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?

Interstellar

We have all heard of Matthew McConaughey's new movie hit Interstellar. If you haven't, here is a brief overview: basically Matthew McConaughey is this once engineer turned farmer, Cooper, who sets out on a mission to find a new planet to inhabit humans. I am not normally one for sci-fi movies, if this can be considered one, but this was a different type of sci-fi movie. For example, when I think "future," I normally think of hover cars and teleportation devices. I don't normally think of a world that has completely used up its new technological devices and that is paying the price for its many years of pollution  and wastefulness. Yet, that is how Interstellar is. Here we have a future that is completely based upon how we used our resources in the past. It really makes you think. Very rarely do I watch a movie that impacts me or really sticks with me. However, this was one of those movies. I could not believe that I actually loved a Matthew McConaughey movie. Don't get me wrong; the man is handsome. I personally am not a fan of his acting, although I'm sure many people will disagree with me. However, he was perfect in this movie. Another plus to this whole film was the special effects. I actually felt like I was in space with the crew. I felt lonely out in space while Matthew McConaughey and his group were there; and it honestly made me miss my family even though I was only 10 minutes away from them. It is very hard for a movie to grasp such emotions given the genre. Furthermore, I learned so many things. For example, time is relative. I was completely on the edge of my seat the whole time. Cooper (McConaughey's character) has to leave his family behind in order to help on this space mission. Yet time on earth is completely different from time out in space. I think the line that really just made my heart break was the scene in which Cooper is saying goodbye to his daughter Murph. He says that when he returns Murph might be just as old as him (keep in mind, his daughter is like 10 years old here). Immediately I knew that this was not going to be an easy journey. Of course Anne Hathaway's character, Brand, had a lot to lose too. Her father was the head of the mission and he was elderly (you can see where this is going). Each individual on the mission had so much to lose, yet so much to gain. Not to mention Brand's father quotes the poem by Dylan Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight," which happens to be a poem my old English teacher read to us. It is a powerful poem and fit perfectly with this powerful movie. Yet just as the poem is so dark, this movie has several dark elements. So here our characters go. They have communication with the secret base of NASA (NOTE: all military and governmental programs were cut due to the money needed for drones) in which Cooper can still receive messages from his son and daughter and Brand still receives messages from her father. Well, Cooper's daughter is not on speaking terms with him because she did not want him to leave. She decoded a message prior from a gravitational signal that decoded the phrase "stay." Long story short, they come to this planet in which 1 hour on this planet = 7 Earth years. Time is relative remember? SPOILER ALERT: Because of such strong gravitational pull, this planet has massive waves; so high they resemble mountains. The ship gets struck by a wave and although it does not damage the ship, the engine gets flooded. They're stuck for a long time. By the time they get back, they realize they've been gone 4 hours or 28 years on Earth. Here is where your heart will break: Cooper gets a message from his family. His son is married and has a child. Next message: his son's child just died due to  lack of pure air. Next message: Cooper's father-in-law died. Then the worst message: his daughter Murph finally speaks to him. After 28 years of silence, she speaks to him. She is finally his age when he left for the mission. Mind blown right? Let's not forget how Murph is now working alongside Brand's dad. After Brand's father, Dr. Brand (Michael Caine), passes, Dr. Brand reveals that the mission was never for the group to return. Rather, they would find a planet and stay there. This brings us to the idea of altruism which they discuss in the movie. I learned this in my Biology class. It's the evolutionary concept of someone risking their own fitness to save their own species. In other words, instead of fixing the issues on Earth, he sent the strongest and bravest humans out on a mission to save the human species. Again, my heart was breaking. If that isn't enough we can fast forward to the end. Remember how Cooper has been gone for a very long time? Well he finds his way back. Happy right? Wrong. His daughter has apparently found a way to create a base on a neighboring planet of Saturn and has set up a whole civilization there. Cooper is still the same age as he was when he left, maybe a couple of years older but not by much. He returns to his daughter who happens to be dying of old age. That's right. She finishes up her line with a twist on the line Cooper told her in the very beginning "No parent deserves to see their child die." Crying yet? I wanted to. This movie was amazing though. The cast did a phenomenal job and kudos to you, Christopher Nolan, for creating an absolutely spectacular visionary masterpiece. I couldn't keep my eyes away from the screen. My only regret is that I didn't see this one in theaters. I highly recommend Interstellar to anyone who enjoys sci-fi movies.

American Sniper

     Okay, so I know it has been a while since my last post. Believe me, I have seen a ton of movies in the past month or so since I've posted something; however, none of the movies I have viewed previously have been remotely good enough to even write about. Yet, one move I saw just last weekend really stuck with me. I am sure we have all heard of Bradley Cooper's new movie American Sniper. Kudos to you, Clint Eastwood, for directing one of the most horrific yet terrific movies I have seen in a while.
     I watch a lot of movies. Therefore, my standards on movies are relatively high. It takes a lot for a movie to truly stick with me. This movie did just that. Bradley Cooper did such a phenomenal job of portraying Chris Kyle. I am not one for war movies. My boyfriend makes me watch a lot of them and most of the time I try to stay in my own perfect world where war is dramatized and fictitious in movies. American Sniper was so gripping that it was impossible to go into my happy place. The movie encompassed every aspect of war: what happens to the families when a family member is out at war? What is going on over seas? What happens after a tour? Why do people want to fight in war? All of these questions were answered. Nothing about the movie was remotely settling. The happy scenes were something the viewer had to treasure because the rest was so sad and horrifying. I can't lie and say I didn't tear up in this film. This movie made me want to go out and personally thank every single veteran in the war. I have so much respect for people who want to join the military because I know it is a difficult job, but this movie made me open my eyes to it a little more. These people put their lives on the line every day and witness these horrifying events just to protect our country. That's a big deal.
     SPOILER ALERT: The violent scenes were so real to me, that I actually cried while watching them. This guy they call the butcher is shown drilling a hole into a little boy's head and all you can hear is this little boy screaming. Bradley Cooper's face said it all in the film. He could only sit there and watch. His first kill is that of a little boy and a woman. I mean to realize that this stuff is happening in our world is absolutely disgusting. I wanted to keep my eyes shut. The whole ordeal was disturbing. This was definitely one of Bradley Cooper's most memorable performances to me. He did a phenomenal job of portraying a man who is human just like us but loses himself once he experiences all of these tragic events. He dehumanizes into  a killing machine where he no longer has to think about who is the bad guy and who he is willing to save. I have never been to war, but I imagine that happens to many soldiers. My old history teacher used to tell me war stories of when he was in Afghanistan. He even admitted that it changed him.
      I saw this movie with my boyfriend and the first words I said to him as we left while I was in a puddle of tears were "please don't join the military." As horrible as that sounds, I have concluded that there is no way I could be an army wife. I applaud all of those who are capable of sustaining that kind of relationship, because I would be a mess. This movie just changed me in some way. I saw a whole new view of the world I never imagined I could. I would recommend this movie to anyone. It was horrifying and sickening, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Fight Club

First rule about fight club: you do NOT talk about fight club. Some may automatically feel that this movie is not for them because it is all about fighting. False! This movie is highly existential. On the surface we see Tyler Durden and the narrator and all these different characters who have nothing in common. There is violence. Oh there is TONS of violence. However, this movie is far from all fighting. The movie is based around the idea of fighting "the man." I saw this movie once when I was a kid, but I watched it recently completely forgetting how compelling this movie is. Tyler Durden seems like the bad guy throughout the movie, but in actuality we, the viewers, are the villains. He puts the brutal truth in our faces (my favorite idea). He says "You are not the car you drive. You are not the contents of your pocket." He is saying that the material things we own do not define us as a person, yet we always view this. The wealthy are treated better than the poor, but we are all God's children. He also says "Reject the basic assumption of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions." The entire movie represents how society has all fallen to the material world and no one is able to overcome it. Hence why Tyler Durden creates fight club. He allows people to feel something. When they fight they are no longer numb to the world. SPOILER ALERT! We are all Tyler Durden. The narrator creates Tyler Durden as his own persona because he is tired of his condo selling life. We all have the person in our minds that we strive to be. That person is who Tyler Durden represents. Plus let's be real here. Who doesn't want to see a young, shirtless Brad Pitt? I rate this movie 10/10 stars. It is a personal favorite of mine. However, it is hard to appreciate until you fully analyze the symbolic features throughout the film. Seriously, everyone should watch this.

The Fault In Our Stars

So I realize that technically the movie The Fault In Our Stars has not yet been released; I just want to discuss the book. I just finished reading it today. I decided upon this novel because I refuse to be a heathen who sees a movie before reading the book. I am not sure whether to be happy or sad about it. There are two sides I've taken to this book: one is that it is a love story about a girl and a boy with a tragedy at the end (basically every cliché romance novel) or two that it is a representation of death that no one wants to admit. The book was relatively pessimistic, but I guess that makes sense because it is about cancer. Then again the focus is far from a cancer novel. In fact, I was very impressed by the metaphorical aspect of it all. The character Augustus Waters was the type of character I have longed to see for a very long time. I have not loved a character so much since the Harry Potter books. He is the charming, charismatic type of character that everyone just wants to read about more and more. Yet he represented the brutal truth of death. The book tells us that we are all a statistic in the greater scheme of life. Time screws us all over eventually. All of us have a set number of days left on this earth (some more than others). However I think the scariest idea represented in the book was that all of us strive to make a mark on the earth before we die. We want to believe that when we die, people will remember us forever that it will be this great tragedy. Yet this is not true. It is such a pessimistic view but it is merely the truth that all of us hate to admit. When we die the world keeps moving. People mourn but eventually we are nothing but a forgotten memory to most. The sad reality is that all of us have this moral duty to treat the dying better than the living. Not to ruin the book, *SPOILER ALERT* but when one character is dying he sees people who have not talked to him in three years. They act like his best friend but no virtually nothing about him. Nevertheless, I have to say that I enjoyed John Green's pessimism throughout the novel. Not that I am a pessimistic. I have quite the optimistic view on life. John Green forces the reader to see beyond a cliché love story. He wants us to realize that we cannot live our lives until we can accept that one day we will die. I highly recommend everyone to read this book. After all the movie is coming out in about two weeks.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...to depression

Do you ever just get into a mood where you just need to cry? This is the movie for that moment. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was one of the most touching dramas I have seen in a while. Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, and Sandra Bullock give very powerful performances as the Schell family. The entire movie takes place after 9/11, so it is already set up for devastation. Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks) and his son Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) are the epitome of a father-son relationship. They are like best friends. Oskar is autistic, but he is so smart and adventurous. The son comes home early and hears the phone ring. It is his father repeatedly saying "Is anyone there? Hello? Is anyone there?" This is a huge theme throughout because the son is trying to go on the adventure that his father had originally set up for them to go on together. After 9/11 Oskar's mother, Linda Schell (Sandra Bullock), tries to pick up the pieces of her newly shattered family. Oskar asks everyone why someone who did not know his father would kill him. If that is not heart wrenching enough already, this innocent child goes around helping people because his father had always helped people. He travels to every place his father had taken him across New York City. Throughout the entire movie there are flashbacks to Oskar and Thomas Schell spending time together and sharing a very loving father-son bond. I literally cried like a baby throughout the entire movie. The saddest part is when Oskar talks to a lawyer whom he meets along his adventure. Keep in mind that Oskar is only a little boy. Oskar tells the lawyer of his guilt over his father. He says how the phone rang six times and he heard his dad say "Is anyone there?" The saddest part ever is seeing Oskar cry and say that he could not pick up the phone but he wanted to so badly. Oskar says that his father must have known he was there because he said "anyone" and anyone only means one person. I don't want to spoil anything else but this movie deserves 10/10 stars by my standards. I cried through the entire movie and continued to cry afterwards. It is not only a story of sadness but a story of happiness. You see how even through tough times that there can be happiness and joy. It is definitely a must see by everyone.

Blue Valentine: A Truly Blue Movie

So I just got done watching the movie Blue Valentine. This movie made me want to cry, smile, and flip tables all at the same time. I am a huge fan of the very attractive Ryan Gosling, so naturally I am always willing to sit down and watch any movie with his performance. He is the only actor that I know of that can make a balding middle-aged man look attractive. If you have not heard of this movie, it is about a woman named Cindy (Michelle Williams) and a man named Dean (Ryan Gosling). It is truly tough to look past Ryan Gosling's great look and maybe that is why I had such a hard time trying to rationalize Cindy's actions. There may be a few spoilers in this so be prepared. Dean meets Cindy unexpectedly which is just the perfect set up for the perfect love story. Well this story is far from perfect. They are complete opposites. Throughout the entire movie you see flashbacks of how they first met and see how much they were truly in love with each other. However, the main plot to the story proves otherwise. It is so sad because Ryan Gosling does an incredible job at showing how much he wants to change for the love of his life, but he just cannot seem to do it. At the same time, you can see how much Cindy wants to stay in love with him, but she is falling apart in the process. Michelle Williams did a splendid job in portraying what a woman will put herself through to stay with her man. You could really see how she did love him at one point but somewhere along the way their love fell apart. It was hard for me to understand seeing as I'm still young and it's also Ryan Gosling. If Ryan Gosling says he loves you, you should not test it. Yet, it is easy to see why she does what she does. Cindy is a very patient woman clearly. Dean drinks every morning and he has no ambitions towards his future. Cindy, in contrast, is very studious and has lots of ambitions. So maybe they were never destined to be for each other, but I was rooting for them the entire time.  Now how can we make this movie more depressing? They have a daughter together. If it is not sad enough seeing to people fall out of love, a daughter crashing and burning from it all comes into the mix.
I don't want to give any more spoilers away, but I will say this: if you expect happy endings in love stories, do not watch this movie. The ending was the most frustrating ending imaginable. It ends exactly the way you wish it didn't. However, overall it was a very enjoyable movie. I was so involved with it within the first ten minutes. I would rate this title 8/10 stars. It is definitely something people should watch.