She Likes to Watch

Truth! Beauty! Freedom! Love!

Australian director Baz Luhrmann’s love of music, romance and spectacle finds an outlet with “Moulin Rouge!”

Set in Paris at the turn of the 20th century, “Moulin Rouge!” follows a young English writer (Ewan McGregor) determined to find love and inspiration with the free-spirited Bohemian movement. He settles in the famous Montmartre neighborhood, home to the famous cabaret Moulin Rogue.

A pack of eccentric artists enlists his help in creating a new show called “Spectacular Spectacular.”

To star, they hope to recruit Satine (Nicole Kidman), the beautiful lead performer of the Moulin Rouge cabaret. She dreams of one day becoming a “proper actress” and sees one suitor, the wealthy Duke, as her way to fame.

Her employer Harold Zidler (the always excellent Jim Broadbent), is naturally happy to arrange such a meeting. He wants the Duke’s money to stage an elaborate new production called — you guessed it — “Spectacular Spectacular.”

Christian gets mistaken for the Duke, he falls in love with Satine and the rest is romantic movie history.

“Moulin Rogue!” may be a relatively shallow music revue — the plot rarely dips deeper than a Madonna song — but its stars are comely, its sets pretty and its music instantly hummable.

“Moulin Rouge!” plays tonight at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50.

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“The Wedding Singer” meets “Groundhog’s Day” in the romantic comedy “50 First Dates.”

Henry (Adam Sandler) is a marine biologist in Hawaii with little interest in long-term relationships. That is, until he meets Lucy (Drew Barrymore), a cute, creative blonde with short-term memory loss.

A guy finally ready for true love? A gal who forgets everything she does after 24 hours? Sounds like a recipe for date movie magic to me.

Supporting players Rob Schneider and Sean Astin steal plenty of screen time with a couple of bizarre, hilarious roles.

“50 First Dates” will be screened tonight at 8 p.m. at the Dolphin Bay Resort and Spa, 2727 Shell Beach Road in Shell Beach.

Free lawn seating begins at 7:30 p.m.

Moviegoers also have the option of a three-course dinner served on the patio, starting at 7 p.m. That costs $49 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations are required.

Call 773-8900 for more information.

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Photos courtesy of MovieWeb.com.

Any doubts about the future of the Palm Theatre’s brand-new series, Palm Wednesday, were settled last night.

The one-time-only screening of “Trainspotting” was packed.

As you might guess given the subject matter (young heroin addicts in Edinburgh), “Trainspotting” isn’t for everyone. Dialogue is spoken in the thickest of Scottish brogues and laden with obscenities. Characters are morally suspect and, at times, shockingly cavalier about their misdeeds. And the plot? It’s downright depressing.

No wonder “Trainspotting” is a cult classic.

Watching the movie once more on the big screen, I was reminded just how darkly brilliant Danny Boyle’s movie is.

Written and shot with gritty realism, it’s at times desperate and desperately comical.

What other movie would find its junkie protagonist (Ewan McGregor, more grunge than glam) swimming through the foulest toilet in Scotland to rescue drugs, or hallucinating about a dead baby crawling on the ceiling? That’s modern-day absurdity at its finest.

The Palm Wednesday series continues May 7 with “Billabong Odyssey,” an adrenaline-charged sports doc about big-wave surfing.

Personally, I’m more excited about the winsome, whimsical “Amelie,” which screens May 14.

“The Big Lebowski” (strange, funny) screens May 21, followed by “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (strangely funny) on May 28.

It should be a fun month at the movies.

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Check out the Palm Wednesday series, 7 p.m. every Wednesday at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50, and a season pass is available.

Photo above courtesy of MovieWeb.com.