Flashdance

Astronaut John Glenn once said (about seeing earth from outer space) "To look out at this kind of creation and not believe in God is to me impossible". I bring this up because I more or less said the same thing when Jennifer Beals first lifted up her welding mask in 'Flashdance'. Wow. But she's more than a pretty face. The material may only be thimble deep, but Beals brings just the right mix of energy, grit and old fashioned spunk to the part and instantly gets us on her side. That she was only 18 at the time is mind boggling. No, it's not her dancing, and this is painfully obvious on a large HD TV, but she does just fine with the dramatic heavy lifting, such as it is.

Born out of the BIG Bang that was MTV, 'Flashdance' became a phenomenon in 1983. Marrying the visual style of the former with an old fashioned underdog tale in the spirit of Rocky, it captured people's imagination and remains a well loved guilty pleasure for many. So much so that it recently inspired a musical in the UK that has since traveled the U.S. as well.

It does one no good to hold the film up to any sort of deep scrutiny. Just put on your legwarmers and go with the beat. What a feeling.