NEW Rent Trailer up — Page 4

I really suggest you guys don't pin your hopes on getting any Oscars. There's a ton of prestige movies that have yet to be released- Memoirs of a Geisha, The Fountain, Proof, The Producers, The Libertine, Everything is Illuminated, Jarhead, and Munich are just the ones I can think of offhand.

Musicals aren't all singing/no talking and Rent is no exception. The reality is that Seasons of Love and those clips really don't give people unfamiliar with the show enough insight into what this film is about... I don't think it's even clear beyond a shadow of doubt that the film is about Bohemians. I know you'd like me to drool over the trailers but I won't. I think that they're appealing to fans but misguided otherwise.

No, I wouldn't rather Tracie have a blank look on her face but her gesture and the staging for "Seasons of Love" are pretty corny. I hope lining up the actors on stage with spotlights on them will work for film but right now, it's leaving everyone except the people on BWW.com thinking that the show is too stagebound. Perhaps a better and still possible means of incorporating Seasons of Love into the film would be to play it over the action (sort of like "Me and My Baby" in Rob Marshall's CHICAGO but this time with lyrics). This is just my opinion. I know you disagree but there is no convincing me to the contrary. My gut reaction to the trailer is that Seasons of Love may be a weak point of the film if it remains staged as it is. Some people on Oscarwatch said they felt embarrassed for everyone in the lineup. I defended the choice, but the more I watch it, the more I feel that it only works when I convince myself that it works.

Also, I believe I said that there should be a trailer that's more reflective of the rock music in the score... no suggestions here that the trailer should hide the fact that it's a musical.

Updated On: 8/2/05 at 01:28 AM

West Side Story is an interesting example. Does it mean that all musicals today will work when they're theatrical or deliberately silly, or that we still like West Side Story today because we accept its conventions as dated and typical of the late Golden Age of Hollywood musicals? (I'm a WSS fan, too... LOVE "Cool" and "Office Krupke")

My predictions for best numbers in the RENT film are Tango: Maureen, La Vie Boheme, One Song Glory, Santa Fe, and Take Me or Leave Me. My predictions for worst (i.e. most un-cinematic) are Light My Candle, Rent, I'll Cover You, What You Own, and Will I. Seasons of Love will be an absolute embarrassment.

Updated On: 8/2/05 at 01:43 AM

Evelyn- to be fair, a lot of trailers don't really indicate what a movie is about so much as they indicate a certain feeling. Especially at the teaser stage. I have no perspective at all on how this trailer would look to Joe Schmoe who's only heard vaguely of Rent and has seen maybe two live musicals in his life, but I do think the visual appeal in some of the shots is there whether you're a fan of the show or not.

Funny how I'm standing up for the trailer of a musical I don't even like that much.

Updated On: 8/2/05 at 01:46 AM

"I have no perspective at all on how this trailer would look to Joe Schmoe who's only heard vaguely of Rent and has seen maybe two live musicals in his life, but I do think the visual appeal in some of the shots is there whether you're a fan of the show or not."

It's actually very easy to get this perspective. You should hear what the people on Aintitcoolnews and Oscarwatch have been saying about those trailers! Hysterical.

Aintitcoolnews is a little sketchy and the talkbackers are generally assholes, but Oscarwatch is solid. They read Alexander as camp before it even came out.

And since Evely mentioned it a bit, I'll predict what I believe will be the best numbers in the Rent movie (not that you care that much). And I take this mostly from the screenplay.

"One Song Glory" should work well with the flashbacks of April and the possible beautiful shots of Roger on the rooftop.

I liked the way it had "What You Own" in the screenplay, but we'll have to see how it works.

"Without You" should be amazingly emotional if the movie up till then does anything in the way of makeing you care for the characters. In addition to the extra happenings with Collins, Angel, Maureen and Joanne, they also had flashes of the Life Support Group fading away, one by one, through the eyes of Mark and his camera. I'm almost tearing up just typing it.

Because "Seasons of Love" is the big song, I think how that works on film will ultimtely make or break the film. Assuming that it's in the same place in the score as on stage (which according to the screenplay, it is), then it could completely take you out of the expeirence if it's not done right, especially right after "La Vie Boheme," which looks like it'll be done great as well. But if done right, it'll add everything that it adds in the stage version. Based on the screenplay, it could go either way. We'll have to see it in full to see if it works.

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Evelyn you totally misinterpreted my response to your post about this trailer:

"I know you'd like me to drool over the trailers but I won't.

No, i don't. Trust me. And I'm also not trying to change your opinion, brainwash you or anything to that effect. It just seems to me that some people just don't get the fact that these are only two *teaser* trailers. There will be others reflecting every aspect of the show.

"Seasons of Love" is the song most associated with "RENT" and that's just a FACT and that's why it's being used.

You're responses to the trailers really don't surprise me too much their basically in line with your whole general attitude for the project from the get-go.

::cheesy music::

Hallmark - when you care enough to send the very best to your obsesive legions of fans who would eat your face if you did anything less.

::cheesy chords to end cheesy music::

:)

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i LOVE the "tango maureen" footage - that's going to be hott!

"I believe that for International audiences, a voiceover is neseccary."

It's the tone of the voiceover that has met with some disapproval rather than the fact that there is a voiceover.

Hello Everyone...No one has mentioned the "Seasons of Love" video that is also available. It looks pretty good at about 3 min long.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/rent-seasons_of_love.html

The fact that RENT won the Tony may not have much impact on the Oscar race. I mean, film and theatre are two totally different mediums, with two totally different sets of expectations. There are also tons more films in a year than there are shows in a theatre season. It's silly to count our chickens.

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