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tdog

RENT, the movie

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I was in college when RENT, the musical, first came out. I can't believe it has already been 9 years since I graduated...

Being a theatre major, my peers and I really studied the "RENT Phenomenon" that in many ways revitalized theatre.

RENT brought teens and 20 somethings, in their torn blue jeans, to the theatre houses that normally saw 50 something patrons in suits and ties.

My RENT soundtrack CDs collected dust for the last few years, I don't think I played them for at least two, maybe three years.

Today I saw the movie... Wow... Kind of nostalgic in a way, but at the same time, I think it will again revitalize the "next" young generation...

If you have not seen the musical, you will enjoy the movie. If you enjoy the movie, you will enjoy the musical. Well done... I was worried the script would not translate to the screen, but it did...

For those of you who do not know, Johnathan Larson, the guy who wrote the musical, died from AIDS just before opening night of the show...

Anyway - go see it, I think it was well done.

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My daughter wants to see it today too. We haven't seen the play. I'm glad you wrote this though because my newspaper said the movie was better for a DVD rental.
She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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Saw it opening night last night. LOVED it. Though, I caught my boy-toy snoring during the first 30 minutes:P He's not much of a musical guy, but he's forced into it since growing up my favorite movies were Sound of Music, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, etc.;)

I've seen a number of broadway plays/musicals, but never saw RENT. So, I HAD to see the movie. Now, I want to see the play even more.;)

And, I have to add that Rosario Dawson is absolutely gorgeous & wonderful in this movie!:P
Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

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i can't wait to see it... i saw it on broadway twice.. i actually got to see it with wilson cruz (the guy that played enrique on my so called life) starring as angel and he ROCKED.... anyway im a little hesitant about rosario dawson but glad to hear she did a good job... can't wait :)
"life does throw curveballs sometimes but it doesn't mean we shouldn't still swing for the homerun" ~ me

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On the Today show (I watch it religiously and wait all year for "Where in the World is Matt Lauer":P) they had a segment not long ago called "Girl Crushes" where women have a non-sexual, strong admiration for another woman.

After seeing RENT the movie, I think I have a girl crush on Rosario Dawson:$:P Hot!
Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

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My daughter wants to see it today too. We haven't seen the play. I'm glad you wrote this though because my newspaper said the movie was better for a DVD rental.



That is an interesting opinion.... I "slept on it" and woke up this morning equally pleased with the show... I remember thinking one part was boring, and I thought, "this was boring in the staged version too." That particular section I just don't like the music as much.... So, that is how well it translated to the screen...

I do have to say, if you go in expecting (and requiring to like it) the same minimalistic show (harsh lighting angles in color correction blue, very little set) as the staged version, you are going to be real upset... The movie has a lot more rich colors in lighting and much more dynamic set (uh - New York City), and in the protest scene, they go all out with making the set that much more absurd... But the additions to the protest made me and the other 900 people laugh HARDER than the staged version, so I actually feel some parts were done better, or worked better on the screen...

But Mark wears his trademark costumes from the staged version, so some things are a direct link...

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My sister and I saw Rent, the movie last night (we've never seen the theater show). We turned to each other about 30 seconds after the first song ended and said this is bad (as in not good as a movie). I'm sure that it has got to be much better in the theater. I was counting the minutes until it was over. I thought that the cast was very good and the music was fantastic, but they should never turn plays into movies. There's something about it that just doesn't work for me.

My sister thinks that it is because I couldn't/didn't accpet it as a "musical" rather than a movie with singing. She liked it. I was bored, and yes, I have seen other musicals in theater (not movies) and liked them.

But, hey, to each their own.

kristen
swooo #3 MB #3587 P.M.S. #66
"so let go, jump in...what're you waiting for? it's all right 'cause there's beauty in the breakdown"

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For those of you who do not know, Johnathan Larson, the guy who wrote the musical, died from AIDS just before opening night of the show...



interesting...you say you have studied the RENT phenomenon yet you obviously have not done much research. Johnathon did NOT die of AIDS. He did not even have HIV, he was straight also, just to dispell any other misinformation you may have. He did have many friends with the syndrome though, hence the reason behind the musical, besides his obvious love of La vie Bohemme.

He died of an undiagnosed disecting arotic anneurism. After complaining of abdominal pain over the previous days he went to two different ER's only to be told he had nothing wrong.

So Mr. theatre major...go back to school and learn to check your facts.


Oh and just for the record....The movie is great. I was SOOOO paranoid they were going to ruin the musicals message. yet it played well. At least for me. Also who'd of thought the guy that did "Home Alone" would be good at doing a musical. Chris Columbus did a great job directing.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

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I had not seen the musical but saw the movie last weekend. Less than five minutes in to the movie I said to myself "This is La Boheme".. freezing on Christmas eve, burning screen plays to keep warm, Mimi.. and then I read in the paper that it was actually scripted as a modern day version of Puccini's "La Boheme". duh. :D

Can't say I loved all of the music, but overall it was very well done. I like it better now that I could absorb all of the characters and their stories. More than I liked it while I was watching it. Actually made me want to see "La Boheme" again.. I'm kind of an opera buff. :D

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So Mr. theatre major...go back to school and learn to check your facts.



You are right, I am wrong... I got my facts screwed up... It has been 10 years after all... I knew the death was untimely and I remembered wrong about it's origins... I thought it was AIDS that caused the sudden change in his body... But I got it mixed up with someone else I guess...

God, but I have not been beat up this badly on a forum for a long, long, time for saying something wrong...:$

What really got me about your post was that you assumed I implied that Mr. Larson was gay because he had aids...

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He did not even have HIV, he was straight also, just to dispell any other misinformation you may have.



To dispel (check your spelling, you might have to go back to school on that one:$) any misinformation you have, I have many gay friends, people I know and respect, and it seems that they are not the ones with AIDS, so I never even assumed Jonathan was gay or straight, and quite frankly I really don't mind either way because he was clearly a great guy.:S

So again, I apologize to the universe and dropzone.com community for being wrong... I WAS.

So, lets call it even. I got the fact around Mr. Larson's death wrong. You misspelled Dispel. No one is perfect. :P

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Yea I enjoyed the movie too. BUT! I saw the musical first and feel the musical was better. They talked too much in the movie. A lot of the talking should have been sung like on stage.

Things like the answering machine messages were funny on stage but lame in the movie. They left out the homeless people’s songs which were funny. Marieen was also disappointing. She has very weak lung capacity. She did not do a good job in the protest scene. Listen to the original cast cd, you can totally tell the difference.

There were other stuff that was disappointing and other stuff that I liked better in the movie that the play but I think it was overall a movie well made.

Coco


P.S I heard something about some of the characters being original Broadway cast members. Who was and who wasn't..... I haven’t had time to do the research.

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P.S I heard something about some of the characters being original Broadway cast members. Who was and who wasn't..... I haven’t had time to do the research.



From http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=14339

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Columbus didn’t hire all eight of the original cast members. He left two actors, Daphne Rubin Vega and Freddie Walker, off his list and replaced their characters, Mimi and Joanne, with, respectively, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms. “They [Walker and Rubin Vega] were devastated by the choice, but there was nothing we could do,” Martin says. “When I was cast in the film and I found out there were two that weren’t, I felt I needed to call them and sort of get their blessing, so to speak. Which I did, and I did get their blessing. But it wasn’t an easy phone call to make.”

Dawson and original cast member Diggs are the closest thing to movie stars in the film version. Dawson got her start in the 1995 film Kids, a movie about teenagers at risk of being HIV-positive. More recently, she has costarred in high-profile films like Alexander and Sin City. When Columbus was looking for a known actor who could sing and dance, Dawson was on his audition list. She says that she could relate to the material.

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For those of you who do not know, Johnathan Larson, the guy who wrote the musical, died from AIDS just before opening night of the show...



interesting...you say you have studied the RENT phenomenon yet you obviously have not done much research. Johnathon did NOT die of AIDS. He did not even have HIV, he was straight also, just to dispell any other misinformation you may have. He did have many friends with the syndrome though, hence the reason behind the musical, besides his obvious love of La vie Bohemme.

He died of an undiagnosed disecting arotic anneurism. After complaining of abdominal pain over the previous days he went to two different ER's only to be told he had nothing wrong.

So Mr. theatre major...go back to school and learn to check your facts.



Wow, you are really angry for no reason.
Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

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Not angry, just passionate. Rent is something Skymedic knows a lot about because he loves it. He gets a little fired up when people make erroneous statements as if they are fact.



A simple correction would do I think. I still stay he was angry. And it amuses me. :ph34r:
Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

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