It's Only A Paper Rose

Had a very fun weekend. Friday was the opening of The Phantom of the Opera movie here in town, so Juneau-Brian and I went to see that. It had gotten mixed reviews, so I went expecting to be entertained but not particularly wowed. For the first part, I got what I expected - the visuals were gorgeous but the story was a bit slow. The second part, however, picked up a bit, and by the third part I was literally on the edge of my seat. The whole third section, especially the final scene in the Phantom's lair, was very well done (I *loved* the staging for the "Point of No Return" number), and even though I knew the ending it was still suspenseful. If there was one thing that really bothered me about the movie as a whole, it was Gerard Butler's voice - it was very obvious (to me, anyway, having grown up in a family of musicians) that he was not well trained vocally, and while he put in a perfectly passable performance, the fact that (in the story) it was supposed to be he who taught Christine to sing didn't quite sit right with me. (I got the answer as to why they'd casted him with the final scene, however - his acting was phenomenal.) And on a much more minor note, if Emily Rossum weren't 18 I'd swear she'd had a Botox injection - with the exception of one or two places, her expression barely changes throughout the movie. But she still did a pretty damn good job, and while I don't think it'll earn the acclaim that Chicago did, Phantom is well worth seeing.

On Saturday we celebrated the fact that there was actual *snow* on the ground by taking Ian skiing. I'd never been downhill before, and it took me a couple of tries down the bunny hill (and a couple of minor wipeouts) before I got the hang of the whole "stopping" thing, but I did eventually, and found it to be a whole lot of fun. (My one truly spectacular wipeout came when I tried the actual big long skiing hill. By that time it was getting a little darker, and the light had that funny quality it gets where all the snow looks sort of flat, so I didn't see the bump in the snow until it was too late and I was flying off of it. Snow down cleavage != fun. But it probably looked rather amusing from a bystander's view.) Ian also enjoyed himself, although he spent a lot of time sliding on his butt; the rental boots he had were broken and his skis therefore wouldn't stay on. Fortunately they give him a free lift ticket/ski rental and he wants to go out again.

Afterwards we dropped Ian off, curled up at my place and watched The Addams Family Values, and drank hot spiders. And then, just for kicks, we went to see The Phantom of the Opera again. Hell, I'd probably go see it again (and maybe take Ian this time) if I had the money.

Sunday was mostly a homework day, and now I'm back to the whole daily grind thingummy. Considering that I only made it to one class last week (admittedly, the week started on Tuesday and two of my classes are on Monday), I have a feeling this week is going to be a bit more hectic...