Cinema's most beloved tortured icon is on indelibly charming form opposite Jane Russell in a tale of love and money, with some spirited numbers and feminist-lite shavings thrown in for good measure.

As purely cinematic and riveting as any other film, never mind musical, to come out of Hollywood ... performed, directed, choreographed and edited within an inch of its chiselled life.

The Orphean Myth as told in Paris at its most famous nightclub circa 1900 with the help of popular music from David Bowie, Nirvana and Elton John among others ... glorious, gut-wrenching and insane.

Belying its one man show roots with some fantastic visual flair and gorgeous songs, John Cameron Mitchell's labour of love is a daringly fabulous and ultimately moving piece of American indie cinema.

The apex in modern movie musicals, featuring outstanding acting, complex songs and a frightening sense of forboding of the encroaching Nazi apocalypse.