I did see it...I think I posted up some comments some time ago, but I'll repeat them there. It's my definition of a trashy musical that attempts to redeem itself through the costumes and sets.
Listening to the soundtrack, I was struck by how bad Gerald Butler sounds. Seriously. In the film I thought he was OK, not cringe-worthy, but on the soundtrack he tries this weird raspy sensual approach to his singing, and the result is absolutely hilarious! His phrasing's a bit bizarre, too. He's best when trying to hit really solid ending notes on the songs; his range seems to be better suited for the upper reaches of a tenor. As for Emmy Rossum, her voice isn't fully developped yet (she's only 18, if I remember correctly), but I think she has plenty of potential. She's surprisingly good when hitting the really low alto-range notes, and has a very beautiful pure voice for the second-soprano range. For the really high notes, she thankfully doesn't use too much vibrato; you can tell she has a little trouble up there.
Raoul was surprisingly good, probably the best performance in the cast besides Madame Giry (the lady who oversees the opera cast and saved the Phantom when he was a boy) and the two British opera owners. I had absolutely no idea what kind of accent Minnie Driver was trying until about halfway through the film.
The director whose last name I have difficulty spelling was pretty lousy. There's a ton of visual spectacle but I ended up being really overwhelmed by how much...stuff...is happening on screen the entire time. Occasionally the film tends to drag during the musical sequences, which is a really bad sign.
I'm not sure I'm too fond of the orchestrations. Yes, it's a melodrama like your typical opera, but do we really need the super sappy strings? And the retro synthesizer and organ and guitar...I normally like retro stuff, but it really DOESN'T work here, seriously dates the sound. You can tell this stuff was written in the 80's, you know? I have to confess that I'm not a super-huge Andrew Lloyd Webber fan to begin with; I do happen to love Cats, though. This could've been much better, but inexplicably I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. I have no idea why.
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Date: 2005-01-29 05:40 am (UTC)Listening to the soundtrack, I was struck by how bad Gerald Butler sounds. Seriously. In the film I thought he was OK, not cringe-worthy, but on the soundtrack he tries this weird raspy sensual approach to his singing, and the result is absolutely hilarious! His phrasing's a bit bizarre, too. He's best when trying to hit really solid ending notes on the songs; his range seems to be better suited for the upper reaches of a tenor. As for Emmy Rossum, her voice isn't fully developped yet (she's only 18, if I remember correctly), but I think she has plenty of potential. She's surprisingly good when hitting the really low alto-range notes, and has a very beautiful pure voice for the second-soprano range. For the really high notes, she thankfully doesn't use too much vibrato; you can tell she has a little trouble up there.
Raoul was surprisingly good, probably the best performance in the cast besides Madame Giry (the lady who oversees the opera cast and saved the Phantom when he was a boy) and the two British opera owners. I had absolutely no idea what kind of accent Minnie Driver was trying until about halfway through the film.
The director whose last name I have difficulty spelling was pretty lousy. There's a ton of visual spectacle but I ended up being really overwhelmed by how much...stuff...is happening on screen the entire time. Occasionally the film tends to drag during the musical sequences, which is a really bad sign.
I'm not sure I'm too fond of the orchestrations. Yes, it's a melodrama like your typical opera, but do we really need the super sappy strings? And the retro synthesizer and organ and guitar...I normally like retro stuff, but it really DOESN'T work here, seriously dates the sound. You can tell this stuff was written in the 80's, you know? I have to confess that I'm not a super-huge Andrew Lloyd Webber fan to begin with; I do happen to love Cats, though. This could've been much better, but inexplicably I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. I have no idea why.