Day14 - A film you hate - Phantom of the Opera (2004) starring Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler
MOVIE MEME
Day 01 - July 14th, 2010 - Favorite foreign language film - Dilwale Dulhania Lejayenge or Andaz Apna Apna
Day 02 - July 15th, 2010 - A film that is underrated - Blade II
Day 03 - July 16th - A film that brings you unadulterated happiness - Down With Love
Day 04 - July 17th - Favorite book-to-film adaptation - The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Day 05 - July 18th - Favorite love story in a film - Beauty and the Beast and The Sound of Music
Day 06 - July 19th - Favorite actor/actress - Ewan Mcgregor and Rachel McAdams
Day 07 - July 21st - The most surprising plot twist/ending - The Others
Day 08 & 09- The best opening/closing credits & best soundtrack/score to a film - July 22nd - Star Wars
Day 10 - July 23rd - Favorite documentary film - March of the Penguins
Day 11 - July 24th - Favorite black-and-white film - Dracula
Day 12 - July 25th - A film that permanently altered your point-of-view - Ben-Hur (1925)
Day 13 - July 27th - A guilty pleasure - Any movie starring Paul Bettany or Alan Rickman
Day 14 - July 28th - A film that you hate
There was a battle in my head between two movies and I decided to put this one because I actually gave it a second chance (when I thought "Hey, it couldn't have been as bad as I thought it was..." And it was. It truly was.).
Meanwhile the other (Blade Trinity) I just tend to pretend it doesn't exist (since having watched it, though, I did watch Prison Break a little and liked Dominic Purcell on there so maybe...I....wouldn't...hate.... Nahhh I'd still greatly hate it, so I'm not giving it another chance. :D lol).
As for this movie...........
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
There are just so many things wrong with it. The casting is the main problem. The Phantom is supposed to have an amazing voice - that's what makes him capable of taking Christine under his wing the way he does, instead, they chose to cast Gerard Butler, who clearly is not an accomplished singer IN THE LEAST.
Christine and Raoul were cast much too young. She speaks of him being her "childhood love" - when she looks about 14 in the move (and in real life Emmy Rossum is the same age as me so was, in fact, only 17-18 at the oldest when she filmed the movie, thus my assumptions are not all that far off).
For me what is most disappointing about all this is that I love the stage production of Phantom of the Opera and have grown up listening to the Canadian Cast Recording with the fantastic vocals of Rebecca Caine as Christine and Colm Wilkinson as the Phantom (Both are just perfect! ♥ ) and having this film be the interpretation that people all around the world ended up with - people who were not lucky enough to ever see it on stage as I did - is just so sad.
Also, unlike Chicago, which was improved upon when being transferred from stage to film through the addition of costumes and sets that amplified the atmosphere and made you feel the roaring 20s, the Phantom of the Opera film fell flat (Masquerade is one of the most disappointing because they could have done so much more to make that a grand scale song...)
One thing I will say for this film, though, the trailer for the movie is great and the opening scene with the chandelier going up is good too (I like the way the cobwebs blow away and it becomes how it used to look).
(If you would like more ranting about this movie, click the "poto movie" tag and see my previous post on the POTO movie from when I rewatched it :P - Oddly when I first saw it I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would and actually liked some things about it. Of course back then I was a naive 18 year old. Now I'm curmudgeonly and know better! Though I do still think Minnie Driver did a good job...but I'm not sure if that was actually her own voice in the movie, which, again brings up the question of casting... o_O ).
Also, I feel I should just add the other movies I considered for this day because they're god-awful too:
- Blade: Trinity
- Bram Stoker's Dracula
- Devdas (2002 - starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwariya Rai and Madhuri Dixit)
- Godzilla (1998)
I should also add that the above movies are ones I watched once all the way through and have not watched since, so I am not sure how much worse they are than when I first saw them, but going based off my gut-reaction of first watching them and how thoughts of them have fermented in my mind over the last few years...terrrrible.
In the days to come...
Day 15 - Favorite film sequel
Day 16 - Favorite film character
Day 17 - Favorite film quote
Day 18 - The best overall cast in a film
Day 19 - The most hilarious film you've seen
Day 20 - A moving (emotional) scene
Day 21 - Favorite film from your favorite actor/actress
Day 22 - Favorite Academy Award acceptance speech
Day 23 - A character who you can relate to the most
Day 24 - Favorite movie musical
Day 25 - Favorite film villain
Day 26 - Favorite film poster
Day 27 - A film that you wish you had seen in theaters
Day 28 - Favorite film from your favorite director
Day 29 - A piece of trivia from a favorite film
Day 30 - Your favorite film of all-time