Flashback: Olivia & Travolta

Happy 62nd birthday to Olivia Newton-John. Rather than celebrate with the usual Xanadu (1980) fixation or the more universally beloved Grease (1978) how about a duet with John Travolta from their flop reunion Two of a Kind (1983)? The third of her movie soundtracks is largely forgotten. I can't remember anything about the film other than that there was some divine romantic comedy intervention involving heaven and resurrection. Heaven Can Wait was a big hit the year that Grease was the biggest hit of all, so maybe it was still in the atmosphere to influence Two of a Kind's dumb story.

The only scene I remember is one in which Olivia was in acting class and her acting teacher thought she was a terrible actress (uhhh....) but then all of sudden while playing a scene she saw a criminal in the theater -- context? -- and started screaming and the teacher marvelled at how genuine her emotions felt! My point is that it was a terrible movie.

Here's the love theme / duet for the movie. Why isn't it one of the schmaltz classics of the 1980s? Even if you don't know the song, marvel at the sheer volume of PINK everywhere you look. There's only one color in this rainbow. Travolta is so very breathy... was it all those fumes from Olivia's hairspray? They look so contagiously happy together.




Though Two of a Kind justly flopped, the movie did give ONJ her one last big hit after a whole slew of them in the 70s and early 80s. It was "Twist of Fate." Madonna was about to change the whole pop landscape and Olivia would suddenly be of the past.



I have a lot of issues with John Travolta as a celebrity but one thing I think is cool about him: even with the gazillions of dollars and the inexplicably enduring bankability, he doesn't shun his past. Here he is with Olivia just a couple of years ago singing "You're The One That I Want" for a Grease DVD party. So here's to longevity and loyalty to one's friends.



When was the last time you watched Grease? How many times have you seen it?

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Linking Center

This is cute but will surely offend the psychotically patriotic from any given country. Literal translations of flags from Pop Hangover.

Ah Grease, the great unifier. Everyone has seen it. I'm so glad there hasn't been a Grease 3 or a Grease Reborn... yet. I know they've threatened us with remakes in the past. Why bother? Shan't ever top Olivia + Travolta + Channing's "Rizzo". Sigh

Here's a possibly worthwhile event at Lincoln Center in July should you be in NYC. It's a movie discussion with multiple Oscar nominee Sidney Lumet (Network, The Verdict, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) and his daughter screenwriter Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married).

More Linkage
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Variety strike most of what I said in that last 'Sean Penn is so busy' post. He's pulling out of projects now, citing personal reasons... one suspects it's the continually off-again/on-again situation with the Mrs.
Getty Images Trend alert: snake charming on the red carpet
Topless Robot "The Greatest Megan Fox Pic of Our Times" pretty funny paparazzi shot. Tangent: I've never noticed that stupid Marilyn Monroe tat' that Megan sports on her right arm. Yeah, I guess I haven't been staring that closely. It's hard to miss.
Hobo Trashcan Aaron Davis on the polarization of Tarantino perceptions

♫ I'm in the mood for love

Underwire Do we have any Pittsburgh readers in the house? If so, this new permanent exhibit roboworld looks worthwhile. Go. Return and report. P.S. 'tis only a shame that there's not a working replica of Gigolo Joe for purchase.
Hot Blog attacks Anne Thompson's summer box office lessons. I can't say I "enjoy" David Poland's habitual attacks on other film journos but he definitely makes good points in this article
Everything I know... you've got less than two weeks to see August: Osage County on Broadway if you haven't already. More on this play that's becoming a movie next month before the national tour begins.

Streep Nom #1, 1978

As a follow up to the 'Streep at 60' posts I thought I'd leave an open discussion thread for each Streep nomination's competition through the years. Her first came for 1978's The Deer Hunter (my take on her role). The nominees were:

• Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait
• Penelope Milford, Coming Home
• Maggie Smith, California Suite
  
• Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
• Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter
  

The only nomination I've never understood from that shortlist is Milford's in Coming Home (a film I otherwise love). The Golden Globes differed slightly, skipping Smith and Milford to honor Carol Burnett in A Wedding and Mona Washbourne in Stevie. I know there was never a chance that Stockard Channing's classic rendition of "Rizzo" in Grease was going to be shortlisted but it's such a film stealing enduring delight I like to pretend that she was.



My vote would go to Maureen Stapleton, who served Woody Allen's Interiors perfectly, breathing unruly uncouth life into the staid emotional terrain. She also won the StinkyLulu Smackdown for 1978 a couple years back. But in truth none of these films are anything like "fresh" in my memory. What's your take on that '78 Oscars... how would you rearrange the nominees?

Those Summer Nights

With the summer movie season upon us I thought I'd share an old 'classic' from the website for the new readers. This is my illustrated memoirs of summer movie experience as a kid. There's four panels covering 1975 through 1982.

*blog challenge at the end of this post*

[click to enlarge by panel]

Introduction...


1975 -1978


1978-1980


1980-1982

I drew this in 2003. I had originally intended to continue with more installments taking me up to the present day but I never got around to it. Still and all... it's those years as a kid that inform movie love as an adult. When it comes to the summer blockbuster, they feel more vivid than the years that followed. Nowadays my best friends always want to go to the beach. I always want to sit in the air conditioning with a tub of popcorn staring at the screen. Hitting the beach beforehand: a pleasure but hardly a requirement.

tags: Olivia Newton-John, childhood memories, Grease, Jaws, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back
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Blogging challenge! If you have a blog share a memory of summer moviegoing from you childhood over the next few days. Let me know you did and I'll link you up in a follow up post next Tuesday, the 22nd. Consider it a warm up nostalgia exercize for Eddie Copeland's 30th anniversary of Star Wars blog-a-thon --(that's on May 25th) you will not want to miss that one.