Last night, Joey spent the night with her friend so Ed and I decided to take advantage of being child-free for a night and went to a movie. Based on lucretia's advice, we headed off to see Moulin Rouge.

In short, we both *loved* it. There were times when I felt like I was in the middle of a Banana Splits or Monkees episode, but I decided I was just going to go where they decided to take us and I wasn't disappointed.

You have to give up any notion of what a movie is/should be and what a musical is/should be. And you have to accept that a movie can be self-aware, hilarious, poke fun at itself and yet be touching and intimate. I laughed my head off at many of the songs they chose, like Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and The Police's Roxanne, Madonna's Like a Virgin and Paul McCartney's Silly Love Song. If you knew the songs, they were hilarious in their placement, but then at the same time, they worked. If you didn't know the songs, then they were just music and lyrics and worked just fine on that level, too.

And let us not forget to discuss the handsome and talented Ewan MacGregor. He is *so* cute and he has a clear, strong singing voice. I will most assuredly be getting the soundtrack. Tomorrow, most likely. Nicole Kidman has a decent voice, too.

What surprised me most was that my husband really dug the movie, too. I guess I don't give him enough credit sometimes. He took the attitude I did--let's just let go and let this movie wash over us and see where we end up. That is the only way to watch this movie. Watch it with your heart and with your spirit and don't try to hold it to any kind of rules--just let it be what it is.

Enjoy!

--L