Who did not like RENT?- Page 4
Who did not like RENT?
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#75re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 1:02amAjay, he'll never get it, just give up now.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
#76re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 1:03amthe block feature has made this thread exponentially more enjoyable. :)
#77re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 1:09am
ZoneAce, i tried and im sure you are right. Do you have a review of the movie? If you do, id love to read it if you could PM me with the link i'd appreciate it. There's so many reviews on here I just like to read the ones with whom I've interacted with even once so i can get thru some of them.
cheers,
Ajay
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#78re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 1:11amNo i don't have a review of the movie. I felt it was really weak, emotionally. The cutting of Halloween and the second half of Goodbye Love, and the crappy version of What You Own, damaged the impact of the last third of the movie.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
#79re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 1:16amI COMPLETELY agree with the damage of the last third of the movie. The Mark Roger argument is the impetus for the What You Own reunion. And Roger's "Your Eyes" refers to their last goodbye which is in Goodbye Love which was cut. What I hate is that it was filmed and then cut. A brutal mistake by Chris Columbus
dmb_rent
Leading Actor Joined: 10/26/05
#80re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 2:58amI would've liked to have the argument between Roger and Mark in the film...I wish that hadn't been cut. Maybe we have deleted scenes to look forward to on the DVD??? ::crossing fingers::
"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
#81re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 3:15amWould deleted scenes really make that much of a difference? Forget Mark. Angel is dead by the time that song comes and the screenplay still doesn't really get us acquainted with him. I didn't mind the cutting of Goodbye Love or Halloween because I think the film would've been weak on character development with or without them. The way to build character would have been through better writing overall, esp. staging songs in ways that are a lot more imaginative and reflective of the characters' distinct personalities (this means not having Mark sing his resignation from Buzzline to the sky just so that he can be outside when Roger comes back). I highly, highly doubt that Goodbye Love and Halloween make or break the film just on the level of narrative.
dmb_rent
Leading Actor Joined: 10/26/05
#82re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 3:30am
I think we all understand that you weren't a big fan of the film, so you don't have to continuously criticize what you didn't like about it. However, I do agree with you on some of what you are saying. I'm a film student myself, so I tend to analyze a lot, just like you seem to...and yeah the part with Mark on the roof singing his resignation to the sky bothered me as well. There were definitely things about the film that could have been better, but I think it still conveyed a lot of emotion. There could have been more character development, and I feel like if I didn't already know the story I wouldn't be entirely sure what was going on with everyone. I kind of wish I could watch the film once without knowing anything about the story already, to be able to judge it better as an outsider.
"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
#83re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 3:33am
dmb, it just wouldn't be Oscar season if Evelyn and a few others didn't post in every thread possible their angst for the films that year that they despised. We can't afford to forget their disdain and repetition is the most successful! :)
(Don't hit me too hard, Evelyn. Kisses!) 
dmb_rent
Leading Actor Joined: 10/26/05
#84re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 3:37am
"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
#85re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 3:43am
Nope, sorry folks (love you too jrb). Gotta make sure this board doesn't get dominated by threads insisting that this film is that much better than it is. Critics didn't like it, Red staters aren't stupid for disliking it as many people here would have you believe... it's just a poorly made film and, without me here, we'd have discussions that (ridiculously) suggest that people only dislike it because they disagree with the values it represents.
The deletion of Goodbye Love and Halloween has been discussed ad nauseum but hardly anyone has said that the film wouldn't have worked with or without them. Whoa, whaddyaknow, there goes a new point! Much more interesting than the unbelievable lovefest for this mess of a film that has now carried over to the Off-Topic board, and the interminable discussion of that cliff scene which isn't even that bad compared to the rest of the film.
No hard feelings. I look foward to posting my thoughts (repeatedly like all of the Rentheads do without realizing it) and getting berated or ignored. Either is cool. :)
Updated On: 11/25/05 at 03:43 AM
#86re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 3:46amAt least you won't be going on and on (and on) about RAY! ;OP
dmb_rent
Leading Actor Joined: 10/26/05
#89re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 3:56am
As I said already a few times, I agree with what you are saying. I think the film was well made for what it was. Chris did a decent job with it, but it could have been much better. Yes. However, the fact that the majority of the OBC stuck with it, and it has so much depth and history behind it, and that it does carry over that importance of love, is what makes it so special for me and so many others. The fact that it's come this far since Jonathan's passing.
Now, if I was simply judging it as an outsider, and knew nothing about the musical...I would probably still love the songs and the fun moments of the story, but I think (as i said before) that the character development and arcs in the story are lacking. I think that would be my biggest problem with it. I would think that geeze, Chris could have put a little more effort into it.
But really, lol...I don't care. It is what it is, and I'm proud that it's come this far, regardless of how cinematically beautiful or not it is. The cast is proud of it, Jonathan's family is proud of it...shouldn't that be enough for you if you are truly a Rent fan?
"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
#90re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 4:02am
"shouldn't that be enough for you if you are truly a Rent fan?"
Hmmm nope definitely not. Sorry dmb rent.
As far as identity goes, Rent fan is somewhere down the ladder for me from summa cum laude Northwestern School of Communication (Radio/TV/Film and Theater) graduate. I will never give any film a pass (including the crappy ones I used to make) if it just doesn't work. Spend 80 mil on advertising and production and your film is open to the same judgment as any other film that expensive.
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#91re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 4:06am
actually Evelyn, The cliff scene was an abomination. I actually laughed out loud in the theatre when it happened. I almost verbalized my mental "what the ****?"
EDIT
OOOH OOH, and WTF was with all the CGI hot breath? That was completely unnecesary, it kept distracting me cause it was done so poorly.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
Updated On: 11/25/05 at 04:06 AM
#92re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 4:09am
Well I think WYO is poorly staged too, but by the time it came I had already laughed till I cried over other scenes (sorry folks, add me to the list of people you wanted to throw popcorn at in the theater but were too chicken to!). It didn't have the same "oh my god the movie took a sudden turn for the worst" impact on me that a majority of other people here say it did on them.
I think I was more amused by Gordon's solo in Life Support and all of Another Day than WYO.
Updated On: 11/25/05 at 04:09 AM
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#93re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 4:20am
I Don't remember anything that awful about gordon or AD.
I do remember cringing at some of the camera angles, especially during TMOLM, the shots between the girls arms when they are standing on either side of the pool table.
One of the biggest pluses of the movie for me, was seeing Anna Deveare Smith, I am in absolute love with her, i miss her on The West Wing.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
#94re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 4:28amI was high on sugar by the time the movie started so I had a very strong reaction to everything. The solo was just so out of blue and stiff in its staging (props to Wayne Wilcox though - great singer and handsome to boot!). I cried. I never felt any anger about the way anything was done during the screening. I love camp just that much. Another Day... aye. Where do I begin? I think I've explained it at least once before here. It almost had me kicking the seat in front of me (when I laugh, my whole body shakes, which is fine since I'm short).
dmb_rent
Leading Actor Joined: 10/26/05
#95re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 5:40am
Evelyn? Please, please...lol "Don't go there" swinging your degree and school at me or anyone on this forum. As I said, I too am a film student, and am as analytical as they come. Your post just kind of rubbed me the wrong way...in a major way...although I'm sure you didn't really mean anything by it. Don't for a minute assume that you know anymore about film than anyone else on here (espcially when you don't know the people you are talking to). Being condescending gets you nowhere. I have in fact agreed with you on some of the things you said about the film. Does it leave much to be desired? I think to a degree it does. But did you chip in the money to produce it? No. So why don't you just leave it at you not liking it and move on. *You* are not the official Rent film critic, and *you* are not the producer. It didn't live up to your expectations. You didn't like the movie. You've said why, with valid points. Now get over it.
Anyway, were you TRULY expecting it to be as good as the stage version? Come on now. I mean really, were you expecting some miraculous film version or what? Because as you may very well know, Rent is a pretty complex story, especially with 8 (and then some) characters. And as you may or may not know, it is pretty uncommon for directors to use an extensive number of main characters in films. Peter Jackson may have pulled it off nicely, since he had what...9 hours to delve into each character on screen. Having that many main characters in a film is rare, and making it work is even more rare.
I think a Spike Lee directed film version of Rent may have been more interesting, better even...but I do believe Chris captured the heart of what Rent is all about, and got that message across on screen. But hey, not everyone is going to love it. Not everyone has to. It doesn't have to be Oscar-worthy to be good. Just try to absorb all of that before jumping back at me with a witty retort.
On the other hand, I always enjoy a good argument, as long as it doesn't get stupid. No hard feelings. I needed to let out a good rant since it's 6am and I can't get to sleep.
"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
Updated On: 11/25/05 at 05:40 AM
#96re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 6:01amI just tell everyone who havent seen it that "either you'll like it or you'll hate it." It seems like the film got mixed reviews. So far it seems to be popular with the younger generation.
"Now I may not have much, but I have more determination than any man you're likely to meet." - Big Fish
"Misdirection. What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes." - Swordfish
"Misdirection. What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes." - Swordfish
#97re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 6:52am
I'm in Italian and in my country the RENT movie is not arrive yet, unfortunatelly...I'm reading the American rewiews and those board opinions...When years ago I've read the name of the director of this movie version I said: "OOOH NOOO!"... I Think that he is a good family movie director but not the right person for RENT...For this movie version I Think to Spike Lee, Baz Luhrmann, Cameron Crowe, Sam Menders...
Is the same thing about the Phantom movie: wrong director!
I hope that I Will love the RENT movie, because this musical is one of my favourites, but I think that Columbus is not the right person for a rock and anticonformist musical as RENT...maybe it'll be the right director for a future movie version of "Mamma Mia!"...
#98re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 7:00amSpike Lee? nah...But Baz Luhrman doing Rent...sounds hot.
"Now I may not have much, but I have more determination than any man you're likely to meet." - Big Fish
"Misdirection. What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes." - Swordfish
"Misdirection. What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes." - Swordfish
Stage Addict
Understudy Joined: 7/16/05
#99re: Who did not like RENT?
Posted: 11/25/05 at 11:08amDid anyone else notice that there were only 5 closeups in the entire movie? FIVE. (I wasnt counting but I went with a friend who used to be a movie critic.) It seemed like Columbus was almost afriad to get near the actors...I don't know mabye it's just me..but the whole film seemed quite detached.
"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."
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