Laugh at Stupidity

Just realized something disturbing.

2017-04-23T10:44:50Z

Love Never Dies is the How I Became Yours of the POTO fandom.

Help.

I have an ingenious plane!

2017-03-21T13:13:07Z

Want to hear something depressing?

I've seen Gods of Egypt. How to Train Your Dragon is my favorite movie of all time. There are two things Gerard Butler can do:

1. Bring the feels.
2. Play a credible villain.

He still can't sing, but I think we can all agree the above two qualities are essential for any actor playing the Phantom, yes? I can only conclude that the 2004 movie's being so...non-Phantomy...is at least partially the fault of Mr. Batman Nipples. (My Batman knowledge is nonexistent and even I know that you do NOT put nipples on the freaking Batman costume. Sheesh.)

In happier news, I had the pleasure of viewing a certain movie yesterday. I wish I could grab a bunch of crazy Gerik fangirls and force them to watch it, so I can laugh when the mask comes off and they all scream at the sight of Lon Chaney's makeup.

phanwank @ 2017-02-11T07:35:00

2017-02-11T12:35:10Z

...Hello? Is anyone here? HELLO?

Anyway, random self-pimpage:
Which Phantom of the Opera character are you?

I apologize if it sucks. I haven't had much practice at these things. But, uh...at least I included the Persian?

Introduction and fic rec

2016-12-19T16:48:47Z

Hi. I've been a member of this comm for a while, but haven't posted anything up until now. I love Leroux's novel, saw part of the 2004 movie (the flashback right after "Masquerade" scared me off), and listen to the movie soundtrack all the time. *dodges rotten fruit* Gerard Butler is by no means a good singer, but his voice kind of grew on me after a while.

Anyway, I present this fic I found while looking for Mary Sues on FF.net to you for your inspection. Enjoy it. Or don't. Whichever.

Title: A Deadly Obsession
Author: Erik'sTrueAngel
Genre: Horror
Word Count: 43, 243
Rating: T
Summary: COMPLETE! You envied her. You wished you were her. Emmy Sawyer would have done anything to become Christine Daae, but some things are best left unsaid. AU Modern Day tale. Slight EOC. [Dark Erik] Please R&R!

Pros: Dark and scary as fuck, satire of rabid phangirls, well-written
Cons: Evil!Christine, slight Raoul bashing, a few grammar errors

Okay, It's Late.

2016-11-27T20:18:10Z

But, Happy Belated Hallowe'en!

Sorry I can't embed the picture directly, but here!

--Wait, let me try this:

Woo l33t coding skillz! Happy Hallowe'en! :D

(Incidentally, if you haven't checked the comic out yet, you definitely should! It's great!)

Vicomte de Phantom

2016-09-06T23:09:53Z

This one is very odd; the author has had an intriguing idea (what if Raoul were already married when he becomes patron of the Opera Populaire) and yet manages to use it to produce a story which is virtually a word-for-word rendition of the entire libretto of the original with no changes at all. Raoul's wife is present as viewpoint character in every single scene (even the ones between Christine and the Phantom), takes over random lines in many of the songs, including the Final Lair trio, and yet has absolutely no effect on the plot whatsoever, courtesy of a rapid divorce during the interval. It's not even particularly badly written -- it's just utterly pointless.

I've heard of fan-fiction which consists of nothing but a rewrite of the original source with a self-insert character tagging along without affecting a thing... but this writer has actually come up with a credible and potentially fascinating concept which ought to have a massive effect on the dynamics between the characters, and it's totally bizarre that she has used it simply as a vehicle for transcribing the lyrics. Vicomte de Phantom

Even odder is that she has then done exactly the same thing for "Love never Dies", with an equal utter lack of impact on the plot -- apart from transcribing it with a relatively Raoul-friendly interpretation, and changing her narrator's name from Aurore to Auroe!

Fantomestein

2016-06-18T03:07:12Z

Hey, guys, this isn't wankable; what it is, though, is a really neat version of Leroux's POTO, where Erik is Frankenstein's creature. It's extremely well done; check it out!

https://tapastic.com/episode/290060

Meg shoots the Phantom

2016-06-05T22:00:44Z

This was actually intended as a semi-serious proposal as to how the action/lyrics of the "Love Never Dies" finale could be reworked (again) to produce an ending in which audience and composer get the requisite warm and fuzzy feelings about the Phantom while everyone else gets to patch their lives back together ...

It doesn't avoid one of the basic problems with the plot, which is that Christine gets handed over between one man and another without an apparent agency of her own in the matter, and it's sickeningly sentimental about the Phantom (who is portrayed as rather more noble, in my view, than is consistent with his character in the rest of the show), but both of those are the result of my attempt to come up with a version of the ending that is consistent with Andrew Lloyd Webber's apparent intentions for "Love Never Dies" and one that he might theoretically actually implement. I was slightly nervous about giving ALW a guest appearance in the final paragraphs, as it seems a little too much akin to Real Person Fiction and a little presumptuous to shoehorn a reaction onto someone, but there is a certain tradition of that in this fandom. (And at least I was civil about it!)

Redemption
(something that is notably lacking in the current LND set-up...)

Gee, There's Actually A Lot Of These

2016-04-22T22:38:42Z

So, obviously, I've been on a bit of a Nostalgia Chick/Chez Lindsay kick. And I'm gonna share allll the Phantomy goodness with you! :D

Here's another one: her Top Ten Songs About Sex. It's got two Phantomy entries, heh.

More Reviews!

2016-04-22T13:50:51Z

This is pretty awesome: Lindsay Ellis recently posted a very in-depth review of the 2004 Movie!

Also, XKCD recently made a passing mention of ALW that I found funny, so here you go.

Celestel's Six Months of Summer?

2016-04-22T06:14:55Z

I was wondering if anyone here had a copy of Celestel's Six Months of Summer. I'd really appreciate it.

Loose Canon: The Phantom of the Opera

2016-04-20T17:03:27Z

Yay, we did it! Lindsay Ellis (formerly the Nostalgia Chick) has done a two-part look at the various versions of the Phantom!

Part One:

Part Two:

I have to say, I pretty much agree with her take on them. :)

Nostalgia Critic Reviews POTO Movie

2016-03-24T19:07:34Z

So the Nostalgia Critic reviewed the Phantom of the Opera movie recently (2004) and it was pretty hilarious. They pointed out a lot of what was wrong with it (like the poor casting choices, poor singing, and poor characterizations) but did give it credit for the good sets and costumes.

Because of recent nonsense online reviewers have been having with the Fair Use clause being ignored and reviews using copy-written material being yoinked, rather than actually using clips from the show, recently he's been recreating scenes of shows he's reviewed (including the new Star Wars, and Fury Road), so the review discusses it within the context of a pseudo-POTO with similar, but original songs etc.

Which to my mind actually makes the whole thing more awesome than his older styles of reviews. So check it out!

http://channelawesome.com/phantom-of-the-opera-nostalgia-critic/

(Sorry, can't embed it).

Quick! Vote Erik!

2015-09-24T12:07:42Z

So if you've been following the Nostalgia Chick, Lindsey Ellis, formerly of ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com, you'll know that recently she's been doing a series called "Loose Canon," wherein she examines all the various iterations of a character. It's pretty cool, and for October she will be doing a Universal movie monster. Her poll lists three options, and Erik is in second place, trailing behind Frankenstein's monster by only 54 votes, as of now.

Let's try and tip the scales; it will be fascinating to see her take on him!

http://namebrandlindsay.com/2015/09/22/loosecanon8/

Love Will Always Continue Ch8

2015-06-13T08:55:02Z

This started off a few months ago as an ordinary badfic retelling the script of the musical -- or, more likely, the movie -- in limping prose (Raoul: "I would like to talk you to dinner" [sic]).

For some reason I glanced at the latest update, and discovered a particularly ripe crop of malapropisms and some extremely bad titillation that was just too much to resist. I did resist leaving a review on the story giving my opinion of this masterwork, since it would clearly fall on utterly tonedeaf ears...

Love Will Always Continue (Chapter 8)

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11145784/8

Summary: This is the way I want Phantom of the Opera to happen. What if Christine and Erik had a secret relationship? What if Christine and Erik were lovers in secret? Will Raoul ever find out?

(Translation: the same plot as every other OOC teenage phanfic)

"Raoul stop your hurting me!" (Desist from your injuring of me!) Christine said as Raoul dragged her to the roof top. Christine screamed and clawed at his hand but he didn't let her go. (Because everyone knows that there is a mysterious character who kidnaps girls against their will in POTO, and it's... Raoul?) As Raoul dragged Christine to the roof top (did we mention that he dragged her to the roof top [sic]?) Madame Giry saw (through the intervening ten storeys of Opera House) that Raoul had taken Christine. She knew Erik would not like this. (Oh, the drama and tension!)

She waited in her office for him and before she could sit at her desk she saw Erik their (their what? Their bank-manager?) already. "Where's Christine?" She asked her but she had a worried look on her face. (Possibly because she was as confused as I was as to whom she was talking to) "Befriend could get her (I believe Erik already tried the befriending tactic -- it didn't work out too well :-p) Raoul took her." Erik's face grew with worry. (Soon it was so long that his chin touched the floor.) "Where did he take her?!" "It looked like he was taking her to the roof." The Erik left. ('Erik' is actually a title now? His Highness, the Erik of Phantom?)

*Wait, I've just worked out what is happening here; it's a cunningly inverted metatextual reference to the canon scene where Christine drags Raoul off to the roof by force because she's terrified that the Phantom will kill her... Oh. No, it's not. It's just badfic :-(*

Meanwhile (back at the ranch)

Raoul and Christine make it to the roof (in a sudden reeling tense change...). She yanks her hand from him grasp. (Him heap big Vicomte!) "Get away from me!" She screamed but she knew Raoul would not listen. "Christine you will marry me or.." He walks towards her, grabbing her neck and walking towards the edge of the roof. "Or I'll drop you!" (Raoul is holding her over the edge by her neck?) She screamed and screamed hoping someone would here her. (Here? There, there :-p) Erik made it to the roof and what he saw made his blood boil. (His blood made it to the roof...)

"LET GO OF THE GIRL!" Erik said with (Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawke, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all) in the shadows. Christine knew it was him. Her angel of music… Her love.

"I will never let Christine go. (Apparently Raoul knew that it was Erik "with in the shadows" too... he doesn't seem in the least surprised.) She is mine. And you sir will not stop me… But if you try and stop me I'll let her fall over the edge." Christine screamed when Raoul pushed her back a little. (I thought he was dragging her towards the edge when last seen?)

"No! Please don't hurt her." Erik said. It would kill Erik if he lost his one true love. "I will never love you Raoul." (SLASH ALERT :-D) Then she spit him his face. The hat angered him to the point where she was inches away from her death. (Oh no! The hat! How dared it?)

"Marry me Christine or die. Your choice!" He said with rage. Ready to drop her. (This is Raoul, right? The young man who begged Christine to let him die rather than enter into a forced marriage for his sake...?)

"Christine don't marry this monster! (Marry the innocent, persecuted, fluffy Phantom who would never dream of dropping a chandelier on you in a fit of insane jealousy, and skip through the meadows with little bunny-rabbits instead!) I can't live without you." Erik said with tears in his eyes as he came out of the shadows. Christine saw and tears fell from her eyes. Raoul saw the look in Christine eyes and saw that she loved this mask killer. (If he has to kill a thousand masks...)

"What will it be Christine? Marry me are I'll drop you." (Arrrr, me hearties.) She looked at Raoul then Erik. More tears fell from her eyes. "I'm sorry Angel. I tried so hard." She said crying (with tears falling from her eyes...) "Oh Christine. You have nothing to be sorry about. I love you my Christine." "How about this I'll give you 48 hours to decide. And I you say no…" Raoul let her go by throwing her across the roof. (Winds up, swings the lady round his head, a couple of hops... let go!) Walking towards Erik. "I'll kill your angel that you love so much." Then Raoul left. Christine ran to Erik hugging her. (SLASH ALERT :-D) "Oh Erik what am I to do."

"You have to marry him Christine."

"What! No I-." Erik stopped her. "I have a plan. You will say yes to the boy and I'll kidnap you." Christine looked confused (as well she might). "I'll use Don Juan Triumphant. I will present it to the managers at the masquerade ball." Erik helped Christine up, leading her to the door. "But that's not for another few weeks." He shook his head in agreement with her. (After which she was presumably even more confused.) "Come let's go see Madame Giry." Then they both left. As they make their way to Madame Giry Erik is holding Christine and he's loving every moment of it. (Whoah yeah! Lovin' it!) He could think of losing Christine. (Quite sanguine about it, really.) The only girl in the world who loves him. Him thinking of it ripped his heart in half. By the time they get to Giry's office she walks up to Erik and Christine. "Their (bank-managers) you are I have been looking all over for you Christine…. What's wrong?" She leads them into her office. They sit and Erik says "Christine has to Marry Raoul." He said with great disappointment. (Tense whiplash, random Important Capitals, he says, he says -- urk…)

"What! Why?" She said with otter shock. (Throw that lady a fish!)

"He threatened mine and Christine's life. But don't worry I have a plan." Erik said looking at Antoinette. She almost looked confused. (Only 'almost'...? That's impressive when faced with this stuff :-p)

"Okay but I have a bad feeling about this." She said

In Erik's lair

I have a bad feeling about this too...

Christine and Erik sat on the steps leading to his organ "I love you Erik." Christine said cuddling his chest. (She wrapped her arms around its bronze-strapped sides and caressed the lid lovingly.)

"I love you too" (she added in the direction of the chest) she leans in to kiss him. She continuously kissing Erik. She felt this felling below her belly (chop! chop! Timber!) she got on his lap still kissing him.

"Christine are you sure we should be doing this? (Felling without a permit is strictly illegal, you know.)"

"Yes I want to. I love you Erik."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Some content my not be suitable (My, my...) for ages 18 and under. If you do not not to read this part skip it…. Last chance. (Actually, I don't not not -- does that make a triple negative?)

You have been warned. (You know, if I bothered to report this uninspiring attempt to insert an M-rated scene into a story listed as T-rated, I could get your entire story deleted off the site. If you'd actually managed to make it steamy enough to embarrass anybody over the age of twelve...)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Erik carried Christine to his bed and laying her down on the bed he slowly started to undress her. She moaned with enjoyment, wanting more Christine started to undress Erik. Erik unbutton her dress and threw it across the room. (Has he any idea how big these things are to throw?) Then Christine reached to take him jacket off and she too threw it across the room landing on her dress on the floor. (Lucky that she had the padding to land on, really :-p) She unbuttoned his vest and took his shirt off and threw it with the other clothes on the floor. Erik saw that Christine had a corset on so he undid each lace. (He unthreaded the lace through each hole? One by one? Hasn't this man ever heard of simply loosening and unhooking the busk?) He finally got the corset he threw it (what is this obsession these two have with launching clothes into the air?) and saw how beautiful Christine was. She was so beautiful with her chocolate curls covering her breast. (Sounds like some kind of dessert :-p Also, what about the other breast -- is that one lying around naked or something?)

"Oh Christine you're so beautiful (Three 'beautifuls' in the space of as many sentences? I'm guessing that this little scene must represent the conception of Gustave, then :-p)" Erik said caressing her body. She moaned as he reached to take her panties off. "Christine are you sure about this. We do not have to if you do not want to." He said but hoping she wouldn't say no.

"Erik please take me. I can't bare this tournament any longer." (Naked jousting strictly ruled out, then -- what a pity...) She moaned. So with out any hesitation Erik took his pants off only left in his underwear (I'm not sure I want to know just what was left in his underwear...). He looked at her and realized that he truly loves Christine.

"Christine I love you." And with that he took the remaining clothes he had on left (only the right-hand side of his body remained clothed) and threw them on the floor. (What with Raoul doing a shot-put impression with Christine on the roof, I'm started to wonder if this author has some kind of throwing fetish :-D) Christine looked down and saw Erik was naked. She looked worried. "Christine don't worry. I'll try to make this painless as possible." She nodded and Erik position himself on top of Christine and with one thrust he was inside Christine. His Christine. He saw the look on Christine face (-- how dared he call her 'his Christine'?) "Christine my love are you okay." He said thrusting inside her. Her eyes widen but she felt this feeling inside that she liked. But it was more than like she kinda loved having Erik inside her.

"No Erik don't stop." She said wanting more. Erik saw that she wanted more. She was scratched his back. Erik kept moving inside Christine. I would say that this stuff wanks itself, except that under the circumstances that would be a really unfortunate expression to use... :-p

"Erik. Oh god Erik." She screamed in pleasure Erik moved in and out. Christine moaned with such pleasure.

"Christine. Oh god Christine you feel so good." Erik said between breathes. Christine running her nails against his back. Erik knew he was close but he didn't want to come until Christine did. He tried really hard. Coming in and out of his Christine. (That sounds messy...)

"Oh god Erik I'm close. Oh god." She said as Erik started to kiss her all over. (Under those circumstances? What is he, some kind of contortionist?)

"Erik!" She screamed letting everything go. Erik did the same letting everything go. (And, no doubt, throwing it on the floor...)

Sorry chapter 8 is late. So what didn't you think. (Since you put it that way, old girl, I didn't think much of it!) I know the sexual content is crap but it's something. I'll try and make it better. (Please, no.) What's going to happen next? Will Erik get to save his Christine from Raoul? Find out in the next chapter. Only 6 chapters left.

Actually, the next chapter merely consists of more thrusting and coming, after which they 'laid' on the bed four times; fertilised eggs, presumably, after all that effort? ;-P

And two of the subsequent chapters consist merely of short author's notes: maybe I ought to report it, because she really is begging to have the story wiped! But no, that would be too vengeful...

The scary thing is that she is busy excusing herself for not letting Erik kill Evil Rapist Murderer Raoul by promising that the latter is going to be required for a major role in the much-awaited sequel... The sequel? Aarrgghh! Bring me the eye-bleach!

POTO Reference in "Haunted Mansion" Review

2015-06-01T18:31:39Z

So I'm watching the Nostalgia Critic's review of Disney's "The Haunted Mansion" when he suddenly compares the butler's impressive vibratto (played by Terence "Superman's General Zog" Stamp) to Michael Crawford's. So I thought I'd share it.

Er, the reference starts at 6:32. Couldn't figure out how to queue it up when embedding.

No other POTO references, alas, just that one random one.

Phantom of the Bijoux (The Meateater) Review

2015-03-23T21:40:22Z

Here it is folks, this one has been freaking years in the making, a movie that depressed me so much that I just had to take a break from watching it and working on it. Like - for years. This is abysmal. This might be the worst Phantom movie ever. It hurts! But on the plus side, the bad movies make for the best reviews, and this is a classic old school Phantom Review that I hope you will enjoy.

What do you get if you take a Phantom in a Cinema concept and fund the schlock almost entirely by meat related product placements? Why, The Meateater, of course!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGF9820ljBM Enjoy, if you can!

Review of the ALW Musical

2015-03-06T17:34:40Z

Was checking out some of the reviewers over at Channel Awesome and came across Stuff You Like, and lo and behold, she reviewed the ALW musical a while back! Here, check it out:

It's a decent and entertaining review.

"Loves Secret" Chapter 2

2015-01-15T01:35:50Z

Chapter 2 of "Loves Secret", "Turn Away from the Light".

This story was just too much fun to leave. Possibly my favourite snippet is the one where Christine proceeds to go into the shower and put her nightdress on... ;-p

Madame Giry soon arrived and got out of the carriage and was relieved to find Christine outside in the front, the lean (obviously the sleep consumed her rather too effectively) porcelain (has Raoul been borrowing Erik's lifesize doll by any chance?) figure sitting on the concrete steps (presumably installed by the same contractor who rebuilt Erik's retreat) taking in the warmth that the sun would give her, Madame Giry stood a few yards away and looked at her. (Dear Author, a run-on sentence is when you join everything with commas, this whole paragraph is a single sentence, it shouldn't be.)

So just to recap, Christine is sunbathing on the front doorstep[s] of the de Chagny house and nobody thinks this is even the slightest bit odd?...

Christine opened her eyes and looked up to find Madame Giry standing there. She immediately got up and ran to her and hugged her "Ma'am! Its so nice to see you, it feels like I haven't seen you in ages!" (Not quite sure why Christine feels the need to address Mme Giry as if she were talking to her employer or to the Queen, but presumably back in the days when she was in the corps de ballet she was taught to be respectful to her?)

"It does doesn't it." Madame Giry said nodding in agreement as the envelope fell out of her hand (That must have been something of an all-body nod to produce such an effect!)

"Let me get it." Christine said as her fast reflexes took hold of the envelope before it blew off in the wind (she was sitting there sunbathing in the wind?), Christine gave it back but Madame Giry put Christine's hand to her heart and then mummered "Its yours" ("Ah, feel my heart, Christine -- how it beats for you!")

"It is? From who? If I may ask." Christine said wondering who would give her a letter. (Mme Giry -- obviously? :-p)

"Thats ~~who~~ what you need to figure out." Madame Giry said grinning mysterously.

"But..." She got cut off by Madame Girys hand (The sharp blade in the other woman's grasp did its job all too well, and Christine's headless torso slumped to the ground...) touching her shoulder.

"So, what have you been up to?" Madame Giry said changing the subject, Christine wanted to protest but knew that wouldn't be wise. (After all, Mme Giry was in cahoots with a psychotic murderer.)

"I found a old piano in one of the rooms and it needs to be refurbished." (So Mme Giry is a piano restorer?) Christine said as her brunette curls covered her face (while her blonde curls remained pinned into a decent coiffure), Madame Giry laughed and help put her hair in the back of her cream neck. (Her butter neck was a bit too slippery...)

"You should find a refurbisher to help you..." Madame said noting that Christine was going to change the subject. (Clearly some kind of reverse psychic gift... or is she changing the subject of the subject change?

"I'll do it myself." Christine said (Wait, Christine is a piano restorer!) "I know that you and The Phantom have been friends for a long time (who, precisely, told her this? If it's based on what Mme Giry told Raoul, he's clearly got a creative imagination...) and I was just wondering if he's alright and if he's happy and if he moved on with his life." (No, he's still living behind the lake... This is the 19th century, and that word does not mean what you think it means :-p)

Give the author some credit -- at least she has remembered that Christine doesn't know him as 'Erik'.

"Why are you asking?" Madame Giry asked in suprise that she would bring up him (oh, I don't know -- vomiting the Phantom seems quite an appropriate reaction to his behaviour....) after all he did to her and Raoul.

"Because I just wanted to know." She said in distraught (Come on, Christine -- however "in distraught" you are, can't you think of a better ~~excuse~~ reason than that?)

"He is fairing well, (regularly scoring on the coconut shy and bringing home bags of goldfish), still getting use to all of the town looking for him (and wandering through his home, according to the last chapter) but he's doing fine." Madame Giry said looking at Christine who now was crying. (Heartbroken at the idea of the Phantom being happy?)

"Mon petite (sex change alert! this must be related to 'Uncle Gabrielle'), don't cry it wasn't your fault." Madame Giry said taking Christing into her embrace "Shhh, don't cry."

"Its all my fault! I took off his mask during 'Don Juan' and put him in danger, (And why did you take off his mask, little Christine? Was it for fun? Or was it specifically in order to show everybody that there was a murderer on stage with you with his hands on your throat...?) Its all my fault." She sad collapsing on the concrete and cried. (Evidently very sad collapsing indeed :-p)

"Now listen to me." Madame Giry said in a calm steady voice "Do you know why he let you go with Raoul in the first place?" (Because he only threatened Raoul in the first place because he knew you loved him, so going with Raoul looked like a good way to make you happy?)

"No"

"He let you go because you showed him that someone in the world does love him and that anybody no matter what can love him, (I think that's a somewhat over-optimistic conclusion... not everybody in the world is going to be able to overlook his more insane traits. ~~Oh wait, they're all phangirls~~) you showed him passion, love, care, kindness, you understood him when no body could (there are rather too many 'bodies' on the Phantom's record already!), you heard his cries, you were there for him no matter what! (I think she was only there because he'd kidnapped her and attempted to force her into marriage, actually...) You did something no one could (apart from Mme Giry, apparently, who has been friends with him for years?), You conquered your fear of his face and didn't care what he did or looked like, you looked to the true man beneath the deformity and imperfections." (in whose soul the true distortion lies... wasn't that the way you put it?)

Christines cries were now silent (she mouthed "ouch, ow, eek") and she looked up "You think so?" Christine said snuffling (the irresistible scent of truffles drifting towards her long droopy nose)

"I know so, you Mon petite tamed The Opera Ghost." Madame Giry said amazed that she said all that. (Alert! Minor character gets a speech!)

Christine smiled and amazed that Madame Giry knew all this and also amazed that she thought she tamed The Phantom. (It was amazingly amazing.)

Speech finally failed her and she just looked at Madame Giry, she struggled to comprehend all that was said. (A sentiment with which readers may well empathise by this point...)

"Oh... look at the time, I have to go, dance practice is in an hour." Madame Giry said looking at her watch. (Clearly her journey was much faster than Christine's!)

Christine embraced Madame Giry for a hug again and they said their goodbyes and went there seperate ways. (I can forgive someone for not being able to spell 'separate', but how on earth can she get 'their' wrong when she has already used it correctly four words earlier in the same sentence...?)

Christine went inside of the mansion and went to her room and sat down at the mahogony desk and pulled out the letter and opened it and gasped at who it was from. "Oh my god!" ("OMG! WTF! My ovaries are literally exploding!")

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Vicomte Raoul De Chagny walked down the streets of Paris to the Opera house to go talk to the managers Andre and Firmin. (He had walked all the way back to Paris? Or maybe he left his transport at the Park & Ride on the outskirts...

He walked past shops and venders and ignored girls that were looking at him and following him. (Oho, Raoul has fangirls :-D)

Once he got inside the Opera he was finally relieved of all the attention. (Now I'm picturing hordes and hordes of fangirls left outside the doors, staring wistfully...)

"Monsieur De Chagny!" Andre said as Raoul caught his eye "How are you and your wife fairing?" He said wide eyed (No, it's Erik who has been a-fairing recently :-p)

"Christine is still my fiancé (or Chrétien, maybe? -- sex change alert II)." Raoul said annoyed with hearing her name. (Then why did he say it? Andre didn't :-p)

Andre and Firmin could see Raoul getting annoyed and decided to change the subject (Why is everybody changing the subject in this story?)

"So we asked you here because you are our patron of course and we wanted to know if you still would." Firmin said cutting Andre off. (and totally failing to finish his own sentence either -- what does he think Raoul is, a mind-reader?)

"Um, I will but won't it not be done for at least 2 years?" Raoul replied (apparently Raoul is a mind-reader... but I'm not! What is it that Raoul 'still will' and 'won't not be done'???) suddenly feeling an oddly familiar presence. (Yes, Andre and Firmin were in the room with him... :-p)

"What the hell is that fop doing here!" The Phantom spat to himself (aiming the spittle downwards at his feet, presumably... unless he just dribbled down his own front?) 'You could always kill him right here and now' The voice in his head said.(Wait, someone else is ventriloquising to the Phantom?) "I will kill him, just not here and now." 'Well if you kill him then you can have Christine all to yourself.' (Oh, I see -- I think this is supposed to be Erik's Evil Alter Ego speaking, the one we can blame for any slightly naughty acts he might have committed...) "True, but she loves that bo

That what?

"Yes, it won't be done for 2 years, so we'll have to wait." Andre said taking over the talking now(having cut off the Phantom in mid-word, apparently!).

"Alright, I'll drop by once in awhile, to see how everything is going." Raoul said looking around at all the damage the fire caused. (But we still have no indication as to what they want Raoul to do for them...!)

"Alright Adieu." ("Wotcher, fare thee well" -- total stylistic mismatch alert) Andre and Firmin said turning around and heading into the ballroom. (The what?)

"Adieu." Raoul said turning around and walked out of the Opera's door. (With all this turning round, I get a mental image of them ending up standing back to back and solemnly taking fifteen steps before turning to fire...)

"If you do anything to my Angel, i'll personaly hunt you down and kill you myself (wait, Erik is the only person who has been issuing any suggestion of threats to anyone in this scene... does that make Raoul his Angel, then? Is this Stinker versus Slinker?) and mark my words, you will face the consequences." The Phantom said smirking and the thought of killing Raoul. (So basically he just wants to kill and is desperate for an excuse? This is a really unsympathetic character depiction...) He then went to his lair to go get ready for something.
(In the same spirit as Christine "starting to think about some things" as the cliffhanger ending to the previous chapter, I presume :-D)

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"Oh my god!" Christine said (what, again? Or was that 'previously, before the break...'?) covering her pink lips while gasping (very polite... but why only the pink lips, Christine? Why not all your other lips as well?) and read the letter

"Dear Christine,

I know you are alright and well with the Vicomte and that he'll take care of you (until I find an excuse to murder him, at any rate). I ~~know~~ hope that you're wondering where I am and how I am, I am fine and planning to start a new life and I am still at the Opera house and you probably want to come find me now because you are still worried about me, but please don't because we both know that if we see each other again memories that we both don't want to revisit will hurt us both and for the rest of my days just so you know,(okay) i'll be traveling around France and other countrys and I bid you well with your marriage and life (until I kill your husband) and just know that I will always truly and deeply love you. (I know the handwriting of Erik's letters is supposed to be childish, but I didn't realise that this applied to his prose style as well :-p)

Sincerely and always

Your Angel" (The last time you pretended to be an angel was at her father's grave... I'm not sure that's a good precedent to be invoking here.)

Christine put the letter down and put her hands up to her face and cried, she couldn't believe that he was doing this (Oh no! Erik is promising to reform and start a new life -- we have to prevent it at all costs!) 'Why?' she constantly thought to herself. "I have to go find him, I just have to." (Because when someone tells me not to do something, I instantly get an uncontrollable urge to do exactly that.)

She finally got over the crying and went to go take care of her needs (I'm not sure exactly what that's a euphemism for, but I wish she could restrain herself from doing it quite so often...) and went into the shower and put on the white nightdress that she wore at the Opera house a long time ago (in the shower?! Sounds like a wet-sari scene from a Bollywood movie) and finally went to bed after all the pain and hurt she experienced from the letter. (I've heard about the classic badfic trope where characters spend an awful lot of time going to bed at all hours of the day when the author runs out of ideas, but I don't think I've actually seen it in action before :-p)

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Erik walked around his lair and got stuff he needed (the author's total lack of inspiration strikes again -- couldn't she think of anything beyond 'stuff'...?) and heard a noise from ~~in back of~~ behind him and turned around really quick to see Madame Giry and Meg standing there. (Meg? Where did she come from?)

"Did you deliver it?" He asked ("Was it a boy?")

"Yes." Madame Giry said burst out laughing.

"Whats so funny?" Erik asked taking two huge steps toward them. (Seven-league boots? Or perhaps seven-foot boots, unless his home is really big...)

"You going to laugh at what she's doing on her free time." (Sho' nuff, boss!) She said still laughing.

"What?" He asked while his lips curled into a beginning of a smile.

"She's going to refurbish a piano by herself, I told her to get some help but she just said 'I do it by myself' Madame Giry explained (Of course, she hasn't actually asked Raoul whether she can mess around with the innards of his family's piano, but I don't suppose he will object...)

"I never taught anyone to refurbish piano's and other instruments. He said hoarsely. (I'm impressed -- an Erik who isn't written as omniscient where all aspects of music, however unrelated to his own, are concerned :-)

"Its not your fault..." (Christine is occasionally capable of taking really bad decisions on her own, you know :-p) She stopped and looked around. "Are you cleaning up or getting rid of stuff." (Stuff! It's the stuff!)

"No I'm going to move away..." He stopped to clear the huskiness in his voice (before starting to clear the rest of the stuff in Mme Giry's voice -- luckily ventriloquist Erik is canon).

"What!" The both exclaimed in shock. (What about Meg? Has she disappeared again? Does she not react? Was there any point introducing her into this scene at all, or has the author just forgotten about her existence already? ;-p)

Loves Secret [sic]

2014-12-10T04:51:10Z

I know nobody is doing these any more, but this fic I just stumbled across in the POTO movie section is hilarious...

To be absolutely fair, the author is French, so she is writing in her second language here. I'm not sure how much difference this makes, as the rules of punctuation are much the same in both languages for a start...

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10476578/1

Summary: Takes place after the end of the 2004 movie, Christine is engaged to Raoul, but something goes wrong with Raoul when he thinks Christine wouldn't do music or sing anymore (At least this makes a change from Raouls who go all funny in order to stop Christine singing) so he does the unthinkable, Madame Giry tells Erik and her Uncle Gabrielle (who is secretly a woman... and wait -- just how old is Madame Giry's heroic aunt/uncle at this point?) about this and they plan to go get Christine. Will they find her, or will she be hurt and be left for dead or will they find her and that she's alright (Hmmm, I don't know: let's guess...) and will Erik get the life he always wished for with his Angel? Or will he mess it up? Read and find out! Please Review!

Since all of that is out of the way, On with the show!

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2 months after the fire in the Opera Populaire...

"Christine... Christine! Wake up! We're here." (They've been in this carriage for two months?!) Raoul said uncertain that she was still asleep, He instead got up from the oppisite side of the carriage and shook her shoulder lightly
Basic punctuation: full stop needed at end of sentence. Capital letter not needed after comma.

"What?" Christine said in a muffled tone, Still half asleep

"We're here." Raoul said sitting back down on his side of the carriage then turned his head 40 degrees right (he had a protractor?) to look out the window. ' Wow' he thought ' Long time since i've been here' (which is funny given that...) he cocked his head back to Christine to look at the half awake figure in front of him.

"Where?" She asked while trying to open her eyes.

"At my mansion."(...it's apparently his own house?)

"What... You said that we were going to a hotel." Christine said (The Hôtel de Chagny, possibly? Methinks Christine may have misunderstood the nature of an hôtel particulier...) ' He lied' she thought ' He said that he would never lie to me! He broke his promise!' she thought feeling the anger build up in her. (Oh no! It's a Really Serious Drama!)

"You're right.." He said as he got cut off by Christine. (So -- this Ultimate Criminal is not in fact making the slightest attempt to deceive her, yes?)

"You disobeyed the promise you said that you would never break!" Christine said opening the carriage door and slammed it in Raouls face. (and stamping her foot to make him sorry)

"Christine... Wait!... i'm sorry!" (Oh wait -- it actually worked :-D) Raoul said opening the black carriage door that got slammed in his face (the other door was a different colour?), then ran after the figure that was running towards the mansion.

She turned around and paced up to him (changing gaits mid-gallop like the beautifully-trained dressage animal that she was) "We both promised each other that we would never lie to each other and you broke it!" Christine said glaring at him then walked really fast (showing off yet a third gait!) to the brown brick mansion. (Probably not in Paris, then...)

She knocked on the mahogony door and a tan, red haired (most red-heads tan really badly, in my experience... but then most maids don't get a lot of time on the sun-lounger anyway) maid opened it (presumably Raoul's family couldn't afford any senior male servants?) "Oh... Madamosille (this author is French and she still can't spell Mademoiselle? seriously?) Daae, we weren't expecting you until next week." The maid said suprised that she was in the prensence of the famous Opera soprano. (Thus proving that it wasn't all a deep-laid plot... if Christine actually cared about the rationale for her snit.)

"Well Monsieur De Chagny changed plans." (at least she can spell 'monsieur' and 'Chagny' -- Frenchness helps somewhat after all!) Christine said turning her head (by forty degrees) to see that Raoul was really close now. " May I come in?" Christine said in a rushed voice.
(I'm not quite sure why she feels she has to ask permission of the maid when the owner of the house is right behind her at the time... or, for that matter, why she has to rush to get in before Raoul can arrive, given that she has just thrown a massive tantrum about being here in the first place! I am quite impressed that despite said tantrum Christine is apparently trying to save Raoul's face on the doorstep here by making up a story about 'change of plans'...)

"Yes of course." The maid said as she stepped aside "Follow me, I'll show you your room." She said walking up the stairs frequently looking back to see if Christine was following, (to check she hadn't somewhow inadvertently wandered off into the Forbidden West Wing!) she lead her up the stairs to a bedroom that had a dark red door, (Clothes fetish is normal in badfic; door colour fetish is a new one on me.) The maid opened the door with keys (not with the doorknob?) and opened the door,(Ah -- perhaps she opened it with the doorknob this time.) The maid handed Christine the keys and Christine mummered "Thank You". (Did she curtsey?)

Christine walked inside and saw the color of the wall (she had to find out that!), it was a rose red and the bed was a deep red and it had black curtains surrounding the bed,(But what was the ghastly secret of the Red Room?) the room also had a mahogony dresser closet and desk. After surveying her surroundings (with the aid of Raoul's protractor) she went and sat on her bed and layed down while sleep slowly consumed her. (Oh no -- quick, save our heroine, she's wasting away...)

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At that same time...

Madame Giry walked down the halls of the Opera and watched how certain parts of the Opera was being re- built. She walked into the Prima Donna's room that used to be Christine's and walked up to the mirror and pushed it open and slipped inside. (Sadly the rebuilding apparently hadn't fixed that particular security loophole...)

She took a torch and walked down stairs and halls that were filled with squealing of rats and cobwebs (noisy things, those cobwebs!), finally she got to the lake and lit the lantern, put out the torch, set it down (checked the room inventory: TAKE GONDOLA) and got in the gondola, she rowed it through the alley and finally got to the gates which were open for the first time in two months with all the police and investagators looking for evidence of where the 'Phantom of the Opera' went, she reached the edge of the water and got out and looked around for the infamous Opera Ghost. (Didn't she find all the police and investigators swarming around to be a bit of a drawback?)

"Erik!... Erik!" Madame Giry said in the darkness because all the candles were not lit (USE LANTERN, woman!), knowing that he was still in cover because of the police

"Its me, Madame Giry! " She said, suddenly all the candles were lit and he came out of a dark corner, he was dressed in a full black dress coat, black pants, his undercoat was brown and his shirt under the undercoat was white. (I'm assuming she means 'waistcoat', but why is Erik wearing a brown waistcoat as part of full evening dress? And why don't we get to find out what boring old Madame Giry is wearing, anyway?)

"Thanks for coming Madame." Erik said in a stern low voice, his eyes still adjusting to the light. (She had a lantern, Erik -- you could have kept the light at whatever level you were more comfortable with, surely?)

"Your Welcome, why did you summon me?" she asked (The accused was expecting her, Your Honour?) 'Usually he never needs my help, but of course since the police are after him, he needs more help then he needed before' she thought (Perhaps stopping him committing crimes that brought down the police on him might have been more helpful before...)

"I need you to deliver this for me." Erik said pulling out a white envelope and paced in two steps towards her and handed the envelope to mind slid instantly (we'll be charitable and assume this is an editing error rather than a piece of gross incomprehensibility, I think...) to Christine in the Vicomte's mansion (Wait -- even Erik, who has been lying low for two months under the Opera, knew that they were going to Raoul's house and not this mythical hotel?) but he dismissed it. She was safe, Madame would see to it that she could be safe. (Madame Giry is here at the Opera. How does that make Christine safe?) Nevertheless, he could not shake the feeling that something had changed, that the balance had tipped against himself. (The fact that Christine chose Raoul and you let them go, possibly?) He just did not know how, and the feeling filled him with foreboding.

"This is the Vicomte's address, why?" Madame Giry said puzzled

"Because Christine is with him, remember?" Erik said growling quietly to the mention of his name. ("Good boy, Erik!" "Grrrr....")

"Oh... Yes, its just been a long time since i've seen them." (well, they have just spent two months on a carriage ride from the Opera to Raoul's house...) Madame Giry said suddenly missing Christine more then ever.

"Well heres your chance to see them and how they are doing." Erik said as Madame Giry heard longing in his voice and guessed it was for Christine. He made a flicking motion with his hand to dismiss her. (Christine? Hah -- we scoff at Christine. So!)

"As you wish Maestro" She said (mistaking his gesturing for an attempt to bring in the horn section) bowing (oops, sorry -- clearly it was the viola section)) then turned on her heel and walked down the concrete steps (part of the rebuild?) and stepped into the gondola and rowed away.

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Christine woke up and yawned finally realizing its morning (has she been lying on her bed fully-dressed all night now?), she got up from her bed and went in the bathroom (apparently Raoul has en-suite! Well -- Erik did....) to see everything was marble (even the taps) and she stared in awe for a few minutes until finally she snapped out of her trans- state (Raoul has hypnotic bathrooms? -- now those must be something to do with Erik...) and took a shower (not sure even Erik's bathroom had one of those) and then after 5 minutes she got out put a towel over her and walked out to her bags (bags? what bags? somebody brought up bags while she was asleep?) and pulled out a simple white summer dress that left her arms bare but had a full length skirt. (I'm not a fashion historian, but -- wouldn't bare arms imply an evening gown? As for the 'full-length' skirt... I'm sure Christine was most relieved to hear that it met minimum decency standards!)

After taking care of her needs (not... not like that...), she opened the door of her room and walked down the hall and down the marble stairs (they didn't appear to be marble when she followed the maid up them the previous night...) 'How much marble do you need in this house' She thought looking around the house as she walked. (I thought this was a brown-brick house, not some kind of Roman villa.) Christine walked to the kitchen and found all the maids making food
(Doesn't this house have any male staff at all? Or come to that, any senior members of staff to arrange its smooth running, meet guests, open the door, etc?)

"Good morning Madamosille Daae." (apparently it's not just a French typo; she genuinely can't spell the word...) The Maid that helped her yesterday said grinning

"Please, just call me Christine." She said returning the smile (of Maid who Helped Me Yesterday)

"If I am to call you Christine then call me Sophia." (I'm always such good friends with my employer's guests!) Sophia (the unaccountably English maid) replied urging her into the kitchen, Christine followed her to a seat and sat down. (Wait, they're going to serve her breakfast in the kitchen? Where all the 'maids' are busy working?)

Raoul came into the kitchen fully dressed and seemed like he attended to his needs (no... not like that... not there in front of everybody...) and found Christine sitting at the table and watched the food being served, (He probably couldn't believe his eyes.) Raoul hurried to the table and sat down. (Now they're going to serve Raoul breakfast in the kitchen?)" Christine." He greeted smiling

"Raoul." She said paying full attention on the food and not Raoul and just ignored him. (Apart from, you know, actually noticing him and saying his name...)

After the food was served and they ate in silence and cleared their plates (with all those servants in the room, they cleared away their own plates?), they walked to seprate rooms (and sulked), Raoul went to the library, Christine went to a room with an old piano that hasn't been refurbished. (Presumably out of sheer masochism, since she could have gone to the music-room instead...)

"Oh I can't take this childish nonsence anymore, Christine!" (Somebody said it! Hurrah!) He said as he threw the book that he was reading down on the sofa and went to the room that Christine was in.

He stomped into the room and starred at her ("Aldebaran! Betelgeuse! Rigel! Arcturus!") " Christine, look i'm sorry for what i've done yesterday, I know I broke the promise that we said we would never break (to take you... to a hotel), can you forgive me?" He asked

"Yes, I'll forgive you but... I'm not going to make you any promises anymore understand!?" ("So there! That will show you!")

"Yes... I understand." He said " Oh... Um I have to go into town for a little while so I won't be back for some time (several months, going on past precedent!) and Madame Giry said that she would come and visit." (When did she tell him that? She claims she hasn't seen either of them for ages...) He explained looking into her Choclate brown eyes.
(Just for once, I'd like to read a fic where Raoul is the one with chocolate-brown eyes. Big velvety devoted soulful chocolate-brown eyes... like a Labrador slobbering into your lap. Because that's what the phrase always makes me think of :-p)

"Okay, have fun!" She said finally relieved that he's gone. (The man just apologised to you, Christine, even though you've been acting like a three-year-old -- could you be a little less petulant? Judging by her norms of behaviour I'm starting to wonder if this author has even reached adolescence yet...) She got up and closed the door and starting thinking about some things.
(About 'stuff', maybe? 'Whatever'? About "some things" -- seriously? :-D)

Cosi fan tutte - fanfic frustration

2014-12-04T02:08:26Z

I came across this fanfic https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2391034/1/Cosi-Fan-Tutte over on AO3 yesterday, and still can't believe the ending: I don't know what happened to the author. Maybe she just got bored and wanted the story over and done with... but she spends 18 or so chapters setting up a really dark modern-day psychotic Phantom assassin-for-hire, who regards Christine as his 'prey', who has a special set of rooms built into his house for keeping kidnapped 'guests' in (it's made obvious that Christine is not even his first victim), who murders Christine's father in order to cut her ties with home, who superglues a poster of Philippe's mutilated body to the ceiling above Raoul's bed(!) and murders Raoul in Meg's presence so that she has to watch him die -- slowly -- and who is described as having some kind of hypnotic power in his music that can cause Christine to believe she loves him in the moments when she hears it, only for her to wake up to appalled reality afterwards. Meg is warned by both Raoul and the Persian that Christine may no longer come willingly when they do manage to locate her. And then in the final chapters the author presents us with a Christine who runs happily up to Meg when she and the Persian finally track her down, and announces that she is in love with Erik, handing her a long goodbye letter for Raoul.
And Meg BELIEVES her.

Why does Meg -- having gone through all this grief and horror to find and rescue Christine -- believe EVEN FOR ONE MOMENT that her friend is in her right mind at this moment, having been specifically WARNED that Erik does this to people? And why on earth does she take the letter for Raoul (what, and bury it in his grave?) without telling Christine that Erik has murdered him... AND her father? And then be bridesmaid at her wedding to Erik -- just because she doesn't want her to be unhappy?!!!

She ought to be moving heaven and earth to get Christine out of there if she is any kind of friend at all: but Christine just says "oh, I love him" and Meg totally fails to suspect anything fishy about this...

(Author's note: "if Erik thinks that someone needs to die in order to make either his, or especially, Christine's life better, then it's pretty much a done deal. The murder of Christine's father (the description of which I'm really quite proud of) therefore seems to me to be a very likely occurrence, especially if Erik thought him unworthy of Christine" -- and this makes him a sympathetic character HOW?)

I was waiting for the twist through the whole of the last two chapters, but there isn't one. A really well-written dark story suddenly goes fluffy and utterly unbelievable: Christine marries Erik and they have happy babies and no-one ever tells her the truth (and she never wakes up as I expected and realises that she is being hypnotised; apparently we are supposed to assume that she really does fall in love with him when they start frantically kissing halfway through chapter 18...)

Erik MURDERED HER FATHER. You do not marry the man who murdered your father AND ENJOYED DOING IT. We see more than enough of the inside of Erik's mind in this story to know that he is sick and twisted and very dangerous, and he shows not the slightest remorse for any of it. The author has created an Erik who is more criminal and psychotic than Leroux' original Phantom, and not given him even the slightest redemption: then she has simply awarded him Christine on auto-pilot because "I was getting tired of writing dark fiction". The result is an insult to the reader's suspension of disbelief -- and since the AO3 version doesn't have the self-justificatory end-notes, I literally couldn't believe what I'd just read. As I said, I was waiting for the dark twist right up to the epilogue... and it simply doesn't come. You're supposed to take it at face value.

"Cosi fan tutte" indeed... all too many fanfic authors, at any rate.

[Edit: yes, I know the fic is years old and the author long gone. It just -- hurts to see talent wasted, that's all.]

Did--Did They Just..?

2014-11-29T07:23:40Z

So by a slightly torturous 3AM route through the Internet I find myself watching a video of an Asian TV show where they're showing a chimp magic tricks, when suddenly, the music becomes strangely familiar...

"The Phantom of the Opera": The official theme of stabbing monkey trainers in the neck, I guess? XD

Yes, I know it's an ape not a monkey. "Monkey" is just inherently funnier.

Phantom Reviewing Project: Love Never Dies

2014-08-03T10:42:26Z

After four years of self-imposed purdah in order to avoid pre-conceived prejudice, the Phantom Reviewing Project has finally reached "Love Never Dies": The Phantom Project: Reviews & Research / Love Never Dies by Andrew Lloyd Webber (2010).

And I have to admit that I get enormous private satisfaction to observe that the reviewer's analysis essentially concurs with everything I've been writing over the past year about Raoul and Christine's relationship in this production: what the show is trying to do versus the impression it actually ends up giving!

A nice parallel is drawn between Gustave's attention-seeking behaviour with Raoul and Meg's attempts with the Phantom, for example: but "Raoul's behavior is used as an example of his unworthiness to remain in his family, while the Phantom's will be excused because the person doing the attention-seeking is clearly asking too much."

"characters are 'in the wrong' not when they do things that are objectively wrong but when they oppose or inconvenience the Phantom, who is by virtue of being the protagonist completely exempt from any such moral judgment" -- which backfires by making the protagonist a far less complex and sympathetic character than was the intended result.

For a musical that is supposedly about the Phantom's woes, it contrives to make Raoul far more interesting, despite earnest attempts to destroy the character: "The obvious comparison [...] is with the Phantom, suggesting that Raoul has a pretty facade with nothing worthwhile beneath, while the Phantom has an ugly facade but is filled with important emotional depths, but ironically it is Raoul in this show who has demonstrated emotional depth and growth"

And apparently I'm not the only viewer who was left with the confused impression that Christine was actually attempting to choose Raoul in the revised Australian Version -- which of course makes it a completely different tragedy of misunderstandings!

A Couple of Brief Mentions...

2014-06-23T17:26:00Z

Got a couple of mentions for you all today: First, this story from Not Always Related:

Masquerading Your Dislike

Home | CA, USA | Siblings

(My sister and I are fans of the 2004 ‘Phantom of the Opera’ movie, but our younger sister has only seen it once and she was seven at the time. She’s 16 now, and Sister #1 and I convince her to watch it again.)

Sister #2: *as the credits are rolling* “What’s the big deal?”

Me: “The music is great.”

Sister #2: “Eh, I thought it was pretty boring. I didn’t like it.”

(Fast forward about a week. I come home from school and hear the muffled ‘Phantom of the Opera’ movie soundtrack coming from inside the house. I unlock the door and walk into the living room, where Sister #2 is playing the soundtrack at top volume, singing along passionately. I stand there and watch her one-woman performance of ‘Masquerade’ before she notices me. She freezes and stares at me.)

Sister #2: “We never speak of this again.”

It's at 300 likes so far.

And second, some of you may remember Paw from his Music Movies reviews on the ThatGuyWithTheGlasses site; he did a review of the 2004 movie a while ago. Well, this time it's not a whole review, but he does take note of an interesting similarity with the titular song of "Love Never Dies" (at 15:19):

So an interesting little side mention there too.

Cheers!

Exclusive Video Review of Anthony P Manns Phantom of the Opera (2014)

2014-05-19T19:15:25Z

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am very excited to present you a genuine Phantom Reviews exclusive. Anthony P Mann's independent movie movie isn't officially released on DVD until October 2014, but I can give you a world first, in-depth review of the movie right now!

You can watch the 20 minute review at http://blip.tv/phantomreviews/anthony-mann-s-phantom-of-the-opera-2014-6889339 , and also check out my in depth interview with Anthony at http://blip.tv/phantomreviews/season-6-podcast-biskuits-anthony-mann-interview-6664051 or http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-72742/TS-798100.mp3 (as part of the Horror etc podcast)

Many thanks to Anthony for sharing his time with me to chat about the movie and for letting me have a review copy so early.