Moulin Rouge!

WOW...The only word I can find to describe the movie and the DVD.

Here's the review for Moulin Rouge!:

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"I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, "I hear music", as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work." - Mitch Hedberg

I was totally bored and repelled by Moulin Rouge! It didn't work for me AT ALL. I found it to be at the same time tedious and exhausting. The Tex Avery style to the performances was ridiculous and tiring. It was by design, apparently, but it gave the movie no grounding in any kind of reality at all - not even a self-conscious "movie" reality of some farcical kind. Using a pastiche of contemporary music for a period piece (even a highly stylized one) was witless. Maybe not as bad an idea as A Knight's Tale, but real darn close.

As an exercise in style alone, I just plain didn't care. The sets and costumes were elaborate and stylized, but with those cardboard cartoon character types singing Pop Music from the '60s through '90s while moving through a "Three's Company" episode on steroids with more cuts per fifteen seconds than Hitch used for Psycho's entire shower scene, I couldn't care less. All of that strung together for over two hours does not a narrative make. If this is a satire, what could it possibly be a satire of? Music videos? Soap operas? TV commercials? Sitcoms? None of those things take themselves seriously anyway, and they provide plenty of self parody on their own.

When it finally shifts gears and tries to build to some kind of tension for a more dramatic finale, why are we supposed to care about these people? Even their love, other than being two incredibly good looking people who can sing Elton John songs to each other, why care about that either?

Baz Luhrmann has some kind of talent, at least visually, but as with his Romeo+Juliet, unfortunately he can't attach it to any ideas that mesh with his over-the-top overstylized stroking. I've always liked both Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, but what a frantic and misguided waste of their time and talents. Moulin Rouge was noisy, unfocused, unfunny, pointless and not at all interesting to me.


As always, your mileage may vary.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Well, all I have to say to that is to each his own.

Huh? What? Are you serious Holden? I loved Moulin Rouge. If this movie doesn't win awards I'll eat my hat. If I had a hat. I'll eat your hat. If you have a hat.

they say Nicole Kidman has Golden Globe nominations for this and The Others ... I haven't seen this yet. part of me is afraid to watch it because I fear it'll be exactly as it was for Holden to me ... and part of me wants to see it because I want to give it a chance and hope the best.

*frets*

I think it looks very artsy-fartsy, with little to no room for plot development or character work...could be wrong though. I'm not in any real rush to watch it.

It is somewhat hilarious, while trying to keep the story around the two main characters(Nicole, Ewan). There is a lot of modern music mixed in with the old 1900 Paris atmosphere.

Give it a shot if you like music, and want to see a love story that was done better than Pearl Harbor.

Any love story is better than that of Pearl Harbor..I'd rather see the love scene in Enemy at the Gates again, than that piece of *****.

Seriously though, I wasn't sure what to expect from Moulin Rouge, and I say that in the review I did for it. I really liked it. The music sequences were sometimes hilarious("Like A Virgin"), at other times, it was sad to see the trouble that was coming between the two characters, but the movie was still great to watch. I especially liked the music chosen for some of the scenes.

Well, it's not a movie, it's a musical. That's why it had so much singing in it. Actually it's more like a broadway show than a movie. It's probably not like anything you've seen before. It's kind of like going to a concert and a play and a movie at the same time. At first it assaults your senses cuz it's loud and fast and you're like, what the heck? Cause you're expecting a movie not a concert, but then you get the hang of it and off you go. Why do we care about the characters? Because it's about love found and lost and who can't identify with that? The story is told in songs much like an opera except with modern music. You have to understand what the song is about to get the story. Like when she sings Like a Virgin, she's really saying she feels shiny and new and wonderful. Plus she's like a hooker so it's kind of funny and good at the same time cause a hooker saying she feels like a virgin says something about her character. Like she remembers a long time ago when she wasn't a hooker and secretly wishes she could go back. I think Holden couldn't get past the initial barrage of sounds and images and wrote the whole thing off. But if you accept it for itself and don't try to fit it in a catagory with other movies it's really good.

Actually, Sunfrog, She doesn't sing Like a Virgin. Her "pimp" does. ...Mostly though, what you said is true, and those having second thoughts about seeing this. Ignore those thoughts and watch it.

I saw this film last night, I thought that it would be a festive and fun one to watch on New Year's Eve. Here are my thoughts:

I thought the acting, the singing(Ewan & Kidman), and the artistic merit...was very engaging. The story was beautiful and the costumes and sets were top of the line.
However, I was tired with the "sped up" images and the fast cut aways. It was like a long music video...I was overstimulated. I got annoyed with the visual eye candy. I would have enjoyed this picture a whole lot more, if the pace were slowed down a bit, and the repition of certian camera tricks, were less littered throughout every scene.
The guy singing Roxanne, couldn't have been a worse singer. He growled every verse...it was grating on my nerves.
McGreggor had a wonderful voice...he did a fantastic job. He was, by far, the only reason I had feelings for the love story. Kidman did a good job too, it was a little weird to see her so lively and songful...it took some getting used to.
Overall, because the annoying parts, outweighed the good parts...I would give Molin Rouge, a 6 out of 10.
I agree, a lot, with what Holden said.

Ewan, I don't think did his singing. If he did, he has a very nice voice, but if you read the credits you will see they had at least two people helping with the singing.

It sounded like him...

Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything. Ever see a movie called Coyote Ugly. Piper couldn't sing so her singing voice was that of LeAnn Rimes.

Well, I think you're wrong Holden.
I won't be tactful, normally I'll agree with you, but here I think you're WRONG.

But then again, maybe that's the filmmaker talking.


I bought the DVD today. I am waiting in anticipation to go through the commentaries and music and clips and so forth. It's a huge special features disc.

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www.esotericrabbit.com

And I'm extremely comfortable with your disagreeing with me completely.

Maybe it's the filmmaker in me, but I tried sitting through Moulin Rouge again and I just plain hate it, a waste of energy and a mish-mash of ill-conceived ideas. Really.

I don't know if this is the place to do it, and if not I apologize but I have some thoughts on this film. Firstly, thank you Sadie for recommending this film to me.

My overall take was that it was overdone visually. There are a few people who can "overdo" and be successful at doing so... Stone (sorry don't want to provoke anyone, just my opinion) is one of them, Luhrmann is not. That being said, the campy circus/carnival beginning with boinging sound effects etc. almost made me turn it off. At this point if the costumes weren't so cool, and the scene work wasn't so awesome I would have shut it down. For some reason I was compelled to watch. The more I watched the more I fell into the story. Now that I have seen it I have to say that I found it to be very powerful. Kidman and McGregor were captivating. I admit to tuning out some of the background noise but I couldn't drag myself away from this story about "most of all, love." It was beautiful, it was inspiring and it touched my heart. I will buy this film on DVD, it is one of the best I've seen in long time.... it is not for everyone though.

You're right Toose, it isn't for everyone. Holden pointed that out clearly.

Well then, I do apologize for being repetitive. Sheez