RENT

So, the movie Team America was right. Everyone has AIDS. AIDS AIDS AIDS. Aside from the fact that the audio in the theater I was in was horribble, and the ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement) was bad, meaning all the actors were singing as though this was a foreign film that had been dubbed into english, and there was almost no one in the theater, the movie wasn't half-bad.

Caught you by surprise there, huh, after all that whining? Hehe, yeah I did. Go on. Go on, admit it! Oh, I kid.

I've never seen the musical RENT, and while I would very much like to, I can't imagine it being better than the movie. The experience, probably exceptionally better. I mean, you're talking about REAL people on a REAL stage, slinging REAL sweat all over you. It's as close to a strip club as you can get without being morally remiss. But the movie was probably the best at telling the story, and I think a stage production would come across as a little bit more of a call-to-arms for people to stand up and fight for gay rights and a cure for AIDS.

It seems like that could quickly become how you feel when you're looking at real people on stage, seemingly making a real plea to you for support. On the screen though, the slice-of-life, "here's what life is like for some people, take it for what you will" attitude comes out a lot more.

Oh my god the climactic, huge finale almost made me fall asleep. Things like that are better left for the stage.

I enjoyed this as an exposure to RENT. I even loved the story, the characters, and the actors were all fantastic. The songs were ok, but I've heard better musicals. I found it very easy for me to relate to, which, without having AIDS or a boyfriend, is a special thing.

Also funny to note, the guy who directed/produced Harry Potter 1, and 2, Chris Columbus, directed/produced this. Luckily, they performed much better at the box office than RENT did.