There’s no pretending Xanadu is a good film. The only genuinely successful part is Gene Kelly’s dance duet with Olivia, added at the end of production to pad out the runtime. He directed and they danced in one uninterrupted take, Gene still a legend and Olivia more than equal to being his scene and dance partner.
Which is strange how many popular songs ELO/Jeff Lynne have had, especially since so many movies and stuff use “Mr. Blue Sky”. I like the ELO version better than the movie. Love ELO.
I liked Xanadu, mainly because it was about a painter in L A which I was for a time ( I later set-designed the Xanadu musical about 10 years ago).
First, the number of people in prison for JUST minor weed charges is almost non-existent these days. So Tulsi is lying.
Dude Twist Of Fate's been one of my go to songs this past year. Fun fact her song "Xanadu" is Electric Light Orchestra's only Number One hit. But damn this real sucks real bad.
For this Gen-Xer Grease was HUGE, so this news hurts a lot.
As one born in 1967, I think this article sells short how big Olivia was in the early 70s. “I Honestly Love You” and “Have You Never Been Mellow” made her a huge success is the States. While that success may have “led to” her casting in Grease, she was cast in Grease because she was already a bankable star, not a…
The Patron Saint of Australia is now a bona fide Saint.
Well that just fucking sucks. I wouldn’t say I’m a big Grease fan but her performance is sweet perfection, and anyone who says they don’t start moving when they hear “The One That I Want” is lying to you.
If you weren’t old enough to have heard Physical on the radio, then you can’t imagine how big of a star she was at one point. RIP, I’m singing You’re the one that I want in my head at work now because I loved watching Grease on ABC channel 7 in NYC as a kid.
She was not “behind” the smash song “Physical”. She performed it. She was the face of it. That is not what “behind” means.
I was eight years old, sitting in a movie theater watching Grease when something very strange washed over me. Like an awkward, warm hug. What could cause this oddity? Oh that’s right. The pants. It was those shiny black pants. Hmmmm.
First of all, RIP to a great talent!
Revenge is a dish best served cold!
Christopher Tolkien died. Two years ago. Pretty sure he’s past giving a shit.
“also the Tolkien estate, whose chief representative, J.R.R. Tolkien’s son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, has been vocal in the past about his distaste for Jackson’s films.”
I think he knows that he’s had decades of trying to connect with the public and has mostly succeeded in boring them to death. He’ll be just as mad at Amazon if they make this material approachable and engaging.
Ignoring the fact of how many thousands of people the films acted as a gateway to Tolkien’s work. The vast majority of whom would likely never come to his written work without the nudge of the films. Not that I don’t agree with them on many levels; but that is a 2 sided sword (Like canonically the elves generally used…
I’m sure it rankled C. Tolkien on some level that for many people Walsh and Jackson’s version of his father’s works are foremost in their minds, not the written pages. This doesn't seem terribly surprising.
