The Wild Blog in the West

I'll start by saying that I don't think it's a coincidence that both RENT and The Phantom of the Opera released "live performance" recordings years after the movie adaptations came out.  In both cases, the movie failed to capture the essence of what made the stage production so enjoyable. I went into some detail about the stage production in Part One .  Part Two will focus on what the movie adaptation does to improve, or not improve, upon its source material. Even though I don't think RENT  (2004) is a good movie, I also don't think it is a particularly bad one.  There is nothing that stands out as a glaring "Oh my god I can't believe they did this I can't look" like Phantom 's casting of Gerard Butler.   RENT the movie was directed by Chris Columbus, who has a track record of making films that are competent, if not cutting edge.  Of course, RENT 's main problem is that it needed someone who was cutting edge, who was willin

I have a somewhat complicated attitude toward RENT .  Had you asked me even two years ago, I would have said flat out that I hated it.  I hated its confused storytelling, its whiny protagonists, and its overplayed affirmation songs. I saw RENT live for the first and only time in London in 1998.  I was able to see most of the original cast, save Daphne Rubin-Vega's Mimi, which was fortunate.  I remember feeling bored and confused, somewhat moved during the second half, but only able to remember two songs afterward: "One Song Glory" and "Light My Candle."   RENT  wasn't a revolution -- it was a mess. It seemed almost set up to fail.  Creator Jonathan Larson, a promising Broadway writer and composer, died at a young age on the morning of  RENT 's opening in 1996.  His death added another layer of tragedy to his musical, which dealt substantially with young characters facing their mortality, and fueled the legend of RENT as something Real and Important

First, thanks for giving me my biggest month of web traffic since I started!  And in February, no less.   Here is what is happening, or will be happening, with this blog: We Have Twitter!   I've joined that strange new (or maybe not-so new) phenomenon of stating my thoughts in 140 characters or less.   My Twitter account is here for anyone who wants to be informed of a new post, or for anyone who wants to read my random thoughts on random things. Movie Musicals Series Will Continue.   I have several more entries planned for the Movie Musicals That Got It Right/Wrong Series, which will be sprinkled about in the coming months.  The first one on the agenda is that musical you either love or hate, RENT . Before There Was Downton ...   I am also planning to look at a series that I briefly mentioned in one of my Downton Abbey recaps, Manor House .   Manor House  presents a far less benign picture of the Edwardian upstairs/downstairs relationship, as seen through the eyes of pe

Matthew who? You're still thinking about this show?  It's been a whole two weeks since Matthew Crawley's death.  Time to move on.  There are newer and shinier objects out there. Okay, maybe that's not the way people think, but in the world of television, one show quickly takes the place of another.  My thoughts are already straying toward  Game of Thrones and Mad Men .  Still, I can't let Downton Abbey go without first speculating about what the last episode means for Series Four.  Here are my thoughts at random: The Viewership Numbers Will Remain Strong.   I've read many posts where people complain that after Sybil and Matthew's death, they are "done" with the show.  That is their prerogative, though there is reason to believe that come the start of Series Four, they will tune in, however reluctantly.  After all, we want to see how the Crawleys are reacting to Matthew's death, especially Mary and Isobel.  And how will Branson pick up t

Congratulations to Les Miserables for winning three Oscars!  While I was wrong in predicting that Les Miz  would win the most Oscars without actually winning Best Picture (that would be Life of Pi  with four), I wasn't too far off.   Les Miserables  won as many Oscars as Argo , the Best Picture winner, and more than critical darlings  Lincoln , Zero Dark Thirty , and Silver Linings Playbook .  In fact, Les Miserables has a better win percentage than both Lincoln  (2 of 12) and Life of Pi  (4 of 11), and is tied with Argo  (3 of 8).  Not bad, musical movie, not bad. Overall, it was a rather strange 3.5 hours, not the least because Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy  was the host.  Instead of one movie dominating the night, as many predicted Lincoln  would, the awards were pretty evenly distributed.   Argo  won despite not having any nominees for Best Actor/Actress or Best Director.  I think I prefer it this way, especially since the field was so strong this year, than to have one mov

Maybe "gently" was not the best choice of words, but you know what I mean. Damn the gap between airings in the UK and the rest of the world.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have been spoiled about Matthew's death since practically the beginning.  The spoiler that told me about Sybil also tipped me off to Matthew's demise.  Matthew's was less of a surprise because I knew that Dan Stevens would be leaving the show, although initially I thought he would be getting some remote civil servant post that forced him to be away most of the year.  Also, to my chagrin, I realize that I had a hand in leaking the spoiler when I linked to an article about Dan Stevens in one of my earlier posts.  I'm so sorry -- I hope that I didn't spoil Series Three for anyone. In any event, now everyone knows, and I'm sure there will be much to talk about before Series Four.  Hopefully the U.S. airings will not lag behind the UK next time. Plot Synopsis Matthew's death is

Since the Oscars are fast approaching, I thought it worth doing another post on Les Miserables to discuss the thoughts that have accumulated since my movie review. It seems a little strange to use the word "hate" with regard to this movie, because compared to Evita and The Phantom of the Opera , it is far more critically -- and certainly far more commercially -- successful.  At present, it sits at 70% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes .  That's not the stellar rating of, say, the very overrated Silver Linings Playbook , but it does mean that more than two-thirds of critics thought that the movie was worth their time.  In addition, Les Miserables  was nominated for eight Oscars (compared to Evita 's five), including significant nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, and Best Picture.  It has already won more Golden Globes than any other movie in 2012. Yet those who hate the movie have been very vocal about their hatred.  From their outbursts, you would have