by Sheri Boggs
I've seen the trailer for Moulin Rouge (directed by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet's Baz Luhrmann) three times now and every time it's a real head-scratcher. A bizarre pastiche of glittering Hollywood, 19th-century history, Las Vegas excess, oh-so-French naughtiness and retro musical stylings, this story of "love at the Moulin Rouge" isn't baffling to just me. Nicole Kidman, purring "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," is one thing, but hearing the Police's "Roxanne" drawn out into a Leonard Cohen-esque growl made all the people around me start snickering.
The movie looks completely overwrought, and the soundtrack even more so. David Bowie? Bono? Li'l Kim? Beck? I had to give it a listen. I can't believe I'm committing this to print, but I actually liked it. It's not that it's good -- it's not -- but it's bad in such an over-the-top gleeful way, it's really rather fun. The first track, David Bowie's "Nature Boy" is melancholy and atmospheric, like the prelude to a tragic musical, making it clear that everything to follow is going to be pure camp. "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Li'l Kim, Mya and Pink, is dreadfully hip-hop, opera fleshes out "Your Song," and surprisingly, both Kidman and co-star Ewan McGregor do well on their numerous tracks. It is not an album to take seriously, but it is worth having for the amusement factor alone.
I've seen the trailer for Moulin Rouge (directed by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet's Baz Luhrmann) three times now and every time it's a real head-scratcher. A bizarre pastiche of glittering Hollywood, 19th-century history, Las Vegas excess, oh-so-French naughtiness and retro musical stylings, this story of "love at the Moulin Rouge" isn't baffling to just me. Nicole Kidman, purring "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," is one thing, but hearing the Police's "Roxanne" drawn out into a Leonard Cohen-esque growl made all the people around me start snickering.
The movie looks completely overwrought, and the soundtrack even more so. David Bowie? Bono? Li'l Kim? Beck? I had to give it a listen. I can't believe I'm committing this to print, but I actually liked it. It's not that it's good -- it's not -- but it's bad in such an over-the-top gleeful way, it's really rather fun. The first track, David Bowie's "Nature Boy" is melancholy and atmospheric, like the prelude to a tragic musical, making it clear that everything to follow is going to be pure camp. "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Li'l Kim, Mya and Pink, is dreadfully hip-hop, opera fleshes out "Your Song," and surprisingly, both Kidman and co-star Ewan McGregor do well on their numerous tracks. It is not an album to take seriously, but it is worth having for the amusement factor alone.
