Moulin Rouge

An ingeniously scored, enormously splashy, rock 'n' roll and show tune rendered musical for the new millennium, Moulin Rouge features a melodramatically tragic love story about a penniless writer (Ewan McGregor) and a famous showgirl/courtesan (Nicole Kidman) set against the bohemian backdrop of Paris, circa 1900. Although the pair fall for each other while working on a stage extravaganza for the infamous cabaret of the title, they're forced to hide their affair from a wealthy, sinister English duke (Richard Roxburgh) who is bankrolling the show in exchange for Kidman's affections. While the plot may be simplistic, the leads keep the picture grounded with ebullient and affecting performances that stand out in spite of being upstaged by director Baz Luhrmann's non-stop spectacle of eclectic song and dance numbers made up of dozens of updated standards ("The Sound of Music"), pop classics ("All You Need Is Love") and modern rock hits ("Smells Like Teen Spirit"). If Busby Berkeley, Federico Fellini and Groucho Marx were to get fractured together on absinthe and collaborate on a musical, it might turn out something like this. Recommended. [Note: Befitting the over-the-top nature of the movie, Fox's double-disc director-supervised DVD is an extra-lover's dream. In addition to two audio commentaries, an interactive "Behind the Red Velvet Curtain" feature that allows viewers to click on a green fairy for mini-doc callouts, the ubiquitous HBO "making of," extended scenes, and a photo gallery, the DVD also boasts an extraordinary number of featurettes on the writing, acting, choreography and music, as well as 10 Easter eggs!] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 26, 2010—Fox, 128 min., PG-13, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2001's Moulin Rouge sports a great transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include the “Spectacular, Spectacular” picture-in-picture mode with commentary by filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, production designer Catherine Martin, cinematographer Donald M. McAlphine, and writer Craig Pearce (and a separate audio commentary by the same crew members), a “From the Bazmark Vault” section which includes a “Father & Son” alternate opening, an early cut of “Zidler's Rap,” “Baz Unleashes Unbridled Lust” on the cancan girls, an “A Kiss, a Touch or a Pat” alternate take, “Nicole and Jim Rehearse at Iona,” “Ewan and Nicole's First Dance,” “Zidler's Jig,” “Directing Man in the Moon and Deleted Cut,” “Directing Like a Virgin,” “The Duke's Happy Ending” outtake, “Jealousy Tango—The Early Tests,” “Rehearsing Ravishment,” “On Set with Toulouse Tonight,” and “Nicole Kidman's First Vocal Test: Sad Diamonds” (39 min. total), two music featurettes and an interview with soundtrack participant Fatboy Slim (32 min. total), “Design” costume and set design segments (31 min. total), a “making-of” featurette (26 min.), four extended dance scenes and an interview with choreographer John “Cha Cha” O'Connell (23 min.), a “Toulouse Tonight Web Series” featurette (21 min.), a section on costars Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent, and Richard Roxburgh (15 min. total), “A Creative Adventure” retrospective featurette (11 min.), a “Cutting Room” section with an interview with Lurhmann and editor Jill Bilcock and “Director's Mock Previsualisations” (8 min. total), “The Writers” section with an interview with Luhrmann and Pearce and a reading of an early treatment by Pearce (7 min. total), “The House of Iona” production featurette (7 min.), “A Word from Baz” intro (2 min.), an “Around the World with the Moulin Rouge!” location segment (2 min.), music videos for “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguiliera, Lil' Kim, Mya, and Pink, “Come What May” by Kidman and McGregor, “One Day I'll Fly Away” by Kidman, trailers, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for a winning contemporary musical.]