"After 5000 years of civilization, we all need a break."
It's Friday and everyone is going to the hottest new disco in Los Angeles. The Commodores are scheduled to play if Floyd shows up with the instruments and Nicole dreams of becoming a disco star. Other characters are there to win the dance contest, or to put a little excitement into a fifth anniversary.
Jeff Goldblum
Toni Di Marco
Raymond Vitte
Bobby Speed
Debra Winger
Jennifer
Valerie Landsburg
Frannie
Terri Nunn
Jeannie
Chick Vennera
Marv Gomez
Donna Summer
Nicole Sims
Mark Lonow
Dave
Andrea Howard
Sue
It's Friday and everyone is going to the hottest new disco in Los Angeles. The Commodores are scheduled to play if Floyd shows up with the instruments and Nicole dreams of becoming a disco star. Other characters are there to win the dance contest, or to put a little excitement into a fifth anniversary.
If you've yet to see this incredibly zany musical comedy that pays a respectable tribute to the genre of Disco music, you had better make time to. Produced during the era of the disco rage, Thank God It's Friday, directed by Robert Klane, is a cult classic for a reason. It had been exactly one week after seeing "Grease" that my mother, my brother, and I spent our traditional "Movie Date Night" seated in the middle row inside of the old State and Lake Theater in Chicago, taking in the groovy visual sights and sounds of Thank God It's Friday on the giant silver screen. And we three loved it; it was truly enjoyable. Set in 1970s Los Angeles, the plot unfolds in a narrative of intertwining sequences concerning both the patrons and staff of the fictional disco nightclub The Zoo - all over the course of one Friday night. And the cast of characters are what make this film the precious cinematic jewel that it is. The ensemble includes: The undisputed Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, who stars as Nicole Sims, an aspiring disco singer; DeWayne Jessie as Malcolm Floyd, a roadie for the Commodores; Jeff Goldblum (Yes, THAT Jeff Goldblum), who was cast to portray the obnoxious and promiscuous Tony Di Marco, owner of The Zoo; and Debra Winger, cast in her VERY FIRST screen role as Jennifer, a new face in the crowd who's enjoying a Friday night out at The Zoo, among a hilarious supporting cast of other up-and-comers, some of whom got their big break in the picture business after appearing in TGIF. There's also the soundtrack. And what a great soundtrack it is. The legendary Commodores perform their R&B/Funk anthem "Too Hot to Trot", and Donna Summer (my beloved) also adds to the musical side of things with the performance of her Academy Award-winning number "Last Dance" - the piece winning the coveted golden statue for Best Song that year. The title track, "Thank God It's Friday", is performed by Love & Kisses. Diana Ross and Thelma Houston are among a number of other artists who too contribute to the hit soundtrack. Thank God It's Friday is a delightful must-see film. It is a hilariously spoofy spin on New York's famed Studio 54 if there ever was one.
College student Beca knows she does not want to be part of a clique, but that's exactly where she finds herself after arriving at her new school. Thrust in among mean gals, nice gals and just plain weird gals, Beca finds that the only thing they have in common is how well they sing together. She takes the women of the group out of their comfort zone of traditional arrangements and into a world of amazing harmonic combinations in a fight to the top of college music competitions.
A brilliant but clumsy high school senior vows to get into her late father's alma mater by transforming herself and a misfit squad into dance champions.
Lucky Jackson arrives in town with his car literally in tow ready for the first Las Vegas Grand Prix - once he has the money to buy an engine. He gets the cash easily enough but mislays it when the pretty swimming pool manageress takes his mind off things. It seems he will lose both race and girl, problems made more difficult by rivalry from Elmo Mancini, fellow racer and womaniser.
A group of rock-music-loving students, with the help of the Ramones, take over their school to combat its newly installed oppressive administration.
Stationed in West Germany, soldier Tulsa McLean hopes to open up a nightclub when he gets out of the army. Tulsa may lack the capital for such a venture, but a chance to raise the cash comes his way through a friendly wager. Local dancer Lili (Juliet Prowse) is a notorious ice queen, and Tulsa bets everything he has that a friend of his can earn her affections. But, when that friend is dispatched to Alaska, it's up to Tulsa to melt Lili's heart.
Dawn thinks she's joining a dating show in Paris, France, only to land in Paris, Texas. She has an exit plan — until sparks fly with the cowboy bachelor.
Nick cannot stop obsessing over his ex-girlfriend, Tris, until Tris' friend Norah suddenly shows interest in him at a club. Thus begins an odd night filled with ups and downs as the two keep running into Tris and her new boyfriend while searching for Norah's drunken friend, Caroline, with help from Nick's band mates. As the night winds down, the two have to figure out what they want from each other.
If they miss The Beatles' first appearance in the U.S.A., they will hate themselves for the rest of their lives - so four young girls from New Jersey set off even though they don't have tickets for the show! The journey is full of surprises and misfortunes but the young ladies are determined to reach their idols.
Cowabunga! The surfing '60s ride into the new wave as Frankie and Annette star in this hip update of their old-time, good-time beach movies. With special appearances by Bob Denver, Tony Dow, Pee-Wee Herman, Jerry Mathers and other familiar faces. Frankie and Annette grow up and have kids in the midwest. They return to LA to visit their daughter who is shacked up with her boyfriend and tries to hide the fact. They begin to have marriage problems when Frankie runs into Connie, who has erected a shrine to him in her night club. Their punk son has joined up with the local surf toughs, and things all come to a head when the toughs challenge the good guys to a surfing duel
Two sailors on shore leave head out for four days of partying – only to become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer and her precocious nephew.