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Reviews
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
worst film I've seen in years
What a dreary experience Moulin Rouge was. It's the worst film I've seen in years. The story was unoriginal and mostly predictable, the songs mainly banal (though I admit there are few American musicals whose songs attract me much), and Ewan McGregor can't sing - he just opens his mouth too wide and sounds come out. Nicole Kidman made quite a good fist of her singing opportunities, though. She, and maybe Jim Broadbent's comic talent, were the only aspects of the film worth the trouble of sitting through it. (I did so because my wife mildly enjoyed it).
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Not bad but too swashbuckling near the end to be credible
Well-crafted film with plenty of scenic verisimilitude and historical references, such as to stagecraft and theatrical customs of the time. Well-written script, and easy-to-take morsels of Shakespeare for the uninitiated. Judy Dench, who got the best lines (and an Oscar) didn't look the least bit like Queen Elizabeth, however. And Joseph Fiennes was miscast: long narrow face and too much the Hollywood or Pinewood male screen idol of the 20th century. And it's quite incredible that Shakespeare, an actor and writer, would take on an experienced soldier in mortal combat, and even less credible that he would fight him off. This must have been devised for the American audience who, film-makers now seem to think, have to have a fight-scene near the end of a film or they won't go to it. Is that really true?
Wagner (1983)
Liked the film but would have liked to spread it over 2 days.
Beautifully visualised, acted and scripted - whoever said "boring script" must set Terminator or Rambo as his ideal. My chief criticism: the death of King Ludwig was oddly placed (too early making that part of the film disjointed). Perhaps too long but the subject merited it; I saw it in a club showing, but would have preferred to spread it over 2 days.