843. Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Running Time: 94 minutes
Directed By: Baz Luhrmann
Written By: Baz Luhrmann, from story by Andrew Bovell, Baz Luhrmann
Main Cast: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson, Peter Whitford
Click here to view the trailer

DANCE, DANCE REVOLUTION!

Dang, I've skipped clear from 1994 to 1992, but it was only because "Strictly Ballroom" is streaming on Netflix and I needed something to watch in a pinch. Expect a few more jump arounds between now and the end of the season, as my main goal is to just get the 90s finished off.

It's Baz Luhrmann, so you know the style of film that we're dealing with here, as "Strictly Ballroom" looks a lot like "Moulin Rouge", in that it's characters are, at times, cartoonish and the whole thing is very showy. Paul Mercurio is Scott Hastings, the young, hot shot dancer on the block who has been pegged to win all the year's competitions. However, during a competition, he takes liberties on the dance floor and sways from the traditional steps that would define "strictly ballroom". He loses the competition and his partner, feeling disgraced, leaves him for Scott's competitor, Ken Railings (I loved this character, for some reason). Scott, needing a new partner in anticipation for the Pan Pacific competition (the World Series of the dancing world, if you will) chooses rookie dancer Fran (Morice). He works with her for a few weeks (in what equals out to a pretty fantastic montage) and in the process, the two fall in love. Leading up to the Pan Pacific competition, rumors swirl that Scott will enter the competition and display his new, rebellious dance moves. Meanwhile, Scott's mother (Thomson - in a great performance) and the president of the Australian Dancing Federation, Barry Fife (Hunter), do anything in their power to stop Scott and keep the phrase "strictly ballroom" in the Pan Pacific competition.

The whole thing is very cliche and very predictable. Literally, within the fist ten minutes of the picture, I had the whole movie figured out, as we've seen this formula a thousand times before. What's unique and what probably compelled the writers of THE BOOK to include "Strictly Ballroom" is Luhrmann's presentation. You know, I found myself, at the beginning of this movie, saying to myself "I don't care for Luhrmann's style, it's just not for me". However, I found myself getting swept up in the theatrics of it all. Recently I heard someone use the phrase "pure cinema" and while I didn't stick around to get the text book definition of the term, I think it's pretty obvious what it means and I think Luhrmann's pictures (notably "Moulin Rouge" and "Strictly Ballroom") are perfect examples of what that term stands for. Whether they're for me or not is a different story, but I can definitely say that Luhrmann's pictures are the text book examples of what a night at the cinema should encapsulate: showy costumes, boisterous characters and music that doesn't just linger in the background. These movies are loud, but not too loud and the word "grand" also comes to mind. They're in your face, but for the most part, you welcome it. Luhrmann obviously has a penchant for entertaining and it's hard to deny him the title of master entertainer, again, whether this was for me or not. And if it wasn't fully for me (which it wasn't, not fully), I fully accept the responsibility and don't place any blame on anyone else.

Seriously though, these characters were just too good to be true. What was it about Ken Railings that I loved. I loved his deviousness, his wicked smile and his shimmering, blonde pompadour. Shirley Hastings - the stage mother, had a villainous quality that I couldn't stand, yet ate up with a spoon. And then there was Barry Fife, played by Bill Hunter (who is quickly becoming a favorite, after his performance here and in "Muriel's Wedding"), a heel to end all heels.

There's not much left to say about "Strictly Ballroom". While the characters and the grandeur of it all were welcome and exuberant, the predictable plot and cookie cutter nature of the whole thing was off putting and the general story was just, sort of *meh*. To hinge your entire film on a dancer who is going to DEBUT SOME NEW DANCE MOVES!!...well, it's just a little silly, isn't it?

RATING: 6.5/10  VERY VERY close to a '7', but I found it difficult to bring myself to propel this movie into that upper echelon of film. Still a fine film though, with nearly just as many pluses, as there were minuses.

MOVIES WATCHED: 749
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 252

October 26, 2013  1:01pm

959. Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Running Time: 127 minutes
Directed By: Baz Luhrmann
Written By: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce
Main Cast: Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, John Leguizamo
Click here to view the trailer


ELTON JOHN, NIRVANA and RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN MASHED TOGETHER IN PERFECT HARMONY

For the curious, "Welles Week" will commence tomorrow and conclude this week, but for now, since I'm still waiting on "Touch of Evil" to arrive from Netflix, we celebrate Memorial Day weekend by visiting Paris, France at the turn of the century and a cabaret known as the Moulin Rouge!

Christian (McGregor) has come to Paris, at the turn of the century, to pursue his writing career. As he sits in his room, waiting for his creative juices to flow, he is intruded on by a group of performers, led by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Leguizamo). The performers had been rehearsing for a play when one of their lead members, a narcoleptic, fell asleep. Toulouse-Lautrec requests the help of Christian to help them fill the part, so they can resume rehearsals. Christian helps them out and in the process, proves he is a talented writer, when he helps them sort out some lyrics to one of their lead songs. The play their writing is called "Spectacular Spectacular" and they plan to shop the script to Harold Zidler (Broadbent), owner of the Moulin Rouge. At the Moulin Rouge, the swankiest cabaret in all of Paris, Zidler serves up a buffet of a bevy of women, most notably his "Sparkling Diamond" Satine (Kidman), the star of Zidler's cabaret and soon to be star of "Spectacular Spectacular". When Toulouse-Lautrec's play is given the green light, he insists that Christian stay on, due to his immeasurable talent. Now, all Zidler needs is financing from The Duke (Roxburgh), which he gets in exchange for Satine's hand. However, after an evening together, Satine and Christian fall head over heels in love and now they must keep their romance a secret to avoid The Duke pulling the plug on the entire production.

"Moulin Rouge!" is entertainment personified! It's a living, breathing script that sparkles on the screen, is full of life and doesn't let up until the big, red curtain falls.  I can see where this picture might not be something for everyone, but it worked for me and I was nothing but entertained by the entire production. It's a truly unique musical, one that uses previously popular songs like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, "Your Song" by Elton John, "Like A Virgin" by Madonna and "Roxanne" by The Police and transforms them in an original way, to fit this script. Speaking of the script, that's another marvelous piece of the puzzle, as you basically have a movie going on within this movie, as the play that Christian writes mirrors what's actually going on in the film itself. The film uses the aforementioned music to fill in the story, allowing the music and the actions of the characters to work as dialogue and key plot points. For example, the "Elephant Love Medley" (which features songs from The Beatles, Phil Collins, Elton John, U2 and Whitney Houston) is used to have the characters of Satine and Christian fall in love, without the use of dialogue, actions or any other, non-musical communication. It's quite genius really!

The lead actors do a fine job, as Nicole Kidman has never looked more stunning, but it's really the secondary players that make your acting chops salivate, as Jim Broadbent and Richard Roxburgh steal the show as Zidler and The Duke respectively. There are times when everything DOES seem a bit over the top, but then you realize it's a musical and in the interest of entertaining it went big and succeeded. You may need to sit back from the screen during the finale, as there are so many sparkling and luminescent images covering the screen, that it may just throw you into a seizure. "Moulin Rouge!" is, perhaps, the last great musical ever produced and I'm sure Busby Berkeley and Bob Fosse would be proud of the grandeur that is on showcase in this one. I'm sure it's an easy film to hate, but I couldn't help but love it.

RATING: 8/10  Couldn't go all the way, but it's a fun movie and if you're a fan of classic musicals, this is almost like a throwback to them.


MOVIES WATCHED: 466
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 535

May 29, 2012  1:23am