Wednesday 30 November 2011

Finally, Someone Made "Moulin Rouge" Entertaining

If you ever needed a reason as to WHY the Channel Awesome/That Guy With The Glasses collective are pretty-much THE force in the criticism-as-entertainment video genre... I'd say that this is the best example to date: a good chunk of the crew (primarily The Nostalgia Critic, Nostalgia Chick and a guest-appearing Brentalfloss, but Linkara, Spoony etc. get in some amusing cameos) dive into a nearly 45-minute breakdown of "Moulin Rouge" in musical format. Amusingly, the film itself is uniquely well-suited to being intercut with the TGWTG "house-style;" aka "mugging-the-shit-out-of-the-camera."

I'm embedding it below, but I really encourage people to visit the site - a really amazing amount of content from a refreshingly-diverse group of voices.



I know that reactions to TGWTG run hot-or-cold at this point, especially as they've become more ubiquitous. Depending on who you ask, they're either geek-culture revolutionaries or the worst thing that EVER happened to internet criticism; as they're seen as popularizing the move away from youtube-slideshow to character/skit-driven as the dominant style of the genre.

For the most part, I'm the mostly-affirmative camp. Having guys like these (along with the gang at ScrewAttack and the omnipresent juggernaut of James "AVGN" Rolfe) towering over this medium has been a consistent and welcome kick-in-the-ass reminder for me to step up my game and try newer/better/different things with my various projects.

Also, it must be said, I think the sheer diversity of voices and perspectives - that it's NOT "only" a site of the usual GenX Suburbanite White Male Nerds - they've assembled is an enormous good for web/geek culture overall. That they have so many female reviewers, for example, is a big net-positive; and while Lewis Lovhaug's (Linkara's) work-ethic and natural talent are what's made him a star (I really do think he's the best thing to happen to comic book journalism/criticism in a decade or more, not that there's much competition...) it's the uniqueness and sincerity of his cultural-outlook that makes his stuff so frequently refreshing.

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