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Show S ^ ^ Rent' realism breaks musical mold Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway performances. This ensemble creates great chemmusical from the early 1990s, "Rent7' is a poetic istry, which makes this film a surprisingly intimate experience for audience members. story about a group of youthful The absence of lavish, sparkling cosfriends living in the slums of the Big » ^ ^ ^ _ Apple doing their best to survive. Casey T. Allen tumes and swooping camera shots also helps it to avoid cliches. Although they all spend ample time singing about the excitement and "Rent" is not just another run-ofpotential of their lives, they experithe-mill movie musical. At least it ence enormous heartache through tries not to be. The director (Chris unemployment, drug addiction, Columbus, "Stepmom") injects a broken hearts, AIDS and the stresshealthy dose of realism into the stoful likelihood of eviction notices. ryline to help make it feel less like \"Rent" Featuring an incredibly rich cast of Broadway material. Very little danc\Rated PG-13, Grade B characters, along witn beautifully ing is used to liven up the musical soaring musical numbers, "Rent" is numbers (something that is usually a a mediocre treat for Broadway lovers but will prob- staple in musicals) and so the characters belt out their ably taste much more mediocre for non-fans. dreams while walking down the street, sitting in subRosario Dawson ("Sin City"), the leading female way trains or leaning triumphantly over fire escapes. of the film, is perfect as the mischievous table This helps give more attention to the song lyrics and dancer, Mimi. This is by far her best role yet, show- the emotional development of the characters who ing wonderfully smooth range as a flirtatious vixen sing them. to a broken down victim of heroin. Other characters Sadly though, the music has a down side. Over include the awkward filmmaker, Mark (Anthony half of the film's length is filled with singing, almost Rapp, "School Ties'') his ex-girlfriend, Maureen (Idina to the point where there is little to no dialogue comMenzel, "Wicked") and Maureen's new lover, Joanne ing from anyone. This sure makes the film sound (Trade Thorns, "The Warrior Class"). With the excep- nice, but such a large amount of music prohibits the tion of Dawson and Taye Diggs ("Chicago") as the story from progressing so you never really feel like stone-faced superintendent, the cast is made up of you are moving along. And when you do feel like relatively unknown actors with everyone fitting com- you are moving along it usually feels like you're wanfortably into their role giving consistent, touching dering. All the actors could have given more textured Reel eviews £ PREEMPTIVE KCRITICS Brokeback Mountain' "So, "Brokeback Mountain" is ... well ... coming out on Friday. And while no one really wants to talk about it, in life, there are certain, undeniable truths - cold, hard facts that simply aren't open to discussion. i t Fact 1: Movies about sheep are stupid. g!v Fact 2.: Movies about cowboys (with the possible j £ exceptions of "City Slickers" and John Travolta's ?J epic masterpiece Urban Cowboy") totally suck. J ; Fact 3: Heath Ledger has a hot ass. r *. Fact 4. Especially in a pair of Wrangler jeans. £. Fact 5: Heath's ass is so hot that no one can resist :'•;': • i t . ^ Fact 6: Not even Jake Gyllenhal. -..Fact 7: Especially not Jake Gyllenhal. ' F a c t 8: 1 will receive an e-mail from a gay man ••: accusing me of being a homophobe. Fact 9: I will receive an e-mail from a homophobe accusing me of being a gay man. - . Thar/s just the way, things work. You might not like it, but sometimes the truth hurts. I preemptively hate this movie. (I'm sorry, but I really do hate sheep). -Aaron Falk/acf@cc.usu.edu 'Aeon Flux' OK, you should know the drill by now: It's the future, which means the government has control over every aspect of your life, which sounds bad at first, but then you realize that they've used this control to make everyone really -happy. Fortunately, there's a ragtag group of rebels looking to set us free because, you know, Utopia sucks. Even more fortunately, their forces consist primarily of women who wear somewhat scandalous clothing ... because it's the future. CharlizeTheron will be playing Aeon Flux, a half-baked rebel who's so good at fighting and killing people that they named the movie after her. From what I can gather/ her motives and background are shrouded in mystery, which, to me, says the writers were shrouded in laziness. Of course, Flux and her Freedom Patrol will kill a lot of soldiers, guards and scientists who are just doing their jobs. Don't feel bad, though. They all knew the risks of living in the future. I dream of a world where the people have the choice to live in some government-funded charade and go to work without fear of getting roundhoused to the face by some girl in spandex. That may be a dream, but a future in which I don't see this crapfest of a film is a reality because I preemptively hate this movie. -Steve Shinney/steveshinney@cc.usu.edu THE NATIONAL BUZZ '"Get a job for God's sake, people, and bring back some better songs while you're at it/ J& -Jeffrey Bruner, Des Moines Register ^ r . ^ f ^ '"Rent is one of the best film musicals in years exuberant, sexy and life affirming in equal measure.11? - Kirk Honeycutt, Holly wood Reporter •S Complied from rottentomatoes.com3 performances but everyone on screen is having so much fun singing at the top of their lungs that plot development gets neglected. Despite the imbalance oi musical performance versus acting, "Rent" displays a thoughtful look at cultural'ethics as the characters explore their artistic ambitions while trying to spurn the dominance of corporate America. For so many, friends are all that we have and "Rent" is a heartwarming reminder of this truth. Through love, death and anger, these friends realize that life is bearable because of their love for each other. Casey T. Allen is a critic for the Utah Statesman. Comments can be sent to caseyal@cc.usu.edu. 'Walk the Line' a runaway success The fist time I heard of Johnny Cash was during the 1995 film "Apollo 13," when a NASA employee swears that when he travels to space, he's taking his entire Johnny Cash collection. The adults in the audience laughed, but I didn't get the Chris Blakestey joke. After viewing "Walk the Line," I think I do. Cash, labeled the man in black, stubborn was a .. character whose 'Rated PG-l3^Grade: Aj rocky, abrupt life ' ' '"" was matched by his music. I think those adults in the audience laughed because Johnny Cash didn't easily fit in a genre, in his relationships or in society. And while so many sad events occurred in Cash's life, he excelled because he stayed true to his talents, liberating those struggling like him. "Walk the Line" tells Cash's story in the biopic tradition. The story begins with Johnny growing up on a cotton farm, where family tragedies occur, scarring him for life. After time in the Air Force, Johnny gets married and makes his way onto a record label, which catapults his music career into national fame. Cash's life then feels a lot like a juggling act, as he struggles with mar- Reel eviews THE PREEMPTIVE CRITICS WRITE KNEE-JERK ANALYSES OF UPCOMING FILMS BASED ON HEARSAY AND MOVIE TRAILERS. THEY HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIES. 'WALK THE LINE1 REVIEW See page 4 |