What I Watched -- Moulin Rouge!

This movie is a little bit hard to watch. The cinematography is all over the place - cameras zooming around, lots of flashing lights, camera cuts, bright colors, and fantasy. On the other hand, the sound is great, and there is a fascinating combination of snippets from historical and pop culture. All mixed up into the script of the movie are lines from songs and quotes from plays that you're guaranteed to recognize. It's fun to see if you can name their source - from Madonna to Sting and the Police to Fatboy Slim - as they come whizzing at you, one after another.

As for the plot, it's a love story, and a musical. There's the guy she loves, and the guy who commands her attention, and those are two different guys. Problems ensue. In typical dramatic love story fashion and given that this is a movie musical about actors/singers/writers putting on a play, you can imagine that there is a lot of, as K says, "crying and dying." Drama, drama, everywhere.

It's pretty clear from the beginning how this movie is going to end, so you don't have to pay a whole lot of attention to it. (I didn't.) But it's nonetheless a visually and auditorily engaging experience, if you're into that sort of thing.

Bottom line: if you're looking to engage your brain, do not watch. If you're looking to engage your eyes and ears, go ahead.