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stephie1175
Reviews
Xanadu (1980)
Xanadoom
Xanadu is the precursor to Baz Luhrmans "Moulin Rouge" or shall I say "Moulin Wreck". If you combine "Titanic" and "Moulin Rouge" you will have this smelly piece of tripe.
Sonny meet Kira. Kira meet Sonny. Love at first sight right? Close. Kira has a secret. She is a "Muse", one of the many daughters of the Greek God Zeus. Kira was sent by Zeus to inspire Sonny. However, Kira realizes that she wants to do a lot more than just "inspire" him. *Hint, hint*. Sonny with Kiras guidance decides to establish a roller disco/club. Xanadu was written by a person who wrote for television,so this is why the film has a "movie of the week" feel to it. The script is all over the place! What made the movie a cult hit was the scenery, Don Bluth's animation, the costumes, and most of all Jeff Lynne's(ELO) magnificent score. By the way "Tomorrow" was not a movie with Olivia Newton-John, it was a folk group that she was in during the early 1970's.
Hostel (2005)
Horror that sends a message
When I first saw the preview for this film, I said to my guy "this looks like "Saw", and he agreed.
Plot: Three single men, two American and one Icelandic travel to Amsterdam, Netherlands to get their freak on. When they return to their hostel, the manager locks them out because he will not let anyone in after midnight. In need of a place to rest, they manage to bunk at some other guys place. He tells them if they want to get freaky with a lot girls, Slovakia is where they should go. However little do they know, they are in for a real deadly surprise.
A lot of horror films have either he same plot or the same feel so that is why the movie is a bit cliché. While writer/director Eli Roth takes bits and pieces from other films like the two American backpackers ("An American Werewolf in London", "Eurotrip"), the Hotel ("Psycho"), the wax museum ("Tourist Trap","House of Wax"), the body parts ("Body Shop"/"Dr. Gore"), he shows the viewer that the women are smarter than the men, and how some serial killers are sexually turned on by the murder and torture. In this film Slovakian businessmen decide that instead of selling woman for sex, they will sell humans for dismemberment. The males will be sold to the homosexual men, and the females to the heterosexual men.
The movie starts off very slow and sluggish to the point where it is just boring. Where is the horror and suspense? It is at the middle, close to the end of the film. What happened? I read an article that an "NC-17" rating was supposed to be given but there was a lot of editing done to make the film "R" rated. There seemed to be too much editing, but there was still plenty of blood and guts to go around. Moreover like in "An American Werewolf in London", there is some dark humor. However, If you are a real horror fan, then wait for the directors cut. Also if you are a new horror buff, check out any Alfred Hitchcok film and see where it all began.
If you decide to see it in the theater be warned that what ever you do, don't eat popcorn or anything during or before this film.
FM (1978)
No Static at All
This movie, and its soundtrack is the history of late 70's classic rock 101. Taylor, Walsh, Steely Dan, Rondstat. They are all there. And behind the music portrayed a Los Angles radio station with a band of misfits, and its eccentric station manager who wanted to run the station with a college style and no commercials. Martin Mull in his movie debut takes the cheese with his portrayal of Eric Swan, an egotistical babe magnet with the heart of 10 year old child. The movie even shows some excellent concert footage from Linda Rondstat, and Jimmy Buffett.
This movie has been playing a lot on the Sundance Channel because this really was an indie movie. The movie did look a little low budget. It took a while for the VHS to come out, and now it is on DVD. This is truly one of my favorite movies of all time.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
Sgt. Poopers
I agree with actor Alan Cumming who had compared this movie to a bad highway accident. The crash happens and you can't help but watch. However Mr. Cumming should really choose his words wisely. Does the "The Son of The Mask" ring a bell? The first album that I ever listened to was Sgt. Pepper. My Mom had the record and I remember being five years old and enjoying the melodies and the lyrics that Paul McCartney and John Lennon molded together into a fantastic musical masterpiece. The plot is simple: the grandsons of Sgt. Pepper, Billy Shears, his brother, and their friends the Henderson brothers chase after mean old Mr. Mustard who stole stole Sgt. Peppers coronet as well as the bands other instruments because the "Famous Villain Band (F.V.B.)"played by "Aerosmith" told him to. The icing on the cake is at the end of the film: the ghost of Sgt. Pepper is played by a drugged out Billy Preston. That was the funniest part of the movie!
The singing was OK for what it was. Why is one of the worst movies ever made? There were two reasons: 1. A bad script happens when you write one under the influence of illegal narcotics. 2. Stigwood was trying to milk off the success of the film version of "Grease", and at the same time tried to promote some singers under his label. He failed at both tasks. The Bee Gees were forced to do this movie because they were under contract with RSO records. They never wanted to sing Beatles songs or pretend to be them. They were once interviewed by VH1 music television and Barry Gibb insisted that they never intended to be like "The Beatles."
If you want a good 1:33 min. music video with Beatles songs, half of which were not part of the original Sgt. Pepper album, then this is it. If you want a solid scripted movie, fat chance. Ps: here is a little trivia: Sandy Farina (Strawberry Fields) did voice over work in the mid 90's. She sang a jingle for "Sears". "Come see the softer side of Sears".