honscot

I agree with Gleiberman's assessment - my first viewing in the theater was a bit much, but its status has risen since. I used to really hate all the pop songs; I thought it was kinda insulting on Baz's part to think that a modern audience couldn't handle all original music. I've revised that opinion though - at the time it was the right thing to do, to usher today's audiences into the concept of the musical with some familiar music. Plus the entire sequence for "El Tango de Roxanne" is masterful, top to bottom. And of course "Your Song" is miraculous. (The "Like a Virgin" bit is still intolerable - I always skip it.)

My biggest problem is still what it always has been: Nicole Kidman. I find her shrill and off-putting. One critic said that you could sympathize with her without actually liking her, and I agree with that. She fits into the artifice and aesthetic of the world well, but she's just doesn't seem worthy of Christian. And maybe that's partially the point.

Not a big fan of Fight Club because a) I hate Brad Pitt and b) not too fond of Edward Norton either. In Bruges started strong but turned so brutal in the end it put me off a bit. I admired King Kong more than liked it. The giant bug / swamp scene scarred me for life.

I wish Down With Love and Velvet Goldmine could get revisited by some mainstream critics. They're both deeply loved among the web critics I follow.

I was always meh about Nicole too. I thought her brittleness served the role well, but I didn't like her much. And seeing the movie in the theater nine times made me too aware of the divot in her nose. It started to wig me out.

Thinking back, the only female love interest of Ewan's films I've really liked was Susan Lynch in Nora. I suspect that I jealously nitpicked at the others *shamefaced* but I don't know what made Ms. Lynch so special for me. I thought her performance was outstanding, I think she's beautiful, and I was impressed that Ewan so graciously yielded to her and didn't scene-steal, though he could have.

Sorry to digress. I was looking over some of my films and saw MR and ALLO and DWL and was regretful that ALLO, particularly, was hardly ever watched because I could. not. stand. Cameron Diaz. Sorry...ramble ramble...I'm stoned.

I'm helpless against ALLO because Ewan is so maddeningly adorable and wee and hapless and sweet. I'm too busy swooning to notice Cameron Diaz, though she can test the nerves.

Olivia Williams was outstanding in The Ghost Writer - powerful and intelligent and lethal in her cut-downs. Not exactly a love interest though. I'd love to see him in a pairing with maybe a Kate Winslet or Julianne Moore. Emily Mortimer was good though. Dream casting would be with Mariska Hargitay, my No. 1 female crush. Unh. I do love her so.

My older sister was the same way. I went to see it with both my sisters, and the elder dissed it, coming out of the theater - later, she went to see it three more times, then bought it. Ha. :D

Heh! All that stuff he says about seeing it the second time? I caught it the first time! And it's why I still use Moulin Rouge to teach about mise-en-scene and symbolism and how deeper meaning is embedded into a film.

It's magical - always has been, always will be. And, yes, El Tango de Roxanne is one of the most amazing sequences ever put to celluloid! Ewan is quetly magnificent and was really done badly by the awards season. One of my favourite moments in cinema is when he releases those joyful opening bars of Your Song and both Paris and Satine's face light up with enchantment. They were speaking for all of us!

"Your Song" is why movies were invented. I almost burst with Ewan-love when it starts and remain elevated until it's finished. Paris lighting up at that opening moment was inspired.

And yeah, we could fill books on how Ewan has been shafted by the big award givers. But the wrong people/performances getting the accolades is so accepted now it's practically a proverb. Still, it would be nice...

I've loved MR beyond reason since the first viewing (and saw it only six times in the theater, you beat me !) Its only real flaw as far as I'm concerned is the Like a virgin scene. Wyn found the right word about it : intolerable *shudders*

I'm not Nicole's greatest fan either, and it always bothers me when everyone is waxing poetic about her beauty and forgets to comment about Ewan who is the real heart of the movie for me.

And I loved In Bruges, it was one of my favourite movies of that year. Desperation mixed with humour pretty much always works for me.

It is fascinating, isn't it? How she's elevated to goddess and he's just the co-star. He's the heart AND soul of the movie.

I definitely agree that Ewan was the heart and soul of the film, but
I did enjoy Nicoles performance.
Ewan is the heart and soul of all his films, even if he is not the lead.

i'm not surprised that Gleiberman had such a changed opinion of it either. the first time i watched MR i thought it was quite a strange film but it was really well done and there was something about it that hooked my straight away and made me want to watch it again the very next day but it was only that second time that i really started to like and then love it. i didn't know ewan at all when i first watched MR, it was the film i fell in love with then after a couple of months of MR obsession it gradually started to become a Ewan obsession instead :D

as for the other films: i've never seen Fight Club. In Bruges, like you, i would give an A- but King Kong I would give a C at best :P i really didn't enjoy it

thanks for the scan Anika, it was really interesting

I hated MR the first time I saw it. I still have a love/hate relationship with it. I have to really be in the mood to watch it. I really don't know why, Ewan is absolutely fabulous. The soundtrack, on the other hand, I can listen to 24/7 and never tire of it.

I LOVED Moulin Rouge the very first time I saw it.
I didn't know who EWAN was, but I sure found out...
When he sang his first song, I fell in love.
This is my very favoirte Ewan film and I am so glad I went to see it and got he exsisted...

I thought the film was really wild and different, but I still loved it.
I love musicals and that's why I went to see it.
I got the surprise of my life with EWAN, and now I am a bit obsessed~~!!!!:)

Ewan was the perfect Christian and should have won an Oscar for his role.
I do like Nicole in the character of Satine. I think they were perfect together.
She is very talented, beautiful and has a lovely voice.
Of course Ewan is magnificent, gorgeous, and has a teriffic voice.
I love the soundtrack and when EWAN sings Come What May, I am in heaven.

I only saw it once at the show, but I have all the DVDs on offer,
and I have watched it many many times.
If it came back to a theater near me, I would definitely go to see it.

I am glad that those that didn't appreciate it the frist time around, have changed their minds about it...

I'm not gonna lie, the first time I saw MR way back when...well, I hated it. *cowers*

But after I fell into my Ewan fandom, and I rewatched it, I liked it better. Finally, it took a fellow lj friend giving me her take on the movie to truly open my eyes to it, and of course, now I love it.
I probably would have given that movie a D! LOL, I didn't even finish it the first time. *is ashamed*

You're lucky you chose your birthday to admit to such a felony ! You are a bad fan, Miss Woosie ;D Seriously, what did you hate so much about it the first time ?

I'm feeling a bit left out in that while (like some others here) I hated MR the first time I saw it, I've only actually seen it once. As such, I kinda still hate it...

However, I did really like the soundtrack (where thankfully they left out the songs which weren't sung very well, such as "The Show Must Go On"). I was feeling a bit homesick when I bought it as I was abroad, but it was being sold on cassette. I listened to the album several times before finally seeing the movie when I returned home. It's unfortunate that the very beginning of the soundtrack album gives away the ending of the movie....


Fight Club is one of three movies I like by David Fincher. Those being Fight Club, Seven and Alien 3. (And I do realise that even Fincher didn't like Alien 3.) It's odd how all of his movies seem to have a green (or sometimes yellow) tint. Fincher's movies all happen in The Matrix, don't they? But yeah, The Game had the most stupid ending ever (and a bad ending can really ruin a film), Panic Room was cliched and boring and Zodiac has to be one of the most forgettable movies I've ever seen.

In Bruges was my favourite movie in 2008.

King Kong is pretty good, but it's so long and I feel it goes downhill when they decide to go ice-skating.

Hi. Welcome. :)

I love the MR soundtrack as well. It's actually in two parts, did you know that? Soundtrack #2 is a wee bit more instrumental, but it's very nice. No, they never try to keep the ending a secret at all. I was shocked the first time I watched the movie, when I heard him say in the narration that she was dead. I just love the movie, though. It really is my favorite, though it rips my heart out. Maybe you could give it another try sometime. I've heard more than one person say they didn't like it the first time around (and not just in this post) but liked it later. The movie of Baz Lurhmann's that I simply can NOT watch is Romeo + Juliet. Oh wait, you and I already discussed DiCaprio, didn't we? Anyway, he's outrageously bad in the 3 seconds I managed to listen to him before I was outta there. Shakespearean English and DiCaprio is an exceedingly bad combination, in my opinion.

I'm not good at all with horror movies, can't take that suspense, so I didn't like the first Alien. I don't really like any of them, but the more creatures the better - there's less fright that way. Heh. But I have no desire to see Alien 3 again.

I hated Fight Club the first time I saw it, but that may have been because I didn't catch it from the beginning because I liked it when I saw it again recently. I also hated Seven, but I've only seen it once, years ago when it came out, and my tastes have changed a bit since then. Age, no doubt. Plus, I really like Kevin Spacey now, whereas I didn't really know who he was back then. I remember liking The Game; but again, I've only seen it the one time, years ago. I have plans to see both of those films again. Panic Room . . . is that the one with Jody Foster? Didn't like it. I did like Zodiac, though. Have you seen The Social Network? I haven't seen that one yet but it's in my Netflix queue.

In Bruges is awesome. My brother-in-law and his sons watched it with me, loved it, and decided they had to go there. They loved it - Bruges and the film. :)

Too funny. Did they ice skate in King Kong? Guess I blocked that out.

Thank you for the friending. I'm not sure I'm as informed as you when it comes to movies, etc., but I appreciate you wanting to add me.