Saw Phantom of the Opera tonight

Wasn't expecting much going in. I wanted to see Clint Eastwood's new movie Million Dollar Baby, but it wasn't playing at the Carousel on Battleground. My fiance wanted to see Phantom of the Opera, which looked like a really lame chick flick to me. But I caved in and obliged her.

Back in my musician days I played in an orchestral rendition of the musical. But it's been years since then, and I never saw the play or read the book. So I went into the film with a pretty clean slate. Didn't know what to expect.

Man, it was awesome. I loved everything about it. Just another example of why cinema is the best art form. You can present all the other arts within a motion picture. This movie has music, dance, sculpture, acting, singing, and just about everything else. And it all works marvelously.

The casting for the film was spot-on. The music is, of course, incredible. The production design was stellar. The cinematography was quite nice (the balance between film presentation and stage presentation is perfect). Schumaker's direction is lovely.

Bravo. 4 stars. One of the year's best. Go see this film.

One caviat: Carousel employees always come into the theater and start cleaning and talking and standing in front of the screen as soon as the credits begin to roll. Very frustrating for the folk who want to see the COMPLETE film from beginning to end. I've complained before. I hope you'll do the same if it bothers you as much as it does me. Maybe they'll change their policy in the future and wait til the whole film is over before they clean.