In 1980 I was thirteen years old and I would escape to the movies to see all kinds of movies, I was a teenager with very few friends yet, I saw great movies like: The Blues Brothers, The Empire Strikes Back, Stir Crazy, Alien, The Elephant Man, Flash Gordon, (I liked it!!!) and Airplane! I used to go especially to a movie theater called Altamira where they already knew me and let me in to see movies suitable for people over fourteen years old.
I also saw some bad movies, and in some cases, some terrible ones, of these movies there are three that stood out for me among all of them and coincidentally all three are musicals and I could say that they are my guilty pleasures, even today with 53 years I put them in my DVD, I laugh a lot with them, and my wife and my daughter look at me with strangeness and a certain disdain. Perhaps the effect of these movies is to remind me of those thirteen years when I would escape to the movies to distract myself from my teenage and family problems.
Without further ado, my selection:
1.- Can't Stop the Music.
A model, a lawyer and a DJ decide to put together a group of six singers from Greenwich Village, and.... well here's a memorable scene of what they achieved:
Xanadu.
A muse is a muse, a phrase that stuck in my mind and I have not been able to erase it. Here the muses, daughters of Zeus, come down to earth to inspire humans, one of those muses: Kira encourages a cartoonist, and an architect who was formerly an orchestra conductor to build a roller skates disco. A cheesy, ridiculous and kitschy story, but when I watch it I feel like the whole cast was having fun making the movie, I liked the music:
Roller Boogie.
A girl who likes skating, but plays the flute to please her parents, meets a skater who wants to compete in a roller skating tournament. They fall in love, they practice, she becomes a professional roller skater, but not everything is so easy because they have to face a skating star and her coach, here is the result:
I must say that maybe my hormones played a trick on me and I went to see these movies because of their protagonists: Valerie Perrine, Olivia Newton Jhon, and Linda Blair.
Valerie Perrine I had seen in TV movies and Superman II, Olivia Newton Jhon I saw in Vaseline and I also like her songs, and Linda Blair, well at that time I thought she was cute and at thirteen I had not seen The Exorcist.
As my passion for movies grew I found out that the first Razzie awards in its inaugural edition were Can't Stop the Music won in the nominations for worst film and worst screenplay, and Xanadu, won the nomination for worst director. Roller Boogie does not enter in competition because it is from 1979.
As a curious fact in Can't Stop the Music appears a young Steve Gutemberg before being famous for his starring role in the series Police Academy and Bruce Jenner, a former American soccer player who replaced Eric Estrada in CHiPs without much success and now is the famous Caitlyn Jenner.
In the movie Xanadu, the famous dancer and director Gene Kelly made his last appearance. Michael Beck, the other star of the film has always commented that Xanadu closed the doors to good roles in Hollywood.
If Roller Boogie stood out at all, it was that the male lead, (Jim Bray), was actually a professional skateboarder.
Mark. L. Lester is the director of this movie, and then he was able to make three movies considered cult nowadays: The Class of 1984 in 1982, Commando in 1985, and Showdown in Little Tokyo in 1981.
I must admit, at least for my concept, that these movies are bad, but very funny and that coincidentally that's why they became cult movies, the one I like the most of the trees is Xanadu.
Thanks for sharing my guilty pleasures when it comes to movies!
The gif is of my authorship, here are the sources: Source,Source,Source
Spanish Version.
En el año de 1980 yo tenia trece años y me escapaba al cine a ver todo tipo de peluiculas, era un adolescente con muy pocos amigos todavia, vi peliculas geniales como: The Blues Brothers, El Imperio Contraataca, Stir Crazy, Alien el Octavo Pasajero, El Hombre Elefante, Flash Gordon, (si me gusto!!!) y Airplane!. Iba en especial a un cine llamado Altamira en donde ya me conocian y me dejaban a entrar a ver peliculas aptas para mayores de catorce años.
Tambien vi algunas peliculas malas y en algunos casos esperpenticas, de estas peliculas hay tres que para mi sobresalian entre todas y casualmente las tres son musicalesy podria decir que son mis placeres culpables, aun hoy con 53 años las pongo en mi DVD, me rio mucho con ellas , y mi esposa y mi hija me miran con extrañeza y cierto desden. Tal vez el efecto de estas peliculas es el de recordarme aquellos trece años en los que me escapaba al cine a distraerme de mis problemas adolescentes y familiares.
Sin mas preambulos mi selección:
1.- Can’t Stop the Music.
Una modelo, un abogado y un Dj deciden deciden reunir un grupo de seis cantantes provenientes de Greenwich Village, y... bueno aqui tienen una escena memorable de lo que lograron:
2.- Xanadu.
Una musa es una musa, una frase que se me quedo grabada en mi mente y no he podido borrarla. Aqui las musas hijas de Zeus, bajan a la tierra para inspirar a los humanos, una de esas musas: Kira anima a un dibujante, y a un arquitecto que anteriormente era director de orquesta a construir una discoteca de patines sobre ruedas. Una historia cursi, ridicula y muy kitsh, pero cuando la veo siento que todo el elenco se estaba divirtiendo haciendo la pelicula, a mi la musica si me gusto:
3.- Roller Boogie.
Una chica que le gusta patinar, pero toca la flauta para complacer a sus padres, conoce a un patinador que desea competir en un torneo de patinaje sobre ruedas !. Se enamoran , practican, ella se hace profesional en patinaje sobre ruedas, pero no todo es tan fácil ya que deben enfrentar a una esterella del patinaje y a su entrenador, aqui el resultado:
Debo decir que tal vez mis hormonas me jugaron una mala pasada y fui a ver estas películas por culpa de sus protagonistas: Valerie Perrine, Olivia Newton Jhon, y Linda Blair.
A Valerie Perrine la habia visto en peliculas de televisión y en Superman II, Olivia Newton Jhon la vi en Vaselina y ademas me gustan sus canciones, y Linda Blair , bueno en esa epoca me parecia lindisima y a los trece años yo no habia visto El Exorcista.
A medida que fue creciendo mi pasion por el cine me entero que los primeros premios Razzie en su edicion inaugural fueron Can’t Stop the Music gano en las nominaciones de peor pelicula y peor guión, y Xanadu, gana la nominación a peor director. Roller Boogie no entra en competentencia porque es del año 1979.
Como dato curioso en Can’t Stop the Music aparece un joven Steve Gutemberg antes de ser famoso por su protanismo en la serie Police Academy y Bruce Jenner, un ex- futbolista americano que sustituyo sin mucho exito a Eric Estrada en CHiPs y ahora es la celebremente famosa Caitlyn Jenner.
En la pelicula Xanadu, hizo su ultima aparicion el Famosisimo Bailarin y Director Gene Kelly. Michael Beck, el otro protagonista de la cinta siempre ha comentado que Xanadu le cerro las puertas a buenos papeles en Hollywood.
Si en algo destaco Roller Boogie, es que el protagonista masculino, (Jim Bray), en realidad era patinador profesional.
Mark. L. Lester es el director de esta pelicula, y luego fue capaz de realizar tres peliculas consideradas de culto hoy día: The Class of 1984 en 1982, Comando en 1985, y Showdown in Little Tokyo en 1981.
Debo reconocer, por lo menos para mi concepto, que estas peliculas son malas, pero muy divertidas y que casualmente por eso se convirtieron en peliculas de culto, la que mas me gusta de las tres es Xanadu.
Gracias por compartir mis placeres culpables en lo referente a peliculas.!
El gif es de mi autoria, aquí les presento las fuentes: Fuente,Fuente,Fuente