Xanadu, Blow Out, Breathless, Rec, Roller Boogie

Xanadu (1980, Robert Greenwald)
More simply odd than a disastrous spectacle, it comes across as something that Gene Kelly would agree to do because he saw "Grease" and imagined it would revitalize screen dancing and wanted to be a part of whatever Olivia Newton-John did next. Kelly doesn't embarrass himself, but his dancing isn't inspired, either. Oddly, Newton-John fares fairly well -- the movie isn't any good, but her ethereal beauty remains unscathed. And Michael Beck is appealing thanks in large part to his hair. The movie isn't crazy enough to be exciting -- most of the time I wasn't sure if the characters were ghosts or dreaming -- but the ending has at least a little sparkle. More ELO would have made it much more enjoyable.

Blow Out (1981, Brian De Palma)
Perhaps too much of a rip-off movie to be entirely pleasing (I prefer De Palma when he rips off himself, as with "The Fury"), but as a pulpy thriller it's pretty successful. And while the train station ending doesn't equal the grandeur of "Carlito's Way," it nonetheless possesses an admirable degree of tragedy.

Breathless (1983, Jim McBride)
I find it odd that someone who found a degree of "experimental" credibility would remake someone else's masterpiece, and while the general consensus is that "Breathless" as a remake is sacrilege, McBride has his own weird style, more rockabilly than cool (because there are limits to Richard Gere as an icon of cool). And yet I would find it much more respectable to just make your own movie.

Rec (2007, Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza)
In the series of pointless, boring horror movies made to seem novel by approximating documentary techniques this one only stands out because it occasionally has children zombies, but there's nothing about it that will make you think for a second. George Romero's "Diary of the Dead" at least had some coy intelligence and I found it a more tolerable comment on everything-is-recorded modern society than the deadening "Cloverfield." But zombie movies have become so stale that the only way to make them interesting now may be to have an all-child zombie movie. Maybe in musical form.


Roller Boogie (1979, Mark L. Lester)
Pleasantly throwaway, it's an ideal movie to make about a fad. It may not be a definitive statement on roller skate parties of the late '70s, but its ephemeral quality goes in hand with the briefness of the subculture. What makes it particularly successful as a time piece are the amazing fashions: Short shorts, gold lamé, and tight-fitting everything in general.