it made them more intelligent. and audiences didn't mind as long as they got to hear the showstopper played live. don't kid yourself, alw is not a genius of musical threatre. he is a genius of marketing, and capable of mass-producing some catchy ditties

 

[Not-That-Bright]

I heard P of the O has been nominated as homoerotic thriller of 04.

 

[crazyhomo]

http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4051&n=1

 

[nicko88]

Katie Holmes was almost cast for the role of Christine, but the director said she was too old.

Why not watch both movies?

I really want to watch Finding Neverland. I've heard good reviews about it.

well, i'm glad that they chose emmy rossum to play her. they made a good choice.

 

[Phanatical]

Katie Holmes is 26 years old, Emmy Rossum is only 18.

They were also considering Anne Hathaway, of Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted fame.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

emmy rossum..
the only reason i could watch that movie and not want to kill everyone in the theatre..
the musical was way better.... the book was way better..
id say... watch the movie.. then go watch the musical.. then go read the book.. cos tats the only way it will get better..

otherwise.. just go perv on emmy.. i want her babies..

 

[aim54x]

The Phantom Of The Opera

Who's seen the movie??
saw it today. it was GOOD!!!!!!

n-e-1 else have any opinions? i don't want to ruin it 4 others.

 

[Senator04]

Was pretty good, still wish Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford had have done it like Lloyd Webber originally wanted. Although the girl who played Christine was pretty good.

 

[aim54x]

that was Emmy Rossum. she was in 'the day after tomorrow', 'mystic river'. i'm wonderin if they did the singin themselves.

 

[Will_Sparky]

You guys do need to remember though, alot of the stage version of Phantom was spectacle you can't get on screen (like the falling chandelier)... Comparing it to the stage show is, i dunno, like apples and oranges i guess.

I loved the film because of its theatricality though, and how rich it all was. I thought it was great! I didnt feel the length like most people did.

 

[aim54x]

i havn't seen musical but throughly enjoyed the movie. after doin english i have come to realise that by disectin a movie or novel u ruin it so i look at each movie as a seperate entity, and judge it on an entertainment factor. PO rates well 4 me, 4 1/2 stars out of 5. i really needed to go piss but couldn't bear missin any of the movie.

 

[stella8h8chang]

yeah, nothing has any size anymore. all the number one's are tiny. like the best selling book. oh wait, that would be harry potter which was almost 800 pages long. but i guess the highest grossing movie. oh wait, that was lotr, which was 3 and a half hours long (which the extended edition being over 4 hours). and how stuff on the radio is now averaging 4 minutes...compared to 2 minutes 50 years ago....hmmm....that seems to have gotten longer as well....maybe food portions are getting smaller....oh wait that is complete bull as well. least you can safely say that 'hefty' electronics are out...wait....aren't most people looking for the biggest tv screen and the loudest speakers. i'm sure you said something that wasn't pulled out of your arse in there, i'm just having a hard time finding it

1. Nothing on popular radio goes for more than 4 minutes anymore. That's fact. Look at some of the other stations, particularly the classical ones which portray a true view of what the stations were once like. Once, I remember, they played an entire piano concerto that went for at least 15 minutes.
2. It's a given fact of life that many people do not like large books. You can tell by the stares that I get when I cart Anna Karenina, Portrait of a Lady, Dirt Music, Gone With The Wind etc out of my library. Lest we forget Ron's distaste at Hermione's love of large books. My brother, for example, will not read anything thicker than the comics section of the Sunday paper. And, the next HP is slimming down; JKR promised us that it will be shorter than the 5th book
3. There's no more LOTR. Damn...but, look, HP got cut back from its former glory...I'm pretty sure about this one, the third film felt shorter than the second.
HPCoS = 161 mins (Germany cut it to 152)
HPPoA = 141 mins
4. Food portions? A lot of companies are being forced to slim down their sizes nowadays. And look at the value for money you get these days. My mother says that just ten years ago, you could get twice as big a bowl of noodles as you do now when you pay $6 or something. At my school, we used to be able to buy cookies with a 15cm diameter for $1.20, now we're getting miserable things with a 10cm diameter for the same price. Our cookies are shrinking :'(
5. Generous figures...and we have thousands of girls (and boys) all over the world starving themselves to death. I've read many articles about how they fear that eating disorders are on the rise. I remember reading in Who not long ago about how the person thought that Pink was "fat and blubbery", and what they do not realise is that she is nowhere near obese. You an argue all you want with Casey Donovan being voted into Australian Idol, but she's already facing pressure to become thinner. Still, her case is unusual; I have no problem with people who are obese becoming healthy. What I am totally against is how perfectly healthy people wish they could flaunt skeletal figures.
6. Oh yeah. The electronics. But still, the screens are getting thinner, despite getting wider. Flatscreens are invading our lives; my dad is jumping up and down because he thinks CRTs are better (still, that's his business). To be honest, I don't know a lot about speakers, except that the latest my dad brought home were half the size of our originals and make twice the noise, specially when the Beethoven comes on...cameras, laptops etc are all shrinking.
7. I thought I'd add this on because I forgot it earlier. Glasses are getting smaller. And you can't deny that. My dad's spectacles are twice the size of anything I could buy now, and being an eye doctor, he's on a crusade to bring large glasses back because they strain your eyes a lot less.

 

[aim54x]

Aim for Andromeda, that way, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars

that is a good 1

 

[super katie]

I saw it tonight, and I was very disappointed. I absolutely adore the stage version which I saw when it was last touring about ten years ago, and I just thought this version lacked intensity and vitality. The singing just didnt seem to have the passion of the stage version, and was slightly out of sync at times. The ending annoyed the hell out of me with that stupid rose on the grave, but the beginning with the auction I think might have been slightly better on screen than on the stage. The Masquerade scene was equally as impressive on stage and screen although the Music of the Night, Prima Donna and labaryinth scenes were just disappointing. I didnt find Emmy's acting that wonderful, and there was way too much legs and clevage for me. I thought the Angel of Music scene was a joke. But it did have its good moments

 

[crazyhomo]

1. Nothing on popular radio goes for more than 4 minutes anymore. That's fact. Look at some of the other stations, particularly the classical ones which portray a true view of what the stations were once like. Once, I remember, they played an entire piano concerto that went for at least 15 minutes.
2. It's a given fact of life that many people do not like large books. You can tell by the stares that I get when I cart Anna Karenina, Portrait of a Lady, Dirt Music, Gone With The Wind etc out of my library. Lest we forget Ron's distaste at Hermione's love of large books. My brother, for example, will not read anything thicker than the comics section of the Sunday paper. And, the next HP is slimming down; JKR promised us that it will be shorter than the 5th book
3. There's no more LOTR. Damn...but, look, HP got cut back from its former glory...I'm pretty sure about this one, the third film felt shorter than the second.
HPCoS = 161 mins (Germany cut it to 152)
HPPoA = 141 mins
4. Food portions? A lot of companies are being forced to slim down their sizes nowadays. And look at the value for money you get these days. My mother says that just ten years ago, you could get twice as big a bowl of noodles as you do now when you pay $6 or something. At my school, we used to be able to buy cookies with a 15cm diameter for $1.20, now we're getting miserable things with a 10cm diameter for the same price. Our cookies are shrinking :'(
5. Generous figures...and we have thousands of girls (and boys) all over the world starving themselves to death. I've read many articles about how they fear that eating disorders are on the rise. I remember reading in Who not long ago about how the person thought that Pink was "fat and blubbery", and what they do not realise is that she is nowhere near obese. You an argue all you want with Casey Donovan being voted into Australian Idol, but she's already facing pressure to become thinner. Still, her case is unusual; I have no problem with people who are obese becoming healthy. What I am totally against is how perfectly healthy people wish they could flaunt skeletal figures.
6. Oh yeah. The electronics. But still, the screens are getting thinner, despite getting wider. Flatscreens are invading our lives; my dad is jumping up and down because he thinks CRTs are better (still, that's his business). To be honest, I don't know a lot about speakers, except that the latest my dad brought home were half the size of our originals and make twice the noise, specially when the Beethoven comes on...cameras, laptops etc are all shrinking.
7. I thought I'd add this on because I forgot it earlier. Glasses are getting smaller. And you can't deny that. My dad's spectacles are twice the size of anything I could buy now, and being an eye doctor, he's on a crusade to bring large glasses back because they strain your eyes a lot less.

1. pop songs are getting longer. during the 50s and 60s they averaged at 2 mins. now it is more like 4. that suggests songs are getting longer to me.

2. given fact that people don't like long books? this is despite harry potter and the da vinci code being number one best sellers and over 600 pages each? uh huh

3. no more lotr means that there will not be anymore long films? yes, that makes sense. and you point to the harry potter films getting shorter. newsflash: hp3 shitted completely over the first two films which were boring as fuck

4. omg! not inflation! that must mean food portions are getting smaller! except where they aren't. macca's not only sells much larger drinks, but they have also got rid of their 9 pack of nuggets, replacing it with a 10 pack. a few years ago it was possible to buy 500ml bottles of softdrink, now you can only get 600ml. as well as the 750ml of milk that are almost impossible to finish

5. there is a reason i didn't cover this bit, because it is stupid and irrelevent. may as well bring up the fact that most girls want bigger tits and most guys want bigger dicks

6. i'm confused as too why this is an issue anyway. aren't you glad that your things take up less space, or would you prefer we still had computers that consumed entire buildings

7. who cares?