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Post by johnr on Nov 29, 2020 22:16:13 GMT
theres a mention of th xanadu project in bev bevans book iirc, he seems to remember that the film wasnt supposed to be the soppy schmaltzy romance it ended up as. originally it was supposedly a different film, and only after the music was recorded was the film edited to be a more family friendly romance. of course, this was just his opinion at the time.
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Post by Timeblue on Nov 29, 2020 22:55:52 GMT
It's a show that I would love to see if ever I went to New York (can't see it ever coming to the UK anytime soon...) I'm a little puzzled as to why Evil Woman and Strange Magic have been added though? Olivia? evil? nah...
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Post by ShardEnder on Nov 30, 2020 3:27:05 GMT
theres a mention of th xanadu project in bev bevans book iirc, he seems to remember that the film wasnt supposed to be the soppy schmaltzy romance it ended up as. originally it was supposedly a different film, and only after the music was recorded was the film edited to be a more family friendly romance. of course, this was just his opinion at the time. According to a former assistant to producer Joel Silver who I spoke to for my project, Xanadu was originally going to be a more direct remake of the 1947 musical Down To Earth, but as more cooks entered the kitchen, it was decided to add "bells and whistles" as a way of ensuring this wouldn't get lost in the late '70s boom. The art deco styling remains, though it was decided to play on the idea of juxtaposing both classical and modern elements, which is perhaps best captured in that sequence where Gene Kelly's character is told that Xanadu will become the place where swing and synthesisers are going to create an electrifying fusion of the old and new. The whole roller disco element was bolted on through extensive pre-production rewrites, as was the casting of Olivia Newton-John and Michael Beck, still hot from Grease and The Warriors respectively, again playing into that idea of two very different worlds coming together. Similarly, it's clear that ELO was brought in to capitalise on its recent success - by the end of '79, you had Discovery, OOTB, the first Jet-issued Greatest Hits, the Three Lights Years box and The ELO EP all in the charts, so there was a lot of hope that all this talent would help carry the film. From what I can tell, choreographer Kenny Ortega was brought in due to his work with The Tubes, yet there was a sense behind the scenes of so many ideas being thrown at the wall in the hope the resulting mess wouldn't catastrophically bomb... One of the biggest warning signs I've been told of manifested when they got to the editing suite, which is when everyone somehow only just noticed they hadn't shot a sequence that could serve as a vehicle for Don't Walk Away. After originally signing on to write the entire score, Jeff had a new contract drafted up once he started work on Discovery, though at least two songs intended for Xanadu existed before sessions for ELO's other album commenced - those being the slow part of what later became The Quick And The Daft, and a studio demo for All Over The World, the latter recorded at Soundcastle in Silverlake during October '78 with Bill Bottrell engineering (his first ELO job, no less). Although it remains unconfirmed, several pieces in the final cut were apparently recycled from Jeff's initial musical contributions, but I'm still researching that. Anyway, my point was that Jeff revised his contract to include a clause insisting that either the filmmakers used all six tracks he submitted, including Drum Dreams, or he had the right to pull everything. Rather than rewrite the script yet again and bring everyone back for reshoots, it was considered infinitely cheaper to create an animated segment that could lead out of existing footage. Originally, the scene was intended to fade out after Olivia and Michael kiss, but Don Bluth's studio (then still operating out of his lounge after recently breaking away from Disney) used this as a launching point for their sequence, which was produced at great cost in very little time to prevent the movie's delay, as it had already slipped into 1980 as a result of various production issues, including a poor reception to test screenings that led to further panic at the editing stage. Before it literally inspired the launch of the Golden Raspberry Awards, there had been plans for a sequel that would have tied up a few plot holes left by Xanadu being so compromised. ONJ and ELO apparently turned down the option to return, so the producers brought in Richard Perry, who eventually released an entire album of material intended for this project on his own Planet label as Swing in 1981. It's odd to think about this now, but there was a time when Xanadu almost became the starting point for what could have been a franchise about how muses occasionally manifest to provide inspiration to struggling artists instead of it just being something of a laughing joke that continues to enjoy a cult following. If nothing else, that would have been a very interesting alternate timeline...
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Post by Timeblue on Nov 30, 2020 15:08:36 GMT
Any idea why the two extra ELO songs are included?
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Post by laredo on Dec 2, 2020 16:33:04 GMT
There's a programme on BBC4 tonight called Inside Cinema : Guilt-Free Pleasures. One of the movies featured will be Xanadu.
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Post by johnr on Dec 5, 2020 21:18:10 GMT
Any idea why the two extra ELO songs are included? i was wondering if it was part of the fad for making stage productions all based round a single bands output, think mama mia, we will rock you etc?
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Post by Timeblue on Dec 5, 2020 21:23:38 GMT
Yeah possibly, but personally I could think of better songs to add than those two.
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Post by johnr on Dec 5, 2020 22:51:45 GMT
depends whether you could get the rights to use them though?
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Post by Timeblue on Dec 5, 2020 23:23:57 GMT
Having not seen the stage show, where does Evil Woman fit in? Strange Magic I can understand though...
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Post by orioles70 on Dec 23, 2020 14:38:22 GMT
BBC.com has a long article on Xanadu, after 40 years they conclude that it's still a disaster. Here's one paragraph comparing it to Cats. so I have to wonder, Did anyone actually see Cats at the theatre? These kinds of films don't come along very often. At the press screening of Cats (2019), the Observer critic Guy Lodge leaned over to me and whispered, full of awe, "Oh my God... this is our Xanadu!" And he's right, they're cut from the same rare cloth. Cats cast Ian McKellen and Judi Dench to appeal to a certain audience, James Corden and Rebel Wilson another audience, Jason Derulo and Taylor Swift a third demographic, and so on www.bbc.com/culture/article/20201214-xanadu-rethinking-a-misunderstood-masterpiece
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Post by Timeblue on Dec 23, 2020 19:14:49 GMT
I saw cats about 15 years ago and loved it (we went primarily for our daughter who was mad on the filmed live show) so when the film was announced,we eagerly awaited it and to say we were underwhelmed is an understatement....
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Post by StrangeMagic on Dec 24, 2020 3:57:47 GMT
BBC.com has a long article on Xanadu, after 40 years they conclude that it's still a disaster. Here's one paragraph comparing it to Cats. so I have to wonder, Did anyone actually see Cats at the theatre? These kinds of films don't come along very often. At the press screening of Cats (2019), the Observer critic Guy Lodge leaned over to me and whispered, full of awe, "Oh my God... this is our Xanadu!" And he's right, they're cut from the same rare cloth. Cats cast Ian McKellen and Judi Dench to appeal to a certain audience, James Corden and Rebel Wilson another audience, Jason Derulo and Taylor Swift a third demographic, and so on www.bbc.com/culture/article/20201214-xanadu-rethinking-a-misunderstood-masterpieceThat noted critics are still talking about Xanadu forty years later is really something, isn't is? The film which actually won the Razzie, Can't Stop the Music, has failed to achieve cult status, and is only spoken of as a failure. I thought this BBC article was unnecessarily scathing, although it does mention the sound track won an Ivor Novella.
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Post by Timeblue on Dec 24, 2020 11:02:38 GMT
BBC.com has a long article on Xanadu, after 40 years they conclude that it's still a disaster. Here's one paragraph comparing it to Cats. so I have to wonder, Did anyone actually see Cats at the theatre? These kinds of films don't come along very often. At the press screening of Cats (2019), the Observer critic Guy Lodge leaned over to me and whispered, full of awe, "Oh my God... this is our Xanadu!" And he's right, they're cut from the same rare cloth. Cats cast Ian McKellen and Judi Dench to appeal to a certain audience, James Corden and Rebel Wilson another audience, Jason Derulo and Taylor Swift a third demographic, and so on www.bbc.com/culture/article/20201214-xanadu-rethinking-a-misunderstood-masterpieceThat noted critics are still talking about Xanadu forty years later is really something, isn't is? The film which actually won the Razzie, Can't Stop the Music, has failed to achieve cult status, and is only spoken of as a failure. I thought this BBC article was unnecessarily scathing, although it does mention the sound track won an Ivor Novella. For me, the music was the only reason to watch it.
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Post by moon on Jan 29, 2021 16:27:05 GMT
I recently watched the movie, not at the cinema of course, but only to hear the music and to know if I should buy the cd of the OST. It had very bad and sad reviews, but the music was very very good. I never understood why the muses had a very small part on the film, but their first appeareance with "I'm Alive" is simply wonderful. Would be great to see ELO playing at the club, but I guess this idea wasn't on the mind of the director and producers at the time...Just imagine Jeff, Bev, Richard and Kelly playing "Xanadu" on stage!!
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cg
Junior Member
Posts: 30
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Post by cg on Feb 19, 2021 21:58:32 GMT
By the time Xanadu came out, i was a well known pain-in-the-ass gigantic ELO fan. I would call Jett records for album and tour updates, and constantly call radio stations requesting ELO. So when it came time for a Xanadu, the disc jockeys at KRBE in Houston asked how many tickets I needed. I got 20 tickets for a total of 40 guests and we all went August 21, 1980 to a special screening of the movie. I still have a couple of the tix. but with this quick reply - i dont see how to add photos.
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