musical – Around the World in 80s Movies Podcast

The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) | Steve Binder (with David Acomba)

February 14, 2020 qwipster Comment is Closed

The Star Wars Holiday Special is a two-hour made-for-TV musical variety show movie that aired on November 17. 1978 on CBS for its November sweeps period.). Variety shows were hot on TV in the 1970s and this effort would serve as a ratings bonanza, putting the hottest cultural phenomenon of the last year in front […]

The Blues Brothers (1980) | John Landis

January 12, 2019April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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The film starts out with Jake Blues (John Belushi) being released from prison, picked up by his brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) in a used cop car turned “Blues Mobile”. They make good on a promise to visit the orphanage they grew up in, only to find it is in danger of being shut down, due […]

Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) | Sam Firstenberg

January 4, 2019April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Somewhere underneath the never-ending music and dance numbers is a story about keeping Shabba-Doo’s community center for inner city youth (named “Miracles”) from falling into the hands of a slimy developer who wants to bulldoze it to erect a shopping center in the middle of the community. This would leave the kids nowhere else to […]

Breakin’ (1984) | Joel Silberg

December 29, 2018April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Former “Solid Gold” dancer Lucinda Dickey stars as Kelly, a waitress by day, aspiring jazz dancer in her spare time. She has the looks and talent to go far, at least according to her dance instructor, but this move seems to come at a price, as he wants a little action on the side to […]

Beat Street (1984) | Stan Lathan

December 14, 2018April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Producer and activist Harry Belafonte’s commercialized slice-of-life drama stars Guy Davis as Kenny ‘Double K’ Kirkland, a South Bronx hip-hop DJ with big dreams, and Jon Chardiet as Ramon, a Puerto Rican graffiti artist who would rather tag trains than get a real job. Rae Dawn Chong is Tracy, an upper-class music student from a college […]

Wild Style (1983) | Charlie Ahearn

December 8, 2018April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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The seminal hip-hop film looks at underground Bronx art culture, including rap, graffiti art, break-dancing (aka b-boying) and DJing (aka turntablism), as we follow the exploits of a graffiti artist named Zoro and his quest to take his art and make it a living. Charlie Ahearn and Fab 5 Freddy created this film to expose […]

Krush Groove (1985) | Michael Schultz

December 1, 2018April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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The loose story of how Def Jam came to be, featuring the hottest hip-hop artists of the mid-1980s, Run-DMC, Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys, LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys, and many more. Blair Underwood plays Russell, whose management company is coming up with some hot musical acts, including Run-DMC, featuring his brother Joe, who […]

Hairspray (1988) | John Waters

November 12, 2018April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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John Waters writes and directs this most accessible of his films, his only one to be rated PG, with HAIRSPRAY, the film that made Ricki Lake a prominent star to be. Set in 1962, HAIRSPRAY explores race and class in a mostly divided Baltimore, where teens of different races weren’t allowed to dance on the […]

Little Shop of Horrors (1986) | Frank Oz

June 16, 2018April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s off-Broadway darkly comical stage musical came to life in 1986, directed by Muppet-alum Frank Oz, featuring Rick Moranis, and small roles for Steve Martin, Bill Murray and John Candy. Ellen Greene co-stars in this story about a 1960s loser who finds success with an exotic plant that makes all his […]

My Little Pony: The Movie (1986) | Mike Joens

June 2, 2018April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Marvel joined with Sunbow to deliver the first of four animated feature films based on Hasbro toys in the 1980s with 1986’s MY LITTLE PONY: THE MOVIE, which took the popular toy line of dolls resembling ponies and other animals (plus a few humans) and pitted them against three dastardly witches who can’t stand their […]

The Little Mermaid (1989) | Ron Clements & John Musker

April 14, 2018April 17, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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The Disney Renaissance kicked off with this smash hit animated feature that brought the studio back in a major way, THE LITTLE MERMAID! Featuring great vocal talent, quality animation, and a killer score and soundtrack, it delighted a generation, and will delight many more, with its story of Ariel, a teenage mermaid who dreams of […]

Xanadu (1980) | Robert Greenwald

March 24, 2018April 17, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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The much-maligned 1980 musical gets re-evaluated in this podcast review. Olivia Newton-John plays a muse who is sent to earth to inspire a struggling artist (Michael Beck) fulfill his dream of starting a roller-disco club with a retired construction magnate (Gene Kelly). Newton-John and pop group ELO deliver a powerhouse soundtrack in this visually impressive […]

Labyrinth (1986) | Jim Henson

November 5, 2017April 16, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Jennifer Connelly is cast in one of her first starring roles as Sarah, a teenage girl who has grown tired of her stepmother and father leaving her home alone to babysit her infant brother, Toby. In a bout of exasperation, she wishes him away, and inadvertently summons the vain and moody Goblin King of myth, […]