Alright everyone, it is time for a Friday Flashback! Back in 1978 the movie Grease first made its debut on the big screen with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as the infamous Danny Zuko and Sandra "Sandy" Olsen.
Directed by Randal Kleiser and with a cast not only including JT and ONJ but also Stockard Channing as the brutal Betty Rizzo, Jeff Conoway as the hotshot Kenickie, DiDi Con as the loveable Frenchy and others such as Barry Pearl, Michael Tucci and Kelly Ward as the goofball greasers with Jamie Donnelly and Dinah Manoff as the sexy Pink Ladies.
Sidenote: I can remember watching this movie when I was super young with my family and asking my other "What's a pussy wagon?". Nothing says 'That's a conversation for another time' like your mother telling you not to say that word. Haha
Anyway, this movie which was produced by Paramount Pictures was based off of Warren Casey and Jim Jacob's 1971 musical of the same name. Man, a musical that become a major and unforgettable motion picture after only 7 years? Must have been a big hit on stage too!
The movie is about two high school lovers in the 1950s that meet over summer vacation before their senior years thinking that they will never see each other again when Sandy says that she is returning to Australia. Instead though, her family ends up staying and she gets enrolled at Rydell High School.
Danny Zuko is the leader of the schools Greaser group known as the T-Birds. A bunch of goofball punks who try and act like the coolest guys in the school. Their main goal to get laid and to be as far away from the stereotypical Jock as possible.
Rizzo is the leading lady of the Pink Ladies. Sort of a 'Greasers for Girls' club at school and used to be involved with Zuko. Well, when Sandy comes to school, one of the Pink Ladies, Frenchy and an adorable character that DiDi portrayed with love and adortion, tries to get Sandy into the group. When Sandy mentions her summer romance with a boy that goes by the same name at Rydell, Rizzo gets jealous and shows her that Danny goes to that very school. This meeting happens to end horribly as Danny has a "reputation" to maintain and the type of girl Sandy is-- pure and sweet, just doesn't fit into it.
The rest of the movie, along with the other characters hooking up, revolves around Danny trying to make up for the mistake he made and to let Sandy know just how much she means to him. By the end of the movie Sandy makes a decision that to be with Danny she needs to change; this is about the same time Danny makes the decision too. With a beautiful final number that will have you dancing around you living room, Sandy shows up in a leather leotard showing she can be a real greaser girl while Danny shows up in a jock sweater.
Well, as you can guess, in the end they are together in a.. well I am not sure how or why the car they drive off in suddenly flies but hey, whatever!
I love this movie. I really do. Not only am I a John Travolta fan but this movie, accompanied by rockin' tunes, is a classic tale of love and how people should be accepted the way they are, not needing to change to be with the person they care about or to impress anyone.
Now what I find interesting is that John Travolta is the reason Olivia got cast. It was at his urging that she be his Sandy. Both were star struck by the other which made for very believable romantic friction in the movie. Olivia did not act much before the movie, which really doesn't show on screen at all. She seems professional and I loved the acting, even if just playing the part of a doe-eyed school girl with her eyes on the bad boy.
Henry Winkler, who many of the classic tv-show watching fans out there might know from Happy Days, was originally asked to be Danny Zuko. However, having played the bad-boy, leather jacket wearing, type of guy twice before (Happy Days and The Lords of Flatbush) did not want to be known as only "that type" of character so he turned down the role. I have to say that as much as I loved The Fonz, I just do not think Henry Winkler would have been good for the part of Danny. John played the role amazing well and if he is remembered for anything, I know it will be for Grease.
Beginning: I love how the movie starts with a cartoon trying to show off the personality of each and every main character. I especially adore the credits to the character Sandra Olsen as a Cinderella type character with the birds bringing her a gown and a faun being in the background. This really bolds the point later about the transformation she makes much like Cinderella opening from her shell of a house girl to a beauty at a ball. Sandy does the same when she opens up from wall flower to greaser girl.
Sequal: Now, I don't know about you but I am NEVER happy when they make a sequal to a classic unless it was meant to have one from the beginning. To me, the only reason it is even called a sequal is because it has the same basic storyline, not to mention DiDi reprises her role as Frenchy. The movie was okay, but making a sequal to classic movies like Grease or Dirty Dancing staring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it just doesn't make sense. I know I know, directors and producers are thinking "Man, that was a big hit! Lets make a sequal!" You know what that does? That says you have a lack of imagination and want to get in on someone else's money maker. There are people out there who liked the second Grease, even better then first one for many of them. Me? Give me the classic anytime and keep that low-budget "sequal" away from me and my family!
Well, I hope you enjoyed the first episode of Flashback Friday. Stay tuned next week for more blasts from the past!
I Love You, I Love You Not; An Unforgettable Journey Of Discovery.
So true. I watched this movie the other day on Netflix after seeing it floating around for a little while. I first saw Claire Danes in the modern-day adaption of Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio. Jude Law, well who doesn't knot Jude Law? Sherlock Holmes as the incredible Doctor Watson, The Holiday along side Jack Black and Kate Winslet. Such a good actor. This is the first time though I saw him as a teenager. Then Jeanne Moreau. This was the first film I had seen her in but her portrayal as a European-born, Jewish Grandmother who had been through the holocaust and survived was a beautiful and moving character to see. I must admit, I cried in the end.
The story is about a young girl, Daisy, who goes to a prep-school and likes a boy she watches everyday, Ethan. He is the captain of the lacrosse team, student body president, and the picture perfect guy who brings Daisy out of her wall-flower shell. Of course though, things start to take a change after Ethan finds out her grandmother was one of "those" woman who came to his class and talked about life in the camps in Germany. Daisy learns more about herself and that even nowadays people can deal with the same separation of classes and status's that people back then did. All and all, I have to say I saw the heartbreak between Ethan and Daisy coming the moment he told her that "I would never hurt you. I wouldn't even know how", and of course the final nail in the coffin was when he wanted to further their relationship and she asked him to wait. She wasn't exactly liked by his friends not only because of her jewish status because she liked to read in the middle of Central Park instead of run around half naked throwing a Frisbee around. But still, in the end it just goes to prove that segmentation can happen even today, and it makes you take a look at your life.
The movie hit me a little in the personal section of my life because of my own families past in the holocaust, knowing that I had relatives that had to deal with Nazi officers, Concentraition Camps, and other things back then. But I think this is a good movie overall, esp family wise, to really teach teens not to be judgmental of others. It isn't right.
A good movie for the family to help learn and bring people together. Not to mention a good movie to remind you, hug your parents, grandparents, or whoever you love and hold dear every time you can. You never know when they will be gone.
And for my first review;
Alright, so I want to start this off by letting everyone know, Yes! I have read the book. In fact, I have read almost all of them save for the most recent that has come out and that is because it has been sold out nearly everywhere, including online. I love them dearly and I think I have come to know the characters very well. No, I have not hit the Infernal Devices series yet but want to read those consecutively and without the Mortal Instruments series on my mind. Then, after the Infernal Devices I will be reading the series that Cassandra Clare is working on that comes after the Mortal Instruments series titled The Dark Artifices.
Okay, now that I have that admittance out of my system we can start on the movie.
First, let me say that I know how hard it is for people who read the books and love them to no end come in and see a movie made about their book. They can be harsh, judgmental and very brutal when it comes to casting, storyline, visual effects. However, I am one of those people who understand that the movie is BASED on the book, not the book itself. I do however, take solace in the fact that Cassandra Clare was pleased with the director and production managers rendition of the book. With that in mind, as a birthday present to myself, Derrick and I went to see the movie.
Casting; I loved it! Now yes, Lily Collins would not have been my first choice for Clary Fray because I pictured someone more red-headed since it says that she has fiery hair. But hey, Lily Collins did a pretty good job as Clary and she is a beautiful but modest person. And lets admit it, she rocks the dark, thick eyebrows. Wish I could get mine like her. I also admired the casting of Robert Sheehan as Simon; he pulled off the geeky best friend but still had that sort of sex appeal where you could understand why Clary might like him or have a chance of liking him eventually. Alec, let's face it, not entirely what I had in mind because I was thinking someone a little less muscled reguardless of Shadowhunter status but man, he is gorgeous. No wonder Magnus wants to hook up with him. (Very pleased with the Magnus and Valentine casting too by the way) Isabelle, well, I pictured her a little more sexy. I mean, don't get me wrong, Jemima West is beautiful but just NOT what I had in mind for Isabelle. Now for Jace. Oh dear god is it time for Jace. Bestill my heart, the decided to go with Jamie Campbell Bower. At first they were going to go with some actor named Alex Pettyfer. Now I do not know who that is off hand but I am sure he is a nice guy. I looked up a picture of him and yeah he's cute, but I did not see Jace in him and I do not think he would have been right for the role. When I saw and heard Jamie Bower as Jace, my heart sunk deep into my chest. He is, in my opinion, the very actor form of Jace Wayland. The accent, the looks, the 'I'm the most beautiful man on the universe but also the most self conscious" attitude. Perfect and that choice alone for an actor as the main lead role makes me want to go see the movie over and over and over and over and.. well, you get the idea. Haha.
Storyline; I think they followed the storyline pretty well for basing it off the book. I will have to re-read back over the book to see what they left out, but I am pretty sure it was a bit. The revealing, or plot, to make Jace and Clary believe they were related was okay but it was much more emotional in the book. I love at the end of the movie how Jace says he doesn't believe it, but in the book he is pretty damn distraught over the fact that he is having a Star Wars moment with his sister and that he loves her so much. Reguardless, they did good. I did recently hear that the second movie has been pushed back though because the script was not following the book at ALL, which they wanted to stick close to, but as sad as I am that they pushed it back, knowing that they will be making three movies cause they have contracts for three (later decided whether or not they want to make the rest since it was originally supposed to be a three book series) then I can wait and see a movie that took a bit longer to come out because they want to do the movies and books justice.
Visual Effects; I LOVED them. Okay, so the werewolves looked a little bit like the ones from Twilight, but what do you expect with CGI? Not that I am complaining, personally I am a Twilight book and movie fan. But the transformation of broken down building to cathedral-like Shadowhunter base was so beautiful, and the fighting scenes? Nice! I can not believe Jamie learned to actually do that front flip onto the table.
Mix of Serious and Comedy; It was perfect. The fighting met the male prospective, the romance met the female prospective and I think the comedy brought them both together. I cracked up when Jace flipped onto the table, stabbed his sword not only through the vampire but the table itself and the face he mad when he heard Clary and Simon scream from under the table where he was at? Priceless. Not to mention the sarcasm in the movie, mainly from Jace to Clary in the friction of her relationship with Simon. -Swoons-
Alright, enough of my ranting. Really though, I think that director Tarsem Singh did a wonderful job and I do hope they do a good job for the rest of the series.
Alrighty, rant over.. now I will leave you girls with a sexy image of Jamie Campbell Bower; whom by the way, has been in Sweeney Todd as Anthony also all three of the big Book to Movie Motion Pictures of our generation;
Harry Potter- Young Gellert Grindlewald
Twilight- Caius of the Volturi
City of Bones- Jace Wayland
Enjoy... <3
