Burlesque reviews thread

I went and saw Burlesque last night, and as a gay man I knew I would enjoy it for the most part. But I had NO IDEA how FANTASTIC it would be!! I really can't remember the last time I was so entertained with a movie! What most people need to understand is that this movie is not the next great American cinema classic, nor does it try to be. What it aims to be is pure entertaining fun, and MAN DOES IT DELIVER! From the opening scene with Christina singing alone in the diner I knew we were all in for a real treat. The story is nothing really new: Ali (Christina Aguilera in a fabulous breakout performance) is a small town girl from Iowa who packs up and moves to LA to start a career as a performer. One night she wanders into the Burlesque Lounge and is immediately enthralled when Tess (a MAGNIFICENT performance from Cher) performs her opening number "Welcome to Burlesque". She immediately wants a job there doing whatever she can, and gets one as a waitress with the help of Jack (the delicious-beyond-belief Cam Gigandet). Eventually she convinces Cher and her gay assistant (Stanley Tucci--can he even give a bad performance? Is it possible?) that she can perform in the show and she is given a part in the ensemble. She eventually winds up going on for Nikki (the radiant Kristen Bell), who is not happy at all about the situation. When Nikki sabotages the act and people start leaving, Ali opens up her mouth to sing (Tess was always the only one who sang live). Let me tell you that my jaw was on the floor; it was a truly spellbinding moment. We all know Christina can sing, but DAMN. Of course she becomes the star of the club overnight, and the rest is history. While the story has been done countless times, Burlesque does it in a very refreshing and entertaining fashion. All of the musical numbers are memorable for their own reasons, and the for the first time I can say there was not one number in the movie that was forgettable. The cinematography in this film is not to be believed, it was just absolutely gorgeous to look at. There were many times throughout the film where I just had to smile. The last time a musical looked anything like this, in my opinion, was Dreamgirls. I think this film actually ups Dreamgirls in terms of cinematography. I really believe that this film will receive an Oscar nomination for the cinematography, and probably one or two of the songs. Cher's power ballad "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" was sensational, and Christina's ballad "Bound To You" was one of the most gorgeous and haunting performances ever seen in a musical film. The performances overall were wonderful, and Christina really surprised me. For her first film she did an absolutely fantastic job and was for the most part very believable. She has wonderful screen presence; I couldn't take my eyes off her everytime she was onscreen. Cher brings a very regal quality to her role, being the legend that she is. She still has it, both vocally and in the acting department. Cam Gigandet just oozed sexuality (Famous Amos cookies. That's all I have to say). Stanley Tucci plays a gay man for the five thousandth time in a film, but he was sensational comic relief. This was definitely a movie for women and their gay best friends, but the straight men were even entertained when I saw it due to the overabundance of sexy, curvy female dancers gyrating all over the place. You can tell that Cabaret had a huge influence on this film, and I even saw aspects of Gypsy in certain moments. My only real complaint is that after Cher's ballad the movie loses some of its enery for a little while, but when the finale comes it really hits with a massive punch and is sure to be considered one of the greatest musical movie finales ever put on screen. Go into this movie looking simply to be entertained and you will NOT be disappointed!

I didn't enjoy this at all and I wanted to like it so much. I have loved Glitter, Showgirls, and I am a huge fan of Christina, but I still was let down by this. Too long for what it is, and some of the characters (Alan Cummings, Kristen Bell) are grossly under-used. Songs I loved in the soundtrack (Cher's #) were performed in throwaway formats.

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I actually thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I went in there ahead knowing not to expect some life-changing movie but something that was just purely wanting to entertain you for two hours. I don't think anyone went into making this movie thinking they were going to be vying for any Oscars, atleast I hope.

The musical numbers I thought were stunning and had a wonderful style to them. The visuals were just amazing. The choreography as well I just loved. I do wish there were more long shots and less choppy filming so you had more of grasp of the whole look. My favorite numbers were both of Cher's and Christina's finale song. I do believe that Cher's big number could have been approached differently as it does kind of stop the entire movie and it take a while to get it going again. But nonetheless, you can't argue that Cher sounds better than ever and really commands your attention from the very first moment in "Welcome to Burlesque". Stanley as always was a great scene stealer. Alan Cumming was random and not necessary at all. I found the love interest for Christina to be really the weakest for me.

I do wish they had musical numbers for the other principals, specifically for Nikki (Bell). But I guess it goes against their no one else sings at the club but Tess, but would have been nice, and could have added more to the storyline and more conflict.

But all in all, it was way better than any Glitter, or Crossroads, hell I sadly enjoyed it more than Nine, and I wanted Nine to be amazing with such a cast. Nine tried to be groundbreaking with its casting but forgot that the material had to live up to that cast.

They knew their audience...women and gays. For what it was it was okay. Cher shined every time she was on the screen. The musical numbers and singing were great. My problem with the movie it dragged in parts. At times I would look at my watch and think "is this almost over". But again it was not trying to be an Oscar Best Picture. But I would not be suprised if the Golden Globes gives them a nomination and possibly Cher in their Musical/Comedy category.

Maybe instead of calling it BURLESQUE, they should have called it CABARETMOULINROUGECHICAGOSHOWGIRLSWANNABE.

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Oh, this always happens - a universally reviled film suddenly has its avid and crazed supporters. Every film in history. The reality:

In fourth place, Burlesque collected an estimated $11.8 million on around 3,500 screens at 3,037 locations for a $17.15 million five-day start. Its gross was on par with Rent, the last major musically-oriented Thanksgiving release, albeit with lower attendance.

3,500 screens and 11.8 holiday weekend equals unmitigated box-office failure. On a par with Rent (and we all know how much THAT grossed - although THAT awful film also has its rabid champions), but with less attendance and higher ticket prices. I predict the DVD will be out in about eight weeks.

Cher and Tucci had amazing chemistry. Now THAT was acting!!!!!

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The movie came to screeching halt whenever a song was sung because it was a non-related music video.

Cher needed to be in the finale seeing as how supposedly she was a performer at the lounge or was she just a performer for Xtina's entrance. There were a lot of inconsistencies.

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Just have to say, I loved it. Is it a great movie? No, but it's really enjoyable in an eye-candy kind of way.

I'd see it again, and I may just do that before it leaves the theatres.

I personally loved the numbers, and I didn't have a problem with them. Several of them did reflect the feelings of the performers even though the were persented on stage as part of the show. And, several were just stage creations.

To me it was the point of the movie. I thought the staging, costuming, and make-up for the numbers was very good.

I felt the musical numbers weren't great because I believe only one was in context of what was happening in the film (the one during the sex scene.)

Otherwise, they were just XTina music videos just stuck in the film. We got the point early on that she was killing onstage without her multiple musical numbers that all sounded similar. yes, yes we get the audience loves her and she is bringing the club to life.

Oh, and how does it make sense that Cher is "practicing her number" and its a mopey ass ballad. How exactly would that be worked into a burlesque number.

I loved the Cher song, but it just made no sense. And again, if Cher was the only singing headliner pre XTina, why wasn't she performing more.

Both XTina and Cher needed to be in the final number. The movie was anti-climactic.

I thought movie was ok, but it wasn't that campy or fun. It took itself pretty seriously.

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It was great fun! I loved it, I agree with the poster! Guys, this movie will is a "must-see" for any Broadway fan. Great musical numbers.

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