Illiterate critics...

[Jon]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:18pm

We have a local theatre critic who doesn't know what the term "book by..." in the program credits for a musical means. When we did "The Rink" with "Book by Terrence McNally, Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb", he put in his review that Kander & Ebb based their musical on a novel by Terrence McNally.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:20pm

Well that was pointless. Why let someone who hated the stage show review the movie?

[YankeesFan175]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:23pm

what bothers me so far in that review is them calling La Vie Boheme horrible.


EDIT: i love how they go on trashing the movie for pretty much the entire article then give it a B-

Updated On: 11/26/05 at 12:23 PM

[GClef2]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:25pm

UHH
his misspelling just goes to show how ignorant he really is. It's a$$holes like this that are killing our favorite form of expressiong. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but come on! Take a literature course!

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:26pm

(Anthony Rapp is one of the main problems with this film, his voice is like nails on a chalkboard and he's featured on an large number of the songs)

ouch.

edit: not to mention the grammar. oy.

Updated On: 11/26/05 at 12:26 PM

[YankeesFan175]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:27pm

that one hurt me, too LittleWing.

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:35pm

As if the Teeny-boppers weren't enough...

Anyone notice how he said, "broadway," then later he said, "Broadway?" And the few comma mistakes? Oh, my. What is this world coming to today?

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 12:59pm

You do realize the reviewer is a she, right?

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 1:07pm

ddtruitt, I thought Idina was fantastic in Tango: Maureen. It's probably the first time the woman has danced in her life, I've heard her say time and time again that "I can't dance." Obviously, she was no technical master, but I think she moved EXTREMELY well, and she was very taunting, teasing, and flirty. I thought she was the highlight of the number.

I agree about the commitment ceremony.

Mark is very underwritten in the film. Without his narration, "Halloween," and the second half of "Goodbye, Love," I feel like we lose A LOT of him.

The Angel/Collins relationship was alright for me in the film, but I've always felt one of Ret's flaws is that is tried, but never really succeeded at making Angel the model figure for it's main message. The film didn't do much to help, but I think Wilson did a FANTASTIC job of doing a lot with the little he had.


Updated On: 11/26/05 at 01:07 PM

[NightLaughs]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 1:51pm

I was reading the Village Voice review of RENT and the critic insisted he was once a Renthead and waited in front of the NEW AMSTERDAM Theater for tickets...

So it's no surprising he didn't think the film translated, considering he was seeing the wrong damn show.




Since the New Amsterdam is located on the next street over I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume he meant he waited on the other side of the New Amsterdam for Rent tickets... a little more plausible.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 3:28pm

Or maybe he's allowed to forget the name of the theater after a few years.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 3:40pm

That's why newspapers employ fact-checkers, to make sure the person correctly remembered the theater name.


"Now ten years later, it's safe to come out of the closet and say, 'Rent sucked on broadway!'"

If this critic is openly admitting that she couldn't be honest about her feelings towards the show due to "peer pressure" for 10 years, why should I take any of her reviews seriously?

[dramaparoxysm23]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 3:51pm

"the moments that work - really work, and work really well"

*wince*
It's one thing for me to have to proofread the papers of my classmates, but someone like this should a.) have better English skills, and b.) hire a new editor.
She doesn't really seem to understand what's going on in the film OR the show.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 4:27pm

That woman would be so out on her arse at my paper.

And I'm not even the editor in chief anymore.

[Plum]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 7:18pm

Uh, to be fair, I don't think daily newspapers have full-time factcheckers. There's just too much content coming in in too little time for them to do that kind of research on every single article. There's editors, of course, but I think dailies rely a lot more on their writers to do their own checking. It's weekly and monthly publications that have the time to check everything.

[Marlene]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 7:26pm

Michelle Alexandria, do you have an ass?

[Behind_the_Spotlight]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 9:08pm

*deep, calming breaths*

How do people like this end up with jobs in writing? I really don't understand. Before she goes publicly criticizing movies in writing, you'd think she'd make sure she had a basic grasp of sentence structure.

As for the comment on Anthony, I just have to tell myself that the first time around I wasn't his biggest fan, either. For me, he took a few listens before his voice gained a permanent place in my heart. But nails on a chalkboard? That was a little harsh.

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 9:42pm

Ugh, that reviewer is a PRIME example of the "evil skinny women" Mo'Nique writes in her book.

And there is NO excuse for getting the name of the stupid theatre wrong. That is just lazy ignorance that there is no room for in REAL journalism. These reviewers make me sick.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 9:51pm

Someone should send her the URL of this thread.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 12:17pm

Let's get back to Benny for a moment, he's a guy who actually manages to make something of himself, and he tries desperately to work with his friends, giving them an entire year's rent for free, yet he's portrayed as the bad guy in this piece.

No, he's portrayed as a bad guy because, even though he did promise them free rent, he is suddenly threatening them with eviction if they don't pay. THAT'S why he's the bad guy. Why is that point so hard for people to get?

former roommate Benny (Taye Diggs) who they claim married a rich woman

Okay, that just made me giggle.