Rating: 
Summary: Spectacular Spectacular
Review: Just got back from seeing it. Bought sound track on way home. Can't wait for the DVD. Simply gorgeous! No, I'm not a studio hack.
Rating: 
Summary: Dirty Dancing 2
Review: I had the most enjoyable time watching this one. This is the "Dirty Dancing" of the 21st century. Patrick Swayze watch your back cuz Ewan McGregor has got your number in the hip-shaking game. Plus he has the voice to back it up too. When I heard him sing for the first time, I forgot that I was in a theatre and not in heaven. The other star, Ms. Kidman, was spectacular in her own right. One of her better performances since "Days of Thunder." The movie wanted me to get up and dance in the theatre aisle, as i did when i saw "Dirty Dancing" I never knew i could have "the time of my life" again!
Rating:
Summary: I would give it 10 stars
Review: This is a close to a perfect creative venture as anything gets. Here is a film that has it all. It is joyful, funny, passionate, romantic, sad, and optimistic. The art direction, sets, musical treatments, casting, dancing, costumes are all executed with great talent, judgment and gusto. I have seen this twice with a large New York audience and this crowd, known for being jaded and cynical adored this film. They not only laughed throughout (and cried) but both times the crowd broke into spontaneous applause at least five times. A heard a few gasps as well. It seemed as if we were participating in a live performance. That's how involving it was. My husband and I can't wait to see it yet again. Kidman and McGregor are magical. It is one of the most remarkable films ever made. A true original in every respect. Do see it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: A completely astonishing film, both visually and emotionally. The amazing chemistry between Nicole and Ewen only make this wonderful love story more special. The musical numbers are great, the acting is great, the cinematography is great, constumes...I could go on and on! Do not delay, watch Moulin Rouge Today!
Rating:
Summary: Simply Spectacular
Review: By far the most amazing film I've seen in years. Every aspect of this production is perfect. McGregor and Kidman are perfectly cast and have awesome voices. If you love movies, you must see this. You will be dazzeled.
Rating:
Summary: Extravaganza with heart
Review: Finally made it into Westwood to see Moulin Rouge -- I was bound and determined to see it before it opened wide, and I'm glad I did. The house was half full, kind of incredible when you realize it was a decent sized cinema in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday, in a hard-to-get-to place the day before the movie opens everywhere.I can't remember the last time a movie made me laugh out loud, break into spontaneous applause (more than once), and hold my breath at the end. It's hilarious, tragic, pure fun, over-the-top silly and surprisingly touching. I'll never think of "Like a Virgin" the same way ever again. After hearing Ewan McGregor belt it out (he goes through more musical styles in two hours than most people do in a lifetime, and does them well) Elton John's "Your Song" will never be the same either, but for vastly different reasons. "Come What May," the only original song in the film, is still playing in my head. I think I'm a little dizzy, and that was after an hour-long drive home when I didn't play my radio because I didn't want to interrupt the songs echoing in my mind. The film is gorgeous. I'm not sure if I was intoxicated or assaulted, and I *am* sure that's intentional. The writing is weak, but that's to be expected -- the script isn't the thing here, the emotions are, and those are broad and naked and rapturous. The cast worked together beautifully, and put blood into it. Rarely have I seen an ensemble throw themselves into their work as wholehearted as this one (if ever). Nicole Kidman as Satine was described by a critic as 'game' in this, and I can see why -- she does a strong job, but she's miscast. Happily, the film isn't actually about Satine, any more than La Traviata is about Violeta. This is Christian's story, and Ewan McGregor is more than capable of carrying the film, because he's the heart of it. And if this film is about anything, it's about heart. Each of the supporting characters is good, particularly the Duke and Ziegler. The whole feeling is operatic, with high camp and severe pain interspersed, sometimes so closely together I got emotional whiplash. Which is exactly how I was supposed to feel. I identified with Christian completely, from his initial confusion to his bursts of genius, through his discovery of love to his bitter feeling of betrayal, all the way until his heart led him back where he needed to be. Even the colors of the film follow the pattern of Christian's experience -- the world is bright and chaotic and huge at the beginning, and as he experiences life and love and pain it gradually closes in to two buildings as the world is leeched of color. The editing approached frenetic, but it worked by and large, especially during the Roxanne Tango (one of the two places that had me holding my breath). Kidman and McGregor both have excellent comedic timing, and McGregor also has a way of pulling the stops out and breaking your heart when you least expect it. I can well understand why he's gotten good reviews even from reviewers who didn't like the film. The music is surprising and fun and weirdly perfect for the story: I say weirdly because I'm not sure Baz intended to get some of the reactions he got, but it worked. This is one of those rare movies that will hit every culture that sees it in a different place, and if the audience is willing to suspend cynicism long enough to care about the heart being bared for them, then it will work everywhere it plays. This film worked for me because it does what opera used to do (and still can when it doesn't get too grand for its britches). It takes a love story, makes it the center of the world, surrounds it with music, and drenches you in the experience. The audience in Westwood was a microcosm of what I expect the broad audience to be. Women in clumps (it's a chick flick), couples (it's a date flick), gays (in couples and in clumps -- it's definitely going to be a hit with the unabashedly artsy among us). I have a feeling the film's going to play relatively well in the US, and really well overseas, where they're not as embarrassed to be thoroughly entertained as we seem to be here. The overall impression I carried away from the film was hopeful and sad and brilliant at the same time. I smiled all the way home, and given how the last scene at the Moulin Rouge (not in the film, but on-stage at the club) ends, that's saying something about the power of the two hours that preceeded it. I'm going to go see it again tomorrow (and I seldom see movies twice in the cinema). I can't recommend it highly enough. Leave your ennui at the door and prepared to be swept off your feet.
Rating:
Summary: The cinematic breakthrough we've been waiting for!
Review: I was most fortunate to be in L.A. during the preview weekend, and found this to be the most amazingly brilliant and original film I've seen in many years. I can tell that this film may not be for everyone, as it was so different from my expectations. The first 30 minutes are frenetic and more than I bargained for, and after the film was over I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I don't pretend to know much about film making, but upon awakening the next morning I realized I had been completely blown-away and I have been obsessed with Moulin Rouge & Nicole ever since. My senses and emotions have been reeling, and it took a while to realize I had seen a most remarkable effort that we may not see again for some time. Baz Luhrmann is genius, and Nicole Kidman and cast (Ewan McGregor! and John Leguizamo!) have my profound respect for risking their careers in such a bold, daring work - and a musical at that! Way to go, Nicole! Everything in the film was perfect and brilliant while balancing on such a fine line. It works! Costumes, art direction, cinematography, acting, music, singing and choreography create visions you will not soon forget. The use of contemporary songs and music will surprise and delight. And the story of "truth, beauty, freedom and love" set against the bohemian backdrop of the Montmartre district of Paris 100 years ago will entertain you, from the madcap comedy of errors in the beginning to the emotional crescendo that grabs your heart at the end. Again, this may not be for everyone, but I can't aplogize for my enthusiasm and over-the-top hyperbole... go along for the colorful spectacular ride and perhaps you will find the magic of the Moulin Rouge as well.
Rating:
Summary: Thank God for Lurhmann
Review: Sit back and let your mind roll, this is magnificent. After watching this film I was actually proud to be an Aussie for a few days. Although Baz Lurhman sounds like a typically shallow pretentious Sydney boy that good and honest Novocastrians like myself despise, he's actually incredibly clever. There are moments of sheer, blinding beauty that are overwhelming. The use of the music is incredible and the arrangements of the songs are novel and exciting. As for the editing, at no point was it anything but thrilling. The visual narrative is sumptuous. Ewan Macgregor and Nicole Kidman are luminous; I actually teared up twice not because it was sad but because it's so damn gorgeous. The film is also incredibly funny and just plain fun to sit through. I saw it 3 days ago and I'm still thrilled to bits about it. I kept thinking, at last this is a musical for me, for my generation unburdened by traditional musical theatre narrative, so inventive. Robbie Hudson
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly Spectacular!!!
Review: Simply a MASTERPIECE of movie making. It was tremendous what Baz Lurhmann & CO. achieved in this film. Moulin Rouge takes viewers into a fantasy world that is so exotic and memorable. GO SEE and EXPERIENCE MOULIN ROUGE!!! You won't forget it.
Rating:
Summary: OUTRAGEOUS
Review: Baz Lurmann has crafted an intoxicating mess from musicals, movies, pop songs, and romances each of us know by heart. His movie jumps off the screen, and is unlike any other movie I have ever seen. No matter how you respond to the truly dizzying camera work, the off-kilter, obvious sets, and the often painfully obvious love story, you cannot deny the spectacular artistic vision of the creator. To boot, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor are enchanting, and they invest 100% into their crossed-lovers roles; they sing (well!) and they look ravishing. The jaw-dropping arrangements of such familiar pop fare as Your Song, Roxanne, Up Where We Belong, and many, many others, is somehow simultaneously hilarious and entirely appropriate in this anachronistic, created world that has nothing to do with Paris in 1900. More an over-the-top music video in style and substance than a feature length film, this movie nevertheless does revive the musical film -- the music and the chemistry of the stars draw you in at every turn. And the tributes paid to the pop poetry of Elton John and many others makes the words and music glow with a new light. Baz's hat is tipped often to such enduring classics as The Sound Of Music and La Boheme; the choreography and sheer dazzle are often overhwhelming and so glittery and crazily shot that they give you the sensation of being on a rollercoaster that is turning upside down. To the movie's credit, it is hard to shake the dark, swirling camera from your head once you have been to this Moulin Rouge.
|
