270th film of 2022.
RUNNING COMENTARY
Funky opening Universal spiny world with aircraft going around: airplane, passenger plane, Concorde, spaceship, and then BALL OF MAGI ENERGY LIGHT. And as the opening music plays, its genre changes with the year of that sort of flying aircraft.
Opening musical number. Yay for ELO song. But:
Producer (to director): So. This opening. Are you sure you took enough psychotropic drugs?
Sonny's car looks like it was previously owned by a Muppet bear.
Michael Beck (to his agent): So, what do you have for me? I mean I just had that awesome role in THE WARRIORS.
Agent: I have just the project for you. It has Olivia Newton-John in it. AND Gene Kelly.
Michael: Awesome sauce. Sign me up! Hope it's not a musical...
80's Popcorn Vendor in yellow short-shorts that ride up her bum!
Roller boogie Olivia! I bet she thinks this is a-muse-ing.
Man is Sonny a jerk. And we're supposed to be rooting for him?
From Roller Boogie to Boogie Woogie, Newton-John's got you covered.
Sweet soft shoe number with Kelly and Newton-John. He's still got some of that old magic in his feet.
ZOOT SUITS!!
This musical number - a mish-mash of Swing and Rock music - is actually pretty decent.
So, Sonny and Kira kiss and they call all animated? I'll give the movie this: they certainly have been hitting on every kind of musical film style. I'll also give it this: Fish Sonny is creepy horny.
I watched AN AMERICAN IN PARIS just before watching this. The animated number ended with a red rose. Feels like maybe that was a nod to Kelly's earlier film?
Producer: No, seriously. How many hallucinogenics have you taken?
Aw. Sonny told her he loves her. And she tells him she loves him, too. Good thing they've only known each other for, like, four days? Never fall in love with you muse. Especially when she tells you that she's got 8 sisters and Zeus is her father. And she... PULLS A MOVE STRAIGHT OUT OF HARVEY!! Sonny looks up muse in the dictionary and she added in the bit at the end of the definition, "Now do you believe me, Sonny?
Still not enough evidence, she makes a tv turn on and shows Sonny a black and white film where the characters talk to him (in character) and Kira appears in it. Sonny's disbelief is palpable and now he feels betrayed by it all because she's leaving. Like, why even tell him if you're just going home to Mount Olympus? Or was it back to the painting her and her sisters came out of to begin with?
Now Sonny's whining about Kira being gone so he can't go to the big opening of Xanadu and celebrate it with his business partner, Danny (Gene Kelly). I'm not sure why I should be rooting for Sonny.
Whiny man finds the mural of the muses, and on some wild, much thought about, hunch decides to roller skate as fast as he can down the alley and ram himself into the painting. I did not realize he was part warrior/part Wile E. Coyote.
Now Sonny didn't run into the wall and get a concussion and made it into electric light blackness. Or maybe he did and he's hallucinating. Nah, he made it. He orders Zeus to let Kira go, like a mortal should with the head Greek god. Then we get to hear Zeus and Hera argue in front of the daughter and mortal. Class. Hera tries to convince Zeus is all "No way! I'm almighty Zeus!" and Hera's all, "Really? That's what you're going with?" And Zeus is all, "I'm sleeping on the couch again, aren't I?"
Now it's time for Kira to sing a sad song, wearing a blouse with big puffy upper-arm sleeves. And sings to the camera as well. Nice of her to make eye contact with me. I feel for her. But the song grabs at Zeus' heartstrings so he lets her go back to Earth for "a moment." Or possibly "eternity," because neither Zeus nor Hera seem to be able to tell time.
OPENING OF XANADU WITH A BIG ROLLER-SKATING EXTRAVAGANZA! With all the mish-mash we saw earlier in the film and we get them dancing off calling out Xanadu and we've got ZOOT SUITS AGAIN!! If nothing else, it's worth it to see ZOOT SUITS!.
I'm digging how all the people showing up for the big opening shindig came color coordinated: girls in red, boys in blue.
I'd like to point out that this skating around the rink with all the people clapping hands and stuff in rhythm, slowly building up to them chanting "Xanadu" over and over, took two minutes. All they're doing is skating around in circles. It took another minute to get to the big, big moment, and that is:
THE SINGING OF "XANADU"! WOOT! And we have jacketless Zoot Suit dancers popping!
There are some very weird little dance pieces during this. Two dancers were holding umbrellas that were shaped like the umbrellas you get in drinks.
Omg. At an hour and twenty-eight minutes, they've started a tap routine. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, except they look like they're dancing on the floor of Carrousel in LOGAN'S RUN and should be flying into the air at any moment to explode in shots from laser beams. And given this was 1979/1980, there were enough laser beams around that exploding people could've happened.
Newton-John is tapping with them in an outfit that looks like she should be serving milkshakes, now rockin' a song wearing a leopard print outfit with bad rock chick makeup that -
Er. Now it's cowboy themed. She's wearing a "country girl" outfit complete with long frills and a big-ass cowboy hat. This is what they followed up "Xanadu" with?
Back on Carousel!! WHO'S GOING TO EXPLODE?? Why aren't people chanting "Renew!!"??
And now the montage of songs gets back to singing "Xanadu" and wtf is Newton-John wearing? Oops, back to the cute outfit she was wearing when she met Sonny. Sonny doesn't deserve -
OMG!! SHE JUST FLEW UP INTO THE AIR AND EXPLODED!!
Poor Sonny is left standing sad, then walks away from the stage to sit with Gene Kelly, who promptly asks him if he wants a drink. "No, thanks," Sonny replies. But then Kelly asks a server to come give him a drink anyway. Only it turns out to be a Kira look-alike. We know it can't be Kira because we saw Kira explode.
And that's the end of my running commentary because the film's over.
I originally saw this in theaters when it came out, and you know what? It's not as bad as I recall, and not as bad as the perception of it has been over the past 42 years. It's a good film? Mm. Maybe, maybe not. It does have a pretty solid soundtrack, with only one song I thought was schlocky. And it had a very questionable mish-mash of genre songs there at the end. And Sonny wasn't worth Kira's time. Still kind of a jerk there at the end. But that could be because Michael Beck had no idea what he was doing in this film.
I found a quote of his, "The Warriors (1979) opened a lot of doors in film, for me, which Xanadu (1980) then closed." Oof on his career.
I'd also like to point out that although this wasn't his last acting gig, this was Gene Kelly's final feature film. I wonder if it did for the remainder of his career what this film did for Beck.
There's a kitschiness to the film that says "Watch me," so you might as well give it a whirl.
---------- As always, no matter what kind of review this has been, good or bad, props are given to anyone involved with the making of this film. It's not easy to get a film made, so kudos are deserved.
RUNNING COMENTARY
Funky opening Universal spiny world with aircraft going around: airplane, passenger plane, Concorde, spaceship, and then BALL OF MAGI ENERGY LIGHT. And as the opening music plays, its genre changes with the year of that sort of flying aircraft.
Opening musical number. Yay for ELO song. But:
Producer (to director): So. This opening. Are you sure you took enough psychotropic drugs?
Sonny's car looks like it was previously owned by a Muppet bear.
Michael Beck (to his agent): So, what do you have for me? I mean I just had that awesome role in THE WARRIORS.
Agent: I have just the project for you. It has Olivia Newton-John in it. AND Gene Kelly.
Michael: Awesome sauce. Sign me up! Hope it's not a musical...
80's Popcorn Vendor in yellow short-shorts that ride up her bum!
Roller boogie Olivia! I bet she thinks this is a-muse-ing.
Man is Sonny a jerk. And we're supposed to be rooting for him?
From Roller Boogie to Boogie Woogie, Newton-John's got you covered.
Sweet soft shoe number with Kelly and Newton-John. He's still got some of that old magic in his feet.
ZOOT SUITS!!
This musical number - a mish-mash of Swing and Rock music - is actually pretty decent.
So, Sonny and Kira kiss and they call all animated? I'll give the movie this: they certainly have been hitting on every kind of musical film style. I'll also give it this: Fish Sonny is creepy horny.
I watched AN AMERICAN IN PARIS just before watching this. The animated number ended with a red rose. Feels like maybe that was a nod to Kelly's earlier film?
Producer: No, seriously. How many hallucinogenics have you taken?
Aw. Sonny told her he loves her. And she tells him she loves him, too. Good thing they've only known each other for, like, four days? Never fall in love with you muse. Especially when she tells you that she's got 8 sisters and Zeus is her father. And she... PULLS A MOVE STRAIGHT OUT OF HARVEY!! Sonny looks up muse in the dictionary and she added in the bit at the end of the definition, "Now do you believe me, Sonny?
Still not enough evidence, she makes a tv turn on and shows Sonny a black and white film where the characters talk to him (in character) and Kira appears in it. Sonny's disbelief is palpable and now he feels betrayed by it all because she's leaving. Like, why even tell him if you're just going home to Mount Olympus? Or was it back to the painting her and her sisters came out of to begin with?
Now Sonny's whining about Kira being gone so he can't go to the big opening of Xanadu and celebrate it with his business partner, Danny (Gene Kelly). I'm not sure why I should be rooting for Sonny.
Whiny man finds the mural of the muses, and on some wild, much thought about, hunch decides to roller skate as fast as he can down the alley and ram himself into the painting. I did not realize he was part warrior/part Wile E. Coyote.
Now Sonny didn't run into the wall and get a concussion and made it into electric light blackness. Or maybe he did and he's hallucinating. Nah, he made it. He orders Zeus to let Kira go, like a mortal should with the head Greek god. Then we get to hear Zeus and Hera argue in front of the daughter and mortal. Class. Hera tries to convince Zeus is all "No way! I'm almighty Zeus!" and Hera's all, "Really? That's what you're going with?" And Zeus is all, "I'm sleeping on the couch again, aren't I?"
Now it's time for Kira to sing a sad song, wearing a blouse with big puffy upper-arm sleeves. And sings to the camera as well. Nice of her to make eye contact with me. I feel for her. But the song grabs at Zeus' heartstrings so he lets her go back to Earth for "a moment." Or possibly "eternity," because neither Zeus nor Hera seem to be able to tell time.
OPENING OF XANADU WITH A BIG ROLLER-SKATING EXTRAVAGANZA! With all the mish-mash we saw earlier in the film and we get them dancing off calling out Xanadu and we've got ZOOT SUITS AGAIN!! If nothing else, it's worth it to see ZOOT SUITS!.
I'm digging how all the people showing up for the big opening shindig came color coordinated: girls in red, boys in blue.
I'd like to point out that this skating around the rink with all the people clapping hands and stuff in rhythm, slowly building up to them chanting "Xanadu" over and over, took two minutes. All they're doing is skating around in circles. It took another minute to get to the big, big moment, and that is:
THE SINGING OF "XANADU"! WOOT! And we have jacketless Zoot Suit dancers popping!
There are some very weird little dance pieces during this. Two dancers were holding umbrellas that were shaped like the umbrellas you get in drinks.
Omg. At an hour and twenty-eight minutes, they've started a tap routine. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, except they look like they're dancing on the floor of Carrousel in LOGAN'S RUN and should be flying into the air at any moment to explode in shots from laser beams. And given this was 1979/1980, there were enough laser beams around that exploding people could've happened.
Newton-John is tapping with them in an outfit that looks like she should be serving milkshakes, now rockin' a song wearing a leopard print outfit with bad rock chick makeup that -
Er. Now it's cowboy themed. She's wearing a "country girl" outfit complete with long frills and a big-ass cowboy hat. This is what they followed up "Xanadu" with?
Back on Carousel!! WHO'S GOING TO EXPLODE?? Why aren't people chanting "Renew!!"??
And now the montage of songs gets back to singing "Xanadu" and wtf is Newton-John wearing? Oops, back to the cute outfit she was wearing when she met Sonny. Sonny doesn't deserve -
OMG!! SHE JUST FLEW UP INTO THE AIR AND EXPLODED!!
Poor Sonny is left standing sad, then walks away from the stage to sit with Gene Kelly, who promptly asks him if he wants a drink. "No, thanks," Sonny replies. But then Kelly asks a server to come give him a drink anyway. Only it turns out to be a Kira look-alike. We know it can't be Kira because we saw Kira explode.
And that's the end of my running commentary because the film's over.
I originally saw this in theaters when it came out, and you know what? It's not as bad as I recall, and not as bad as the perception of it has been over the past 42 years. It's a good film? Mm. Maybe, maybe not. It does have a pretty solid soundtrack, with only one song I thought was schlocky. And it had a very questionable mish-mash of genre songs there at the end. And Sonny wasn't worth Kira's time. Still kind of a jerk there at the end. But that could be because Michael Beck had no idea what he was doing in this film.
I found a quote of his, "The Warriors (1979) opened a lot of doors in film, for me, which Xanadu (1980) then closed." Oof on his career.
I'd also like to point out that although this wasn't his last acting gig, this was Gene Kelly's final feature film. I wonder if it did for the remainder of his career what this film did for Beck.
There's a kitschiness to the film that says "Watch me," so you might as well give it a whirl.
---------- As always, no matter what kind of review this has been, good or bad, props are given to anyone involved with the making of this film. It's not easy to get a film made, so kudos are deserved.