ALL SCI-FI

[Brent Gair]

One of my last holy grail movies has been announced for Blu-ray Disc release in early March.

I'm a huge XANADU fan and had almost given up on a BD release but Universal has it penciled in for this Spring.



XANADU was a flop and it was the victim of a few unfortunate events. The detractors will say it was just a bad movie.

Fair enough . . . everybody has their taste in movies, and if somebody doesn't like this, there's no point in arguing about it.

Certainly a significant strike against XANADU was awful timing. Developed at the height of the disco craze, XANADU was released in 1980 when disco was not only on it's last legs but was suffering from a major backlash.

In 1979, XANADU may have been cutting edge pop-culture. But, a few months later in 1980, everything about it seemed comically dated. It was the quintessential 1970's movie . . . released in 1980.

But the years have been kinder to XANADU. No longer judged against the "futuristic" 1980s, the movie has a stalwart following of born-again 1970s fans.

And, whatever shortcomings this production had as a movie, it was a musical masterwork of 1970's pop with Olivia Newton-John and ELO.

[orzel-w]

I remember really resenting all the rearrangements of the classic songs into disco numbers back in the day.

That is, until I took some hustle lessons. Then I couldn't get enough. I used to play my disco mix cassettes while driving around in my car, envisioning dance moves to try out. (It was probably almost as dangerous as driving while texting, or at least talking on the phone.)

The drawback to dancing the hustle(s) well was that it required having a steady partner you could rehearse (and invent) your dance moves with. But if you had that arrangement, it could be spectacular.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Krel]

I liked the film even if it did spawn the Golden Raspberry Awards. The exterior was the beautiful Art Deco Pan-Pacific Auditorium, which sadly burned down in 1989 after years of neglect.

There was a joke in the movie Action, where the star of the movie was denied entrance to an exclusive restaurant, while another producer was allowed inside.

The Maitre De explains his actions by telling the star how much the Matrix made.

The star replies, "Yes, but he also made Xanadu."

David.

[Bud Brewster]

I haven't seen Xanadu in years, and I knew nothing about the Art Deco Pan-Pacific Auditorium until you mentioned it's tragic loss by fire.

I'll bet I could download Xanadu and start doing the hustle in the comfort of by own home!.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[bulldogtrekker]

And maybe I might watch it with you.

[Dr Acula]

I'm one of those who really rather like it. It's a fun fantasy flick, but the script falters at the end, where the film more or less stops rather than truly ends.

Some of the musical numbers and dance arrangements are magical, like the Dancing medley between the Tubes and Olivia Newton John, and the musical suite at the end with all the different song types. There is even a Don Bluth animation sequence!

[Zackuth]

I'm a big fan of Xanadu also.

I saw this in a theatre, but it would have been late 81 or early 82 because I was stationed at the San Diego Naval Base at the time.

I like the music (I wore out a few tapes in my Walkman) and the dancing numbers were fantastic. I was completely entertained by the movie and still am after all these years and quite a few viewings.

[Rick]

I actually liked disco quite a bit. I worshiped at the altar of Gene Kelly. And I was madly in love with Olivia Newton-John.

But this was one of the worst major motion pictures ever made.

I saw it when it was brand shiny new, the very day that it opened. I had read no reviews, didn't know what to expect, but, hey, Gene Kelly was in it. How bad could it be?

Well . . . terrible, that's how bad.

I taped this off HBO ages ago and would show the tape to people very often. It always earned the sort of hoots and laughs normally reserved for the likes of PLAN 9 from Outer Space.

Weirdly, when it was renovated as a Broadway musical, it got some really great reviews and did good business.

I knew a couple of people in that cast and they were dumbfounded. They had just assumed that the critics would massacre them. But I gather the writers and director had done a great job of buffing it up in just the right places for a modern audience.
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Man need not kneel before the angels,
Nor lie in death forever,
But for the weakness of his feeble will.

[scotpens]

It's been reported that the script of Xanadu was being rewritten daily as it was shot -- never a good sign.

[Bud Brewster]

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Well, as a musical finale, this beats the hell out anything that cinematic piece of shit calledl Grease inflicted on us!

_________________________ Xanadu Finale


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[tmlindsey]

Sadly, Olivia Newton-John just passed away

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/08/entertainment/olivia-newton-john-obit/index.html
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"Have you never wondered what it would be like to walk between the ticks and tocks of Time?"

[Gord Green]

Olivia Newton-John, singer, actress and philanthropist, died Monday, Aug. 8 at the age of 73 after a long struggle with breast cancer. Newton-John is survived by her husband, John Easterling, who announced the sad news via her official Facebook page, and her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi.

"Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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Dammit, I'm sick and tired of learning that beautiful and talented people who were young and healthy when I was in my prime have suddenly passed away and left me thinking that the Grime Reaper is standing behind my sofa, looking over my shoulder and waiting for the right moment to lop off my head with that black scythe he carries!





I'll turn 74 a week from tomorrow — August 16th. Finding out that the lovely and talented Olivia Newton-John died at 73 makes me think I'm only still around today because Mr. Reaper skipped me by mistake, and I'm not long for this world!


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With that in mind, I hope the members of All Sci-Fi will remember me fondly when I've gone to Xanadu and started rubbing incorporeal elbows with a beautiful blond, blue-eyed angle . . . named Olivia!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)