Grease 2

Hello blog followers I apologize for the wait in-between posts. A lot has gone down in these past four months, I have gotten a job which frustrates me at times and always wipes me out that I kinda needed the hiatus I brought about. I also experienced another loss in my family which upset me greatly and the only other reason is I guess just an excuse in itself that I just had the winter doldrums and couldn't care enough to focus on my blog. But now I am back with the film I promised to talk about and also I have heads up on a few changes to the blog in upcoming posts...

Original movie poster

Well I am still feeling quite nostalgic for films that I enjoyed when I was younger and a few other nostalgic things as well (more about that later) so we are going to tackle a movie that most people seem to have mixed feelings about. With most sequels they never seem to live up to the magic of their originals (why do I feel like I'm talking about Mannequin 2 again? *shrugs*) and sort of become cinematic red-headed stepchildren. Of course everyone has seen the 1978 blockbuster that was Grease (at least I hope they have) which I had the joy of watching thanks to my mother and they even showed it to us when I was in the 7th Grade. It was around that time that (also thanks to my mother) I found out there was a sequel to it and I have to admit I fell in love with it after watching it (but maybe not for the reason you think...). So for those of you who have never seen this film let's dive right in shall we?

What's The Plot?
It is now 1961 (which is two years after the first film) and we are in the middle of the beginnings of the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK leading the nation and also motorcycles are the new trend (Grease Lightning is now a thing of the past). We have pretty much the same story except this time it is gender swapped with the guy being the one to try and fit in with the girl's way of life. The T-Birds are still greasers but with biker flair and the Pink Ladies are pretty much their "old ladies" which means no guy is worthy of a Pink Lady on his arm unless he owns a hog (no not that kind.) Enter in Michael Carrington, who is British which means he is of course charming, a regular clean cut but sort of awkward teen who is a real square. Unlike his cousin Sandy (oh did I mention that he was related to a character from the first film?)

Maxwell Caulfield as Michael Carrington

Michael has no summer romance but just happens to fall in love head over heels the moment he lays eyes on Stephanie Zinone, head Pink Lady who just happens to be the ex to head T-Bird Johnny Nogerelli. Even though they are over, Johnny still views Stephanie as his property thanks to the T-Birds only date Pink Ladies code but he's not malicious about it just young and wanting to keep that cool guy reputation (kind of like Danny in the original.) This causes problems since Johnny is also crushing on another Pink Lady, the Marilyn Monroe wannabe Paulette Rebchuck, and things also come to more difficulty when Stephanie lays a kiss on Michael at the bowling alley in part to a dare which only makes the Brit all the more determined to win her heart. Will learning to ride a motorcycle and becoming the Cool Rider of Stephanie's dreams be enough for Michael to win her heart or will Stephanie wanting to break free of being someone's "chick" allow her to see Michael for who he truly is without high school getting in the way?

Michelle Pfeiffer as Stephanie Zinone

As always I don't like spoiling films for people who have not seen them so I won't tell you anymore about the plot because if you ever get a chance to find Grease 2 you should put any prejudice aside especially if you love the first Grease. Even before we delve any deeper into characters, songs even acting you should know that I actually like the plot of Grease 2 better than the original. Before you pelt me with rotten Internet tomatoes think about it for just one second.

Adrian Zmed as Johnny Nogerelli

In the original, Sandy changes from a good girl into a kind of slutty greaser chick (even more so than the other Pink Ladies) and Danny only changed for like three seconds with that Letterman sweater before he went back to being the same old guy he had been throughout the film. I'm not giving away the ending to Grease 2 but I will say there is no flying away on a motorcycle which I always thought was kinda dumb (when did this turn into Chitty Chitty Bang Bang I mean seriously?) Anyway first let's tackle the songs...

Now the soundtrack for Grease as we know was very successful and even had a resurgence in popularity when I was in middle school as stated earlier. I can see why most people may not have purchased the sequel's soundtrack because some of the songs may sound silly but I personally love the songs because they are kind of fun which of course grabbed the attention of a younger me. There are some good songs in the film that are not silly (they may be cheesy) but they show really good talent which must have took a lot of coaching or came very naturally. First off, Michelle Pfeiffer plays Stephanie and gets two songs where she is not part of the cast ensemble to shine vocally and on the song "Cool Rider" she really kicks a lot of ass! Maxwell Caulfield who plays Michael actually starred on Broadway which got him this role and on the song "Charades" (which is my personal favorite) it shows that he has a really beautiful voice!

Beautiful voice beautiful face (Michelle too!)

 Another reason some people may not care for the soundtrack is most of the songs do have to deal with sex from the very thinly veiled to the out right blatant ("Reproduction" being the winner as it takes place in a sexual education class...damn spoiler!). To give you an idea some titles are "Prowlin'", "Score Tonight" (in a bowling alley but still...) and "Do It For Our Country"...do with it what you will. The other songs are alright but the main standout is the opening song "Back To School Again" which is performed by none other than The Four Tops with a few bits from the cast ensemble . Growing up listening to music from the 1950s and 1960s thanks to my parents when you can hear a classic Motown group like The Four Tops sing it is a real pleasure to the ears and this is what starts the movie for you so at least the first couple of minutes will be enjoyable even if the rest is not.

We already mentioned the two actors who are the main characters and we will get to them but first yes some characters from the first Grease film return with the same actors. Since I actually have yet to talk about Grease I won't go into much detail but Eve Arden as Principal McGee, Dody Goodman as Blanche, Eddie Deezen as Eugene, Sid Caesar as Coach Calhoun and Didi Cohn as Frenchy all return in this film. Since Frenchy flunked out of beauty school after dropping out of Rydell High, she's back either to get her diploma to make cosmetics or be the new Chemistry teacher but they really don't focus on her enough that I'm still confused as to why she's there except maybe to be kind of the same influence on Michael as she was to his cousin Sandy in the first film. Eugene is back too and since he was such a smart guy I assume he graduated Rydell and came back to teach or something (again kind of unclear as he isn't the main focus) so the other first film veterans as a principal, secretary and coach I do understand as faculty may stay on at a school for years.

Didi Cohn as Frenchy with Maxwell Caulfield

As previously mentioned, Michelle Pfeiffer is our lead female character and this was also her first starring film role after many small television appearances. Out of all the female characters, Stephanie is one of the most adult characters compared to her other fellow Pink Ladies and even the other females the film may focus on as she isn't a giggly, vapid, over sexualized or even snobby but she can be snarky and though not dumb just a young woman who isn't applying as much to her academics as she could be. Despite Grease 2 being sort of a bomb, it didn't seem to hurt Pfeffier's acting career as much as it did the other actors and actresses who appeared in the film and it just goes to show you that talent does pay off which is why Michelle is one of my favorite film actresses ever.

Now one of the reasons I love Grease 2 as previously stated is because it was the film that introduced me to one of many crushes I developed and this one was on Maxwell Caulfield! Not saying he isn't a good-looking man now but back in 1982 he was so damn cute in the face and hot in the body and of course he sings to! Now I have always been drawn to accents and that British accent sealed the deal in me crushing hugely on Maxwell (then 23 which makes him 24 years my senior) and I still do though not as much as I did when I was eleven/twelve years old. (In an interesting twist Maxwell has been married since 1980 to Hayley Mills' sister and his wife Juliet Mills is 18 years his senior so as I always have believed age is not a factor when it comes to attraction or love.) In a cruel kind of way, Grease 2 destroyed Maxwell Caulfield's career because he never had another starring film role again but was reduced to small parts and taking him back to Broadway where he has been more successful.

Did I mention I have a crush on Maxwell Caulfield?

The supporting cast of Grease 2 is kind of a mix for me because I can't tell if it is the way the characters are written or the way the actors portray them. Adrian Zmed plays Johnny and I do find him entertaining being comedic and a little brighter than his fellow T-Birds and he does have a good singing voice. The other actors who play Johnny's fellow T-Birds have one stand out who has a still thriving career and that is Christopher McDonald who plays the not very bright lug Goose: here in his first role McDonald is comedic and provides a laugh or two. I couldn't really find out a lot of information on actors Leif Green who plays youngest T-Bird Davey or Peter Frechette who plays ready to go all the way Louis except that Green is more into film production these days and that Frechette still acts in films.

From left to right: Adrian Zmed, Peter Frechette, Christopher McDonald, Leif Green

When it comes to our new batch of Pink Ladies, character wise I can not stand any of them and miss the originals (which I think is why they had Frenchy come back seeing as she was the nicest of the group to round out the horrible personalities of these new Pink Ladies.) As I said before maybe it is just the way they were written or maybe it really is the acting, I don't like to place blame even if this is just my own personal opinion. First, I couldn't find anything about Alison Price who plays glasses wearing Rhonda but character wise she isn't the worst of the Pink Ladies but her character is kind of clumsy and doesn't receive as much attention as the others.

From left to right: Maureen Teefy, Lorna Luft, Alison Price, Michelle Pfeiffer

Next not really an official Pink Lady but kind of like a mascot is the character of Dolores Rebchuck, little sister to the aforementioned Paulette and played by Pamela Segall Aldon. You may know Pamela more as a voice over actress doing the character of Bobby Hill on King Of The Hill but back in 1982 she was just the 16 year old  annoyance to her older, popular sister who actually befriends Michael and garners our sympathies as anyone who knows what it's like to be looked down upon by the older, cooler kids or your own siblings. Where do I begin with the final two Pink Ladies of Grease 2 and their respective actors? Answer: let's start with the one that annoys me the least...

Actress Lorna Luft who plays Paulette Rebchuck is a very talented woman and it is because she is the daughter of Judy Garland it is in her genes. She is a singer and a star on stage but here in Grease 2 as Paulette I can blame the writing of the character. As I stated before Paulette is kind of a Marilyn Monroe wannabe who talks in that breathy voice and wears tight sweaters and skirts but when she gets angry that all goes out the window and you have almost a tough New York chick peaking out from behind that pink satin jacket. The annoying thing about Paulette is that they make her seem so slutty and I don't think it plays up to how talented Lorna Luft really is as well as the fact that she was 30 playing a high school senior (I know they do it all the time but this instance is like an insult!)

Lorna Loft as Paulette Rebchuck

The final actress and final new Pink Lady of the main cast is Maureen Teefy who plays Sharon and I can not lie when I say the character of Sharon is my least favorite but the thing is I like Maureen Teefy! Maureen was in Fame and Supergirl which are two of my favorite movies and she doesn't annoy me as much as she does in Grease 2 and it is probably just all the fault in how Sharon is written combined with how hard Teefy is trying to become that character. Why do I not like Sharon? She has a screaming kind of laugh, is extremely bossy, talks a mile a minute and is kind of a know-it-all and it just rubs me the wrong way.

Other actors of note that appear in Grease 2 are actor Tab Hunter and actress Connie Stevens who had big movie and TV success in the 1950s and 1960s, twin actresses Jean and Liz Sagal who are related to TV actress Katey Sagal from Married With Children fame appear as two, very peppy and preppy cheerleaders (yet are not as annoying as Sharon) and Matt Lattanzi who plays Brad, a perfect example of 1960s clean cut teenage boys. I mention Matt Lattanzi because he has a Grease connection in the fact that he was dating Olivia Newton-John at this time after meeting her as a dancer on Xanadu (BTW if you haven't seen my post on that film, go check it out...I'll wait) and married her a couple of years later but they are divorced now which is kind of bittersweet :(

Wow that was one of the longest blogs I have ever had to tackle! So in retrospect. there are things about Grease 2 that you may find annoying and cheesy but it has an entertaining quality that I'm sure won't disappoint (whether it be genuine or derisive laughter) if you decide to give it a shot.

NEXT BLOG: Okay followers here is what's going on with Theresthegirl...I am taking a break from talking about films. I have a lot of movies to talk about but working on the movies takes a lot of time so I am going to be moving on to a different medium I enjoy as well: music and literature. Yes I will be doing book review blogs and discussing music with maybe an occasional new thing: Top Tens. These can cover a variety of subjects including film and may even bring about discussing television shows which I said I was going to do when I first started this blog. I am trying to shake up my dynamic so that I don't ignore this blog as much anymore so what I do next time is going to be my little surprise to you as well as myself so see you then!

The Slipper And The Rose

Welcome back followers! Still going down the more family friendly side of my nature I thought we would also go back and talk about one of my favorite genres of film: the musical. What better way to combine my love of music and movies than to talk about musical films and a very underrated one is The Slipper And The Rose. Of course by the title you may or may not know this is a musical version of the fairy tale Cinderella which is completely a British production filmed in both London and Austria. There is the more famous Cinderella musical with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein III but The Slipper And The Rose is a little more mature in tone but still a family film and quite beautiful the first time you see it. For those of you who haven't despite knowing the story let's first look at the plot of this twice-told tale...

Once Upon A Time...
In the fictional kingdom of Euphrania, their prince returns home from meeting a princess he has been arranged to marry with less than thrilling results. Our prince, Edward, is a romantic who wants to be able to marry for love but his parents (and much of the royal court) need him to marry in order to keep the kingdom from  going to war with neighboring countries. So since Edward has snubbed his chosen bride, a ball is to be held to find himself a wife from one of Euphrania's potential enemy kingdoms.

Since this a Cinderella story we can't go without mentioning our heroine but it's pretty much the same as always: her father has passed away and now she is a servant at the hands of her stepmother and two less attractive stepsisters in her own home. The twist is that before even the night of the ball commences Cinderella meets her fairy godmother who looks less fairy like than you would imagine but she has a way with helping those in trouble and pure in heart and assisting her is a little dog and a lot of wit.

After testing Cinderella's kindness, she helps to send our girl to the ball in wonderful European period dress as "The Princess Incognita" (which I think is quite clever) with the same warnings that at midnight, the magic is over. Once Edward sets his eyes on Cinderella, it's love at first sight for both of them and they dance until the clock sounds its warning and of course a slipper is left behind. Edward searches in vain for his lost love almost to the point of frustration but soon he finds Cinderella and you think our story would end there... but it doesn't it. We go beyond happily ever after... or do we even reach it? Not being of royal blood or born in a country of needed alliance, Cinderella is sent into exile with Edward left to marry for the honor of Euphrania. Will Edward go through with a marriage that is based on duty and not love? Will he ever see his Cinderella again and will she ever get her true happy ending torn from the one she loves?

I can't really remember when I first saw this film but I do remember that when I saw it for sale on DVD that I was intrigued by it because as stated before I love fairy tales. There have been many interpretations of Cinderella and this has to be at least in the top 3 of my choosing for a number of reasons. As I stated the movie was filmed in London and Austria so the backdrop scenery in this movie is absolutely gorgeous especially in the countryside scenes but the palace scenes are also very beautiful...almost as beautiful as the costumes. Since the movie is a period piece set when powdered wigs were the point of high fashion, the costumes are dazzling on not just the women but also on the men and reflect the beauty of the time when Charles Perrault first published the story of Cinderella.

 Before I talk about the actors, another thing that makes The Slipper And The Rose such a gem is of course the music and the composers of the film are ones most of us know very well: The Sherman Brothers. Don't know them you say? Well Robert B. Sherman and his brother Richard M. Sherman are responsible for writing a lot of songs for Disney films and many other films from childhood you may recognize (go on and Google them and just see how many!) and were Academy award winning composers when it came time to do music for this film.

 Besides composing the songs for The Slipper And The Rose, The Brothers Sherman also wrote the film alongside the director Bryan Forbes and as writers they do a pretty good job if only in my opinion of course. Sadly, Robert passed away in 2012 ending the duo but his brother Richard is still alive so their legacy is still far from being finished. The songs themselves are catchy numbers and beautiful ballads and if you love films like Mary Poppins then you are sure to enjoy the songs in The Slipper And The Rose and will end up humming and singing them inside your head long after watching it.

 Now, the film is not all drama and romance there is all hilarious comedy and I believe all three elements work because of The Slipper And The Rose's wonderful cast. The King and The High Chamberlain characters portrayed by Michael Hordern and Kenneth More respectively play off each other very well which provides most of the comedy but the dowager queen played by Edith Evans and Prince Edward's foppish cousin Montague, played by Julian Orchard, also display bits of comedic timing as well.

Even though it is Cinderella's story and I do love romance my favorite character in the film by far is Cinderella's fairy godmother played by Annette Crosbie. She is hilarious in a very lady-like way, poised and kind of soft spoken, but she is clever and witty as well. She doesn't just appear once to grant Cinderella's wish but she also helps drive the story along when needed and the character bows out gracefully when scenes don't call for her.

I guess since this a Cinderella film we should take a look at the actress who portrays her in The Slipper And The Rose, Gemma Craven. I think she makes for a very pretty and sweet Cinderella and she has a nice singing voice but I believe she gets overshadowed by other characters and actors in this film. You wouldn't know that Craven was 26 when she starred in this film because she looks so young and even though she has done acting before and after The Slipper And The Rose, which is a beautiful film but I can see why they don't outright state that this is a Cinderella film because our Cinderella doesn't really shine as bright as her glass slippers here.

If anything The Slipper And The Rose seems to be Cinderella's story told from the prince's point of view and when your prince is played by a handsome actor like Richard Chamberlain it isn't that much of a shock. I'll admit I've always had a small attraction to Richard Chamberlain but it comes from having to watch The Thorn Birds a lot with my mother as a little girl (and there' nothing wrong with that believe me!). Yes, I know now that Richard Chamberlain is gay but you have to admit that you didn't know then because it seems Richard Chamberlain was very good at acting to hide that fact because he seems to be perfect here as Prince Edward. Chamberlain has charm, an excellent singing voice and so much under his belt acting wise before playing this role in The Slipper And The Rose that it is my second favorite role of his even if The Thorn Birds came later.

 Besides the obvious there is actually one more actor in this movie that I have to mention and his name is Christopher Gable, who plays the character John, valet to the prince. Not only does the character get his own side story but he also gets two songs to sing in the film which display Gable's good looks and amazing voice and we even get to see a little bit of his dancing skill seeing as Gable was a British ballet star early in his career.

Once again I stand behind my opinion that The Slipper And The Rose is at least in the Top Three of Cinderella movie adaptations (based on my opinion) for its beautiful cinematography, costumes, songs and its fine cast. The Cinderella character may get lost in the adaptation but it is still a wonderful film worth watching whether it is with your family or on your own curiosity.

***This is a first - I could not locate an original trailer for The Slipper And The Rose for you to watch! There is a fan-made trailer but the beautiful music of the film is too loud in one certain scene but you can still find it on YouTube as well as the whole movie (while you still can since copyrights may cause it to be taken down).***

NEXT TIME: Still in a fantasy mood, we going to look at an animated film that deserves a little love and recognition from those geniuses at Rankin-Bass called Flight Of Dragons.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

It's been awhile since I talked about a musical film in one of my blogs so I thought I would talk about a musical that is close to my heart as I saw it when I was 12 in my very open household. Yes, I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show at a very young age and I loved it and still love it to this day! I hope to some day go to a late-night performance showing of the film and participate but more of why later. First things first...

What's The Plot?
Narrated by a man simply called The Criminologist, we begin with Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon), attending a wedding of high school friends and themselves becoming engaged through song. Heading to go and see their high school science teacher Dr. Everett Scott (in his class is where Brad fell for Janet) the couple get a flat tire and go looking for a phone and run across the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a "mad" scientist.

A group of strange people are there for a convention held by Frank who makes his entrance in a glittering cape, heavy eye make-up, blood red lipstick, a corset, fishnets and very high, chunky platforms. This sweet transvestite has discovered the secret to life and unveils his creation: a very muscled, mute, half-brained blond man named Rocky Horror.

When the convention ends, Brad and Janet are shown to separate rooms and soon become seduced by Frank's charm which puts these normally clean-cut "virgins" into a tailspin of debauchery and decadence. Meanwhile, Frank's handyman Riff-Raff (Richard O'Brien) and his sister/lover Magenta (Patricia Quinn), the castle domestic, take it upon themselves to torture Rocky in defiance of Frank's extreme taste for pleasure and soon Rocky happens upon Janet.

Distraught when she finds out that Brad has tasted forbidden fruit with Frank, Janet seduces a very innocent Rocky and they are discovered inadvertently when another guest arrives to the party: Dr. Scott! He is looking for his nephew Eddie (Meat Loaf) who was a lover of Frank's groupie Columbia (Little Nell Campbell) and the other half of his brain was used to make Rocky but he had been killed by Frank earlier that night. A strange night is about to get even more strange with dinner and a show no one is ever going to forget. Can Brad and Janet go back to what they once knew or have the discovered an experience that will change them for better or worse?

If you have never seen Rocky Horror and want to I didn't want to ruin the pleasure of this movie for you with a lot of plot info. To experience Rocky Horror by second hand account really isn't much fun and as I said I want to have the actual audience participation experience one day. That said, let's look at a few details of Rocky Horror that I can tell you about that have nothing to do with plot.

The music of Rocky Horror is an enjoyable romp because before it hit the screen it hit the West end stage of London as an actual musical. Richard O'Brien wrote the music and lyrics for all the songs and each one will get you singing and dancing especially "The Time Wrap" because it has instructions to do the dance in the song! They played this song at my Senior Prom and only a few of us could do the dance and I'm proud to say we were mostly the outcasts and black sheep of high school popularity. If you saw the Rocky Horror episode of Glee even though I don't watch it you know the songs and how good they truly are and maybe that's why you are checking out this blog post of mine.

Moving on to acting most of the cast was from the original stage production including Tim Curry who made his motion picture debut to an American audience. I have to admit that I have always been a Tim Curry fangirl even before I saw Rocky Horror and seeing him in fishnets is something great to see. Tim Curry has always been a debonair and charming actor with singing talent, voice over work and stage roles galore and though he use to be reluctant to talk about this role he now views it as a rite of passage for the viewer's who see it. So in other words, Tim Curry has popped a lot of cherries for Rocky Horror fans. Meat Loaf has a great one-scene wonder performance as Eddie and it is almost a celluloid version of a show stopper that comes after a lot of drama and science fiction before we are whip lashed back into black comedy and drama again.

Barry Bostwick is great as nerdy, innocent Brad and he's not that bad to look at either in fishnets I might add and I can't see anyone else as Brad but Bostwick in 1975 and even today. Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn and Little Nell Campbell have also become icons for me in their own performance of their characters and I don't think I can ever view anyone else in those roles but the day I go to a midnight, audience participation showing and see someone else play these characters I might change my mind. I always put these three characters in a collective grouping because if you watch the movie, they interact with each other a lot.

 Of course I can't go without mentioning Susan Sarandon as Janet because I believe at the time she was perfect for naive and pure Janet and she is the character I can relate to the most. Susan Sarandon has always been a great actress and her portrayal of Janet is why I want to go to a midnight showing so I can go as Janet in costume as most people do!

You are not meant to take Rocky Horror seriously it is all in good old-fashioned campy fun with music, dancing, a movie that the black sheep outsider can like with no regrets and it can bring out the wild and untamed thing in anyone. Rose-tint glasses are required to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show as well as a sense of humor so if you don't think you can handle that then maybe this is not the movie for you but if you have a wild side to you then this movie will be an enjoyment that is oh so sweet...I promise.

Next Blog: A look at some 80s horror from Wes Craven but not what you think - Deadly Friend

Xanadu

Switching genre gears to one of my favorites: the musical. I love musical films and one of my favorites is not in any way as guilty a pleasure for me as you might think: give me roller skates...give me Xanadu!

A place where nobody dared to go / the love that we came to know / They call it Xanadu

Now for those who have never heard of this film before I even discuss the plot I will tell you a little about why most people call this one of the worst movies. It was made in 1980 so it was on the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s so the cheese factor is very high and the script has as many holes as a piece of Swiss. There were constant rewrites according to star Olivia Newton-John as the script was written as it was filmed so I don't really think you can blame the actors when they had an ever-changing plot and possible characterization lost in so much script shuffling.

Film Plot: Frustrated but talented artist Sonny Malone is stuck at a job painting album covers for a record company but he wants so much more than to paint for others who have achieved their dreams. Things seem to change for him when one day he is kissed by a strange girl, finds the same girl on the newest album cover he is commissioned to paint and then keeps running into her. She soon introduces herself to Sonny as Kira and she becomes a new source of inspiration for our disillusioned painter and this also spreads to the next person who enters Sonny's life: Danny McGuire.

 Danny is a former 1940s big band leader now construction tycoon who has lost the inspiration that Sonny now has but thanks to both Sonny and Kira, Danny decides he wants to bring back the big band era he once loved and combine it with the new era of disco and he and Sonny decide to open up a roller disco nightclub that is a combination of not only both Danny and Sonny's generations but of their dreams and...is also a symbol of the love Sonny and Kira are finding within each other. Before the club, named the titular Xanadu, is set to open, Kira reveals to Sonny just why all of this has come about as she finally tells him the truth about herself: she is one of the nine Muses of Ancient Olympus that are said to inspire people to follow their dreams and desires.
  

The dream that came through a million years / That lived on through all the tears / It came to Xanadu

Having fallen in love with Sonny and breaking the rules of feeling emotions and doing more than what she was sent out to do, Kira is brought back to the home of the gods and on the opening night, Sonny sets out to bring Kira back to Earth because even though Xanadu maybe the reality of his dreams they mean nothing without Kira.

The love, the echoes of long ago / you needed the world to know / They are in Xanadu

Now I've told you the main plot and what the cons of Xanadu are perceived to be but now let me tell you why this movie is awesome in a few very short statements:

1) Olivia Newton-John
2) The Great Gene Kelly
3) An animated segment by Don Bluth of An American Tale fame which is beautiful animation that is not seen today because it is hand drawn and flawlessly enhances the music of the artists in my next point...
4) Electric Light Orchestra provides music to the soundtrack along with Olivia Newton-John, the great Cliff Richards and even The Tubes. The soundtrack is one good thing that everybody has always agreed on and the soundtrack album had many hits and even reached #4 on the Billboard charts.

Maybe because I was a young girl when I first sat down and watched this film with my mother and a child of the 1980s brought up on Day Glo and pastel Care Bears and My Little Ponies to boot is a big reason why I love Xanadu or maybe its because I have grown up and appreciated the music more or learned to appreciate the classic quality of Gene Kelly's dancing in his final movie role (even though he lived to see another great sixteen years). For what ever reason, Xanadu will always be a pleasure to watch and never ever will it be a guilty one.

                                      Where time stops and the magic never ends.

                                                                                                        ~ tagline for Xanadu, 1980


Next blog: Near Dark