Moulin Rouge

Pros: Intensely visual and well paced
Cons: Terribly distracting music takes away from the story line

After seeing Strictly Ballroom a few years ago I was very impressed with director Baz Luhrmann. The story was compelling, the music was appealing, and the style was vivid and exciting. Because of that I looked forward to Moulin Rouge,...

Pros: Manic, Frantic, Fast, Loud, Outrageous and over the top
Cons: Manic, Frantic, Fast, Loud, outrageous and over the top

There is not a single literal moment in Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge. Yes, the Moulin Rouge was a real place. Yes, Toulouse Lautrec was a real man. But even so. They do not exist. None of this is true.

Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting)...

Pros: Fusion piece blows apart boundaries of musicals a la "West Side Story" 40 years ago.
Cons: Even this ultra-hip modern fable misses some of the ironies of its thesis.

The first 15 minutes are designed to disorient you. This neatly deconstructs expectations of everything that "Moulin Rouge" might be, and opens the mind to an extraordinarily fun and highly original movie.

The musical in the 1980s were largely...

Pros: McGregor and Kidman, reworking of the genre
Cons: a bit of sensory overload at times

I'll say it right away, Moulin Rouge is a movie that you will either love or hate. I have never heard so many differing opinions, having met people who left the theater early and those who returned to the theater over 20 times. So, I'll speak for...

Pros: Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, fine performers, in a movie musical unlike any before...
Cons: Anachronistic, yet innovative...It sometimes stretches beyond the boundaries of true entertainment...

I love movie musicals. I grew up watching such wonderful fare as "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music", "The King and I" and numerous others. (Okay, I guess I just dated myself.) When I came of age, I even acted in a few of them. I can still regale...

Pros: Music, acting, setting, plot, etc etc
Cons: None

I have seen few movies with the ability to make me feel ten emotions in ten minutes without the movie having a choppy feel to it. However, Moulin Rouge has accomplished this effect perfectly.

It all starts in 1899, when an English writer,...

Pros: Highly stylized, over-the-top production than never slows down
Cons: Can be a little too over-the-top at times

Borrowing ideas from the past has been a staple of the entertainment industry for years. Look at the string of teen slasher movies that followed Scream, or the gritty, noir-ish crime movies that followed Pulp Fiction. Baz Luhrmann's...

Pros: The film is unlike anything else this summer.
Cons: It is definitely not for all tastes.

(Dir: Baz Luhrmann, Starring Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Richard Roxburgh, Jim Broadbent, John Leguizamo, Jacek Koman, Matthew Whittet, Kerry Walker, Caroline O'Connor, David Wenham, Christine Anu, and Garry McDonald)

With a splash of Gene...

Pros: Sweeping, gorgeous spectacle. Achieves its intended purpose.
Cons: Tries to do too much. Tech and theory tricks that go over most people's heads

I know I’m going down in flames here.
But:

I have seen everyone else who reviewed this movie bandy about all sorts of charming little phrases like “MTV-inspired” . You must have had the same pompous geek prof that I did for Film 101, the...

Pros: Stunning cinematography, you'll feel tingles up and down your spine, THE SOUNDTRACK
Cons: none!

Sometimes a reviewer cannot put his feelings about a film into words that are scattered about page. I came to this realization after I saw the the film Moulin Rouge. I came out of the theater feeling refreashed and reassured that good quality films are...

Pros: a visual trip and a half; good love story, amazing production.
Cons: relies a bit too much on "trendiness". Nobody in the cast can pronounce the title.

I get odd little prejudices about films; mostly they are based on what I read (example: I have a huge prejudice against _Pearl Harbour_... when a film gets panned even by the Toledo Blade, give it a wide berth. ) But for some reason (probably due to my...

Pros: Acting, script, sheer originality
Cons: Confusing at times, a little too many songs

No age restriction for a film about the world's most famous club? You've got to be kidding me. But believe it, although it may not satisfy horny movie goers, Moulin Rouge is brilliant.

Kidman, particularly, is back with a vengeance. Her...

Pros: Sumptuous setting, dreamy plot, wonderful silliness, great performances
Cons: May be in inaccessible to the idiotic and narrow-minded

Moulin Rouge is more about an ideal than a reality. The film doesn't simply take us into a realistic decadent world more than than it creates a fantastical pocket reality of it and shoves and unloads on all our senses. Fans of Baz Luhrmann's previous...

Pros: The music, the sets, the plot, the bright flashing lights!
Cons: The script and ending, eeek!

"This is a story about truth, beauty, freedom, and most of all, love."

I think not. Lies, prostitution, entrapment and trash (and maybe a *dash* of true love) encompanies the themes of Baz Luhrmann's new rock-opera, Moulin...

Pros: I can touch the LOVE in this great movie.
Cons: It may be TOO much love for some.

My God...the love in this movie is palpable. Love in the making of it, the singing of it, and in the acting of it.

I love this movie...and though I can't sing worth a damn, I can't help but sing Ewan McGregor's version of Your Song...