Ever since I could remember, I've been a fan of musicals... From Grease, to JC Superstar, Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, to Miss Saigon and Les Miserables, to more recent musicals like Moulin Rouge and Chicago... and now, the latest musical to hit mainstream audiences... Rent.

Rent is in my opinion, an AIDS awareness campaign that translates well on stage and on the big screen. The music takes you through the lives of Mark, Mimi, Roger, Collins, Angel, Maureen and Joanne. The story shows us a year in the lives of these people, how so much can happen in 525,600 minutes.

"..Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear. Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles in laughter in strife. In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes - how do you measure a year in the life? How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love... seasons of love...."

I cried a lot during this film... maybe coz I know how it's going to end, so when Collins and Angel were performing "I'll Cover U", tears were already falling from my eyes...and when "Without You" was being sung I was sniffling like crazy.

Guess this shouldn't surprise me... since I was also sad about how Brokeback mountain ended...

But there were also some nice lighthearted moments... like Mark, singing "Tango Maureen", is it just me or does he look a lot like Alton Brown of Good Eats and Iron Chef America? And the cool, cool duet between Maureen and Joanne "Take Me or Leave Me". And Angel's entertaining story involving an Akita named Evita in "Today for U".

If you have time, you should really try to catch it... it's still showing in Greenbelt cinemas.

I'll end this post with a line which was repeated several times during the movie.

"...Forget regret...or life is yours to miss..."

La vie Boheme!