The Phantom Lives on Screen.

Hollywood just loves to glamorize things, and the film version of The Phantom of the Opera is no exception. On stage, the singer playing the Phantom went through hours of makeup in order to look horrifically disfigured. The part of his face that was showing wasn't that great on the eyes, so you knew that what was hidden was ghastly. Trailers for the movie show Gerard Butler swirling his cape dashingly, hair impeccably slicked back. And even if the couple square inches of his face that are hidden due to the abbreviated version of his mask, the other 95% of his sculpted face makes up for it.

That being said, Phantom is a movie that could translate superbly to the screen. The sets are massive, the effects dramatic, and the score just begs for some sweeping cinematography. Reviews for the movie have been somewhat mixed, but that's to be expected. After all, the stage play wasn't exactly hip material. It was overly gothic, and melodramatic to the core. But while critics love to poke fun at it, people have been coming to theaters in swarms to see it ever since it first appeared.

Christmas seems an appropriate time to release such a film. Certainly it's not a feel-good romantic comedy, unless your version of feel-good involves obsession, jealousy, and murder. However, it looks like it will be a visually lush mix of the familiar and the new.