Thursday, January 13, 2011

Movie Review: Burlesque.

Hi readers! Welcome to my new blog, a shift from my Wordpress journal. Brand new year, brand new blog - not that I'll have a new one every year but I thought I'd try out Blogger which appears to open up windows to personalization. I'm still exploring and getting settled with some minor stuff on the blog such as links and what-nots, but for now I'll get things started on this blog with some shorter posts while the shift is being facilitated.

I caught Burlesque today, starring Christina Aguilera and Cher.

I was blown away by the movie because the theatricality of the show was way too awesome. The lights, the music, the dance steps - brilliant. Plus, the screen was really huge and the effect was just in-your-face and I felt very much like I was in a theatre watching a musical. The soundtrack's probably gonna be amazing, I particularly like Cher's solo towards three-quarters of the movie, "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me". I was never a Cher fan, not that I am now, but I think she's got such a powerful voice. She's got that song down and I really felt for her while she was singing that ballad.

I'm not too sure if this was Cher's virgin attempt at acting, but while she maintains her cool and status as a legendary singer, she brought on those crying scenes pretty well. Nothing about her was fake, and I think she had great chemistry with Stanley Tucci who has quite a bit of scenes with Cher in the movie. 

This was however Christina Aguilera's first shot at acting and I'd say she did a fine job though it takes a lot more to be a seasoned actress. Her intonation still seems a little unnatural but it's a pretty good attempt. This role of Ali is practically written for her, 'cause I can't think of any other actress or singer who has such powerful vocals, perfect dance moves and can carry off both the burlesque dance girl and small town girl image. Probably also helped that we've all seen her performing "Lady Marmalade" for Moulin Rouge.


The best part? Okay, the performances are the best part. The second best would be Cam Gigandet. If you thought he was hot in Twilight (which never crossed my mind since he was white all over and donning a ponytail - yikes), you'd probably go weak at your knees seeing Cam in Burlesque, in which he stars as the leading male, Jack. He's SUPER CUTE (I don't typically describe guys I like as "hot") and charming. OH-EM-GEE. On a side note, he carries off humour pretty well too, during certain parts of the flick.


Kristen Bell's dark-haired look didn't quite work for me. Neither did her in her role as Nikki. You've gotta give her an A+ for those dance moves she managed to master, though, but she just didn't quite suit the role. Thumbs up for the bitchy fits too.

I gotta applaude Julianne Hough (Ryan Seacrest's beau) and her wonderful performance in Burlesque as well. She has build her career around country music and this role of Georgia, though with little acting skills, was really a breakthrough for her. She did great, she was hot and her moves were so smooth.

Finally I love Stanley Tucci as Sean, a homosexual employee at Burlesque who works closely with Tess (Cher). He has several funny lines and it just reminds me of him in The Devil Wears Prada. So funny and cute.
Overall, I think it's a 4 out of 5 for me. Everything's great, except for the plot. Very odd turnings in the story particularly for Ali's relationship with Jack and Marcus (Eric Dane). So do catch it! Definitely worth your money!

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