I have to admit I was sceptical about Moulin Rouge, which is why I didn't shell out the bucks to see it in the theater. On the advice of my good friend Amanda (a chick, by her own admission) I watched the movie. It is bizarre, but outstanding. I actually like chick flicks (I have a special love for English period pieces like "Remains of the Day" and "Sense and Sensibility") but I don't understand why this movie even gets put in the chick flick category. It's far too challenging to be written off so easily. The creators of the movie were obviously trying to do SOMETHING - its not like they set out to make a standard song and dance love story and ACCIDENTALLY made this instead. It would be worth your time, I think, to watch the movie again and look for the intentionality behind why its constructed the way it is.
A great article on the movie, which I read after I saw it, appears in this month's edition of "Books and Culture - A Christian Review." It has some very helpful insights into the background of the movie, and made it more enjoyable for me to watch it the second time. There was some thinkin' going on when this movie was made.