Rent - the movie

ylmun

Ok,

Since we had a Little Shop of Horrors thread, there must be some musical theater geeks in this group.

I just spent the weekend watching a, um...rented copy of Rent, the movie. I had seen the Broadway musical and loved it, but it was so long ago, I didn't remember how much I liked it. I was wary of the movie version because I remember these awful reviews from different newspapers and how they were saying the cast looks so old that they "destroy the illusion of struggling artists and just make you wonder why don't they just get jobs." Also, Chris Columbus directed it....need I say more about why I was apprehensive?

After just one viewing of the movie, though, I was reminded how much I LOVED it and how! I kept replaying some of the songs over and over again (La Vie Boheme, anyone?). Also, Rosario Dawson is HOT HOT HOT!!! She looks like my ex-girlfriend (yeah...in my DREAMS!)

I plan to buy a copy now, which is saying a lot because I won't even shell out money to buy new clothes or renew my prescriptions for ADD.

Anyone want to start a "Chicago" thread?

"Forget Regret
Or Life is yours to miss"

HDirtwater

The musical was ok (Broadway musicals are almost extinct now though), but the movie was the biggest POS I have seen in a long time. Movie musicals are almost never any good (Chicago being a lonely exception), and Rent is a classic example of why Hollywood should put a stop to making movies of musicals...period.

People go to see a musical for the thrill of watching live theatre, and to see talented actors/singers. Movie musicals are not live, and the music is dubbed and lip sync'd. Take Evita for an example. Madonna was good, and she even learned how to sing for real for that movie, but Antonio Banderas was awful. They could have at least used someone else's voice since they were lip sync-ing anyways...

ylmun

HDirtwater

I actually have not seen any of the productions here. Lion King is coming as well as Movin' Out, and I'll probably see the Billy Joel one when it gets here since I didn't get to see it in NY.

I lived in New Jersey (about 20 miles from Manhattan) for 20 years, and saw some great shows (Annie, Chorus Line, 42nd Street) and also saw some bad ones (Les Mis, Phantom, Cats). I generally don't care for musicals at all, and especially don't like movie versions of them. I miss Broadway, but based on what I've seen from there lately, maybe I don't miss it so much.