zimmedc Reviews

Rent (2005)

Made Me Love Musicals Again

[8/10 · 6 December 2005]

Not following the Broadway scene too much lately (I was a fan in my '60s youth), I wasn't really aware of what a sensation "Rent" was during its run there. I became more aware of it recently when it was satirized in the Southpark picture "Team America" and after my church intergenerational choir sang the show's "theme" song "Seasons of Love". Then one of the kids that I'm working with in a local musical said Rent was one of his favorites, so I was a first-weekend attendee at the movie.

The story is important as it depicts gays, lesbians, drag queens and drug addicts as real people struggling with life, love, (and AIDS) just like so-called "normal" people. Being in the rock style, the songs aren't necessarily "toe-tappers" that you end up whistling on the way out of the theatre (though "Seasons of Love" comes close, particularly if you've sang it at least two dozen times, and "La Vie Boheme" is a showstopper--the plot is loosely based on the opera La Boheme), but overall the music is very exciting and integral to the story. The cast moved almost en masse from Broadway to Hollywood--Wilson Heredia, a Tony winner as drag queen Angel, might contend for an Oscar as Supporting Actor. I've read that there was some concern about mainstream Hollywood director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter I and II) getting the job, but I don't see that the picture suffered for it--maybe some unconvincing special effects are the worst of it. As a rock opera, it takes some time to get used to having almost all the dialogue sung rather than spoken. Overall another solid B+ film--definitely recommended to fans of modern musicals, to those in marginalized communities, and to those with art in their souls.

The soundtrack CD is great too--my favorites after many times through in the car are "One Song Glory" by Roger (his highlight of the film) and Roger and Mimi's duet "Light The Candle", as clever a dialogue song as I can remember. "Tango: Maureen" featuring Mark and Joanne is also great--both on screen and CD. "Today 4 U" by Angel is a tour-de-force, despite the oft-mentioned gaffe of mentioning Thelma and Louise before it was released. "I'll Cover You" is probably the most touching song. Collins has a beautiful baritone voice.

Steel Magnolias (1989)

Come and Listen to My Story 'bout a Gal Named Shel(by)

[4/10 · 3 August 2005]

We took a weekend trip from Baton Rouge, LA to Natchitoches, LA, where fifteen years earlier the filming of Steel Magnolias in 1989 remains about the biggest thing that ever happened. Having never seen the movie, we rented it as soon as we got back home. Everyone had a reason for watching it in two segments--mine was my sense that this was one of the "cutest" movies I'd ever seen, and I'd had quite enough "cute" lately, especially after sitting through Will Smith in "Hitch". The accents and the caricatures of the characters were all so thick that it reminded me of The Beverly Hillbillies, though more embarrassing than funny. One "Hillbillies-like" moment that pretty funny was the few non-female characters' effort to shoot some "crows" out of a tree so that they won't "sh*t all over the reception". Their creative use of a crossbow is a classic.

Sad to say there isn't much else classic in a story that is at the same time saccharine and maudlin. I saw another review that noted the choppiness of some scenes (as the movie was adapted from a play that never left the beauty shop). I can think of two scenes in particular--one where the town-big wig Clairee (played by the noted-Southern belle Olympia Dukasis) buys the local radio station so that she can do the color commentary on the local football games (the scene features the same guy filmed bare from the back waist-and-lower view as he walks in front camera in the locker room three times.) In another scene, the Darryl Hannah (hard to recognize) committed Christian character argues with her boyfriend over his repeated taking of the Lord's name in vain. Neither scene has any impact on the rest of the story.

Dolly Parton is her usual big hair, big smile, big **** self as the lead hairdresser. Shirley MacLaine has a very unsympathetic character as the Eatonton's (Julie and Sally, and family) ill-tempered neighbor. The male characters are more or less wasted, especially the estimable Sam Shepard, who spends most of the film underneath a car, or sitting lifelessly in front of a TV.

The movie moved up from a 2 during the seemingly endless wedding prep and wedding of the first half to a 6 in the second half, which became more dramatic. Sally Field has a pretty good scene near the end, she and the story make you think a little about the motives of the main character (Julia Roberts as Shelby).

Overall, I thought that Steel Magnolias was a relatively embarrassing depiction of life in the beautiful town of Natchitoches, LA. Given that the locals seemed not to mind too much, I may be overreacting. They even showed us where the truck made an illegal left turn in the final scene. I hope this is not a spoiler.

I don't really understand the almost universal overwhelming praise by the reviewers here. I understand the overall rating under 7, as all the 10's from the reviewers are being offset by 4's and 5's by people who saw the movie as I did, but were too nice to submit a comment.

West Side Story (1961)

Still The Best

[10/10 · 29 December 2004]

As a now 50-year old, I first saw 'West Side Story' when I was about 7. It may have been the first movie I ever saw outside home (actually at a drive-in--remember those?), and it's certainly the most memorable of movies I saw during that time of my life (although 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'The Music Man' are right up there too). In fact, as I watch the DVD now, I'm reminded why when asked, I typically cite it as my favorite movie of all time. The story is hundreds of years old, and now with the onset of drive-by shootings, the threat to the community presented by the Jets and Sharks seems a little dated, but then there's the amazing Bernstein score, and the fabulous Robbins' choreography, heartbreaking songs by Sondheim like "One Hand, One Heart" and "I Have a Love," innovative camera work by director Robert Wise, and unforgettable performances by the luminous Natalie Wood and the phenomenal Rita Moreno.

I'm not old enough to have seen the original Broadway play, but I saw a recent revival, and the movie even improves on the play by moving a couple of musical numbers around so they fit better with the plot. Great movie musicals are few and far between these days ('Chicago' sold well--I couldn't quite deal with Richard Gere as a song and dance man); I wish there was another 'West Side Story' in store to entertain me for the next 50 years of my life.