Rating: Summary: An Effective, Ecstatic, Unrealistic Love-Tour Review: This movie takes you on a wild, unrealistic, but exciting, fun, and moving ride through someone's unrealistic projection of what 1890s Paris may have been like, through the eyes of love, art, and hard economic struggles.Nicole Kidman is gorgeous and utterly seductive, and both she and Ewan McGregor can sing well enough to take the viewer into their fantasies. This carnival ride through fun, love, struggle, desire, fear, hard times, and joy is not a truly great film, but it's a good film, and well worth the trip.
Rating: Summary: Undoubtedly, The Worst Movie Ever Made Review: ... and that includes Meatballs II. Baz when around shooting off his mouth prior to the Oscars, and he ruined his own opportunity to garner so much as a nomination for his direction: in his words, he had created the best film since CITIZEN KANE, and, with such disrespect for classic cinema, the Academy disagreed resolutely. His arrogance killed his opportunity to be viewed as a visionary, and this film, especially, should be dismissed as a stock production best left to very lewd community theatres in lesser California communities. The only redeeming quality the film offers: Ewan McGregor can sing, and he sings with a passion. Had the film centered on his character instead of the stock players, MOULIN ROUGE might've worked. Since Baz couldn't contain his arrogance, he's done little more than provided 'the alternative lifestyle community' with a regular rental and a film that the rest of society will rightfully ignore.
Rating: Summary: A jaw dropper Review: My wife and watched this after a friend recommended it. We were in shock - I can't say if that was good or bad. Most people will love or hate the movie. The more familiar you are with modern pop music, movies, and musicals in general, the more you will like it. I didn't recognize half the songs and I'm sure I missed most of the allusions. One thing I did get, though, is that Ewan McGregor is an amazing talent!
Rating: Summary: A wonderful, beautiful, moving experience; join the rave Review: I've seen this over 30 times (so far), basically it is a rock version of the La Traviata story, with a wonderful choice of music (60's-90's rock/pop classics), wonderful acting and singing, a visual treat and moving story and music. Chill out, have a glass of good wine and give yourself to the experience... I love it, it is a wonderful experience, I'll probably watch it 100 times more. IF you get and love the music of Queen, Nirvana etc. then you'll love the music, otherwise you won't, the music is a medley of some of the great rock/pop songs of the last 50 years. If you don't love ROCK you won't get it. RAVE ON! Now many reviewers say I'm wrong for enjoying this?! How silly. My experience is the only one valid one for me,.. (the fact that I have a Ph.D. in music and philosophy are not detriments that prevent my enjoyment of a simple story). I'm in ecstasy watching this musical... if you don't get it fine, don't watch it. But to say it not a great experience for others is as outrageous as saying that it is silly to cry in the Disney movie when Bambi's mother dies.. after all, it's just a cartoon! Those are the people who will never get this, and need it the most. I'm glad I don't live in that Reality.... in mine there is romance, imagination, joy of living, and eternal love. I'll watch it again tonight and join the rave at the Moulin Rouge!
Rating: Summary: Music Video for "Lady Marmalade"? Help please! Review: I saw this movie on cable and liked it okay, but what I'm really looking for is the "Lady Marmalade" music video by Lil Kim, Pink, Agulara, and Mya. Would someone who owns this DVD please post here and let me know if it has the Lady Marmalade video? If not, please kindly point me to where I can purchase the said music video on DVD. Thank you very much in advance!
Rating: Summary: sheep Review: Thats what you are if you pretend to enjoy this "film". A sheep. The media pretends that they are so sophisticated and "arty" and that anybody with any sense would just love this movie. Wrong. The only reason anyone would pretend to like it is because musicals are supposed to be "arty" and the media tells you it's good. How could you enjoy this? So boring, none of the actors can sing, and the plot and dancing are so [bad]. If you want to watch this just so you can pretend to love it and tell your friends about it, then just rent it. Don't actually buy the DVD, it's just totally jam-packed with a bunch of stuff that no self loving person would actually watch, or actually buy.
Rating: Summary: See It Twice Review: The thing about Moulin Rouge is you have to see it twice. You also have to get through the first half hour. Everybody keeps saying how they could only get throug the first 30 minutes before turning it off. When I first watched it, I sort of had the same feeling, but after you get past that first 30 minutes, you realize how really beautiful it all is. Even after you are done with the whole movie though, it may seem a little strange. That's why watching it twice can change your mind. You know what to expect and you know it's different from most movies. It also makes more sense because you know what's going on. This is a movie that you learn to apperciate if anything.
Rating: Summary: A MASTERWORK! - THE GENIUS OF BAZ LUHRMAN Review: WARNING TO THOSE SEEKING REALISM: SEEK IT ELSEWHERE!! I grow increasing impatient with people when they say, "yeah, but it just didn't seem real enough!" Movies are an art. In that context nothing you will ever see on the screen is real. Personally, I'll take suspended disbelief over reality any day. Want reality? Look out your window. Want a boffo night out with your best girl - indulge in a little vintage Baz Luhrman! Two words best describe "Moulin Rouge" - spectacular, spectacular! This MTV revisionist driven ode to the 50's super musical is a stunning and ecclectic blend of songs and dances. Nicole Kidman fronts as Satine, the performance artist/courtesan at Paris' most decadent nightclub. She's pushed into a romance with a duke by her employer, Harold Zeitler (Jim Broadbent) but falls for a penniless artist (Ewan McGregor) instead. Typical musical fare, but carried off with such flair and good humor that it's captivating to watch. Even if you don't like musicals you will be hard pressed not to find your toes tapping during "Spectacular! Spectacular!" or letting out a hearty chuckle with Broadbent's take on Madonna's "Like A Virgin". For conception to final cut this film has been in the mind of director, Baz Luhrman for nearly six years and it shows. He's delivered an explosive masterpiece with all the trappings of an enduring classic. If we're still not watching, enjoying and debating over this masterpiece fifty years from now I'll be surprised. Sets are lush and marvelous. So are the costumes. Everything comes off without a hitch. Fox Video has done a handsome job of remastering this film on DVD. There is nothing to complain about here. Rich colors, exceptional detail - even in the darkest scenes, bold contrast levels and the absence of any digital anomolies, make "Moulin Rouge" a real feast for the eyes. The 5.1 stereo mix is bombastic and clever, overwhelming the first time listener with its exemplory sound fields. Disc 2 has an HBO: First Look Special, some featurettes, outtakes and a host of other juicy tidbits best left unexplored within the context of this review. BOTTOM LINE: You can't go wrong here.
Rating: Summary: 3 1/2* The Spirit is Willing, but the Script is Weak Review: What a frustrating movie! This may be remembered as the film that hastened the return of musicals, and it features dazzling costumes, sumptuous colors, and imaginative film techniques, but there are so many problems that I came away feeling cheated. It was a creative and daring idea to set a musical in 1900 Montmartre's famed "Moulin Rouge" using contemporary music of the late 20th century. Unfortunately, the film is seriously undermined by the lack of plot development, a contrived romance, and the have-it-both-ways mocking and celebratory treatment of the "Bohemian." The movie alternates between a tongue-in-cheek farce and a serious declaration of the importance of love and other ideals. When the company performs Madonna's "Material Girl" or "Like a Virgin," it plays wonderfully as camp (except for the Duke's ridiculous mugging in the latter song). However, only Jim Broadbent as the master of ceremonies and manager of the nightclub consistently understands the difference between witty camp and lowbrow, diluted, burlesque. The movie's very promising opening has Toulouse-Lautrec and Satie writing an absurd, avant-garde play, but their original idea for "Spectacular, Spectacular" is co-opted by the financier, the Duke (a buffoonish caricature who is simply too broadly loutish to believe). And yet, Toulouse-Lautrec and Satie still seem to love the production as much as the one they had originally planned. It would have been intelligent and fun to satirize the commercialism of the eventual play, but that opportunity is never taken. Musical tastes will differ, of course, but as the two lovers exchange snippets of love songs of the last 30 or so years, it feels like the pending CD was in mind. The songs that fit best (e.g., "Nature Boy") are repeated ad nauseum. OK, we get it! Kidman and McGregor are excellent given the material (although their characters' romance seems contrived). Both sing well, though Kidman, who often sounds too amped up, is best when singing softer, more intimate songs. The art direction and sets are beautiful, and there's a luminescent caricature of Montmartre that recalls "Babe, Pig in the City." Techniques reminiscent of early photography and silent movies are superbly done, but limited mostly to the beginning. There are also redundant shots of our woeful hero and the Paris skyline, and so much forced glitter and dazzle that it's like an overdose of the Disney electric parade. Conversely, the cuts are sometimes too quick; one yearns to bathe in more atmosphere. The moments of magic and beauty are too often offset by a banal plot, as well as hollow, self-congratulatory celebrations of freedom, truth, and love. As Satine declares, "diamonds are a girl's best friend," but it feels like box office receipts have the upper hand here.
Rating: Summary: best movie ever Review: This is the best movie I have ever seen. This is all I will say for fear of starting to spill and going over the 1000 word limit. Yep, simply the best.
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