tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post7756963910458025202..comments2023-11-05T02:01:53.847-06:00Comments on Antagony & Ecstasy: PERSONAL CANON: THIS IS A STORY ABOUT LOVETimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-35411264308588717932012-11-07T01:35:30.340-06:002012-11-07T01:35:30.340-06:00I feel like there should be a word for this sort o...I feel like there should be a word for this sort of movie, the more-cinema-than-cinema sort of movie that grabs film students so and shouts "This is what you can do with cameras and editing and sound and whatnot". Like all things that movies are that other arts are not, distilled into an injection and stabbed into one's bloodstream.<br /><br />For me, that special movie was "Run Lola Run", which I, like you, saw in my freshman year.<br /><br />Doubtless there have been others since, for younger folk than you or I.<br /><br />- AdamAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-8494749263106699542012-11-06T22:04:29.214-06:002012-11-06T22:04:29.214-06:00I saw this twice in the theater way back when. I ...I saw this twice in the theater way back when. I happened to be dating my wife at the time and was head over heels falling for her.<br /><br />Moulin Rouge! somehow captures that head over heels in love feeling better than anything. <br /><br />At this point I've gotten rid of most of my CDs in favor of vinyl or digital, but I couldn't part with the CD soundtrack for Moulin Rouge! because every few months I can't help but want to hear Elephant Love Medley, Your Song, or Come What May.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-12236618795089597692012-11-06T01:22:35.696-06:002012-11-06T01:22:35.696-06:00jjjonatron- I does my best.
GeoX- Besides the poi...jjjonatron- I does my best.<br /><br />GeoX- Besides the point, yes, and so much better than TPM that it's not even funny, but the film <i>is</i> hugely divisive, so I wouldn't worry too much if your memories are not positive.<br /><br />Mark- The Jane Campion reference lies in the way that Kidman is shot in some cases, which is much too similar to <i>The Portrait of a Lady</i> to be an accident; there's too many actors overlapping between Luhrmann's career and Campion's for me to believe he never saw it. As for <i>Gatsby</i>: I have not previously been on record, though I think it has been poorly-cast outside of Mulligan. I'd be onboard for any 3-D Luhrmann film, though, so it almost doesn't matter how it works as an adaptation.<br /><br />Vianney- Never ever, and it's been bugging me almost as long as I've had a blog. Fair to say that finally reviewing the film was a significant factor in getting this feature off the ground.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-68837985394902633812012-11-05T23:56:41.213-06:002012-11-05T23:56:41.213-06:00...
wait.
what?!?!
Ok, Unforgiven was a surpris......<br /><br />wait.<br /><br />what?!?!<br /><br />Ok, Unforgiven was a surprise, but Moulin Rouge?! I could have sworn to baby Jesus that you had reviewed it before, and even that your glowing words had pushed me to finally seek it out 10 years after it came out, having a nagging notion that I might have missed Something Important.<br /><br />I'm glabberfasted.Vianneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10456600888652409290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-68370767235365008712012-11-05T22:01:44.122-06:002012-11-05T22:01:44.122-06:001. I haven't watched MR in a while, but what J...1. I haven't watched <i>MR</i> in a while, but what Jane Campion reference?<br /><br />2. Thanks for calling out the human element--I feel like the film's always described as melodrama crusted over with visual goodies, but the movie does actually love and care about each of its characters so much that I'm unfailingly moved by it in a way I'd never be if it were purely 'let's do awesome cinematic things to this lame plot'.<br /><br />3. Tim, are you on record yet with a pre-opinion about <i>The Great Gatsby</i>? I sighed when I first heard it existed, then perked up when I heard Luhrmann was directing--surely if ever a director could pull it off...(Miyazaki notwithstanding)Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17353920564376471062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-67072919056814104682012-11-05T16:57:32.004-06:002012-11-05T16:57:32.004-06:00When I saw this back when it first came out, think...When I saw this back when it first came out, thinking I was oh-so-clever, I characterized it as "a distaff version of The Phantom Menace"--ie, all hollow spectacle with no substance behind it, only with romance instead of spaceships. Not gonna lie: I haven't seen the movie since that day, but I still kinda sorta think that's probably a pretty accurate assessment (though obviously, even in those terms, it's nowhere near as bad as TPM; few things are)--and also one that, in retrospect, is surely at least to a substantial extent beside the point.GeoX, one of the GeoX boys.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14658452994152399308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-56012432568985640362012-11-05T15:31:46.603-06:002012-11-05T15:31:46.603-06:00"Hell's geiger counter"... Amazing."Hell's geiger counter"... Amazing.jjjonatronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11572727325348235494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-91993748147025112002012-11-05T14:50:49.130-06:002012-11-05T14:50:49.130-06:00Rick- I absolutely love that bouncing moment you m...Rick- I absolutely love that bouncing moment you mention, and "The Pitch" is probably my favorite number in the whole movie, largely on the grounds you state: it goes so far into cartoon wackiness, and the actors, every last one of them, doesn't hold back a micrometer.<br /><br />Hayley- Excellent write-up. I wish I'd spent more (or any) time with the "Elephant Love Medley", which was for years my favorite part of the movie, and probably the best argument for why the jukebox musical conceit works so well here.<br /><br />Damian- Thanks for the heads up!<br /><br />Daniel- And thanks to you for the kind words. I certainly think that "great" applies to many or most of the films I'll be looking at, but I'm going to deliberately try to stay away from The Canon.<br /><br />Andy- I can't entirely disagree with your wife on the sometimes-unlikable style of singing that gets used on Broadway, but to me it's all part of the artifice. And of course, there are some people who just don't like that kind of wall between themselves and the movie, and I do feel sorry for them...<br /><br />Monica- Oh my God, that cut has always bothered me, too! I didn't want to mention it in the context of a love-in, but it totally takes me out of the climax for a second.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-66913972450961937532012-11-05T13:12:28.740-06:002012-11-05T13:12:28.740-06:00When I was sick with stomach flu last year I had w...When I was sick with stomach flu last year I had watched all of the "Red Curtain Trilogy" and came away feeling like this was the best film and it's my favorite of the three. You did touch on this in your post Tim, but the great thing about this movie is how unapologetic it is about everything it does. And some of the reworkings of the songs are terrific. (I actually like the version of "The Show Must Go On" in this than the original Queen version.)<br /><br />But there is an editing error that always annoys me when I see this. During "Come What May" when Spectacular Spectacular is being performed and Christian has crashed the show, he's walking back towards the stage and in one shot he's seen as either being near the orchestra or walking past them, but then in the next shot of him he's farther back than in the previous shot. That always annoys me even though I've seen this movie countless times. Monica Reidahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05226851228295746754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-28727371125141792872012-11-05T12:01:48.922-06:002012-11-05T12:01:48.922-06:00Really looking forward to reading each entry in th...Really looking forward to reading each entry in the series. I recently rewatched this with my wife, who vehemently disliked it (she hates the operatic Broadway style of singing, and therefore basically every musical post-1960, maybe even post-1950), but my complete and utter love for it was reaffirmed.Andy Stouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09710936074020320018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-48704612752137788272012-11-05T09:40:19.855-06:002012-11-05T09:40:19.855-06:00Best of luck on this new series Tim! Instantly I ...Best of luck on this new series Tim! Instantly I compare your idea of a "personal canon" to Ebert's fascinating "Great Movie" list. However, I find it refreshing that you're picking movies that you personally love, as opposed to "ye great filmes". Lord knows there's enough lists canonizing the standard greats already.David Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03666205737413060006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-91497081987269303392012-11-05T09:06:28.415-06:002012-11-05T09:06:28.415-06:00Actually, there is someone out there who considers...Actually, there is someone out there who considers Moulin Rouge a masterpiece of screenwriting.<br /><br />http://confusedmatthew.com/Moulin-Rouge.phpAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18107667687751077093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-83674399977866464802012-11-05T03:09:40.112-06:002012-11-05T03:09:40.112-06:00I was not much younger than you when I first saw t...I was not much younger than you when I first saw this movie and it remains one of the singular movie-watching experiences in my life. Countless films have I seen that I only remember wisps of, but this one...this one I can recall, on an almost scene-by-scene basis, the emotions I went through while experiencing it that first time.<br /><br />I remember the "What the hell is this?" reaction from the first 15 minutes. I remember thinking everybody must be bonkers praising something like this. I had never seen anything like it before, and I didn't "get" it. When the Green Fairy splits into duplicates of herself and everyone goes swirling like a drainpipe down to the Moulin Rouge, I was just about to give up on it entirely.<br /><br />And then you get used to the editing, and the song shout-outs are clever and you accept and understand the "gimmick" (as you call it) of the movie and simply go with it. <br /><br />And the movie turns, miraculously, on the "Your Song" segment. I remember just an explosion of joy in me watching it the first time (only Singin' in the Rain has ever come close again). I was a part of all the heightened emotion after that, and by the time the movie reaches the scene where the music swells to Whitney Houston as a heart-shaped firework explodes while the camera goes swirling around behind them, the film basically had an undying love from me for life.<br /><br />It's very rare to find a work of art that gives such vivid memories of itself the first time thru, but this one had such an effect on me. Before Moulin Rouge, the only musicals I knew were from Disney Animation. With this one as the gateway, they are now, of course, my favorite genre. hayleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01203127598513280855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-47125923452282554092012-11-05T02:14:21.007-06:002012-11-05T02:14:21.007-06:00Excellent!
This is one of those rare films I actu...Excellent!<br /><br />This is one of those rare films I actually dragged friends to see when it was out. "Is it good?" they'd ask.<br /><br />"You just...you gotta see it."<br /><br />You're spot-on with those first 10-15 minutes and how aggressive and assaultive they are, almost unpleasantly so. It felt like Luhrmann was daring you to walk out before he'd even begun. I remember thinking "man, if the whole thing's this self-consciously abrasive, I don't know if I can take it."<br /><br />I have to give props to the actors who, every single one, committed fully to Luhrmann and his vision for the film. "Brave" is a word that gets tossed around a lot when actors take certain kinds of risks, but "willing to look like an absolute fool in front of the camera, especially if I'm a glamorous, international star" is something much rarer IMO. There's a moment during "The Pitch" where the cast stands close together, and hops up and down in place to the beat of the song.<br /><br />Watching in the theater, I said "Wow, that's TRUST."RickRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17060339578835099120noreply@blogger.com