Grease (1978)

Rating: 8.2/10

"Why, this car is Auto-matic. Its System-matic. Its Hyyyyydro-matic. Why, its Greased Lightning!"

Whilst America was in a turmoil over the war with Vietnam in the late 1970s, another genre seemed to bloom out of nowhere, reminiscing the golden days of Hollywood-land; 'Grease'  is the word, as Frankie Valley would sing in the intro of one of the most well-known musicals of all time.

'Grease' was not just a musical of the time, it became a trend, an escape from the suppression that the youngsters felt in the 1970s. What truly is amazing about 'Grease' is that beyond all of the dancing and singing it had a very real message to deliver to its contemporary audience; friendship lasts a lifetime and it can overcome even the most adverse situations.

Starring the very hankie-macho type John Travolta, alongside the newly-presented-to-Hollywood-lan Australian actress/singer Olivia Newton-John. The pair is a match-made in heaven. Fantastic chemistry, witty exchanging of vocals, spirited plot-line of high-school kids of the 1950s.

'Grease', not only offers a trendy and unique style of musical numbers but also it set up a whole trend based on the production design with it's sp8nky fashion and it's leathery costuming. Bouncing through the screen are all the good-old-cheesy-comedic scenes without them being too far-fetched or tiresome, even for today's audience. The spark between all of the cast members is resonating in the big screen and it made for a timely atmosphere between groups of friends.

Albeit the film version is based on the original stage version of the Broadway musical, it did not fail to become the top grossing film of 1978 and was for quite a few years the top grossing film behind Jaws (1975) and Star Wars: Episode IV - New Hope (1977).

The story is "A musical about teens in love in the 50's! It's California, 1959 and greaser Danny Zuko and Australian Sandy Olsson are in love. They spend time at the beach, but when they go back to school, what either of them don't know is that they both now attend Rydell High. Danny's the leader of the T-Birds, a group of black-jacket greasers while Sandy hangs with the Pink Ladies, a group of pink-wearing girls led by Rizzo. When they clash at Rydell's first pep rally, Danny isn't the same Danny at the beach. They try to be like each other so they can be together." (www.imdb.com)

The cast, the costumes, the music, the dance, the friendship, the love...everything in this film is a cult classic and it would be an overwhelming task to try to get it out of people's minds with a remake (hopefully Hollywood will not be that naive or greedy), since it's been well imprinted for the iconic style it brought.

Watch it if you love the 50s, well-made teen flicks, music to shake your boots off, and singing that will make you dance and feel happy! Albeit it not everyone's cup of tea, it is a classic musical and a favourite one.

Enjoy the music!

"-'Dany: Sandy!'

 -'Tell me about it, stud.'"

Grease (1978)

Black Swan (2010)

Rating: 6.2/10

"It's about a girl who gets turned into a swan and she needs love to break the spell, but her prince falls for the wrong girl so she kills herself."

'Black Swan' was not at all an Aronofsky masterpiece. This film had me greatly excited from the first few months of its hyped buzzing around and couldn't wait to get a screening of it. But boy did I regret it when I finally sat down to it.

Albeit my bias opinion, I will of course be an objective reviewer and start from the plot:

"A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan." (www.imdb.com)

All's fine and well with the acting of the obsessive character of Nina, who's performed by Natalie Portman, whom I admire, but something in the story seems lacking. It is beyond me that all of the facts in the film were constructed against the theme of sexual repression and how suffocating this must have been for Portman's character. Don't get me wrong, I do not doubt Portman's abilities as an actress to express this frustration only the story got me very irritated in ways of pacing, rhythm and technique. In all honesty the scripting could have been handled in more subtle ways thus not making me feel so appalled by the unnecessary vulgarity and sexualism that was promoted in the film.

Aronofsky is many times hailed as an insane genius and I will grant him his past successes but not this time. This time he couldn't have made it more majorly expressive that he cared more about the spectacle and the selling of the film, rather than the story itself. Of course people will run to the film houses when they hear a one-on-one girl-on-girl action, something which in my opinion gave the film very bad credibility and execution. Was that the standard by which I was suppose to go and watch this film or by the acting, the directing, the light and the costume design?

Granted I will put a thumbs up for the music score and the costume design as these two department did an extraordinary job in their creation in both atmosphere and style. The always astounding music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky that designed the whole film through was a guilty delight to follow the week plot line, as well as the remarkable costumes being created for the grand finale of Swan Lake. These two factors simply elevated and promoted to a more quality level the whole film.

Be sure that Aronofsky and Portman, as well as Mila Kunis, have great things to offer in the business, everyone in their field of course, without this little filmic bedazzling endeavour deters from their quality as artists.

It would be wrong of me to suggestion a no-screening whatsoever of this film, and although quite negative towards the whole shenanigans spectacle I do encourage you to sit down to watch it. If nothing, you will the very least enjoy the music and the always handsome presence of Vincent Cassel.

Black Swan (2010)