Ode to a Phantom

One night during high school, I believe it was, I stayed up way past my bedtime...shh, don't tell!...and watched The Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney. 



I fell in love.  The Phantom will always be the ultimate tragic hero to me.  (The closest I've come to a similar reaction to a character would be Joely Sue Burkhart's Gregar.) 

The fact that a movie -- and a silent one at that -- made almost half a century before my presence turned a stick blue, almost a decade before either of my parents were glimmers in my grandparents' eyes, and spoke to my teenage self on such an elemental level, still resonates with me. Lon Chaney also had to have been one hell of an actor to convey all the layers of the Phantom without saying a word!

Thus started a love affair that's been going on nearly thirty years.  (Wow, I feel old now!) 

I think I've seen every movie incarnation out there, including a bunch of foreign ones complete with subtitles.  Of course, I've seen the Andrew Lloyd Webber version.  The Broadway incarnation once or twice in Portland, the Vegas version once, and The Phantom of the Opera movie too many times to count.  (If I was Christine, I'd have no problem being locked up with Gerard Butler's Phantom for the rest of my life *g*) 



I listen to The Phantom Of The Opera CD a lot, too.

And what good reader, in the middle of a love affair, would miss reading The Phantom of the Opera?  Not I.  Sadly, I speak not a word of French, so have to rely on the translated version of Leroux's work.  *le sigh*  I remember falling in love all over again the first time I read the book.

I've not got into all the reincarnations of the book -- a little too fan-fic for my tastes -- but do plan on reading Phantom by Susan Kay once I can lay hands on a copy. I've heard nothing but good things about her take on the original story. I'm on the fence about Love Never Dies. Though the music I've heard sounds amazing, sequels rarely live up to the hype.

What story captured you body and soul?

BFF's Visit

Just had the most awesome visit with my BFF: talking, visiting The Strip, shopping, watching LOTS of movies, drinking more wine than advisable (twice LOL), and wishing the visit could last longer!

Jewels arrived late Wednesday night, so it was a swing through MickyD's for food and home to bed.

Thursday:

Jewels got to sleep in but the morning was business as usual for me. Once Julie was up we had lunch, Robbie was completely bashful and shy around Julie even though he'd spent the last week all excited about her coming. He'd warmed up to her by the time I got back from taking Ian to school, though.

For the most part a quiet day for us. That night I got her hooked on a new TV series, LOL, Flash Forward. We watched Fringe while waiting for Jay Leno with Gerard Butler.

Friday:

Mark was home from Reno, so he took over the kid duties.

We watched A Wrinkle in Timewhich I had rented from Netflix. The movie is based on a book both Julie and I love from our girlhood. We both thought the movie followed the book well and enjoyed the movie immensely.

We actually went out to the theater for this one! When I can forget WHO an actor is makes a movie for me. The actors in The Ugly Truthdid just that. Julie and I were laughing all the way through. Which just goes to show I will never be a movie critic, LOL, I never agree with them.

We came home, opened wine, and watched I'll Be There.Another laugh a minute movie.

We wanted to stay up for the Craig Ferguson show with Gerard Butler. It's the Scottish accent, really! (I actually love Ferguson's show, just wish it was on earlier.)

Then we watched One More Kisswhich was a bit depressing after the comedy we'd been watching all night but a very good movie.

Saturday:

After Mark scolded me for the two empty bottles of wine, LOL...

We left Mark home with the kiddos, hit Blockbuster (I'd forgotten Monday was a holiday with no mail service so my Netflix plan failed), and did a bit of shopping.

When we got home we watched Duplicitywhich wasn't what we expected but good just the same.

We also watched Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.Think A Christmas Carolwhere Scrooge is a 'love 'em and leave 'em' playboy. Cute movie with some laughs.

Sunday:

We visited The Strip and saw some local sights. And unbelievably, I -- paparazzi that I am -- forgot my camera. (So just for Jewels co-workers -- YES SHE WAS THERE! And if we have time on the way to the airport Tuesday we will get a picture of her in front of the Las Vegas sign, LOL)

Once back home we watched The Phantom of the Opera.Okay, I'm extremely bias here, but this story (yes, I've even read the book) has been my favorite since I caught the Lon Chaney, 1925version on late night TV back in my Junior or High School days. LOVE it...if I was rolling in money I'd be watching the show down at the Venetian at least once a month!

And this turned into another wine and movie night as we watched Made of Honorand Extreme Measures.Let me just say Netflix's instant movie feature is wonderful.

Monday:

Yes, Mark gave me another bad time upon waking to another two empty bottles of wine. I think this was the first Columbus Day I've ever heard of SCHOOL being in session. So the three oldest had school. Julie and I watched more movies, LOL, yes it was a theme for this visit.

Robbie twisted our arms and we watched Phantom again...should have gone to see the show on The Strip but didn't think it through well enough to pull it off.

We also watched The Lake Housewhich both Julie and I had seen bits of but never the whole thing.

We had a little birthday celebration for Cam (which will be in a separate post) since Julie was here.

After the boys were in bed we watched one last movie, Saving Grace.

Tuesday:

Sadly, this was a get the kids off to school and get Julie ready to head off to the airport morning. Blah.

As promised...Julie and I in front of the Las Vegas sign!



Miss you already Jewels!

Movies

We're looking forward to...even if it's just on DVD, LOL. No rhyme or reason to the order they're listed here.

The boys picks:
















My picks:

Top 10 Tear-Jerker Movies

Okay, I watched number 10 last night...a tear-jerker, make sure you have tissues handy, movie...which inspired today's Top 10 List.

10: P.S. I Love You (2007) with Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. One of those rare movies that is equal to the book or at the very least such a close second as to be considered equal.

9: The Notebook (2004) with Ryan Gosling/James Garner and Rachel McAdams/Gena Rowlands. I haven't read this book yet. But as most of Nicholas Sparks' novels are tear-jerkers for me, I suspect I'll find this another situation where the book and movie are fairly equal.

8: Love Affair (1994) with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. A re-make of An Affair to Remember that holds its own without distracting from the 1957 version which funny enough is a re-make of a 1939 film called Love Affair.

7: Forrest Gump (1994) with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright (Penn).

6: Ghost (1990) with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.

5: Beaches (1988) with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. Another rare movie that is equal to the book.

4: Term of Endearment (1983) with Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson.

3: Somewhere in Time (1980) with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.

2: Love Story (1970) with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal.

and the all time classic --

1: An Affair to Remember (1957) with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

I just realized that someone dies in over half the movies I listed. Am I morbid?

Our New Year's Celebration

Robbie and I sharing a joke as we settled in for a movie. Mark, having worked some long hours this week, went to bed soon after dinner.

We recently joined Netflix and the boys ordered Fred Clause. It's a cute movie.

By 9:30 pm Alex and Ian were OUT!

A fuzzy picture but that's Robbie showing off his tag and proving he's still awake at 11:30 pm. Thumb and tag are a sure sign of sleepy boy, however, and I noticed a short 15 minutes later that both Robbie and Cam were OUT. So, I welcomed 2009 alone.

My 12:01 am photo of Robbie.

My 12:01 am photo of Ian.

My 12:01 am photo of Cam.

My 12:01 am photo of Alex.

Happy New Year's boys! I hope 2009 is good to you. I tried to grab some pictures of the fireworks from the Strip (which I couldn't see because they changed where the fireworks were being lit from casino roof-tops to parking garage-tops). Once back inside, I herded the boys up the stairs to bed. I would have taken a picture, I think it would have been so stinkin' cute to see 4 sleepy boys crawling up the stairs, except that Ian required some hand holding to get it done. Oh well, maybe next year.

We caught the Rose Parade this morning before Mark took over the TV for outdoor hockey which will be followed by more bowl games than I can shake a stick at. That's okay...it's time for most of the Christmas decorations to come down.

Evan Almighty

Family fun time at the Outdoor Picture Show.

We took a picnic dinner (KFC LOL) and enjoyed watching Evan Almighty under the stars.

It doesn't get any better than that.

Outdoor Picture Show

I joined a new Meet-Up for moms...wanting to find out some of the fun kid-friendly things to do and to meet some other moms and maybe find some friends for the younger boys. Well, I learned about the Outdoor Picture Show. So the boys and I went down there last night to watch Madagascar. The park area has this cool carousel so we rode that after we'd steaked our spot of grass...real by the way LOL.
Ryan came with us...so I had him take a picture of the boys and me. It was a fun evening. We'll be doing this again but we'll arrive earlier and eat dinner there so we can get a better spot.