Moulin Rouge!

Directed by Baz Luhrmann, Moulin Rouge! (there is an exclamation point in the title, by the way, I'm not just putting that in 'cuz I'm excited or something) is a musical and cinematographical masterpiece. The very beginning is always confusing, as Luhrmann tends to do so with his films. It's almost as if he wants to scare away his audience, or at least the disinterested audience. If you're one of the braves ones who stick around to truly judge a movie's worth, Luhrmann saves the best part of the movie for you. Once the initial flash dies, everything else clears, and Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman both perform the roles of their lives. Their actual voices are used in the movie, and what voices they have! Many musical films have an issue with ADD in the audience. I, for one, don't like movies that have a long musical number, and then another about fifty seconds later. It's hard to stay in the mood for it, but Moulin Rouge! avoids that issue altogether. Every song is beautiful, especially "Elephant Love Medley" and, my personal favorite, "El Tango de Roxanne." Luhrmann cleverly makes new and fresh songs out of old ones, so you find yourself surprisingly knowing the lyrics and possibly singing along. It is a tragedy, I'll give you that, and the ending is ridiculously sad and depressing. However, the final stage scene wraps up just about the best edited film of the musical genre. Sit back, relax, and remember: Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love ;)
Look who's talkin',
Amanda