So last night I took in a viewing of Gran Torino on Blu-ray with my friend. We’re both fans of Clint, and he hadn’t seen it yet, and of course we had a blast with it. So right after it was done, We took in a viewing of Xandau.
Neither of us had ever seen it, and I picked up the dvd for $3. I had heard that it was one steaming pile, and on researching found that it along with the Village People film (never knew they even had a film) Can’t Stop The Music are responsible for the Razzie awards.
First off, I, like everyone else circa 1980 LOVE the soundtrack. I also dug parts of the movie. The parts that dealt with music. Any scene that had talking was BORING. We found ourselves struggling to get through it. If you’ve never seen the movie, it’s only 93 MINUTES. The damn movie felt like it was bordering on 3 hours. That’s how slow it felt.
The ending sequence of the wonderful (yes I love this song) rendition of Xanadu actually needs to be seen to be believed. Olivia Newton-John goes through no less than 3 friggin’ costumes. Including a cowgirl outfit. Gene Kelly wears a cowboy outfit that had to be 98% fringes.
Michael Beck. Love him as Swan in The Warriors, and he was a serviceable lead in the tv movie Deadly Game that had an allstar cast, and deserves a dvd release, but here in Xanadu, it’s as if he’s reading off of a script. His line delivery is that stiff.
I have the LP of the soundtrack, but I haven’t spun it yet on my turntable. After viewing the movie, I’m going to give it a listen, and I’m even going to make the song “Xanadu” as my song of the day. Not because the movie’s any good, but because the music is that good.
Rene’s song of the day: “Xanadu” by Olivia Newton John.
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