Can't Stop the Music

I urge everyone to buy a bottle of booze and see this movie immediately.

If only for the Construction Worker's song "I love you to death" in which girls ride atop giant pistons and sprinkle glitter all over his jeans. Or maybe the Leatherman's rousing version of "Danny Boy" atop a table in a Board Room. Or, maybe the gigantic musical busby berkley dance numbers with added "onion skin" rainbow graphics of naked men jumping into swimming pools. Or, maybe the worlds most bizarre milk commercial starring the Village People singing about how a milkshake goes with your sandwich too.

Be warned though, the songs are kind of decent. Maybe even better than decent. And theres a great performance by the otherwise mediocre Ritchie Family. Seriously, i love this movie. Everyone i have shown it to has remembered it, and maybe hates me for it. But its definitely an original.

This movie is unlike anything I have ever seen. It is awful in every sense.

Bad writing, acting, and man, you wanna talk about god awful editing! But when I first saw it on late night TV I could not believe my eyes. Its so bad its good. The whole thing is so happy, so carefree, and so 70's. Even though Steve Guttenberg's character tries to say the Village People are "THE sound of 80's". Yeah, right. This is pure 70's. Back before all the nonsense we have to deal with these days with drugs and sex. The 70's and this movie were all about sex, drugs and rock and roll. And watch at the beginning in the record store scene where all the customers are standing in line to buy Electric Light Orchestra's disco classic album "Discovery". Long live the Village People!

The Village people started as a band who was for the Gay community. Then, something else happened. Teenagers started to like them, but on a totally different level of the disco music and costume theatrics.

When it came time to make a movie, which audience do you try to satisfy?

Well, I guess Alan Carr thought you could satisfy them both.

The result is one of the most incredibly bizarre, unintentionally funny musicals ever made. One that tried to balance Family friendly and Gay friendly to help VP's duel followings to come and enjoy.

But even my naive, young self who saw this movie when it first came out could sense that... something was amiss in the village :)

I mean, the YMCA sequence has quick, almost subliminal cuts of a bunch of guys in the shower, one slapping a towel on the others butt (swear to God!) in between loving, slow motion shots of buff oiled athletic guys and an all male sychronized swimming team scene.

Hmmm....

That was a bit sledgehammer, even for me back then.

Then, I watched it more recently and found a gay movie that was in denial

You have a movie that never says the "G" word but has an incredibly effeminate man with TIGHT gold shorts come in and Juggle "Flaming" fire batons.

The Indian,Felipe Rose, has that nice, smooth look and wears cut off jeans and a headress and when he prances around, makes noise like a wind chime tinkling.

The Leather man, Glenn Hughes (rest in peace)sounds pretty effeminate.

The Construction worker, David Hodo, has a musical number where he tries to escape from a bunch of adoring women...

Then there is Lulu, who seems to be female... mostly, but she reminds me of a drag queen.

Which begs a question? How come almost all the Homo imagery here is for males. How come the lesbians get left out?

And how come a lot of this movie is "looped". Even a lot of stage shot stuff seems to have been redubbed in post production. It made me think I was watching a forign movie sometimes.

Ahhh well, you'll have a lot of fun with this. You'll be in disbelief that the thinly disguised homoerotic undertones went over the heads of the powers that be. Perhaps they were too busy watching Valerie Perrine "stick out".

Bad movie fans will be in their glory too. It's not everyday that a big budget movie like this is so hilariously and ineptly executed.

And hang on to your hats boys and girls, that great video company Anchor Bay has bought the rights to this movie and it will be on DVD in April 2002. Hopefully it will be a special edition, with a widescreen transfer and 5.1 remix and I'll be one of the first to get it.

I still like the Village People and love this campy, bizarre, collosal misfire of a movie.

Sorry but l think this is a great movie, why do people have to have a film that has a deep story line, this is just a great musical, with great numbers, big sets, and it`s fun fun fun..all the way...

see it with no pre-conceived ideas, and just enjoy it....

I'm a regular customer of a local movie theater that shows old films, and six years ago they screened Can't Stop the Music - I went to see it, and found it an absolute hoot in campy humor! No-holds-barred, super-fast direction, flashy sets and special effects, glitzy musical numbers (the YMCA scene is awe-inducing!) and actors that really looked like they had a lot of fun cooking the whole thing up! It was the best cinematic experience I ever had. Never once did I glance at my watch, which for me is rather amazing. After gobbling up the whole enchilada, I started wishing I could find a copy of it somewhere. Alas, I still haven't.

A few months ago, the same theater showed the film again. I usually don't see a movie twice in a theater, but my memory needed refreshment, and my soul some cheering up. I went, and had just as much fun as I did the first time.

What's most amazing about CSTM is that although the director (whom I recognize as the deaf-and-dumb maid in the equally enjoyable Murder By Death) makes the actors rush through their lines and behave like over-energized hyperactive brats, and narrates the story so fast there's not even time to develop moments of crisis that last longer than a few seconds, the movie actually clocks in at two hours! Be grateful to the director and the screenwriters - a third hour would just have been asking too much of the audience.

CSTM contains some of the most pointless attempts at comedy I've ever seen, and probably ever will see (Bobo Lewis's bread woman - um, huh??), and the only clever line I found was uttered by Perrine when she says bye to Paul Sand's Steve the Record Producer - it's made up almost entirely of song titles. But the actors' eagerness makes up for the lame humor, and salvages even the scenes where Jenner has to make a complete fool of himself (the trouser incident and everything that follows).

I fear that if I ever find CSTM on video or DVD, the small screen will terribly banalize the film, but I won't care. But all you out there - watch the film on the big screen if you get the chance!