Moulin Rouge! (2001) (1 Viewer)

[Billy Fogerty]

If you consider this "one of the worst movies to come down the pike in a long time", I guess all I can say to that is enjoy watching Sorority Boys.

Mark, Lord Of The Rings, Backhawk Down, A.I., etc. ML isn't even in the same company as these. Far from an enjoyable musical. If that what it was supposed to be.

 

[Mark Hobbs]

Mark, Lord Of The Rings, Backhawk Down, A.I., etc. ML isn't even in the same company as these. Far from an enjoyable musical. If that what it was supposed to be.

I respect your right to consider LOTR, Blackhawk Down, and AI as better movies than ML. In fact, I agree with you about LOTR. I will have to respectfully disagree with you about AI, however. But that is a topic for another thread. (I haven't seen Blackhawk Down yet but will this weekend.)

I just think if you really look at most of the junk that is released on any given week, even if you didn't enjoy ML you could at least agree that it isn't really one of the worst movies of the year. I mean c'mon...there were some BAD movies released last year.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Folks, if you have nothing constructive to add to a thread, please go on to the next one.
Michael Reuben
HTF Administration

 

[Bill Catherall]

I finally rented Moulin Rouge last night and I loved it. When it first came out it didn't look that appealing, but all the positive reviews got me interested and I decided to give it a shot. What a really fun movie! Quite a tear jerker too, even though we know that
Satine dies (well they tell you so at the beginning of the movie but didn't want to spoil it for anyone, but I guess this thread may have already spoiled it)
Ewan's performance gave me a big huge lump in my throat that was really hard to swallow down. I still get choked up thinking about it. :b In fact this movie really showcased Ewan's acting. I think he did a superb job.
The style was quite ingenius. Actually I've been waiting for a movie like this for some time. My family is into broadway and musicals, and my sister is always singing broadway tunes that fit into conversations or events. So watching this film made me feel like I was watching a family reunion, but with Cancan girls and prostitutes. Every time a familiar song came up and was used to tell the story I just got a big grin on my face and nodded my head in approval. Brilliant!
My one and only complaint is casting John Leguizamo as Henri Ramone de Toulouse-Lautrec (the dwarf). I really liked his performance, but in almost every scene it was very obvious that he was on his knees with prosthetic feet (if you see his feet). The FX to make him short worked well at times, but when it didn't work it failed miserably. Why didn't they just cast a real dwarf? It was distracting and detracted from his great performance just a bit.
My only regret is renting instead of buying. Now I've spent 4 more dollars than I needed to. Oh well, as long as Fox is getting a cut of the action (rented from Evil Blockbuster) then I consider it money well spent.
Edited for bad spelling. But I reserve the right to keep all the other mispelled words.

 

[Jack Briggs]

It is a thrilling joyride of a film, and the DVD is simply one of the best-looking yet released.

I hope Moulin Rouge portends a new era and new style for Hollywood glamour. This is the way a musical should be done. And the film is a veritable symphony of color.

 

[Cees Alons]

The opera that's "close to it" is La Traviata by Guiseppe Verdi, which in turn is based on the novel (and play) La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas (fils, meaning: the son).
Seeing this movie was an exceptional experience, unlike any recent movie. Not only was it a feast for the spectators, but the original and brilliant use of several techniques, including visual (CGI) as well as more classic cinematical techniques was a revelation.
One of the most interesting and exciting films of a decade. Only problem: you wouldn't know that until you sat through the first 10 minutes.
My whole family and me loved this musical (and DVD)!
Cees

 

[Ryan L B]

now i have advise for watching this movie. If you turn it off within 15 min to 30 min because it is too campy or too stupid for you, give it a chance. It really isnt that bad if you get through it. Oh yeah, this in NOT a womans movie.

 

[Ron-P]

What Jack and Cees said. I love this film, just cannot seem to get my fill. I might go buy a second copy as I have just about worn out my first
Peace Out~

 

[Bill Catherall]

Oh yeah, this in NOT a womans movie.

Do you mean it's not a "chick flick" or that women won't like it?

 

[Greg_M]

No, I believe the reason Nicole suffered from shortness of breath and fainting was the editing.

I liked most everything in the film - except for the editing - which is why I won't watch it again, it was too much of a chore.

 

[Steve Owen]

I must admit that I was a bit skeptical about this one. I had borrowed the DVD from my folks and it was sitting there on my shelf and so I decided on Sunday morning that I'd better watch it before the oscars started.

WOW! What an incredibly cool movie! I didn't think the idea of re-working pop songs would work, but it just did. This was amazingly bright, colorful, fun, and exciting movie. It was funny, it was sad, it was everything that a good movie should be. It transported me to another place for 2 hours like no movie has in a while. The acting was great. The sets were incredible. And Baz L. got completely ripped off on a best directing nomination.

Highly recommended.

-Steve

 

[ozar]

It was quite a surprise to me because I liked it, and I usually HATE musicals!

 

[Werner_R]

And Baz L. got completely ripped off on a best directing nomination.
I agree, I saw this one in theaters because people were always telling me that it was absolutely stunning. Excellent work by Baz, so colourfull and well paced. This ones comes very well recommended !

 

[Rich Malloy]

It was quite a surprise to me because I liked it, and I usually HATE musicals!

I've heard this many times in relation to this movie. I think it's true that this is in fact a musical for people who hate musicals.
But I love musicals. The Wizard of Oz, Singing in the Rain, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Cabaret, All that Jazz, Everybody Says I Love You, Dancer in the Dark, Hedwig and the Angry Inch... nearly the entire breadth and depth of musical film history, including my limited exposure to Bollywood.
But certainly not Moulin Rouge. Never have I seen a more perfectly hamfisted, cornball and hackneyed pastiche as this. In ROMEO + JULIET, Luhrman's gig was to take arty-seeming subject matter appropriated from a real artist, strip it of any depth and cultural distance, and adorn it instead with the slick familiarity of such generally adolescent mass-culture diversions as MTV. In MOULIN ROUGE, he does the same to an appropriation of far more banal subject matter - the pop culture detritus of the last few decades - packaged in the tackiest dime-store melodrama that doesn't even succeed as kitsch. Kidman's ample acting abilities are utterly wasted, and her few talent deficits (to wit, singing and dancing) are thrown into mercilessly sharp relief.
I predict Moulin Rouge will have all the lasting cultural impact of a Backstreet Boys album... but I concede this may be more of a hope than a prediction-proper.
So there!
After spending the last few months defending everything from "a.i." to "Ghost World" against the many nay-sayers, I finally get a chance to unload on a film!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Um, Rich, does this mean you didn't like the movie?

 

[Michael Reuben]

I finally get a chance to unload on a film!

Aww, Rich, you've been unloading on Moulin Rouge for a long time now. It occupies the same place in your Hall of Shame that Waking Life has in mine. But your choice is much braver, since you targeted a film with numerous staunch defenders, whereas I limited myself to an arthouse trifle that only Seth Paxton and a handful of critics even saw, let alone liked.
M.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Ack! You mean I missed my chance to defend WAKING LIFE? And shoulder-to-shoulder with Seth?

Ah well, it's far easier blasting a movie than defending it - and sometimes more fun! But rarely do I despise a movie so much that I'll make the effort. Indeed, not since "The Messenger"...

I mean, MR isn't even the best musical from this year. HEDWIG is superior in every way, and without the budget or star power. Shall I count the ways? Lessee... (1) music (2) main and supporting performances (3) music (4) original story line (5) quotable dialog (6) did I mention the music...?

 

[Ryan L B]

this is a movie that men will most likely enjoy as well as women since most men hate date movies or romantic comedies.

 

[Shane Gralaw]

After seeing the extended cuts of the dances on the second disc, I liked them so much better that I now get annoyed when I see the film versions. For example, who really wants to see Ewan hiding from the Duke's hinchman during the Hindi instead of seeing the Hindi itself? Especially after you know what you're missing!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Rich's comments are the sort I like around here: an opposite viewpoint from the one I share but interesting and thought-provoking to read. We could use a lot more of that sort of stuff around here!