All Rent Reviews (Place Here)- Page 29

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:34pm

orangeskittles, that definitely one of the lines they improved on. I missed it when I saw it for the first time as well, but in the film, it was very funny.

[greenegirl87]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:35pm

I wonder if it being an opera then would either hurt it or help it...i guess if it was an opera people would be FORCED to or otherwise theyd sit there lolling the whole movie

Updated On: 11/27/05 at 02:35 PM

[ontheskyway]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:38pm

I'm curious to see why they didn't show Roger singing "Because reasons says I shoud've died..." with Gordon.

Do you guys think that would have looked too random on the big screen? I personally think it would have worked (and had an effect on an audience), but then again I'm biased - I know that it's supposed to happen.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:40pm

On stage, you can show more than one place at a time and not have it look awkward, like it might have if they just randomly cut to him on screen, sitting there alone, singing with people who weren't anywhere near him. On stage, you can make that work. I love what they did in place, though. Having him go to Life Support, but only after refusing at first was really powerful.

[greenegirl87]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:42pm

It definitely was very powerful. It made me burst into tears the first time he walked in. I loved how they did Life Support.

[ontheskyway]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:45pm

Yeah, that's what I mean. I don't know enough about filmmaking and what works on screen and what doesn't. I don't know if *I* would have thought it looked awkward, but others might.

They definately did make up for it. That scene gets me every time I see the movie. Some people say that it's out of character for Roger to go to the Life Support meeting, but I don't agree.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:46pm

It's so funny, my sister and I drove home from the movie gushing over how much we loved Angel. Then when I was at the movies with my brother yesterday, he asked if Angel was a guy or a girl and just about died laughing when I said it was a guy. Ah, the sophomore boy- the epitomy of maturity

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:47pm

People would think he was a pathetic brat if he literally just sat around.

He's going out and *doing something* about his problem, and that's important. I love that while he's walking to the meeting, you can see on his face how much he hates himself, but he's going to try to do something about it.

[greenegirl87]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:56pm

I also really love the reaction of Mark when he walks in, and how Angel and Collins "pull him in".

Going along with the "doing something about it" look you brought up, the way he stands there for a verse or two like he wants to join in but doesn't says a lot as well.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:56pm

I love Mark's reaction. That one shot shows how much he cares.

[greenegirl87]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:59pm

I think Mark and Anthony's relationship throughout the whole movie is one of the best things about it. Especially the way it culminates at the end of WYO

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 5:49pm

I agree that moments like Mark's reaction to seeing Roger at the Life Support meeting were some of the best parts of the film, which is why the Halloween and Goodbye Love cuts irked me so much. Mark is a great character, and I feel like we lose a lot by never finding out his motivations. The stories of the characters who have AIDS are tragic, but it's also important to realize the impact on the people who survive only to watch their closest friends die, one by one.

On a different subject, I liked the Another Day staging. I haven't heard any plausible ideas as to how they could have improved on it--it's a movie, and you can't show simultaneous events without switching screens, which would detract from the scene (in my mind, at least). Maybe it could have been better staged, but it wasn't awful. They have to incorporate the chorus of voices into the song somehow, and this way they didn't have to switch away from Mimi and Roger's conflict. The only song that I thought was badly staged was What You Own, which was way too busy (and, um, there is of course the awful choice of Roger on the rock formations in Santa Fe). It wasn't enough to kill my enjoyment of the movie, and the reunion at the end was mostly redeeming anyway.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 12:55am

Bump..... because it's annoying to see so many new threads started on this. Your review will still get read if you post it here, and it makes for a lot less repetition (and resulting negativity) in threads.

[collins]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 2:41am

All I can say is I LOVE this movie. For all its quirks, it was the most amazing movie I've seen in a very long time. And ontheskyway, I adore your picture. I love kittens!

[Whiteboy Spice]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 3:11am

Posted on the box office thread but I wanted to make sure it was seen by those who are just interested in the reviews conversation:

Hey all --

I should be sleeping now, but I can't resist rooting around the web to try to get a sense of the public's response to our film.

For an interesting read, check out the yahoo film site, and read some of the users' reviews. It really is filled with a large majority of A and A+ reviews -- and not just from Rentheads -- but that isn't the reason I'm suggesting you read it.

Every once in a while someone posts a D- or F, and most of these reviews are filled with incredibly homophobic remarks. A few of these negative reviews also dislike artistic issues, but there is by and large a strong current of anti-gay rhetoric out there.

So again, I say to the critics who don't at the very least acknowledge the political reality of our country -- and the attempt this film is making to tell a story that could open people's eyes up to alternative ways of living (whether the film succeeds or fails on an artistic level is a different matter, and not relevant to the point I'm making now) -- I say to them that I consider their ignorance of this fact to be more than a little naive, irresponsible, and cynical on their part.

For your reading pleasure and/or dismay, the link to the reviews page is

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808405627/user

You can then isolate the good, the bad, the most recent, etc.

Again, this raises a separate issue from the artistic merits of the film. I don't think intentions should exempt films from criticism. I just think they should be taken into account, and seen in their proper context.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 4:05am

Someone actually mentioned in the first review I read:
"The ‘characters’ are — one and all — wretched, without any redeeming qualities. Drug users, ne’er-do-wells, unprincipled louts, and cowards."
Forget about Mark's warm heart towards his friends, Roger's pain and suffering, Collins taking food to his friends on Christmas and dealing with the death of the man he loved, Angel's angelic personality and his/her ultimate strength, Mimi's optimistic approach, Maureen's struggle to help the homeless and denounce Benny's acts, and Joanne's sweet heart. I can't believe someone would be so close-minded!

[ontheskyway]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 4:50am

collins - Thank you! I love kittens (and cats), too

[xoxRogue]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 6:47am

Ok, I shouldn't be trusting myself to function at 6:45ish in the morning, but I just had to point this out:

"cahricter".

Yeah...that's one way to spell it...:?

And I should really go otherwise I'll be late. O.O

[iheartcheyenne123]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 6:52am

Most of the reviews were very very good, but on occacion there were simply obnoxious reviews....

I am very pleased that the majority of the reviews LOVED the movie! Some person even claimed that it should win 'Best Picure of the Year!' GO SEE RENT EVERYONE!

It really bothers me when people who don't like the movie are critizing the story and the characters. This story has so much love, fun, and is REAL! The characters are going through really hard REALISTIC times and live every day like 'No day but today.' i really don't want to get more into it....b/c most of you know wht i'm tlking about

I cried so much during this movie, but also laughed and enjoyed it! I think this is the best movie i have ever seen in a long time. I'm glad that all the reviews wern't just from RENTHEADS, b/c now i know that everyone loves it!

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 8:03am

Some of those reviews made me ill. The fact that people still think and feel that way in this day and age is horrible. How a person can live and thrive with such negativity and hate in their lives is beyond me.

And I think about half of the people who wrote those reviews were borderline illiterate.

[pab]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 8:08am

colleen_lee, I agree with you. I posted this in another thread but I thought that I would copy it and post it here as well:

I fully understand that movie making and money go hand in hand and it would be great, for future musical transfers, for RENT to not only break even but to also make money. I also would like to see new people exposed to this story and this music especially those that still think that Broadway is "Oklahoma" and "My Fair Lady", not that there is anything wrong with them but that's what a lot of today's teens, and some older folk, associate with Broadway. Movies like this can help to expose a whole new audience to musical theatre.

I've read a lot of the reviews, both professional and personal and some of them are insightful and others seem to me to be attempts at showing more about the cleverness of the writer than about what they actually thought about the movie. Having directed many shows and been reviewed many times, I've come to a point where I've been able to take constructive criticism and digest it but I've also been able to ignore the people who write just to show how clever they think they are or those who try to impress others by tearing something apart just for the sake of doing so.

Is RENT a perfect film? Of course not but what film is these days? It's a good film, IMO, and it's better that it was made than not. Larson's creation will now be seen by more people, in a shorter period of time, than it took the Broadway show ten years to reach that same amount of people.

I'm happy to know that it did not turn out to be another "A Chorus Line" or "The Wiz". I've seen the Broadway show four times and so far I've seen the movie twice and I really don't have any major complaints. I will purchase the DVD whenever it comes out and I'm sure that I'll probably see the movie again before that happens.

Updated On: 11/28/05 at 08:08 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 10:34am

Whiteboy Spice, colleen_lee and other concerned citizens --

I think we've all been painfully reminded these past few days how truly divided our country is. I guess I wasn't expecting it to flair up again here. Foolish me. It's been catching me off-guard lately a lot. I keep having to tell myself this is 2005, for God's sake, not 1955.

I'm really thrown by the ill-conceived, hypocritical "moral back-swing" that seems to have swept through (primarily) rural America, and it didn't occur to me to use this film "Rent" as some kind of "values meter" for the masses. But I can tell from many of the ultra-conservative responses that this is a reflection of what's happening to our country at large. It's written very loudly into some of those yahoo posts and elsewhere.

The frightening thing to me is how THREATENED people feel by alternate lifestyles and different opinions. I agree that with certain characters presented in Rent it can take a little bit of time to warm up to them. Not everyone in our country can relate to running away from "peaceful" and stifling suburbia to become an artist in the big bad city. Living in a crime-infested jungle, with no money, and sometimes little hope of survival. They don't understand it. It never occurred to them personally. They can't relate to it.

But I've read The Good Earth and I didn't have to become a Chinese farmer to appreciate it. I've read Gone With the Wind, and I didn't have to become a Civil War era southern belle to "get into" Scarlett's story. (Although it helped to put on the costume! -- Joke.) I didn't have to become a 1920s flapper to get into the Great Gatsby, etc.

I think what has happened is that our country is gradually losing its IMAGINATION---specifically regarding the ability to step outside of oneself and see life through someone else's eyes.

And what I'm finding is that losing this kind of imagination is a LOT more serious than I initially thought. It isn't merely a shame... it's actually DANGEROUS.

Their "world" becomes smaller and more cocooned. If the characters and places they are looking at don't somehow relate right away to their own lives and their small circle around them, they dismiss it.. or even worse, they condemn it.

I'm not sure what the solution is. People shouldn't have to be artists to have this imagination.

Maybe it's something missing from childhood. Maybe adults are too busy trying to teach their children what to think and how to achieve, rather than to dream. Our dreams are personal ones now: The perfect house, spouse and life. And that's it. Maybe it's because TV and other visual media stimulation has taken away our individual creativity. Maybe dreaming outside of our own (limited) world is just out of fashion now. Honestly, I'm at at a loss.

But I think it's very important that young generations learn to dream this way, and to imagine again. Without it, I see a very limited future for ourselves and our country... both artistically and politically.

I'm certainly not saying that everyone who dislikes the film "Rent" is lacking this kind of imagination. But I am saying that the ones who are voicing these anti-gay and/or racist and sexist remarks are. They have lost the ability to see the world through anyone else's eyes other than their own.

And that's a real tragedy for all of us.

Updated On: 11/28/05 at 10:34 AM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 11:22am

"A Fine Depiction of Moral Inferiority"

I am so making this the title of my memoirs!

Am I the only one that finds the F reviews hilarious? I mean, one person posts about how the movie would have been better without the homosexuality, AIDS and homelessness, says she doesn't feel sorry for even her sister who has AIDS, then signs the post with a "<3".

Not to mention all the people that were excited to hear "five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes" and thought the movie sucked after the first 3 minutes.

Another gem: "RENT = Homosexuality, AIDS, Promiscuity, Friends" then they give it a B. Um, I guess they're okay with it then.

And people wondered why I wasn't reading reviews before

Updated On: 11/28/05 at 11:22 AM

[OasisBroadway]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 11:27am

Yeah the girl with the comment about her sister with aids who she doesn't feel sorry for was just disturbing. And the <3 was such a lovely touch.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/28/05 at 12:01pm

God, they only get better! And by better, I mean worse.

Even the homophobic comments are just so ridiculous. One person said you won't like this movie unless you like gay porn. He and art2 should get together for tea sometime, it would make for a very interesting conversation.

For some reason, I keep imagining these being read by kids on The Daily Show.