525,600 minutes of HELL
So Les and I saw Rent.
Oh. My. God.
It was TERRIBLE.
I have seen the stage play, and it was AMAZING. I LOVED it. However, the story did not translate well to the big screen. I think this is for a couple of very important reasons.
First, the cast (with the exception of two characters) was the original Broadway cast. Now, I am not knocking musical theatre actors, but in musical theatre you have to act big and over the top so that emotions and nuances are visable to everyone in the theatre. In movies, however, you have the blessing of tight camera shots and sound mixing, thus it is vital that an actor is subtle. Maybe Chris Columbus didn't remind the cast of this? Much of the acting came off as VEEERRRY cheesy and forced. Laughable, really. There were times in the move, such as when Mimi "dies" that the audience should have been emotive and perhaps even crying. Instead I was laughing. Hysterically. Maybe Columbus wanted to the musical to be uncompromising in its fidelity to the Broadway production, and thus he didn't want subtle performances. But a season director like himself should have realized that keeping the performances as big as they were would only lead to full-on cheese.
Then again, we are talking about the guy who did Harry Potter and Home Alone -- the King of Cheese.
Second, the move was entirely too long. Without an intermission, the story loses its momentem halfway through. Everything was going realitvely well up until Angel's death. (which, by the way, was genuinely moving because he got the idea of film acting) Then the audience is forced to watch a cheesy Neil Diamond-esque musical montage of Roger making his way to Santa Fe, complete with rock solos of him standing on a cliff looking like a fucking 80's cheestastic music video. And Mimi's "death" -- oh, don't even get me started. HORRIBLE!
You know, critics everywhere say that a musical turned movie is risky business because it is so tough to convey geunine feelings without looking forced. However, I saw the trailer for "The Producers" and it looks fantastic. We shall see.
* * *
To days of inspiration
Playing hookie, making something out of nothing
The need to express
To communicate,
To going against the grain,
Going insane
Going mad
To loving tension, no pension
To more than one dimension,
To starving for attention,
Hating convention, hating pretension
Not to mention of course,
Hating dear old mom and dad
To riding your bike,
Midday past the three- piece suits
To fruits to no absolutes
To Absolut
To choice
To the Village Voice
To any passing fad
To being an "us" for once, instead of a "them" -
La vie Boheme
To hand-crafted beers made in local breweries
To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese
To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo
To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou
Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion
Creation, vacation
Mucho masturbation
Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new
To Sontag
To Sondheim
To anything taboo
Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham and Cage
Lenny Bruce
Langston Hughes
To the stage
To Uta
To Buddha
Pablo Neruda, too
Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow
To blow off Auntie Em
La vie Boheme
Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens,
Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men, Pee Wee Herman
German wine, turpentine, Gertrude Stein
Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa
Carmina Burana
To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy
Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC,
To no shame - never playing the Fame Game
To marijuana
To sodomy,
It's between God and me
To S & M
La vie Boheme
Oh. My. God.
It was TERRIBLE.
I have seen the stage play, and it was AMAZING. I LOVED it. However, the story did not translate well to the big screen. I think this is for a couple of very important reasons.
First, the cast (with the exception of two characters) was the original Broadway cast. Now, I am not knocking musical theatre actors, but in musical theatre you have to act big and over the top so that emotions and nuances are visable to everyone in the theatre. In movies, however, you have the blessing of tight camera shots and sound mixing, thus it is vital that an actor is subtle. Maybe Chris Columbus didn't remind the cast of this? Much of the acting came off as VEEERRRY cheesy and forced. Laughable, really. There were times in the move, such as when Mimi "dies" that the audience should have been emotive and perhaps even crying. Instead I was laughing. Hysterically. Maybe Columbus wanted to the musical to be uncompromising in its fidelity to the Broadway production, and thus he didn't want subtle performances. But a season director like himself should have realized that keeping the performances as big as they were would only lead to full-on cheese.
Then again, we are talking about the guy who did Harry Potter and Home Alone -- the King of Cheese.
Second, the move was entirely too long. Without an intermission, the story loses its momentem halfway through. Everything was going realitvely well up until Angel's death. (which, by the way, was genuinely moving because he got the idea of film acting) Then the audience is forced to watch a cheesy Neil Diamond-esque musical montage of Roger making his way to Santa Fe, complete with rock solos of him standing on a cliff looking like a fucking 80's cheestastic music video. And Mimi's "death" -- oh, don't even get me started. HORRIBLE!
You know, critics everywhere say that a musical turned movie is risky business because it is so tough to convey geunine feelings without looking forced. However, I saw the trailer for "The Producers" and it looks fantastic. We shall see.
* * *
To days of inspiration
Playing hookie, making something out of nothing
The need to express
To communicate,
To going against the grain,
Going insane
Going mad
To loving tension, no pension
To more than one dimension,
To starving for attention,
Hating convention, hating pretension
Not to mention of course,
Hating dear old mom and dad
To riding your bike,
Midday past the three- piece suits
To fruits to no absolutes
To Absolut
To choice
To the Village Voice
To any passing fad
To being an "us" for once, instead of a "them" -
La vie Boheme
To hand-crafted beers made in local breweries
To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese
To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo
To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou
Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion
Creation, vacation
Mucho masturbation
Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new
To Sontag
To Sondheim
To anything taboo
Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham and Cage
Lenny Bruce
Langston Hughes
To the stage
To Uta
To Buddha
Pablo Neruda, too
Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow
To blow off Auntie Em
La vie Boheme
Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens,
Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men, Pee Wee Herman
German wine, turpentine, Gertrude Stein
Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa
Carmina Burana
To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy
Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC,
To no shame - never playing the Fame Game
To marijuana
To sodomy,
It's between God and me
To S & M
La vie Boheme