I was watching "Los Angeles Plays Itself" which shows a clip of Olivia Newton-John singing "Xanadu" inspiring me to dance like no one was watching and had the time of my life

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by Anonymous

reply 31

February 4, 2022 9:05 PM

I must admit I LOVE that scene of Olivia and Gene Kelly dancing!

by Anonymous

reply 1

February 3, 2022 5:04 AM

What is your signature move?

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by Anonymous

reply 2

February 3, 2022 5:05 AM

For years I didn't realize that the guy who is the hottest of the male dancers (and with the best ass) was Matt Lattanzi.

Livvy had great taste.

by Anonymous

reply 3

February 3, 2022 5:11 AM

The lyrics of that song make no sense within the context of the movie.

Why would the roller disco be a place where nobody dared to go? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of re-opening it?

by Anonymous

reply 4

February 3, 2022 5:14 AM

I would be all about Gene Kelly's ass if I were on that set

by Anonymous

reply 5

February 3, 2022 5:18 AM

The camera blocking, choreography and editing of this song are truly atrocious. Olivia spends half the song off to the margins, or with her back to the camera with nothing to do but standing there bopping and waving her arms. It should have been great but it wasn't.

by Anonymous

reply 6

February 3, 2022 5:19 AM

r6, they had the same problem with ONJ that I had with Lucille Ball in Mame... and they tried the same solution..

If you've got a film musical lead who can't dance, just choreograph people around her who can.

by Anonymous

reply 7

February 3, 2022 5:22 AM

"Hollywood Nights" - 1980 ABC TV special

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by Anonymous

reply 8

February 3, 2022 5:23 AM

r7, true, but then block the f*cking scene and plan the camera angles better. Everything's just a disorganized mess.

by Anonymous

reply 9

February 3, 2022 5:23 AM

With her bouncin-n-behavin hair, how did ONJ not appear in shampoo commercials in the 70s?

by Anonymous

reply 10

February 3, 2022 5:26 AM

I enjoyed the Broadway musical a lot. It was fun. The title production number in the film is bad on every level as has been noted. It's like they threw it together the morning of the shooting when everyone was still sleepy.

by Anonymous

reply 11

February 3, 2022 7:42 AM

Of course you did, OP! It’s Xanadu!

by Anonymous

reply 12

February 3, 2022 9:25 AM

For someone with NO experience as a dancer, she holds her own in that lovely number with Gene Kelly. Although it's not really a challenging routine, it must have been intimidating to dance with one of the two greatest dancers of all time.

by Anonymous

reply 13

February 4, 2022 1:40 AM

[quote]The lyrics of that song make no sense within the context of the movie.

To be fair, nothing about this movie makes sense. It's like they had a soundtrack all ready to go and had to hurry and cobble together a film to go along with it. It reminds me of the Bee Gees Sgt Pepper film and the Star Wars Xmas Special in that they all seem like the products of too much disco-era hubris and cocaine (though Xanadu is really more fun and likeable than either of those trainwrecks, and has better music).

And with all that said, and as inept as it is, I'd still probably rather rewatch it than Grease.

by Anonymous

reply 14

February 4, 2022 1:54 AM

I loved this as a child and couldn’t wait to see the Pan Pacific Auditorium the first time I went to LA, but it was just a ruin and later a park with architectural elements hinting at its past glory.

by Anonymous

reply 15

February 4, 2022 2:09 AM

Poor OP.

Yes, we believe this sad scene WAS the time of your life.

Tsk.

by Anonymous

reply 16

February 4, 2022 2:15 AM

I've never seen the movie - this is not at all what I envisioned for this song!

by Anonymous

reply 17

February 4, 2022 2:22 AM

"Twist of Fate" is peak Olivia

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by Anonymous

reply 18

February 4, 2022 2:24 AM

Gene Kelly's butt (part 2)

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by Anonymous

reply 20

February 4, 2022 4:01 AM

R13, I believe Kelly staged that number himself and probably made sure to make his dance partner look good. :)

by Anonymous

reply 21

February 4, 2022 5:33 AM

"Suddenly" - Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard

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by Anonymous

reply 22

February 4, 2022 10:56 AM

Michael Beck was beautiful, but so wooden, it’s like he stumbled in from another film, and one that wasn’t a musical.

by Anonymous

reply 23

February 4, 2022 11:06 AM

That first photo of Kelly's butt looks like it was on the set of Brigadoon and after a plate too many of haggis needed to let out a gust of biblical proportions which if he had been standing up would have blown him out of MGM soundstage 3. This way he only risked being blown to China.

by Anonymous

reply 24

February 4, 2022 11:25 AM

I don’t understand the lack of focus. ONJ was the star but she wasn’t filmed there way. Wasn’t she being groomed to be the next Big Thing?

by Anonymous

reply 25

February 4, 2022 11:43 AM

Olivia is really the most beautiful pop star of all time. She’s absolutely gorgeous in Xanadu.

by Anonymous

reply 26

February 4, 2022 11:51 AM

Are they dancing on a waffle iron at 1:20 in OP's video? I just can't figure out what that is.

by Anonymous

reply 27

February 4, 2022 11:51 AM

I remember a NY Mag article about Xanadu that said it was basically a monument to early 80s cocaine excess. I have to agree. It really is. You can imagine the gakked out studio head rubbing coke along his gum lines as he shouts “We’ll get Olivia Newton John to star! She’s hot! And that guy from Warriors!! ELO!!! Gene Kelly!!! Roller skates!!!! Disco!!! Big band!!! This will be bigger than that piece of shit Grease!!!!!!”

by Anonymous

reply 28

February 4, 2022 12:15 PM

[quote]Olivia is really the most beautiful pop star of all time. She’s absolutely gorgeous in Xanadu.

She's pretty freaking gorgeous in the special linked at R8, too.

by Anonymous

reply 29

February 4, 2022 4:24 PM

You can only be considered an ONJ-OG if you're familiar with her rare "Warm and Tender" album

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by Anonymous

reply 30

February 4, 2022 5:08 PM

r28 - you forget the Pop-n-Lock Zoot-suiters!

by Anonymous

reply 31

February 4, 2022 9:05 PM