Who did not like RENT?- Page 3
Who did not like RENT?
#50re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 3:23pm
Dame and Michael Bennett, save your money and buy multiple tickets for Memoirs of a Geisha. That way you support the international careers of several brilliant Asian actors and actresses.
There must be other ways to support the comeback of the movie musical besides buying tickets to ones that you dislike. Personally, I don't want to see any other bad movie musicals! I am just dreading the imminent bastardizations of Parade and Ragtime! I would rather see the genre die again than continue to lose credibility.
popular_elphie
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/3/05
#51re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 3:37pmMy mom hated the actual stage show, but thought the movie was "okay".
Stage Addict
Understudy Joined: 7/16/05
#52re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 6:58pmSo I love RENT as much as the next person, but was I the only one who thought alot of the movie was humorous just because it seemed like two people would be standing there having a conversation then randomly burst into song? I mean it works onstage (obviously) but it just seemed...awkward on film.
"If you're a writer or a painter, you write or paint whenever you want to. But we have to do this task at a precise moment. At three minutes past eight, the curtain goes up, and you've got to pretend to believe, because no one else will believe you unless you believe it yourself. A great deal of our work is simply making ourselves dream. That is the task. At three minutes past eight,YOU MUST DREAM."
#53re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 7:28pm
That's one reason why I thought it was humorous, Stage Addict. There was seldom any proscenium in which to make the performances believable even within this semi-natural world (just as Judy Garland and Margaret O'Neill go beneath an archway to sing "If I like a you..."; very performance-like, works both because musicals were the rage then and there is a proscenium/semblance of a performance space). Without the proscenium, there is really no reason for the cast of Rent to burst into song other than that many people (I think) came to see a musical.
Updated On: 11/24/05 at 07:28 PM
#54re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 7:51pm
Re: The Cliff shot.
It was AWFUL. In a narrative a shot is a part of a narrative arc that is part of a larger arc and so on. The shot is to convey that part of the arc and honestly the cheesiest of first year film students would not have chosen to convey the drama of WYO on that damn cliff in the desert. Its the most obvious and ridiculous place to put Roger in that song. I laughed out loud as did the entire theatre I saw it in.
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#55re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 8:04pm
I liked the movie for the mot part, but I felt the cutting of certain songs (Halloween and Good Bye Love, especially) damaged the emotional impact. from H through the end of What You Own, on stage is the most powerful part of the show, and when you cut out 2 big sections of it, and butcher another part (WYO in the movie was pretty bad, I mean, mark, not even talkin to Alexi when he says "I quit." WTF was that?)
oh, and all the computer generated steam from peoples breath got really distracting.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
VIETgrlTerifa
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/04
#56re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 9:30pmI'm not surprised that only the biggest Rentheads seem to enjoy this movie and that it's getting hammered by both critics and movie goers alike. Chris Columbus has as much depth as an evaporated puddle.
"I've got to get me out of here
This place is full of dirty old men
And the navigators and their mappy maps
And moldy heads and pissing on sugar cubes
While you stare at your books."
dmb_rent
Leading Actor Joined: 10/26/05
#57re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 10:16pmhaha...Roger completely reminded me of Bon Jovi as well when he was driving in the car to Santa Fe....and as much as I love the film, I too was a little cheesed out with him singing on the rocks. Like...it just didn't seem to fit at all.
"I would rather take a flawed movie that has as much heart and passion and life and joy and energy and truth in it as this film does over any film that is completely perfectly presented and perfectly constructed but has none of that heart and life." -Anthony Rapp
art2
Stand-by Joined: 8/10/05
#58re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 10:27pmRENT is tailor-made for heterosexuals who are uncomfortable with the notion of the sexual gay male. Note how the lesbians get to kiss, cuddle and be sexy along with the heterosexuals but the gay guys only have one or two camped-up kisses and barely no cuddles, except when one's dying. It's a sleazy double standard courtesy of Columbus and Sony. Broadwayworld.com moderators have already censored a couple of threads I started on this issue in the last 3 days. I'm sure they take pride in what they do.
dmb_rent
Leading Actor Joined: 10/26/05
#59re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 10:31pm
Can someone send me links to negative reviews from critics? I can understand what most of you are saying about the cheesy stuff in the movie, although I don't really agree. As a WHOLE, it made its point -- the film is about love and friendship and ...although the stage version is much more powerful, it still worked on screen as a whole. Cheesy things here or there possibly (to me really the only cheesy thing was Roger on the cliff) but come on...it's a PG-13 film directed by Chris Columbus. ...If it had been an R-rated film by Spike Lee (which might have been very interesting), it might have been ...more true to the life the characters were living.
Then again, I do believe Chris brought a lot of heart from the stage into the film. And to me, knowing that the majority of the OBC starred in it made it all the more special. ...I think if it had been the same movie with completely random actors I wouldn't be as into it at all.
"I would rather take a flawed movie that has as much heart and passion and life and joy and energy and truth in it as this film does over any film that is completely perfectly presented and perfectly constructed but has none of that heart and life." -Anthony Rapp
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#60re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 10:43pmOMG ART will you SHUT THE F*CK UP already, the movie is not homophobic, I, A homosexual, thought the movie was far from homophobic. I noticed one thing that was a little odd (cutting away from a kiss right as its about to happen and then back to the people after it has happened) but other than that, everything was fine. get over yuourself and your attention whoring and deal with the fact that they weren't gonna show Jesse and Wilson barebacking on the big screen.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
art2
Stand-by Joined: 8/10/05
#61re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 10:48pm
Zoneace,
Face it - you are part of the heterosexual system that decries displays of male-male affection as simple as a kiss. Don't deny it. Meanwhile the lesbians and hetero's get the air-time and the passion.
I simply wanted fair and equitable treatment of the male-male relationship, something Columbus and Sony couldn't bring themselves to do. If you subscribe to this notion of Bohemia, you are subscribing to the notion of male heterosexual privilege.
colleen_lee
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/05
#62re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 10:50pm
What I hear in my head when Art2 posts:
Wah wah wah, wah wah...
He's like the teacher in Charlie Brown.
"You just can't win. Ever. Look at the bright side, at least you are not stuck in First Wives Club: The Musical. That would really suck. "
--Sueleen Gay
Updated On: 11/24/05 at 10:50 PM
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#63re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 10:56pm
F*CK YOU YOU F*CKING PRICK, you don't know me, so don't start making ****ing assumptions about me. I don't have a problem with male male public affection, i have a problem with all public affection, people who kiss in public are an annoyance, gay, straight, yellow, animal, vegetable.
HOWEVER< i have a bigger problem with people like you, who have to find a problem, or an anti gay sentiment is everything out there, you are like a god damned militant feminist. Nothing you say holds any weight with anyone here because its all bull****. all we hear is WOlf, over and over and over, it's just too bad that wolf doesnt eat your ass.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#64re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 11:24pm
Eh, I'm still in the middle. I saw it twice, and did like it more the second time, but I still felt it was strange.
Some thoughts and questions:
I think the opening grinds the movie to a halt before it even gains momentum, from which it never truly recovers.
I thought it was odd to go right into the title song without even a shred of exposition.
If Mimi dated Benny two years ago, why didn't Roger already know her?
Benny really gets the shaft in the film. It's a shame that the whole paying for Angel's funeral thing doesn't make it.
Do people really dress up in costume for New Year's if they aren't planning a cat and mouse mission?
This is a quibble from the stage version that carried over to the film - Maureen's speech at the funeral. Did she have a pre-existing relationship with Angel? Her line about the Gap implies that they did.
If Roger (per Benny) was in a year of withdrawal (as opposed to half a year in the stage version), why does Collins say, "Oh hi after seven months?"
I learned that the word "clit" is apparently verboten in a PG-13 movie.
Why, when press mentions the original cast, is almost no mention given to the other seven cast members who were a part of the original cast?
"Out Tonight" was a huge disappointment. Having Mimi all bundled up, walking down he street for half of it really is a shame. I thought it was odd to make part of it a song in the club as well.
Why did I hear Sarah Silverman tell Anthony Rapp he'd get $20,000 when I saw it in the screening and $3000 when I saw it at a different theater two days later? And I know I'm not nuts, because the friend I saw it with both times noticed it as well.
Did Alexi hear Mark when he told her he quit? Was she outside the building?
It really was better the second time around, when I could judge it more on its own merits and less on what was cut from the stage version, but I'm still disappointed.
"How do you like THAT 'misanthropic panache,' Mr. Goldstone?" - PalJoey
Updated On: 11/24/05 at 11:24 PM
#65re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 11:35pm
That was Mark talking to himself--making the decision to tell her he quits.
Some of the things you guys are complaining about are synonymous to the problems you will have with the first new production of the piece. You have to come to terms with the fact that how things are staged in a Broadway production are not the concrete way it should always be done.
Problems with cuts and changes, I understand--that is modification of the script. But at the same time, this has been going on since film started adapting plays and musicals (and books). It's adaptation. Not a recreation. It's its own entity. Directors from Welles to Kurosawa had these debates over adapting Shakespeare. There are long rooted philosophies about what works and doesn't work on film and vice versa for the stage.
art2
Stand-by Joined: 8/10/05
#66re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 11:37pm
Zoneace,
Blabber on if you must, it's your glucose you're expending. You know that what I am saying is right, and so do others. RENT has selectively skewed the portrayals so as to sex up the hetero and lesbian relationship but downplay the gay male. Don't blame me for bringing it up, blame Columbus and Sony for constructing this sham.
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#67re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 11:41pmyou are aware that one of the definitions of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. No one here believes you, or takes your opinions on homosexuality and hte movie rent seriously, you realize that right? cause you keep making the same posts, over, and over, and over, and over and over, and over, and over, and over, and over and (bear with me, i'm almost rinished) over, and over, and over, expecting us to agree, BUT WE NEVER WILL BECAUSE ARE DELUSIONAL.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#68re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 11:41pmIt's when cuts and changes seem completely random that I get frustrated. I understand things have to be changed when moving to film. The film version of Hedwig is both completely true to the stage version and radically different at the same time. Most of Chicago's changes seemed completely justifiable. A lot of the changes just seemed (to use the word again) random. The change in the timeline for Benny and Mimi's relationship, for example.
"How do you like THAT 'misanthropic panache,' Mr. Goldstone?" - PalJoey
#69re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 11:44pmI understand. But, I can only say that it all worked for me. Now, granted, I have heard people say in various threads that newbies to Rent were confused at times--that is a serious problem in the film then. It has to work on its own.
art2
Stand-by Joined: 8/10/05
#70re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 11:50pm
Zoneace,
Delusion is probably your first cousin. At least I have the cajones to call a spade a spade. Etch this into your dashboard: the male-male relationship in RENT has been desexualized while the hetero and lesbian one have been sexed up. This is a fact, not a fantasy.
art2
Stand-by Joined: 8/10/05
#71re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/24/05 at 11:51pm
Zoneace,
Delusion is probably your first cousin. At least I have the cajones to call a spade a spade. Etch this into your dashboard: the male-male relationship in RENT has been desexualized while the hetero and lesbian one have been sexed up. This is a fact, not a fantasy.
#72re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 12:33am
art2
Focus your attention on Will & Grace and your point would be well taken. Repeating yourself as many have stated just makes your arguement weaker. State your opinion, we all know you are entitled to it. But then move on. If someone critiques your post and resorts to name calling, stooping to that level and doing the same again makes your credibility even lower. I don't agree with you about Rent, but hey by trying to gain acceptance here is really a waste of yours and everyone elses time.
art2
Stand-by Joined: 8/10/05
#74re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 12:58am
art2
To stand vindicated you have to have arugments that support your opinion or so called "proof". If you can provide that then im sure people would exchange with you in a proper intellectual manner. Like I said before you obviously have the right to your opinion but maybe being more specific would help your arguement.
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