Shamefully Bad; An Appalling Half-Attempt at Making a Movie

Rating: 1/10 (29 September 2007)

I'm sick of Baz Luhrmann. The overly surreal director has ruined the world of films with his dreadful "Red Curtain" trilogy, a trifecta of nauseatingly colorful and gapingly overdone "films" that pass for art fare in a world where "Sin City" is considered Oscar material. "Moulin Rouge" is a peculiar musical which incorporates an abysmal story with the anachronistic use of several popular 20th-century songs-- a feat which we're supposed to view as genius. Sadly, the songs are terrible. With, that is, the exception of "Roxanne," which is horrifyingly mangled in a performance by a man who desperately needs to clear his throat. Every acting performance in this movie comes across as something no director with a frontal lobe in his brain would ever let pass. The worst offenders are Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, whose terrifyingly horrid turns just defy description. Go away, Baz. Either that or start really trying.