525,600 Minutes

(HAD to, Chr.)

Okay, so I finally saw "Rent" yesterday, on yet another Fag Field Trip with Chr. I fully realize that this was an entire week after every single other Homo in America saw it, which is especially sad since I basically starred in the damned movie. Well, more on that later. :-(

I have to say, I was disappointed. I acknowledge that it is extremely hard to film a musical, but I felt that "Rent" was often disjointed, very often cheesy, and not nearly often enough magical-- which all movie musicals need to be somehow. It had its moments, and there were some good performances and good songs, but IMHO, not nearly enough to fill up its VERY long running-length.

A friend of mine who is a long-term survivor of HIV had weighed in with me a while back on the stage version: he said that the AIDS/HIV themes in the musical were handled very superficially, and that this was an affront to him and to all those who went through that horrible period in the Eighties and Nineties. I have to agree with him-- I HATE seeing very healthy-looking actors pretending to be dying of AIDS, and this certain overwrought, overly-sentimental way of handling the complexities of this tragic period in recent gay history. A show-tune taking place at an AIDS support group meeting? Utterly cringe-worthy to me!

(As an aside, an AIDS film that I thought worked is "Longtime Companion," a heartbreaking tearjerker that I felt captured the spirit of that time and place pretty accurately, and a fabulous movie musical that I thought worked is "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"-- rent them both on Netflix and tell them Madame Glinka sent you!!!)

Another thing: for supposed dirt-poor bohemians who couldn't afford to buy a cup of tea at their La Vie Boheme cafe, the characters sure had lots of Pottery Barn candles and could dress in numerous cute, hip ensembles... worth many smirks and catty asides to Chr. during the film. Oh, and didn't you all think that at least some of the actors were just a TAD too old in 2005 to be reprising their old B'way roles???

Now, onto MY scenes at the Cat Scratch Club. First, I have to give it to Rosario Dawson-- she was impressive, just as impressive as she was when we were filming those scenes. She really held the film together and seemed the right age. Very sexy. (I didn't know HIV+ heroin addicts could be that sexy.)

The horde of extras playing strip-club patrons, of which I was one, were basically just a blurry crowd of bodies-- even the guys positioned right next to the stage were barely seen-- the focus was on Mimi, which was appropriate. There's actually one shot where I believe I am a blurry body (once again) crossing in front of the camera-- I remember doing that shot. Will need major Slo-motion to check it out when the DVD comes out.

This other scene towards the end of the film, where Mimi is really strung out and writhing around more desparately for greenbacks, I am out of camera-range, as I guessed I would be. Bummer.

One last criticism: most of the street scenes were filmed in 'Frisco, not New York. Seeemed pretty obvious to Chr. and me. It was a great coup for the local film and acting community that director Chris Columbus wanted to film here, but not too good for realism. The fake snow looked pretty real at least!

So that's the "Rent" wrap-up... I would be interested to see the stage version now, just to compare. It's a terrible shame that the composer Jonathan Larson died-- he was obviously very gifted, and I'm sure his talent would have grown with more projects.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some exciting news about an Albert Holiday Performing Gig!