Rent this: My spouse and I went to see the movie Rent and I have to say: Kenickie lives!!!! One of the characters bears a resemblance to Jeff Conaway's character in Grease. I did enjoy the movie and despite what others may say, I'm really not a musical snob: not much anyway. Seriously, I enjoyed the movie but the thinks I enjoyed the most were, believe it or not, the songs and the choreography. The songs were, for the most part, fun and uplifting; a couple were a bit too sentimental. At first I thought, 'oh no, a bunch of 20 somethings whining about their lives. If I wanted that I'd watch Friends.' But the movie grew on me. However, during the second song when the characters are asking, "How am I going to pay last year's rent?" I wanted to yell out, "GET A JOB!" Oh, but now I'm just being harsh. Six of the eight characters in the movie were the original actors during its Off-Broadway and Broadway run. The standouts in the movie are Wilson Jermaine Heredia, who plays Angel, and Jesse L. Martin (from Law and Order) who plays the character of Tom. Standout females are Idina Menzel as Maureen and Rosario Dawson (not one of the originals) as Mimi. All of the main characters are really good. The singing, dancing, and choreography are the highlights of the movie; it is a musical after all. I think it probably worked better as a stage production and I would have liked to have seen it when it first opened. I didn't enjoy it as much as the movie version of Chicago but it was fun and it was a movie date with my spouse which is always nice. The song highlights are: Take Me Or Leave Me, Santa Fe, Tango:Maureen, and La Vie Boheme. They're all fun though and much of the movie is still relevant today; especially since the population living with AIDS has surpassed the 40million mark.

One other word: I guess life is imitating art with all of the recent prison breaks. Prisoners from Texas, Washington, and now Vero Beach, Florida, have escaped. Talk about copycats. Yes, the tv show Prison Break has been one of the highlights of the tv season but this is ridiculous. And how are all of these inmates escaping anyway? Discuss amongst yourselves.


paul