Moulin Rouge (Single Disc Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Back to the Past, Into the Future
Review: I have been monitoring the discussions on this movie for some time now. I originally heard about how original and inspired the conversation had become a few years ago in a local bullitin. That all seems to have died down.

I am an old Hollywood insider. I did production work in the 50s and 60s. Things have changed but some things have not. I am fascinated by the discussion of religion and eastern mysticism and what not. My master agreed with most of it actually.

My problem is that no one is talking about how this movie plays with time and nostaglia. Very basically, it is an attempt to clothe nostaglia in new sounds and costumes. We are taken back in time and it seems like we're there for the first time. That is a technique that is done very well and not often discussed.

Thank you for your time.

Rating:
Summary: Missing the point
Review: I know that so many people see this movie as about spiritualism and art and I want to add my two cents to the debate. That may be true but the love story itself says it all. When Satine sings at the beginning of the film she is yearing for Christian but doesn't have a name for it. Christian is yearing for Satine but doesn't know true love until he meets her. Enter the Duke. Satine must perform for him but the secret song is sung for Christian. The moral of the story is that sometimes when we feel or say or do or sing we aren't sure for whom until we find the true object of our affections. Then and only then can we name it. That is why the people saying the music is no good are just missing the point. The music is not the point but the singing of it to the special person we love. And just like the world would think the Duke was a strong and powerful man and Christian a fool the world thinks pop songs are just plain stupid. Sometimes the world is wrong. Just what we used to think isn't. Satine realizes that her ideal of a Duke type lover was wrong. Get over it people! The music is supposed to be dumb. Just as dumb as demanding that musical theatre must try to imitate Verdi or something or die as a flimsy American pseudo attempt at opera.

Rating:
Summary: Historically Inaccurate
Review: I must confess that I would be remiss not to point out the cultural differences between Americans and Brits. As the former, I have no interest whatsoever discussing this movie as a spiritual experience or a deep love story. It is the world's greatest nightmare of MTV American style fable. I cannot believe Ewan did this film, in fact. Love is a construct. It is a contract based on social needs and norms and nothing else. Maybe in Tibet or with doped up people in Los Angeles or New York this movie could have appeal. Not with more sophisticated cultures such as the ones one finds in London and Paris.

Rating:
Summary: It's a wonderful life
Review: this movie is so very wonderful. I just love this film. The characters have endless chemistry and they don't sing that badly either. It sounds like it could be a really corny movie and it is but it's also meaningful beneath the surface as others have said. That's a great way of putting it. Yeah...love is not a Hallmark card. It's the connection between two people that words or music help bring out.

Rating:
Summary: Are you kidding me?
Review: The last review was so typical. The people who don't like the movie are people who can't read between the lines, see anything beneath the surface and have no idea that art comes upon you secretly. A group of friends and I saw this movie again for the first time since 2001. This time we did a meditation group and disucssion group buddhist and christian elements in the movie. A friend said that the discussion began here but I can't find it. Anyway, there is so much more here than what the reviewer says. I mean, what other movie that's 3 years old has a devoted fan club that meets once a month due to powerful religious elements?

Rating:
Summary: Pretty, Vacant
Review: I was really disappointed in this one. I know Luhrmann can do better. I loved Strictly Ballroom. And I still can't believe this mess was nominated for a bunch of Oscars. What were they thinking!?

First off, I did like the slightly garish visual style of it - oversaturated colors, surreal scenery, etc. Some of the costumes were great. But being nice to look at can't carry a film alone.

As for the music: I don't mind the idea of anachronistic popular songs in a movie set in the past. I think it could be fun and interesting in more capable hands than Luhrmann's. Unfortunately, the music here is mediocre at best. I was especially annoyed by all the tiny snippets of songs being spat out in rapid succession - most of them much better tunes than the trite lite-radio fare used in the big numbers. I would've liked deeper, smarter songs. And a lot of them just didn't gell with it at all ("Roxanne" somehow seemed totally superfluous despite Satine's profession, as though the producers smacked their foreheads and went "D'oh! We forgot to put in a song about prostitutes somewhere!")

The plot is weak and predictable. It moves too slowly and the dramatic scenes are tedious. By the halfway point I was waiting for Satine to just die already so maybe something interesting would happen. The characters are poorly developed cardboard cutouts (I thought Christian was especially bland) and Christian and Satine don't have any real chemistry. I had to wonder why these two randomly fell in love, other than it being awfully convenient for the oh-so-tragic plot.

In addition, the tone veers wildly back and forth between cartoonish silliness and soppy melodrama. This just makes the film even weaker. I liked the stupid comedy bits better than the all rest put together, though even they weren't that great.

The movie had its moments, though. For what it's worth, I thought the "Like a Virgin" scene was hilarious. If only the rest of the movie could have been as entertainingly loopy, instead of having pretensions about being high art.

Rating:
Summary: Mom and Dad
Review: We also recommed this movie but also with some caution if you plan to watch it with the young kids. That is a factor the other reviewers do not mention enough. That said this is a terrific movie to watch with your older teenager. We also like the message about true love and how materialism is empty. There are some real good points from a Chrisitan point of view about how meaningless and surface bright lights work in our lives. My wife and I found this movie very spiritually uplifting.

Rating:
Summary: Another eye popping spectacle from Baz Luhrmann
Review: Great imagery and catchy tunes. This film is as interesting to watch as it is to listen to. The fun thing with the music in this movie is that during the time all this decadence was taking place, most of the tunes hadn't been written yet! Kidman & McGregor do a fairly okay job of singing their songs. They can both hold a tune and their voices work fairly well for this project but let's not start casting them in any serious musicals just yet. While their voices are fine here, as a rule, their voices are much too weak for anything more than what they have accomplished here.

This musical is a lot of fun and I say that as a person who does not like musicals. In fact I hate them. As with Luhrmanns's Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge has a special quality that helps the dialogue scenes flow smoothly into the musical numbers. I can only imagine what it would have sounded like if two real singers had been cast. Of course if the singers can't act then we have a problem so better to go with the actors instead.

The dance numbers are fresh and very unique. I give them two thumbs up. I'm at a loss to describe them. You'll have to see for yourself.

I reccomend it highly.
Parental advisory: Buy with confidence. No foul language, nudity or sex. Some scenes may be too intense for young children. I advise a viewing age of at least 15 years old.

Rating:
Summary: I Discovered a Gem Today!
Review: Online Amazon Community,

I feel very compelled, almost driven to, to tell you how great a movie this is. I see that some people loved it and some people hated it. It's not for everyone but if you are open to it like Christian says in one scene, you might thoroughly enjoy it. Are you open to freedom, beauty, truth and most importatnly love? That is the basic question this movie asks. Can you get beyond the use of bad songs used to see beneath the surface? I never saw this movie because I don't love McGregor and Kidman and because I had heard about the use of pop music and since I am a professional musician of sorts I was turned off from the start. But I want to tell you to do yourself a favor and rent this movie. You will fall in love with it just like I have. I am so giddy right now and drunk on this movie!

Rating:
Summary: Can You Hear My Heart Sing?
Review: This movie is so goofy. But by golly it is really good. I read some of the reviews discussing the values and the Buddhism in it. I totally agree because I know a little bit about eastern thought.

My special person and I have watched this together almost ten times since we got it. I can't believe this didn't get the oscar that year. Also, the fact that Courtney Love almost blocked the use of Teen Spirit is so interesting. This movie is like a criticism on my generation before many of us moved to California and became eastern.