Topic: Musical Marathon

[Jimmy]

Tonight I'm in the mood for some musical and , since I've not write a lot of review recently, why not make a short marathon with this? All those movies are well known, so I will not make you discover anything new. So here we go with

The underated musical marathon

[Jimmy]

Grease 2 (1982)

Overview
It's 1961, two years after the original Grease gang graduated from Rydell High, and there's a new crop of seniors. The Pink Ladies and the T-Birds are still the epitome of cool, except that over the summer, something's happened to Stephanie, the sorority leader. She feels she's outgrown Johnny, the head T-Bird, and is looking for a new love-one who's even cooler and whose bike is even hotter. Meanwhile, newcomer Michael is smitten with Stephanie, who won't even notice him. The conflict is on and the Rydell High fun takes off to new heights.

My Thoughts
I've always like this one since the first time I've seen it in 1982. I'm probably the only person on earth who prefer it to the first part. The acting is not really great, even Michelle Pfeiffer is very ordinary in this and the other important cast member Maxwell Caulfield isn't particullary impressive either. But some less important cast member like Peter Frechette (why he doesn't get the title role is beyond me) and Maureen Teefy (love her since I've seen her the first time in Fame). This is a musical film so the most important is the music, but is it good? Sure, even better than the disco ones of the first Grease that are really dated and overplayed now. In how many films can you heard a song about the flowers reproductive system or the joy to play bowling? Evidently some of the songs are pretty bad (Charades and Rock-A-Hula Luau), but in general they are pretty fun (I'm unable to not sing them with the movie). How to not like one of the silliest line that I've never heard in a song : I'm gonna miss all the things we never to do  

Finally I like the final message of the movie : You don't have to change be yourself and everything will be fine

Rating :    

[Jimmy]

Xanadu (1980)

Overview
'XANADU' is a look at the future and a loving remembrance of the way things were in the heyday of Hollywood. The musical score includes the hit songs "Magic," "I'm Alive," "All Over The World," "Suddenly," and the title song "Xanadu." 'Olivia Newton-John' will dazzle your senses with her luminous beauty and fabulous voice. She and 'Gene Kelly' star in this mesmerizing musical fantasy. The '40s meets the '80s in 'XANADU', a very special love story and the first lavish, old-fashioned musical to utilize today's music.

My Thoughts
Another guilty pleasure with this one. Is it possible to have a movie that shout eighties more than this one? The colour of the clothes (some of mine were exactly the same colour ), the roler skating, the bizarre light effect, ... I've always love Olivia Newton-John as a singer (thanks to my parents for that) and I've never heard one bad song from her (I even like Soul Kiss). So a musical with her as the star is the best thing I can hope for. The movie is not perfect (it was not a flop for nothing), but I will come back later on this. The soundtrack is one of the best ever made for a movie and not a single song is bad, even those that never chart are good : Whenever You're Away From Me have a nice 40's sound and Dancin is use for one of the best moment in the film (the 40's and 80's bands mix). The final choreography is well done too (even if they told the title of the film 100 times) and Olivia Newton-John is smoking hot when the title song start  . Gene Kelly does a good job too, I've to confess that it's the first time that I see him in a movie. Olivia Newton-John isn't the best actress, but she's ok.

Now what is the problem with the film for me : Michael Beck doesn't have the talent to be in a lead role. He is not a really good actor and his look is ordinary (it really hard to believe that Olivia Newton-John can fall in love with him).

Not the most profound or intellectual film, but sometimes we just want to pass a good time in front of the TV.

Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcHQHd2jdlo
Rating :    

[Jimmy]

Shock Treatment (1981)

Overview
In the continuing adventure of Brad and Janet Majors (Cliff De Young and Jessica Harper), their suburban hometown, Denton, U.S.A., has been transformed into a giant TV studio, where the brainwashed citizens remain happily glued to an endless series of soap operas, variety acts and game shows. But before you can say, "We'll be right back after this," the station's unscrupulous sponsor has locked Brad up in a mental hospital and recruited Janet to be the sexy star of her own hit show. Stay tuned for a shocking lineup of maniacal characters, biting satire and all-out fun!

My Thoughts
To be honest the reason why I've bought this movie is because of Jessica Harper who is an actress that I've really appreciated in Suspiria and Phantom of the Paradise (the reason I know she had a beautifull voice). This is the sequel of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and many peoples hate it because of that. But, I couldn't care less about this. I've bought TRHPS after this one and quite frankly I can't understand the cult following : the story is boring, the acting is medium, the songs are not really good, ...

This one is not perfect either, but most of the song are good and particullary Me of Me what a great hymn to the narcissism. Jessica Harper unsurprisingly does a great job, Cliff De Young is correct too in a double role, but the rest of the cast is not really bad or good just ok. What I really like is the anticipation of the reality tv phenomena : the tv channel make a big star of Janet and her personallity is completly change since everyone wants to see her (she's the taste of the month).

Not necessary my genre of musical : I like the music in it, but the story is to silly for me

Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-xRAvVWp5w
Rating :    

[Jimmy]

And with this last one this is the end of this short marathon. It's past 2 o'clock in the morning here and this is the time to go to sleep