The Top Film of the 2000s

As the end of the decade grows super-near – just a few more hours – I thought it was time to declare Moulin Rouge! as my pick for top film of the 2000s.

Baz Luhrmann’s masterpiece, robbed of a Best Picture Oscar back in 2002, is an energized piece of art and the musical that single-handedly revitalized the genre.

(I’d say Evita from a few years earlier was it had it not been so overlooked, mostly because Madonna was in it, I’m sure.)

Moulin Rouge! made a leading lady out of Nicole Kidman, who earned her first Academy Award nomination for her turn as Satine, the Moulin Rouge’s Sparkling Diamond,…and who – yeah, I’ll say it! – hasn’t looked any more naturally beautiful since.

The film also turned us on to cutie patootie Ewan McGregor as a singing talent, and put the world on shuffle long before Apple ever did (en masse, I mean) with its eclectic soundtrack featuring a sexy and divarrific revamp of “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink, as well takes on David Bowie, Nirvana, Elton John, Madonna, and the Police, not to mention the gorgeous “Come What May.”

The film’s pièce de résistance, though, is the “Elephant Love Medley,” which you can watch and enjoy herewith:



A film about Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love, the ever-inspiring Moulin Rouge! is definitely in a genius league of its own.