Stream it now Flashdance 1983

 

The film's talented star Jennifer Biels, gives an inspired performance in this romanic-musical tale, that could've been fantastic for its memorable songs and well-directed shooting scenes. Unfortunatley, its descenlace gets a little bit too pat for its great premise.

Flashdance was inspired by the real life story of Maureen Marder, a construction worker/welder by day and dancer by night in a Toronto strip club. Like the character of Alex Owens in the film, she aspired to enroll in a prestigious dance school.. Allot of contraversy surounds this film Maureen Was robbed of her life story by paramount pictures they paid her 2,000 and sum change for all rights to this film she diddnt know of this as signing away all rights and took them to court once the movie grossed in the millions She lost her claim In court cause she sign'd the said document ..

I bet shortly they will be doing a remake to this shit seeing "dancing" films are well in

Flashdance is not a great thing, it is really surprising how this film became a classic of the genre. Definitely the best this movie has to offer is Irene Cara's "What a Feeling", the only song that was truly made for the movie and that perfectly fits to that encouragement atmosphere. After watching this film I think this movie tried to be the Rocky of musicals, but it stood short. When Jennifer Beals and the stunt dance, the picture is really enjoyable but it is really annoying when she's welding in the factory or when she gets crazy and is impertinent and stupid.

I had composed a lengthy review of these two movies, talking about the '80s landmarkedness, the Oscar connection, the fact that Heather and Brandon had taken such care to ensure that I saw them. And then the system told me the review had been posted but never actually posted it, and I don't have the heart to try reconstructing it.

Except for Jennifer Beals dancing and some nice cinematography there is really nothing to recommend in this movie. This is suppose to be an uplifting story but there are so many problems that you don't care. The story itself is hard to swallow, a steelworker who wants to become a dancer. not that it's impossible, everybody had dreams but it just so badly done.

Beals acting left much to be desired and Flashdance turned out to be the highpoint of her career. A lot of the problems have to do with the screenplay and when you read the credits and see that it was co-written by Joe Eszterhas that in itself explains a lot. Eszterhas has never let logic get in the way of his story.

Rating D

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Best in Show: Jennifer Beals
One for the future: n/a
Stand-out scene: Audition (Beals + three dance doubles, mind!)
Brainer or no-brainer: No brainer
Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated
DVD commentary any good?: n/a

TV
A few moons ago I had the choice of seeing the new year in with one of two movies; High Society or Flashdance. I plumped for the former having enjoyed it's original The Philadelphia Story but it turned out to not be a patch on its predecessor and I wished i'd gone for the legwarmers and hot hoofing option. Years down the line and I grab another chance to see the 80s classic (after the movie has languished unseen on DVD for a while) on the day before a job interview (that turns out to be successful - must have been the inspirational follow your dream message in this movie). Much mirth has been derived from the welder by day, exotic dancer by night storyline and director Adrian Lyne is as guilty as charged on the series of music videos with gratuitous close-ups accusation. Based on the improbable true life story of Maureen Marder (she received a one-off payment of 2300 dollars for the rights) this is the first in the series of collaborations between Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, the runaway success of this movie beginning their reputation as box office dependables. Irene Cara penned much of the lyrics to the theme song in the taxi on the way to the recording studio and you only need hear the opening few bars of the song to feel like your back in '83, when legwarmers were a fashion option. The iconic slashed-across-the-neck grey marl sweatshirt was the result of a washing mishap by Beals (she could no longer get the item over her head after the neckline shrank in the wash so she took a pair of scissors to the garment). With a total of four dancers with different specialities appearing in the audition sequence (the continuity isn't all it could be here) if you're a dance fanatic you could do far worse than have this as your number one movie. As a movie of its time, there's plenty a bouffant and pastel shade to ring the nostalgia bell. A Broadway show was announced in 2001 but the plans came to nothing, which is a surprise as this is prime material for a musical. Having grossed 150m dollars worldwide, this certainly struck a tuneful chord with cinemagoers. A little slight but what a feeling nonetheless!

Ocean's 13 is the third in director Steven Soderbergh ("The Good German")'s heist series. It's better than the second film, but doesn't quite have the magic of the first. Everyone is very charming and handsome. But mostly I was only kind of interested in the story. However, Casey Affleck ("The Last Kiss")'s story line with the worker revolution was priceless.

George Washington is the first movie from writer/director David Gordon Green ("Snow Angels"). The film is set in a rural Southern town populated with interesting people. The story focuses on a group of kids and a tragic accident. Voice over plays throughout the film and some of it is insightful. Some of it just weird. A couple of times I was surprised at what was happening. But some lines and scenes have stuck in my head all week. And that's a good thing. "I wish there were 200 of me."

Flashdance was just different than I expected. I thought it was going to be entirely fluffy, but it was much more serious than I had anticipated. A story about a girl who is a welder by day and exotic dancer by night, but she really wants to take ballet. It's very, very 80s, the music, the clothes. I totally enjoyed it.

Black Snake Moan is almost perfect. From the previews, I expected almost a soft core. But I got a story of two lost souls finding their way with the help of each other and the blues. Christina Ricci ("Penelope") is almost unrecognizable. Even her giant forehead is disguised. Both she and Samuel L. Jackson ("1408") are reminding the world that they can act, loosing themselves in their roles. I can't wait to see what writer/director Craig Brewer ("Hustle and Flow") has in store for us next.

As far as recent horror movies go, 1408 is pretty good. The atmosphere and cinematography especially. Very creepy. And the set-up of John Cusack ("Grace is Gone") as a cynical ghost writer is very strong. But once the story gets Cusack in the titular room, I lost a bit of interest. It was just too much to happen in one hour. Samuel L. Jackson ("Black Snake Moan") was appropriately sinister. Good. But not great.

If a movie representing the 80's could be put in a time capsule, it would have to be Flashdance. Sure, the plot is wafer thin. It was obvious that double did most of the dancing, especially the final scene. But overall heart of the story is good. Go for your passion, make it happen, what a feeling, etc. This movie makes you feel good and want to pursue your goals in life. The title song by Irene Cara is one of most infectious theme songs of film. The fashions, hairstyles, and mannerisms all scream do "80's!" One of the first movies styled from MTV.