For the last month, I’ve had exactly one hour of paid work a week.
You know how holidays go – for the first few days it’s the best time ever. You see old friends, or do stuff you’ve been meaning to do for six months. Then the first few days are gone, and your level of maturity comes into play.
Child: Immediate boredom; begging for candy ensues.
Teenager: Immediate boredom; buying of candy ensues. The allure of candy soon wears off and you fall into a torpid half-life until school resumes.
Adult: You keep doing the stuff. . . for a while.
Today I stopped doing the stuff.
Which is, in its own way, awesome. But until I get off my sit-upon once more, here’s a random film review.
Moulin Rouge!
If you don’t already know all about this film, I’m stunned. It really is spectacular spectacular.
If you haven’t seen it – yes, the rumours are true; it’s a musical. But not the kind of musical where the plot stops and you have time to go the bathroom, buy some more candy, and catch up on your email before the movie gets good again. It’s the kind where (a) the songs are either short, intercut with action elsewhere, or both, and (b) the movie wouldn’t actually make sense without the songs. Also, the songs are good. You’ve heard all of them before, so if you must, you can just think of those sections as an especially well-done film clip.
This is a HIGH ENERGY movie!!! It’s frenetic and fast-moving and the visual style is manic. It is an epic, tragic romance set in sumptuous times with everything you could possibly want: comedic misunderstandings, eye candy of both genders, Moulin rouge dancers, life-and-death chase scenes, slimy villains, and death. When it first came out I predicted a slew of imitations. I was wrong – presumably because no-one dared try.
Nicole Kidman’s waist has never been so small, and Ewan Macgregor has a startlingly good voice – the sound track is behind compare. It is impossible not to watch this movie and fall in love at least a little bit. It is a story about Truth, Beauty, and above all, LOVE.
You forgot to mention the very important fact that it is so bad that it redefined the value of ‘crap’ for a whole new generation of crap.
…I don’t see how you could possibly miss mentioning a thing like that…
Ben: Whatever.
Contrary to Ben (what? Me disagreeing with Ben about movies?), it’s been one of my favourites for years. Its sheer audacity is one of its big points, and the over the top drama is another. Kind of like what I think of Glee.
W: For some reason, hearing YOU say “sheer audacity” and “over the top” made me think of “REPO! The Genetic Opera.” One thing those two movies have in common.