Ellen Fox

@ellenfox

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Ellen Fox recommended Xanadu (1980) in Movies (curated)

 
Xanadu (1980)
Xanadu (1980)
1980 | Fantasy, Musical, Romance
5.0 (3 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I’m not being sarcastic: Xanadu is the foundation of my aesthetic. It’s a 1980 musical in which angsty painter Michael Beck meets muse Olivia Newton-John and an aging musician (Gene Kelly) from the Big Band Era. Naturally, they team up to open a roller-disco complete with tap dancing, leg warmers, and Zeus. All of it woven together – in perfect sincerity – by an ELO soundtrack."

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Ellen Fox recommended The Wizard of Oz (1939) in Movies (curated)

 
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
1939 | Fantasy, Musical

"Like Xanadu, it’s a phantasmagoria – but more menacing. A lone teenage gal and her dog hit the (yellow, brick) road and pick up a trio of men along the way. Try pitching that idea to a Hollywood studio! The only film in recent memory with a similar story was the lugubrious indie Wendy and Lucy, which I couldn’t even finish. Maybe a flying monkey or a smartly dressed munchkin might have perked things up."

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Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
1952 | Classics, Comedy, Musical

"Gene Kelly plays a silent film star who falls for cloche-wearing babe Debbie Reynolds during the industry’s awkward transition to talkies. Hollywood: The sunshine! The song-and-dance! The handsome, dynamic men! It only took me 25 years to discover it’s all true. There’s a funny-terrifying scene about the complexities of wiring Kelly’s bitchy leading lady for sound. Sometimes I think of it when I’m taping a tiny microphone inside my bra and running the wire out through my armpit."

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Ellen Fox recommended Gone With the Wind (1939) in Movies (curated)

 
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
1939 | Drama, Romance, War

"My ideal man was Christopher Reeves’ Superman; my ideal woman Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman. But here was my first glimpse of the electricity that can crackle between two such sexy grown-ups. Like Oz, it’s another 1939 tale about a dark-haired, willful farm girl. But Scarlett O’Hara’s desires aren’t as heady as Dorothy’s; they run hot and elsewhere. Thanks to the manic perfectionism of both producer David O. Selznick and Vivien Leigh, it’s the best depiction of female desire ever captured on film."

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Ellen Fox recommended Bring It On (2000) in Movies (curated)

 
Bring It On (2000)
Bring It On (2000)
2000 | Comedy

"This clever-enough confection about warring cheerleaders proves that films don’t have to be classics or award-worthy to work their magic. I wish I could say it was James Taylor’s music or Robert Frost’s poetry that soothed my post-9/11 anxiety. But no, it was star Kirsten Dunst’s perky, bouncing breasts that lifted my spirits. Whether ever-so-lovingly hoisted in a bikini top or shaking to-and-fro as she dances on her bed, with ta-tas like hers in our midst, I wondered, could the world still be that hopeless of a place?"

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