The Shrine

<div style='font: 10pt Verdana, Tahoma; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but man is it depressing.

For those that didn't know (I really didn't), it's actually a musical. Normally, I hate musicals. With a passaion. I'd rather pry my fingernails off with an icepick than watch West Side Story. But the songs didn't bother me in Moulin Rouge; perhaps because the songs never really take themselves seriously. (And they have more references to popular music than you can shake a stick at.)

I was impressed with Nicole Kidmann's and Ewan McGregor's voices; they did their own singing.

I reccomend seeing the movie—the first 45 minutes are complete sensory overload and just has to be experienced—just keep in mind you will not be feeling very up when you walk out of the theatre. (I knew this going into it, but quite a few people did not.)</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Arial; text-align: left; '>...all I heard was that Lady Marmalade went 5 weeks straight on American Top 40, which has been dubbed 'The Moulin Rouge Song'.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>Heh...looks like you saved me from writing a review. i would have written the EXACT same thing...weird</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Verdana, Tahoma; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Do you like tragic love stories as well? Not just like them, but get really affected by them? (For instance, Romeo + Juliet had me feeling the same way, only more so, and I consider the love story in Braveheart to be just as powerful as the fight for freedom.) I ask because I'm not sure how someone who didn't like tragic love stories would react to this film.

Then again, saying I like tragic love stories may not be accurate; they can just have a profound effect on me.</div>

<div style='font: 14pt Plakatbau; text-align: left; '>If 'Romeo +Juliet' made you feel the same way, look to the common factor - director Baz Luhrmann.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Verdana, Tahoma; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>Oh, that I knew. One of the reasons I wanted to see Moulin Rouge was because he directed Romeo + Juliet. They share some basic themes. I know how I react, though, I want to know how others react.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>Yeah, I've always been very affected by tragedies. They're some of the most emotionally draining experiences I can think of. The setup is the complete opposite of a comedy(?) in that everything is great and happy at the beginning and then all goes to hell in the end. I also can't stand watching a person with nothing but the best intentions just continuously be shat upon - that always makes me cry, no matter what the movie/book/etc. is about.

Tragedies affect me more when they aren't love stories though. I don't really like love stories...they're all basically the same and they're all done to death. Usually the degree to which I'm affected by a love story is directly related to my personal love life at the time I'm watching it. For example, I found Point of No Return to be one of the most poignant love stories I've ever seen simply because I was sort of pining for my girlfriend that I hadn't seen in weeks while I was watching it.

Strange...or maybe not...</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>to illustrate my point: Blow made me cry while Romeo & Juliet just kinda made me angry.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Verdana, Tahoma; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>I'll have to see Blow, never did catch it.

Romeo + Juliet... seriously, that effected me for a few weeks. No exaggeration. The play and the Zefferelli (sp?) version did nothing for me, but the new one did.</div>

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Ugh, naw. I actually kinda like the "Love Medley" that comes about in one part of the movie (and they air it as a "video" on VH1).</div>

<div style='font: 11pt arial; text-align: left; '>Hm...I didn't see the Luhrman version...perhaps I'll feel differently...I dunno though...dramatic irony really only serves to infuriate me and that's pretty much all Romeo & Juliet is.</div>