Happy Feet: The Pleasures of Teen Dance Movies – A remake of the 1984 teen dance movie “Footloose” hit theaters the Friday before last. I was there. Movies about young people doing new dances that grown-ups consider filthy and low-class have been around for years. (See “Rock Around the Clock,” from 1956.) The form probably peaked in the late seventies and early eighties. “Saturday Night Fever,” from 1977, is the jewel in the crown. “Grease” (1978) and “Fame” (1980) are also wonderful. They are not as deep and touching as “Saturday Night Fever,” but in my experience, all teen dance movies have serious messages.
Newton Thomas Sigel on shooting Drive – Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC and director Nicolas Winding Refn craft a violent fairytale on the streets of Los Angeles.
