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MTV News will revisit Baz Luhrmann's 2001 movie musical Monday.By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Kara Warner Vanessa Hudgens Photo: MTV News Vanessa Hudgens knows the power of the movie musical. She starred in two uber-successful "High School Musical" movies and played Mimi in "Rent." So, if anyone can speak to the undeniable influence of Baz Luhrmann's 2001 movie musical masterpiece, "Moulin Rouge," it's her. "Oh my goodness! It was just a beautiful, very specific look that I feel like everybody could completely submerge themselves into," she told MTV News about the film before Monday's upcoming "Moulin Rouge at 10: A Spectacular Spectacular MTV News Event." "And it was fun, and it was thrilling, and your heart just went out for these characters. I fell in love with the movie, and I have not stopped watching it since." Hudgens' "Sucker Punch" co-star Jena Malone immediately drew comparisons between "Moulin Rouge" and their equally fantastical flick, thanks to their musical scores. "It's an interesting segue because Marius [de Vries] also did the music for 'Moulin Rouge' and he did the music for 'Sucker Punch,' and he does such crazy abstractions," she said. "I mean, Baz Luhrmann's incredible." MTV News will reunite Luhrmann, and the movie's stars, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, on Monday at 3 p.m. ET on MTV.com. The director and actors will be joined by co-star John Leguizamo, who played artist Toulouse-Lautrec, and Catherine Martin, who won the Oscar for costume design and art direction. Hosted by MTV News' Josh Horowitz, the live stream will include special appearances and live interviews while looking back at how the film came to be and how its legacy continues to grow. Don't miss "Moulin Rouge at 10: A Spectacular Spectacular MTV News Event" on Monday at 3 p.m. ET on MTV.com! Get in the conversation by tweeting @MTVNews with the hashtag #AskMoulin. Related Artists Vanessa Hudgens

'Despite what's going on with music, the three of us are who we are whenever we come together as Dirty Vegas,' Paul Harris tells MTV News.By Adam Stewart Dirty Vegas Photo: Getty/ Michael Tullberg A few days have gone by since we last heard from U.K. electronic trio Dirty Vegas, but after a half-decade of seeming radio silence, the boys from Britain are back with their second studio album, Electric Love, released Tuesday on Om Records. But the guys haven't been sitting on their thumbs all this time. In fact, recording for the new album began back in 2008, when their individual side projects were put on hold, and Paul Harris, Been Harris (no relation) and Steve Smith decided it was time to return to the studio and get back into what brought them together in the first place. "The recording was really the easy part," Smith told MTV News. " I'd send a vocal to [Paul and Ben] in London, and they'd say, 'I don't really like it, Steve,' because I'm not in the room! We just got to the important stuff quicker. So we cut the bits out we didn't need. And the songs come together. Before we knew, it was like 30 songs in, and we were like, 'I think it's a record then now.' " But that didn't mean the album was ready to hit shelves right away. "It was about 18 months from literally having the 10 tracks that we liked," Paul said. "We kept changing the styles and directions all the way along, and obviously what we have finished with, we are really, really proud of." Perfectionist as they are, the trio knew — making their first wave since "Days Go By" launched them to international fame — that they had to manage the burden of expectation appropriately. They decided to reintroduce themselves with the title cut from Electric Love. "The three of us were in the studio, and we were thinking of the old days of rave culture that we first got brought into electronic music — before cell phones or the Internet or anything. There would be pirate radio stations telling you to meet in a certain car park and then follow directions to an illegal rave," Paul recalled, "It was that whole discovery of going out and finding that, and the character [Chad, played by Shawn Tracey] in the song [represents that]. He's not going to a VIP club, he doesn't have his cell phone. He's going out, and he's finding a doorway in an alley and it's a dark room and it's just a DJ with a sound system and the song comes from that" — and so did the music video. The track, already painting a picture of obsession and temptation, set in a strip club and porn shop, was brought to life by video director James Golden, who dove into a fantasy world conjured up by the video's subject, including a rather interesting scene with a car battery. "There was kind of a sexy seediness in the lyrics, and he took it to the idea of the storyboard of this character being infatuated with this girl and seeing her," Paul explained. "There's all these macho things: He's driving muscle cars, he goes to the strip club, he sees her there. But he never actually leaves his hotel room. It's a figment of his imagination, because he's fantasizing about this girl [portrayed by Jena Malone]. And we thought it suited the song quite well, actually, and we were just amazed when we saw it come back." As dance music continues to the top here in the U.S., Dirty Vegas have made it a point to not only incorporate current sounds and trends into their new tunes, but also keep their signature style and swagger as a top priority. "I think despite what's going on with music, the three of us are who we are whenever we come together as Dirty Vegas," Paul said. "We are going to create Dirty Vegas music. We all play instruments, we love DJing, we love going to clubs, and all of those elements are going to come together when we get together to make a record. Technology changes, the music scene changes, but Dirty Vegas still makes electronic dance music, some based with beats, and we will never change it." Dirty Vegas have truly embraced those fluctuations with their appropriately entitled second single off the album, "Changes," a track that originally dropped in the underground back in early 2009, receiving club play and a flurry of remixes, including those by Felix Da Housecat and ATFC. The rock-infused original mix of the track is a continuation of "Electric Love," sonically and visually. "Our character is going into changes, and it's a transitional period for him, because he's not happy with certain things in his life. And there's also a little bit of that in the song," Smith said. "And, you know, 'Changes' as a song is offering the optimism at the end; the only person that is going to change anything is yourself." The video treatment for "Changes" again focuses on Chad's imagination, which has again gotten a bit out of control. This time, he trades a stripper for a ballerina and a muscle car for — of all things — streaking through a cornfield. On top of that, he loses his job. Needless to say, Chad is a little out there. "The video reflects that as our character kind of realizes that he's a little bit messed up and that if he doesn't do something for himself, then no one is going to do it for him," Smith explained. "So it just makes sense in the plot of our four singles. It's not just because it's our favorite song or whatever; it's what fits." Next on deck is "Little White Doves," with the fourth release yet to be announced. What do you think of Dirty Vegas' big return? Let us know in the comments below!

Before you check out Zack Snyder's action-packed flick, learn how it came to be.By Kara Warner Emily Browning in "Sucker Punch" Photo: Warner Bros./ Legendary Pictures Way back in October 2008, amid the buzz surrounding Zack Snyder's big-screen adaptation of "Watchmen," news broke about plans for his next project, an original screenplay penned by Snyder and Steve Shibuya called "Sucker Punch," billed simply as "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns." For Snyder's devoted fanbase, that descriptor was enough to set minds speculating and Internets buzzing for well over two years. Naturally, MTV News has been following the project from conception to opening day Friday (March 25). Here's everything you need to know about "Sucker Punch": First, in addition to the "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns" tease, the initial logline announced that the plot revolved around "a young girl institutionalized by her wicked stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the facility." In March 2009, an all-female cast was announced, with several of Hollywood's most in-demand ingénues attached. Not too long after that, Amanda Seyfried, Emma Stone and Evan Rachel Wood bowed out and Emily Browning, Jamie Chung and Jena Malone stepped in. From then on, the principal cast was set, with just a few additions to come (including Carla Gugino and Jon Hamm), and the film production was on its way. There wasn't much news to report until early 2010 when, amid the post-"Avatar" 3-D craze, Warner Bros. announced that "Sucker Punch" would be converted to 3-D, which excited star Vanessa Hudgens at the time, until a few months later, Snyder spoke out about his reservations on the subject. It seems Snyder's concerns were heard, because the studio changed its mind. Cut to San Diego Comic-Con 2010, when Snyder dazzled fans with a teaser trailer (which later debuted online, with tons of intense analysis) during the film's panel. Shortly thereafter, the lovely leading ladies stopped by the MTV News shooting suite to discuss their intense training for the film. After the Comic-Con chaos, fans had to wait a few months to see more teasers, in the form of a second trailer (which MTV Movies Blog named one of the year's best) that dropped in November 2010 and a collection of character posters. MTV Movies Blog kicked off the New Year with a preview piece in which we named "Sucker Punch" one of the most anticipated films of the year, and shortly after that, the promotional machine kicked into high gear. Throughout the film's opening month, March 2011, we received news of an online animated movie intended as an offshoot or short companion piece to the film, called "The Trenches." Also over on Movies Blog, we rolled out "patient files" on all the lead characters: Amber, Rocket, Sweet Pea and Blondie. MTV News also reconnected with everyone to discuss the cast's thoughts on their character's most outrageous moments and Snyder's explanation about where the idea for the movie came from. Finally, our coverage capped off at the film's big premiere in Hollywood on Wednesday, where we learned what "Sucker Punch" really means. Check out everything we've got on "Sucker Punch." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. Related Videos 'Sucker Punch' Clips MTV Rough Cut: 'Sucker Punch' Related Photos 'Sucker Punch' Premiere In Los Angeles "Sucker Punch"

'... the ride Snyder takes you on is so vividly conceived, so deliriously bizarre and wonderful,' writes Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald.By Eric Ditzian Abbie Cornish in "Sucker Punch" Photo: Warner Bros. We'll say this about Zack Snyder: The guy knows how to stir up passion in moviegoers, whether those intense feelings skew toward the aggressively negative or the bow-down-before-a-cinematic-god positive. Just take a peek at reviews for the director's adaptation of "Watchmen" in 2009. A similar disparity in critical assessments surrounds Snyder's latest offering, the fantastical battle royale called "Sucker Punch." Some reviewers are passionately defending the film and calling out the haters for simply failing to understand what the director was trying to accomplish. Many more, however, are accusing Snyder of being the one who failed to deliver. Will you love it? Hate it? Have you somehow never even heard of it? Check out what the critics are saying and decide for yourself. The Story
"The story centers on Babydoll (Emily Browning), an orphan falsely accused of murdering her little sister and imprisoned inside an asylum where she is scheduled for a lobotomy. Before the procedure can be completed, Babydoll disappears into an alternate reality that exists entirely in her mind. There, she and four fellow inmates (Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung) are performers in a bordello managed by the theatrical Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and run by the cruel pimp Blue (Miami's Oscar Isaac). In order to escape — the cathouse and the mental institution — the girls must first fight off winged dragons, zombies, giant ninja robots and android aliens and collect five talismans. No, Sucker Punch doesn't make any sense. But none of that matters, because the ride Snyder takes you on is so vividly conceived, so deliriously bizarre and wonderful." — Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald Storytelling Shortcomings
"The film abdicates so many basic responsibilities of coherent storytelling, even coherent stupid-action-movie storytelling, director/ co-writer/ co-producer Zack Snyder must have known in preproduction that his greasy collection of near-rape fantasies and violent revenge scenarios disguised as a female-empowerment fairy tale wasn't going to satisfy anyone but himself. Well, himself, plus ardent fans of Japanese-schoolgirl manga comics. ... You will be unprepared for a film packing this much confusing crud into a little less than two hours of solitary confinement, which feels more like dog hours, i.e., 14." — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune The Visuals
"Loaded with all kinds of visions of the fantastic and high-octane excitement, it's a visceral feast that utilizes Snyder's signature techniques with all the velocity of a fire-breathing dragon ... But 'Sucker Punch' is not just style over substance. That's an argument the film is sure to be met with, as well, but there is just as much bubbling up under 'Sucker Punch's' CG surface than there is in its sepia-toned skies. Filled with themes of empowerment, escapism, and changing the course of the typical narrative, the film rides high in its jet-propelled mech warrior, and it has much to tell us when it's done doing loopty loops around our brain." — Jeremy Kirk, FirstShowing.net The Influences
"You could go to see 'Sucker Punch' this weekend — a lot of people probably will, and a few may even admit as much back at the office on Monday — or you could try to make it yourself, which might be more fun, though not necessarily cheaper. Here's what you will need: a bunch of video-game platforms; DVDs of 'Shutter Island,' 'Kill Bill,' 'Burlesque' and 'Shrek'; some back issues of Maxim; a large bag of crystal meth; and around $100 million. Your imagination will take care of the rest." — A.O. Scott, The New York Times The Final Word
"Some will see the worst sort of objectification in its Victoria's Secret-esque femme front line that also includes the scantily clad corps of Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung. Others will argue that 'Sucker Punch's' sexy guerrillas represent female empowerment, to say nothing of the benefits of diet and exercise. I'd suggest the film is a wonderfully wild provocation — an imperfect, overlong, intemperate and utterly absorbing romp through the id that I wouldn't have missed for the world." — Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times Check out everything we've got on "Sucker Punch." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. Related Videos 'Sucker Punch' Clips Related Photos "Sucker Punch" 'Sucker Punch' Premiere In Los Angeles