I tried it again, and it still sucks.

Rating: Null/10 (1 December 2002)

Ok, I am visiting friends in Colorado and they tell me I just HAVE to see Moulin Rouge! Now, I like Ewen McGregor in Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine and others, so I said "Why Not?"
Five of us sat down to watch this thing on DVD or was it VHS? I don't remember. Of the five of us, three were enthralled, laughing and crying and swooning with the "plot" for the umpteenth time. Two of us, however, glanced at each other with looks of dismay and disgust. Finally, 30 minutes into the film, Brian got up, went to the player, and pressed STOP. "Now, you all have seen this before, right?" he asked. "Yes," they assured him. "Then I hope you don't mind if we skip over this worthless piece of trash," he said kindly but seriously. I breathed a sigh of relief when our hosts, with a slightly hurt look, gave in to Brian's request.
This film is a shallow and ultimately boring spectacle for the masses who eat up whatever Hollywood feeds to them. That anyone could be impressed by this pretentious and unimaginative trash amazes me. The music from Moulin Rouge! is a hodgepodge of poorly-done snippets of songs from the modern pop era. A cheesy disco version of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit blends into equally repulsive versions of Lady Marmalade, Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, and Material Girl. The film boasts flambouyant but shallow characters. It's a worthless and pathetic piece of trash and I had as strong a reaction to it as if I had stepped into a puddle of vomit.
It was on TV again last night, and I was at home with some close friends. I decided to give the film a second chance. I made it to about 30 minutes, but this time all of us were in total agreement that this movie is the flashiest piece of crap ever passed onto the public as art. We agreed to turn it off.
I suggest you do the same.