While “work all day and dance all night”
May be a habit hard to break,
It pays the bills to underwrite
The hopes believed by us alone,
The quarter-baked ambition-prone,
Who dare to dream for dreaming’s sake,
For people’s dreams are all their own.
___________________

MPAA rating: R (for language, sensuality, and nudity in a strip club scene)

Flashdance is actually a perfect example of a VC Pick, a movie that my VC enjoys far more than I and one that I only ended up seeing after quite a bit of persistence on her part. This slice of ‘80s danciness isn’t all that different from Travolta’s Staying Alive from the same year: underdog dreamer uses their athletic dance talent to hit it big and achieve their professional dream. Instead of a man overcoming a lustful partner, though, Jennifer Beals’ Alex is a welder by day and bar dancer by night who has to overcome her own self-confidence and dare to become a ballet dancer.

I can see why my VC enjoys Flashdance, at the very least for its dance scenes and soundtrack, which made the rounds on MTV back in its early days and were used effectively to promote the movie. While the film makes an odd but ardent distinction between dancing sensually and scantily clad in a bar to pop music versus actual stripping, it certainly boasts some outstanding dance sequences, most of which don’t really add anything to the plot but at least look good. To complement them, the Grammy-winning soundtrack includes some quintessential ‘80s tunes that still get decent airplay on the radio, from “Maniac” during a particularly strenuous workout to “Gloria” to the Oscar-winning theme song, Irene Cara’s “Flashdance…What a Feeling.”

A few have become iconic pieces of pop culture (the water falling over the chair, the final audition), but some of the less famous dances are just as memorable, from the gyrating “Manhunt” dance by Cynthia Rhodes (also from Staying Alive) to a trippy sequence with Alex and a unique strobing effect. The strobe dance is my VC’s favorite, though my appreciation for it was tempered by my concern for any epileptic viewers. I don’t think they put disclaimers on films of the ‘80s like they did recently with The Incredibles 2, so I can’t help but wonder how many unsuspecting viewers were negatively affected by that scene.

Aside from the music and dancing, Flashdance is fairly thin, following Alex’s relationship with her boss (Michael Nouri) and her attempts to build up the courage for ballet school. Some scenes depend on how the viewer approaches them: When Alex’s boss follows her home after saving her from a lecherous jerk (Lee Ving), you could easily see it as sweet of him to protect her or borderline creepy since he had been trying to court her and now knows where she lives. (Luckily the movie opts for the former view.) Without the music, Flashdance would be hardly worth watching, but it still manages to leave you with that satisfied dreams-do-come-true kind of glow as the credits roll. My VC loves it, and Jennifer Beals is lovely, but, next time, I’d be just fine watching its music video high points instead of the whole thing.

Best line: (Alex) “I told you, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out with the boss.”   (Nick, jokingly) “OK. Have it your way. You’re fired. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at eight.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

© 2018 S.G. Liput
585 Followers and Counting

Though we may think our minds are broad,
Aware of worlds beyond our own,
We all are uniformly flawed
In being tunnel vision-prone.

We often only grasp this fact
When dreams we barely comprehend
Provoke our minds. How we react
Determines where our path will end.
_________________________

MPAA rating for Saturday Night Fever: R (but there’s a PG version too)
MPAA rating for Staying Alive: PG

I wasn’t looking forward to watching Saturday Night Fever because I had a feeling it would be a lot like my VC’s last pick Dirty Dancing, a movie where I’ve seen all the best parts with little interest in the connective tissue. Yet she really wanted me to see its critically ravaged sequel Staying Alive (yes, SNF had a sequel), which I knew nothing about and of course had to watch the first movie to fully understand.  Now that I’ve seen both, conventional wisdom would say I should love Saturday Night Fever and deride its cheap sequel, but apparently I missed that convention. My feelings aren’t that strong on either one, but my sympathies are definitely flipped from the critical consensus I’ve seen.

As far as Saturday Night Fever, it fit my expectations to some extent. I had seen all the best parts already, but they’re still iconic for a good reason, especially the dancing prowess of Tony Manero (John Travolta in his star-making role). The soundtrack is one of the catchiest ever, full of high-pitched Bee Gees and even disco-fied classical music, all of which adds to the overwhelming ‘70s-ness of the whole production. Few movies capture their contemporary time and place so completely as Saturday Night Fever does, from the wide-collared shirts and weirdly high-heeled shoes to the background details like the posters of Rocky and Farrah Fawcett on Tony’s bedroom wall. Its status as a snapshot of a decade makes it significant, in a way that comes off as transportive rather than dated.

Knowing already the basic plot, I was mainly concerned that Saturday Night Fever would be too much like a certain movie I love to hate, John Travolta’s other lifestyle-snapshot film Urban Cowboy (worst movie ever, by the way). It has a lot in common, with its young Travolta protagonist being a self-absorbed punk who prefers to spend his nights drinking and playing his money away. Yet while Urban Cowboy seemed perfectly content with its white-trash carousing, Saturday Night Fever is at least self-aware about it. It rings bitingly true when Tony’s dance partner Stephanie (Karen Gorney) calls him “a cliché. You’re nowhere, on your way to no place.”

I could appreciate how Tony wakes up to how narrow and directionless his existence is, but the film gets bumpy on its way there. For one thing, I watched the R-rated original (I didn’t know there was a PG edited version until afterward) and was shocked at the amount of profanity, proving that the ‘70s were hardly better on that front than nowadays, perhaps worse. Tony’s friends are consistently scuzzy throughout as well, and by the time they were taking turns raping his wannabe girlfriend in the backseat of a car, I realized how much I wasn’t liking this movie. As I said, I recognized Tony’s experiences as a gritty and all-too-realistic journey to rock-bottom, which is often the only way to start improving, but outside of the music, it was hardly a journey I’d want to take again.

And then there’s Staying Alive, the 1983 sequel that has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t think it deserves such scorn because it was a far more enjoyable film to watch; you just have to embrace the way the original’s ‘70s drama has been largely replaced with ‘80s cheesiness. It all depends on how you approach it; I loved looking at the iMDB reviews, which swing wildly from 1/10 terrible reviews and 10/10 glowing ones. Travolta’s performance is also pretty comparable to the first movie, so I don’t know why he’d get an Oscar nomination for one and a Razzie nomination for the other.

Directed by Sylvester Stallone, Staying Alive features Travolta’s return as Tony Manero; the only other returning cast member is Tony’s very Italian mother (Julie Bovasso), though I understand a few other cameos were cut. Instead of dancing for fun in Brooklyn, Tony has instead moved to Manhattan to become a modern dancer on Broadway. The Bee Gees are still on hand for the soundtrack, but there’s a decidedly more ‘80s vibe to the music, rounded out by several great additions by the director’s brother Frank Stallone, who also has a small role. The glitzy strobe-lit dance floor has been replaced by synchronized on-stage athleticism that sees Tony leaping through lens flares and showing off a lot more muscle than in Saturday Night Fever.

Some may miss the grittiness of the original, but when Tony points out that he’s quit swearing, smoking, and drinking, I see it as a genuine personal improvement, not just a way to segue from R to PG. Of course, he’s still got a long way to go, particularly in his treatment of women. He’s still the same ladies’ man who can’t recognize the good thing he’s got with his fellow dancer and girlfriend Jackie (Cynthia Rhodes), choosing instead to continually pursue proven diva Laura (Finola Hughes). It’s frustrating how oblivious he is at times, getting jealous when Laura cheats on him and never considering what he’s doing to Jackie, but at least he comes around eventually. It’s true that Staying Alive hardly feels like a sequel to Saturday Night Fever, but I don’t think it’s that bad a film. The music and choreography aren’t as memorable as its predecessor, but they’re still impressive, even if the big number at the end grows dull with how long and overproduced it is.

I’d gladly watch Staying Alive again, while Saturday Night Fever I think I’d only watch the PG version and only if I was in the mood for something depressing. The main reason I like Staying Alive more is how it does build on the first film. Saturday Night Fever was all about waking Tony up to his directionless lifestyle but didn’t get to show much after he comes to his senses. Staying Alive shows how he struggles to improve, put his talent to good use, and make something of himself, which is a more laudable purpose, despite the decline in nuance. When Tony struts along in his very first scene of SNF, he’s showing off mere bravado; when the same scene is echoed in Staying Alive, he actually has a reason to strut.

Best line from Saturday Night Fever: (Tony) “There’s ways of killing yourself without killing yourself.”
Best line from Staying Alive: (Tony, jealous of Jackie’s friend Carl) “Don’t worry. She’s in good hands.”   (Carl) “And what are you, Allstate, pal?”   (Tony) “Yeah, you want disability?”

Rank for Saturday Night Fever: Honorable Mention (barely)
Rank for Staying Alive: Honorable Mention (but higher)

© 2018 S.G. Liput
539 Followers and Counting

Innocence, it might be said,
Lasts only till our first romance.
When youthful hearts begin to dance
And steal more than a passing glance
And seize (they think) their only chance
Without a thought to circumstance,
Naiveté is shed,
Adulthood in its stead.

For whether it concludes in shame
Or love that lasts a lifetime still,
A heart that’s met another’s will
And tried a second heart to fill
And felt the pain and seized the thrill
Of deeper love, for good or ill,
Will never be the same
As when their first love came.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Sometimes a movie is so iconic that you feel like you’ve seen it even when you’ve only seen the highlights. Dirty Dancing fits that mold because, although I’ve seen every dance scene and the entire ending before, I hadn’t watched it all the way through, despite my VC’s persistence. Now that I finally have… well, I was just fine with the highlights.

Before I anger any of its many ardent fans, it’s not that I disliked Dirty Dancing; it’s just that I’d already seen all the best parts. Maybe if I’d seen those classic moments as part of the whole for the first time, I’d appreciate the whole more. As it was, my viewing was essentially to fill in the gaps. I got to see how exactly “Baby” (lovely Jennifer Grey) arrived on vacation at the distinguished Kellerman’s mountain resort in 1963. I got to find out how she first met the ruggedly handsome dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). And of course, I got to enjoy the cheesy but romantic quotes and the dance numbers so classic they’re still being parodied to death (like in this recent Super Bowl ad—priceless!).

But there were also things that detracted along the way, like the fact that the whole reason Baby and Johnny perform together is so she can cover for his other partner Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) who gets an abortion. The distress of her botched abortion is done tastefully enough, but what really bugged me is how Baby starts her sexual relationship with Johnny right afterward. She doesn’t know him that well at this point, and Penny literally just told her that the one who got her pregnant seemed different and true before he abandoned her. I know infatuation can be both strong and stupid, but the way Baby dives in without considering that the same thing could happen to her felt downright foolish.

Of course, lucky for her, Johnny is a good guy, or at least trying to be better, and Grey and Swayze have such chemistry together that I can see why a lot of female viewers wouldn’t give it a second thought. Sort of like how the final dance number, set to the Oscar-winning “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” is so timelessly satisfying that no one minds how hastily and conveniently everything wraps up with a little bow. With its dance-fueled passion and exceptional soundtrack of ‘60s hits and two original songs, it’s easy to see why Dirty Dancing is popular. For me, though, the highlights are better than the whole.

Best line: (Baby) “Me? I’m scared of everything. I’m scared of what I saw, I’m scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.”

Rank:  Honorable Mention

© 2018 S.G. Liput
538 Followers and Counting