It’s the mid to late 20s calling plus the official end of adolescence even in more comforting countries. For those who avoided or dodged real life responsibilities at a younger age, this is the time of weddings, babies, and setting feeding that root for the greatness of the life you’re developing. For some, this is the life. The wonderful Pleasantville-type black and white that’s beautiful in its simplicity though real estate nor relationship and especially rasing children is simple at all. For others, for those who said their silly dreams of artisan bohemianship were more real than improv, owning is as foreign as Mexico is to Taco Bell. For them, there’s rent. For them, there’s RENT.

The labor of love turned wunderkind Broadway smash turned cultural phenomena was turned into a movie - a “film” for you festival folks. It may be unfair to compare the movie to the musical just like comparing a book written in the 1800s to a movie made now, but it’s the natural logic because it makes sense to. With that said, as a frequent viewer of the actual musical, I was excited to see RENT the movie with apprehension that the flick would basterdize the energy and spirit of the movie. Overall, the movie seemed to do the message and the hope justice with minor setbacks.

Having almost the whole original cast was nice to maintain the integrity of the original experience. The songs were almost all completely represented though chronological order may have been adjusted and some just ommitted due to time constraints. Having Rosario Dawson play Mimi was a visual treat since I did have a crush on the character of Mimi when I was really caught in RENT fever, though her voice couldn’t compare to Daphne Rubin-Vega.

I can see how the movie can make more sense in the somewhat chaotic plot of RENT. Unlike more linear plots in other musicals, RENT is a bit everywhere. The music is a hodgepodge of watered down popular styles of music mixed with musical-style vocals. But more confusing in the theatre was the limitations of having just one stage set. A lot of imagination is required in RENT for spacing and building of environment where setting is spoonfed in Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. The density and wordchoice of the lyrics can be hard to follow also for the first run. In the end, I assume what lasts for people are the great ensemble pieces. In the movie, the settings were not as abstract and maybe the reality in a bit dreamy story may have overshadowed the intended spirit of the musical.

In the movie, AIDS still sat in the front seat with the romantic stories, but maybe the “No Day but Today” mantra was shifted a half-step behind. It’s hard for me to say, because I knew the plot already so the initial impact of the experience was limited. I was just having fun singing. But what may defend my inkling feeling was the limited role of Angel. Was it me, or did it seem like Angel was really a side character to Mark, Roger, and Mimi? I know that Mark and Roger are THE leads for play, but Angel embodied the “no day buy today” attitude and really was the not-so-quiet backbone to the theme. An especially cheesey part of the musical that maybe was just too cheesey to put in the movie was not included, but that scene in particular really honored the Angel character.

Aside from that nitpicking, the only parts of the movie I disliked were some of the music-video-esque scenes. I’m not talking about MTV-like music video, but I’m talking about Karaoke-like music video. Most of the scenes outside of the city, particularly “Alphabet City” seemed awkward, but that may be intentional to show how the characters themselves didn’t belong to that type of culture.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie but not as much as the musical. The musical is like a birthday cake while the movie is a frappuchino. One you can enjoy once a year and like better but the other is more accessible so you go to it by default. If I had the choice, I’d invest a mortgage in the musical and just rent the movie.

- John

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Watching sitcoms weekly has never really been my thing since I was a kid and I was living in that Cheers, Cosby, Growing Pains, Perfect Strangers world.

Now, I get my fill of sitcoms through DVD or syndication. Friends? Syndication and DVD. Scrubs? DVD. Arrested Development? DVD.

The best shows I never would've watched without syndication have been Spin City and Yes, Dear. Both convenientally following Friends at the 10:30 spot on KICU. Spin City had great wit and a great cast.

Yes, Dear I've got to honestly say is still a bit suspect though it is definitely worth a viewing. The reason why I put it in couch potato heaven are two reasons: 1) they guest starred Kevin Smith and had a worthless cameo of Silent Bob. AND 2) I just saw the ending of one episode that had an homage to Usual Suspects.

Just by that, I know I could get a beer with the writers and not miss a Barrelman beat.

- John

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