Phantom of the Opera (2004)

   Let me start by saying that I have actually seen this movie more than once. The first time I saw it, I was about nine years old. Because of my young age, I did not remember much. All I remember is crying at the end. My sister and I were having a movie night and wanted to watch a musical. We both love the music in this production to begin with, so naturally Phantom of the Opera was our first choice. I remembered this movie being very sad, but I was not aware of the downward spiral my emotions would take.
   This movie stars the always attractive Gerard Butler playing the mysterious and handsome Phantom. Emily Rossum plays the beautiful Christine and to my surprise Patrick Wilson plays Raoul. Even if you hate musicals, this movie is enjoyable because the acting is superb. Christine is a very understated character in the beginning. The Opera House treats her as a background character. The "star" however, is a mean, spoiled woman named Carlotta (Minnie Driver). Although she can sing she does not match up to Christine's standards. When Carlotta backs down Christine assumes the throne as star performer. When asked who her teacher is, she says it is her angel of music. Just as the phantom says Christine makes his soul take flight, the phantom's appearance made my emotions take flight. I immediately fell in love with Gerard Butler's character. Call me insane, but I love the mysterious, attractive "bad boy" so to speak.When he sang Music of the Night my heart melted. I was enthralled by his vocal dynamics followed by a sweet symphony playing in the background. Honestly I would not care to stay in his dark dungeon forever because he gets paid a salary, he's handsome, and he has tons of little trinkets that would provide entertainment.
   As the movie progresses the phantom develops feelings for Christine. However, Christine has her eyes on another, her childhood friend Raoul. Although Patrick Wilson executed his role as Raoul very well, I still will never like this character. I tend to analyze movies very distinctly. My sister will even tell you the same because I notice everything: facial expressions, background scenery, etc. What I grasped from this is that Raoul fell in love with Christine's voice which made him fall in love with Christine as a person. Not to mention that Raoul thinks she is insane for having this "imaginary tutor." The Phantom in contrast sees her potential from the get-go. He loves her sweetness and most of all he loves her because she is not frightened by him. Honestly though if Gerard Butler tells you to stay with him why would you not? That is the real question I have for Christine. And as the play and movie both go, Christine chooses Roaul over the Phantom. Yet is this the whole story?
   SPOILER ALERT: The end of the movie got to me more than any movie I've watched in a while. He kidnaps Christine and says her fate is to stay with him. Raoul runs after her. The Phantom says that he loves her and blames his face for the fact she does not love him back. Yet Christine says it is his actions that really drove her away from him. At this realization he lets Raoul have her. He loves her but he realizes that his actions have consequences. His actions lost him Christine. But there's a twist here. Christine loves him too. When Raoul and Christine ride on the boat back to safety she looks back at him longingly. At the end older Raoul is visiting Christine's grave. He brings her the Phantom's music box. On the grave is a single rose with the ring the Phantom presented her. Christine isn't as bad as I thought she was. She chose the Phantom in her heart and that is enough happiness for me.
   I encourage everyone to watch this movie at some point. It is more than a musical. It is very entertaining and the music is beautiful. Plus there is some really awesome dance numbers, fights, and attractive men serenading the audience. What more could you want?

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Where do I even begin to discuss this movie? It was ridiculously great. Scott Fitzgerald would be proud to see his book displayed in this way. What can you expect with a great cast: Leonardo Dicaprio ( Jay Gatsby), Carey Mulligan (Daisy Buchanan), Isla Fisher (Myrtle Wilson), Tobey Maguire (Nick Carraway), etc. If you've ever read the book, your expectations would be pretty high for a movie such as this one. Compared to the 1974 version, this movie captured way more of how  I had imagined while reading the book. Leonardo Dicaprio delivered quite the phenomenal performance. He really captured the essence of who Gatsby was with the whole idea of dwelling in the past. You could just see his passion for Daisy and how much he wanted her to change her mind. There were some differences from the book, such as Nick Carraway writing the story called the Great Gatsby to deal with depression. This movie truly revealed the carelessness of people and how disturbing New York was towards drugs, alcohol, and the treatment towards people. My sister even cried in the movie, because it was that powerful. Every bit of the book was exaggerated to how it should have been. The different parts of New York looked how they should have been and you could fully see the contrast between West Egg and East Egg. Each character was fully identified to how he or she should've been. For example, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) was exactly I had pictured he'd be in the book. He was very athletic and very self centered. Gatsby (Leonardo Dicaprio) had the mysteriousness that he had in the book. It was like I was almost reading the book. I would definitely highly recommend this to anyone whether you read the book or not. This movie gets 8.9 out of 10 stars on my movie scale.