My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Moulin Rouge, 2001

I know I talked about it at Oscar time, but I feel compelled to once again extol the virtues of Moulin Rouge. I'm going to try to be brief here so if you want to know what I said then, go ahead and read about it here.

Now, if you've seen the film, you know about the Green Fairy, but have you ever wondered why there was a green fairy? I think the Doctor has an explanation for us.

Basically, my theory is that she was turned into molecules and you can only see her after you've had enough absinthe. That makes sense, right? I mean it makes at least much sense as cat people or bees being aliens.


So, I love this movie and it makes you fall in love with it again and again. I never tire of it, I'm a little bit like a two year old in that respect. The Alamo Drafthouse had an Action Pack singalong of this and it was so great. You got a theater full of women, most of whom were around my age, all singing along, some of us not needing the subtitles. I even got a little competitive with this girl to my left who started singing stuff they didn't provide words for, so I joined in and then I sang the song that plays when Christian is waiting while Satine changes clothes in the elephant. Ha! You didn't know that one did you, woman? Somebody forgot to buy a little album called Moulin Rouge!: Volume 2! Then make a playlist in iTunes of the songs in the order in which they appear in the film, then sing only the Nicole Kidman parts. Yes, the whole thing works much better if you pretend Ewan McGregor is singing to you. Damn, how did that redhead get in this film? That's why it works better in the car where you can't actually see the movie.



So, 2001, favorite film: Moulin Rouge! Enough said. Also accepting your criticisms of my theory on how Kylie Minogue became a green fairy.

Made Then Remade: Ocean's Eleven 1960 & 2001

Some things are regarded as sacred. Take Frank Sinatra for example. My good friend, Layla, views Frank and all his works as sacrosanct, not to be dared attempted. Indeed, the man is a hero to many. One of my favorite episodes of The Sopranos is where Carmela and Tony extoll Frank Sinatra as one of the greatest Italians who ever lived along with Christopher Columbus and Michaelangelo. Yet, why do people attempt to imitate Frank Sinatra? George Clooney has his part in this movie, Denzel Washington has his part in the remake of The Manchurian Candidate and why the hell did his son ever attempt to have a musical career? Your dad was FRANK SINATRA, for crying out loud! You could have been the coolest accountant ever, instead you chose to be the singer who will always be remembered as never quite as good as your dad. And what the hell is Nancy's deal? Okay, time to stop the rant about the Sinatra kids.





That brings us to Ocean's Eleven. Now, time to confess my affinity for George Clooney, except the guy keeps ending up with cocktail waitresses. Whatever, you can't handle me... Any chance to watch George Clooney in a gleaming, shiny anything I am pretty much up for so when this came out I was all for it. Now, as for the original, I too, hold an interest in Frank Sinatra, but I respect his singing far more than his acting because that was where he tried the hardest. Sinatra was a good actor when he wanted it like in From Here To Eternity, but other times he was just going through the motions or seeing how little he could get by with, the latter being the case in this film. Not that he didn't have cause because he had spread himself quite thin. Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, can't believe you didn't know...) were also performing two shows a night at the Sands in Las Vegas and campaigning for John F. Kennedy. If you believe the HBO movie The Rat Pack, Frank was also setting Jack up with the same call girl Momo Giancana slept with and also having Giancana buy all the union votes in Chicago. Have the Sinatra and Kennedy estates called for a cease and desist order yet? So, the movie has some legends surrounding it to say the least and the legacy of the fim probably owes mainly to this because it's certainly not about the film itself.

The plots are similar and that's about it. Sinatra's Ocean plots with his army buddies to rob a group of Las Vegas casinos on New Year's Eve by knocking out the power. Clooney's Ocean plots with a gang of thieves to rob three Las Vegas casinos on the night of a big boxing match, those casinos owned by the new boyfriend of Danny's ex-wife, Tess, played by Julia Roberts. Sinatra's movie has a wife, too, played by Angie Dickinson and I have no idea why she's in it at all. He's Frank Sinatra so he has no problem playing at getting his wife back while he carouses with other women, seriously. There's also a big part for Peter Lawford with some sort of mother issues, that could probably best be explained by his being JFK's brother-in-law and finding the script. No, not really a big fan of Lawford. Then Sammy Davis Jr. does a song...



No songs in the other one. And I think it also has a stronger supporting cast including Carl Reiner, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon and the late great Bernie Mac. There's the other issue which is that Ted Griffin's script for the 2001 version is actually a much stronger story, with a clear antagonist, a reason for the ex-wife being there and lots of fun moments. I actually have no idea what is going on most of the time in the original. Do we need this money or what? The 1960 version doesn't have a lot of fun to it except when Dino sings and is full of guys lamenting that they're going to rob a casino. We're not doing Hamlet here, people! It's just a heist movie. Actually, if you watch David Tennant do Hamlet there is way more funny in that than than the entirety of the 1960 Ocean's Eleven. Now, the movie relies heavily upon Steven Soderbergh's intensely stylized direction, but once again, not doing Hamlet here so it's fine. So, I'm going to risk really pissing off Layla and saying that I like the 2001 version much more than the 1960 version.

Then they made Ocean's Twelve and I would like to go ahead and pick a bone here. The ending makes no sense! Eddie Izzard builds holograms? Is that even a thing? Tess looks like Julia Roberts, WTF? If Tess looks like Julia Roberts, then Danny and Rusty should stop stealing things and just rely on the fact that they look like George Clooney and Brad Pitt and instead open credit cards in their names. They more or less saved their legacy with Ocean's Thirteen, which in the end pays tribute to Sinatra, as Clooney says to the villain Al Pacino after his comeuppance, "You shook Sinatra's hand. You should know better, Willy." And of course this musical moment...



So, do you agree with Layla that I've lost my mind and think the original is perfect in every way? Or are you with me and think the 2001 edition is decidedly better? Tell me you at least agree with me about Ocean's Twelve. Let loose in the comments section.

Best Picture 2001: A Beautiful Mind

For this post, I am asking a question that I am somewhat afraid to know the answer to? Was A Beautiful Mind the best movie to come out in 2001? Keep in mind the competition was pretty stiff. Gosford Park, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Moulin Rouge! (Which actually has that exclamation mark at the end of the title)



A Beautiful Mind if you don't know by now is the story of mathematician John Nash and his battle with schizophrenia. Nash is played by Russell Crowe who completely managed to transform himself from Gladiator the year before. And he toured with his band the same year, which is another story that you are not interested in. Josh Lucas plays a mathematics rival of Nash's, Jennifer Connelly as his wife and also Christopher Plummer as a psychiatrist. It also costars Paul Bettany as a friend of Nash's from Princeton and Ed Harris as a mysterious government agent who wants Nash's math skills to fight the Russians. Now, SPOILER ALERT, those last two characters along with a little girl, Marcee, who's meant to be Bettany's niece are not real, which is a brilliant turn of events that Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman manage to pull off. This is done so well that the first time I saw the movie, I was halfway through when I asked, "When is he going to go crazy?" Nash's character is always a little bit off, driven by a quest for mathematical innovation so you never really suspect anything when he does something strange. You're taken in by the delusions so much that later when Nash realizes it's not real, you're in as much disbelief as he is. Howard always establishes the delusions with a clue: you always hear them speak before you see them. This isn't just a dramatic device, but also a reference to the fact that schizophrenics don't actually see their delusions, but they hear them, but this is a movie so you need something on film. There's a clue that I didn't catch until the second time I saw the film. Marcee runs circles through a flock of pigeons and the pigeons don't move. It sounds obvious, but if you're not looking for it, you won't even notice it or think about the birds. This is the type of film that will make your head hurt if you think about it too much, which is a great and a wonderful thing and I love this movie.



That said, was it the Best of 2001? Let's look at the competition. Lord of The Rings. Okay, it's not really my thing and I don't get why if the freaking Elves are so wonderful we all have to walk to Mordor and I don't like how the guy from the Matrix is their leader. Whatever, it's an accomplishment and I can appreciate that. I'll call it a contender. Gosford Park is amazing Oscar bait with its intricate plotting and the delicious dialogue. In The Bedroom, I've never heard anyone try to make a case for it. If you would like to make a case for it, that is what the comments are for. Then we have Moulin Rouge! directed by Baz Luhrman starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.



Now, how do you see that and not want to throw some Oscars at it? This movie singlehandedly revived the movie musical and brought us Chicago, Hairspray, Dreamgirls and Nine. I'm also going to credit it with Glee because I don't think that show would exist without this precedent. I get that the story is a little conventional. Boy meets prostitute, boy and prostitute fall in love, are almost torn apart by creepy rich guy, but love perseveres, prostitute dies of tuberculosis and boy goes off to fight the dark side. That last bit may not have actually happened. But remember it also gave us the timeless adage: "Never fall in love with a woman who sells herself. It always ends bad."



The magic of A Beautiful Mind can only happen once. If you know the trick with Nash, you can't be fooled again. The magic of Moulin Rouge! can happen again and again, you're always sucked back into the characters and I get verklempt watching the finale. In fact, knowing what happens may well increase the emotions involved.



Has anyone else ever wondered what the audience in the theater is thinking at the end of Moulin Rouge? Like, "Why did the male lead just change actors? Not complaining, the new guy's hot." or "Is that bald guy with the gun in the play?" Or even, "Wasn't this place a brothel last month?"

So, any thoughts? Moulin Rouge or A Beautiful Mind? Or have I totally gotten it wrong and you would like to pull a Kanye for Lord of The Rings?