Julia Ormond Books

I don't have much to say about Rent except for that it was well directed and has a great story line. It's definitely not a "for everyone" movie, but for the right person it definitely tugs at the heart strings. I cannot count the number of times I have watched it and/or listened to the soundtrack. The movie was very well cast and the addition of Rosario Dawson & Traci Tomms as JoAnne and Mimi were exquisite - I actually prefer them over the originals.

I have never seen the play, i wasn't all that interested in Rent as a whole until i actually saw it. I fell in love with this instantly and wouldn't mind seeing the play sometime now. Just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover.

Rent is the most amazing and touching movie I have ever seen in my entire life! The songs, the characters and the story are all completely real. The songs are catchy, the characters are colorful, and the story is beautiful. This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen and it is AMAZING!

The musical RENT is a film adaptation of a Broadway play. I've recently seen a pretty dang good Chicago production of it. It's got no shortage of heart, lots of energy, and lots of laughs and tears. It's also got some weaknesses that are precariously close to being its death blow. Its flaws don't kill it, but they come close.

The performances are absolutely amazing. I don't have a single critical thing to say about any of the actors.

Musically, I know this music has made the global rounds and it's huge. I don't think there's anything bad to say about the musical score either.

But looking critically at RENT, both as a story and as a film, reveals glaring flaws that keep me personally from falling head-over-heels in love with it and becoming a full-fledged RENT-head. This story has some problems that are both unfortunate and major, paradoxically leaving me with a sense of disingenuousness. Which doesn't make sense considering its origin, where it came from, Larson. I shouldn't be able to call 'BS' on RENT and be justified, and yet I can.

RENT assumes rather than earns its authenticity.

RENT has an unflinching, unapologetic self-centeredness that both serves it and cripples it. It has devoted so much focus and effort into being Gen-X'y, bohemian, and anti-establishment, that it has overlooked having a genuine identity of its own. Its uniqueness is stereotypical. It's confined to its freedom. Its portrayal of village artists and photographers is obvious, clunky, one-dimensional, cliché. The film is far too self-congratulatory to even consider noticing this.

RENT is trying (plaintively?) to make its characters' last year on Earth a celebration, but the thing is, I feel like a terrible situation of tremendous gravity, urgency, and despair has been turned into something of a 3-ring circus. On some level I feel like I have to question how seriously this was meant to be taken. Only its origin saves it from being creatively bankrupt. The exact same story coming from any Hollywood writer would rightfully get burned at the stake. Ultimately, these decisions ARE Larson's prerogative. I guess that being homeless and your imminent AIDS-related death doesn't automatically require an uptight documentary-style treatment.

RENT's excessive prettiness is also a big detriment to the film's authenticity, honestly. These people are awfully beautiful to be homeless AIDS victims. These are all designer characters. Their appearance is a deliberate, calculated, manicured image designed to make the idea more digestible. I rather suspect some watch this so they can feel like they've adopted some of the suffering of an underprivileged group of people. Do those individuals spend any actual time with the homeless? Who's to say. This mentality has infected other visual aspects of the film, too. Everything is so manicured and staged it becomes false. Everything is designer and Hollywood and perfect, including--nay, ESPECIALLY the abandoned buildings and alleys. The cinematography is a technical masterpiece and everything happens much too perfectly for me to believe in the world of RENT. It's not to be unexpected in a musical, but the nature of the subject matter changes the game quite a bit. Would I apply that equally to all films everywhere? Unfortunately, we're in the territory of art criticism here and it's subjective--and context matters, so no. For instance, Chicago has all the exact same traits, but they work for the film it instead of against it. And, say, a maverick cop out to kick some butt lacking authenticity is an entirely different ball game than being fake about THIS.

The entire scene with Sarah Silverman is the epitome of what I'm talking about. It fails to be the stark contrast with the rest of the film that it's trying to be. Furthermore, the entire subplot is an absurd non sequitur, but that's beside the point. It's trying to contrast how perfectly neat and tidy this corporate world is with how free and loose the world of the rest of the film is, but the entire film is actually neat and tidy--the spontaneity and freedom are artificial. I don't buy it.

But thanks to the performances, damn, RENT sure does have a fire in its britches.

In a way, it is simultaneously justified and questionable to call this film fakey, as it is just Jonathon Larson's feelings on the subject rendered in musical form. It really has an energy to it, no denying that. It really challenges you to drop your hangups and relax and enjoy the ride.

I'm not a RENT-head, nor do I hate it. I don't think it's mediocre, canned, or kitsch. I don't think it's amazing or enlightening. Calling it pretentious isn't exactly fair, though there is a pretentiousness to it. I do, however, feel confident in saying both that it has flaws and has something to it.

So, how you feel about RENT will always come down to how deeply you connect to the characters and how much you're feeling the music. Is it an electrifying, heartbreaking celebration of life and love, or is it a mockery? Both cases could be made. My bottom line opinion: RENT is successful in spite of itself. The actors work harder than they should have to to sell a story that's working against them, confined by excessively stiff character molds--and they are so good, they pull it off. What's strong is incredibly strong. But to pretend its flaws didn't exist would be, for me, an intellectual suicide.

The musical "Rent" was a phenomenon in the '90s. It served as an interesting period piece- all about the '80s and the destructive rise of AIDS. Its creator's premature death added luster to the updating of "La Boheme." The movie version of "Rent" is fascinating, considering it was directed by Chris Columbus of Home Alone&Harry Potter fame. Columbus sanitizes the drug use&promiscuity issues,making them sugar-coated and almost family-friendly. Columbus also renders such controversial issues as homosexuality normal,daring in a mainstream film.

"Rent" opens simply. On a bare stage,the cast sings the powerful "Seasons of Love." There are three parallel stories going on,making it more layered than the original La Boheme. Taye Diggs stars as an evil developer who wants to destroy an artists' collective to make way for corporate power. Maureen (Idina Menzel) is a performance artist,in a conflicted relationship with her girlfriend (Tracie Thoms) Jesse L. Martin stars as a gay philosopher whose life is saved by a drag queen named Angel. Adam Pascal stars as an aspiring songwriter,Roger,who encounters a stripper named Mimi (Rosario Dawson) Anthony Rapp stars as an aspiring filmmaker capturing the drama of life- from Maureen's protest to the support groups for those suffering from AIDS. There are musical highlights along the way,such as the hilarious "Tango Maureen",the hedonistic "La Vie Boheme" and the joyous ode to the Southwest,"Santa Fe." One of the best scenes is when Pascal is briefly in Santa Fe,among the canyons&before the St. Francis Cathedral (it is spectacular)

The story is complicated. Roger&Mimi deal with her heroin addiction,they break up&later reconcile. Maureen&her girlfriend have a lavish engagement,a falling-out,but they soon reconcile. The only couple that doesn't split is the professor&Angel. However,Angel dies from AIDS (while Mimi is miraculously healed of it) It's the gay couple that lasts--again,daring for a mainstream film. Homosexuality is presented in a normal way; Angel's gender ambiguity is treated as a fact of life,being called both "he"&"she" at his funeral.

"Rent" has catchy songs,spectacular production&a strong cast. Underneath its flashy&romantic facade,it's a thought-provoking musical. Rent is worth paying!

**Spoilers**

Ugh! Husband found this in the bargain bin at the supermarket and said,
"Oh! This is such a great movie!" He's pretty picky about movies, not
liking chick flicks and those of that ilk. So I thought, "Hey! Why not
watch it!" What tragedy. Some reviewers here complain that it's
unrealistic. No, it's realistic alright. The classic "Nice Guys Don't
Get Laid" by Marcus P. Meleton. The bad guy, the one who steals other
men's women, gets the slut who sleeps with every single brother, and
has the nerve to tell her future husband, "It was Samuel I loved."
Yeah, right.

And then, the prodigal son goes on to become a bootlegger, and I guess
most Brad Pitt fans and anti-establishment people are supposed to feel
sorry for him, because he put his wife and kids in jeopardy with his
illegal activities. This kind of selfishness happens in real life all
the time.

The oldest son, who truly cares about helping his community grow, and
who loves a woman so much, he's willing to take secondhand, nay
*third*hand goods, ends up marrying a woman who is such a weenie that
she'd kill herself for a man who doesn't even love her, in some kind of
pitiful Sylvia Plath-like angst.

Augh! All too realistic and demonstrative of the melodrama of people
with certain psychiatric disorders.

3 stars out of 5, rather than zero, because although it was irritating as
heck, it is a true tragedy that I see time and time again in real life.

If you don't like this movie, it probably means you think too much. Get your head out of those books, geek!

This movie was actually quite a suprise I dodged watching it for years untill just a few years ago. Maxim machine guns, WW1 , and the American Frontier pretty good stuff. Little Luvy Duby at points but the Helmets The Germans wore during the war make up for all that.

I hated the plot of this movie. I started watching it and almost immediately hated it. I wanted to see how it ended so I forwarded through to different chapters which only made me hate it more. I watched the end and screamed at the movie (which I never do) took the CD and broke it and threw the cover away. Yuck.

Featuring incredible acting, Legends of the Fall is probably the most depressing film I've ever seen. Now, I personally think there is a difference between a sad movie, and a depressing one. A sad film usually features a sad ending, a character getting killed in the end, etc. A depressing movie, really gets you from the beginning and at every turn, there is something else to feel morose about. This is that type of film. Its long and spans a good length of time, but its a great journey. Like I mentioned, the acting is wonderful, from every single person. Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormand, Anthony Quinn, all fabulous in this. Each character gets their own story and each one just seems melancholy. The cinematography is gorgeous and the musical score is one of my favorites. It just adds to the already depressing mood. If you are in a good mood, watch this film and see how it affects you. I almost gave it 4 stars instead of 5, because its not really a perfect movie and a tad too long, but it achieves what it sets out to do so that is good enough for me, for this movie anyway.

**Spoilers**

Ugh! Husband found this in the bargain bin at the supermarket and said,
"Oh! This is such a great movie!" He's pretty picky about movies, not
liking chick flicks and those of that ilk. So I thought, "Hey! Why not
watch it!" What tragedy. Some reviewers here complain that it's
unrealistic. No, it's realistic alright. The classic "Nice Guys Don't
Get Laid" by Marcus P. Meleton. The bad guy, the one who steals other
men's women, gets the slut who sleeps with every single brother, and
has the nerve to tell her future husband, "It was Samuel I loved."
Yeah, right.

And then, the prodigal son goes on to become a bootlegger, and I guess
most Brad Pitt fans and anti-establishment people are supposed to feel
sorry for him, because he put his wife and kids in jeopardy with his
illegal activities. This kind of selfishness happens in real life all
the time.

The oldest son, who truly cares about helping his community grow, and
who loves a woman so much, he's willing to take secondhand, nay
*third*hand goods, ends up marrying a woman who is such a weenie that
she'd kill herself for a man who doesn't even love her, in some kind of
pitiful Sylvia Plath-like angst.

Augh! All too realistic and demonstrative of the melodrama of people
with certain psychiatric disorders.

3 stars out of 5, rather than zero, because although it was irritating as
heck, it is a true tragedy that I see time and time again in real life.

If you don't like this movie, it probably means you think too much. Get your head out of those books, geek!

This movie was actually quite a suprise I dodged watching it for years untill just a few years ago. Maxim machine guns, WW1 , and the American Frontier pretty good stuff. Little Luvy Duby at points but the Helmets The Germans wore during the war make up for all that.

I hated the plot of this movie. I started watching it and almost immediately hated it. I wanted to see how it ended so I forwarded through to different chapters which only made me hate it more. I watched the end and screamed at the movie (which I never do) took the CD and broke it and threw the cover away. Yuck.

Featuring incredible acting, Legends of the Fall is probably the most depressing film I've ever seen. Now, I personally think there is a difference between a sad movie, and a depressing one. A sad film usually features a sad ending, a character getting killed in the end, etc. A depressing movie, really gets you from the beginning and at every turn, there is something else to feel morose about. This is that type of film. Its long and spans a good length of time, but its a great journey. Like I mentioned, the acting is wonderful, from every single person. Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormand, Anthony Quinn, all fabulous in this. Each character gets their own story and each one just seems melancholy. The cinematography is gorgeous and the musical score is one of my favorites. It just adds to the already depressing mood. If you are in a good mood, watch this film and see how it affects you. I almost gave it 4 stars instead of 5, because its not really a perfect movie and a tad too long, but it achieves what it sets out to do so that is good enough for me, for this movie anyway.

One of the best books on the gothic and sentimental novel that I've
encountered.

It's great to be reminded about all these early sentimental novels, but that's about it. So maybe the best thing about Stern's book is the bibliography. It sure isn't the prose or the insights. I was SO disappointed by this book.

This is perhaps the sharpest, most interesting book I have ever read. A must buy for any scholar or student of literature.