I saw a movie today. For those of you who don't know me, going to the movies is a big thing. This movie is huge for me.

Anyway, this is my new favorite musical and one of my new facorite movies. Holy crap. That's really all I've got to say. The music was beautiful, the story and characters were compelling, and for the first time in a while, I soberly felt an emotional catharsis so heavy that I almost cried in the middle.

La vie Boheme, baby!

Anyway, what'd you think of it? I've not seen the play, but I've heard a lot of the soundtrack, and I know there were some departures from the play, but what did you think in comparison?

This is on my very short list of musicals that I actually believe will be good but by some quirk of fate I have never quite managed to see in any form. With luck, I'll be seeing Rent over Christmas break with either my dad or one of my aunts. Alas, none of my friends are too good at the whole driving thing yet.

I got dragged to it with my sisters the day after Thanksgiving, and surprisingly I ended up enjoying myself.

It was pretty good...and I don't generally like musicals. A bit cheesey in places, but what musical isn't?

My only real problem was at times it just seemed a bit too aware of the message it was trying to get across, if that makes sense? Sort of like they were shoving the moral down your throat...just to make sure you got it. It gave it sort of an after-school special feel at a couple of points, which I think distracted from the story rather than enhanced it.

One of the things that seemed the most genuine and not quite so contrived for me was the relationship between Angel and Collins. Who knew the Law & Order guy could sing? Well, obviously a lot of people since he was part of the original cast, but I didn't know. >_>

I've never seen the musical. I like that they had 6/8 members of the original cast rather than casting a bunch of people who are popular right now, though. My sister saw the musical in New York last year, and she said the musical was better...but she still enjoyed the movie quite a lot. And, like I said before, aside from the occasional "The More You Know" moment, I enjoyed it too.

Mooooo with me!

I saw it last weekend, and liked it quite a bit. I was cringing over the director choice, but overall it was a very good movie. Well done Chris Columbus--particularly with casting. The original Mimi was pretty annoying, and Rosario Dawson more than filled her shoes. Same to...ehm, what'shername, who has a TREMENDOUS singing voice as Joann. And it's great to see that they all still sing well. The reprise of "I'll Cover You" needs to stop making me want to cry and then stop because the lady next to me is weeping and blowing her nose into her nachos and she looks gross. But it was close there, for a minute.

As far as Rent in general? I think I got very lucky--I started liking it some time ago and got to see it when I was 11, which was thoroughly amazing. A year after, through a friend's father's Law & Order job, I got to meet Jesse L. Martin--and he sang for us! He's a super nice gentleman and I'm still thrilled I got to hang with him for a bit. So, yeah, I'm a bit of a rent-person, I suppose (I might get to see it again soon, with a bundle of friends and a train ride). Anyone else?

Oh yeah...me too. Well, the reprise of "I'll Cover You" making me want to cry, I mean. There was no lady next to me weeping into her nachos. Although there was one older couple who brought a baby (!!) and a 4 year old. Who the crap takes BABIES to see a movie about AIDS and drugs and stuff? They aren't going to get it...they're just going to sit there periodically crying and drooling and annoying people. Bah.

Anyway, I was brave and managed to be an un-soppy Cand...though it was dangerously close during that.

I forgot to mention that I absolutely abhorred the ending. Is that how it ended in the play?

Anyway, elphaba, where do you live? I live in Northern New Jersey with a few other Matazonians... do I smell Matameet and Rent?

I SMELL IT! My dad owes me a trip to NY *smells it*
I havent seen it yet but me and my friend have somewhat plans to go see it Friday. My mum saw it in NY before and loved it. Brought me back a shirt....

Afraid so, according to my sister. Lame. Very lame. Worst part of the movie, and the main thing I was thinking of when I mentioned that after-school specialness.

It totally took away any lingering sniffles I had after the "I'll Cover You" reprise, and felt like it just cheapened the whole thing.

On a related topic, I watched 'Gigi' last weekend, after five years of telling Sues that I would eventually get around to it. I knew how much she loved the film so I really didn't want to see it because:

1 I generally get no pleasure at all from musicals, they leave me emotionally cold

2 if I see a film that I don't like I have difficulty not picking it apart, which I really didn't want to do with her favourite film.

Well, the best thing I can say for it was that the song 'I remember it well' was good, and at least there weren't any big dance numbers, but otherwise I thought the plot was incredibly sub-standard, the acting abysmal, the vocal performances weren't even particularly strong, and even the colour wasn't technicolour, which removes one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching old films. Despite this, I think I've done a pretty good job of not ripping it to pieces in front of Sues.

I just find with musicals that as soon as people open their mouths to sing I completely lose interest in them. In Gigi, for example, an old man sings a song for a few minutes about being glad he's not young when he could perfectly well have said 'I'm glad I'm not young anymore!' and avoided the whole song without any loss to the plot.

For me I think it comes down to the suspension of disbelief: I can only care about a character if I can relate the emotions that they are feeling to real ones, but I have never expressed my feelings by bursting into a song about my life, and I suspect I never will, so I get pushed away emotionally every time musicals get to an important moment, which is a teensy bit of a problem when it comes to enjoying them.

I can still appreciate a musical for its craft, but that's just intellectual, I generally get no real simple enjoyment from them.

I'm kind of split between liking and disliking musicals. I use to not like them because whenever I heard music my ears automatically turned off the lyrics. It was just sound to me, nothing that acctually ment anything. But recently I've been able to acctually hear the lyrics and understand what people are saying....

Also, I use to also not like musicals because, like Mata said, I just dont feel like breaking out into song about my life. Ever. So I'd watch these things thinking "They're singing.... why? This is emotional for them?" I always thought it was sort of overdone and well.... silly.

Especially Greese

BUT! Recently I've been listening to alot more music and have been able to enjoy musicals alot more, for the content and entertainment....
And my train of thought left me hanging RIGHT there

I'm about an hour from the city by train--and yeah, a Rentameet would be amazing. Feel free to convince my mother.

Didn't want to quote the whole thing, but I have to say that I agree with you. "I Remember it Well" was funny, but you know a musical has tanked when the best song isn't even by the main character(s.) I didn't like that movie at all becuase the plot made barely any sense at all and the characters seemed completely fake. "We've been friends forever and you look twelve in the dorky dress, but suddenly I love you and you look smexy in a ball gown. See me have mood swings about the new way you look!" Bah on overly cheerful musicals.
The only musical I really like is Chicago (most likely because it's more mature and the music isn't all birds and sunshine, but I expect that I'll like Spamalot when it finally tours in my area. Anything based on Monty Python has to have some redeeming qualities, and I loved the songs in the movie. I believe I'll like Rent as well, given all the good things I've heard about it. Musicals aimed for teenagers and adults are better than the scarily happy little-kid ones.

i saw rent on broadway and i hated it.

Any particular reason that you didn't like it, craziness? Was it the cheesiness, or did you just not like the subject matter?

well for one thing, all of my friends were obsessed with it and kept telling me how great it was, so i was really looking forward to it.
when i finally saw it, it was a huge let down to me how ...not good it was. i didnt find the story line THAT interesting, and i dont like how it makes the girl who was on drugs and was a prostitute seem like a normal every day person. i kind of think it glamourizes bad things in a way. they were essentially kids who had grown up near where i did and similarly to the way i did and ended up as starving artists. i didnt like it at all.

Erm...*spoiler warning*

How did it glamorize it when it showed her nearly dying and losing the guy she actually loved cause she wouldn't stop doing all that bad crap? I didn't like Mimi. I thought she was a selfish little brat who should've died in the end instead of it being incredibly CHEESY instead (or better yet, omit her completely)...but I don't think they glamorized her.

Nor did they say that any of them grew up in NYC, actually. There's actually a point in one of Mimi's songs where she says that city feels too much like home when the Spanish babies cry. Which would mean...she grew up somewhere else. And the thought of starving artists moving to NYC...hardly unbelievable. Anyway....it has numerous flaws. I just don't think that they are the ones you mentioned, personally.

I think there are a lot of things that could've been changed to make it a lot more gripping and less cheesy. Not necessarily the whole musical thing...that was okay. But a lot of Mimi's scenes, particularly those with Roger, just made me want to slap them both. They were my least favorite two characters....and that's even below Maureen, who was another pain.

im not from the city, im from the suburbs surrounding, where i know at least one or 2 of them were supposed to be from. no one agrees with me that it glamourizes her but i still think it does

Really? I know a pair of Marks and at least one Angel. There are people just like that everywhere, and I'm languishing in the 'burbs too, craziness. Mark's from Scarsdale--the formerly idealistic Jewish kid who falls in love with the glamorous bohemian life and jumps into it full-throttle--you don't see him all the time?

Huh. Maybe you're a different part of Suburbia.

And they chose to be starving artists--that was the whole idea behind bohemianism. Benny kept giving them the option of "selling out" and becoming successful people who could afford an apartment, but they opted towards telling the tale of the poor man so everyone else would know. I agree with candice that Maureen was annoying, but RL people like her are usually pretty nuts to talk to. Standing up for the rights of the homeless using performance art--it's fun stuff.

Oh, and I agree that it makes bohemianism sound pretty fun. OK, so you're a little cold every now and then, but you make fun drag queen friends! Yay!

Except that Greenwich Village is now practically picturesque and the artists are clinging to their culture in Brooklyn, or in the poorer suburbs. Alas!

yea, i live about a half hour from scarsdale
towns famous for being chock full of snobs lol

but mine is kind of different than a lot of the surrounding ones. its not too bad. i kind of like it, because we have a decent amount of diversity.