Call me kooky, but I dearly love the 1980 movie Xanadu. Why, you ask? Because it’s an epic drama comprised of a deeply profound storyline in which all the characters learn valuable life lessons, Oscar-worthy acting, unmatchable special effects that would make Michael Bay jealous, a classic score, ground-breaking choreography, and Gene Kelly.

Well, okay, so it has Gene Kelly.

It may not be the best movie ever made, but sometimes, when you have one kid recovering from an appendectomy, one recovering from a near-fatal car crash, and another one on a class trip in Washington DC when they’re setting off bombs in Boston, you just need a little bit of fluff.

In one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Kira–aka a muse known as Terpsichore–comes to earth to help a guy named Sonny fulfill his dream, and of course they fall in love. The story is trite and cheesy and the acting isn’t great, but I have to admit the music is great. I love Electric Light Orchestra, and Olivia Newton-John, at the time, had one of the prettiest voices I’d ever heard. Then you have the dancing, the roller skating (which I was doing a whole lot of when the movie came out), the pretty lights and colors, and, of course, Gene Kelly. The funny part is, I never saw him in anything else.

Having a rough day/week/month/year? My recommendation to you is to say fuck it (pardon my French, but that part’s important), pour yourself a glass of wine, pop a Xanadu DVD into the player and treat yourself to an hour and a half or so of mindless fluff. Be sure to sing along, too, loud enough to disturb the neighbors if possible.

So. Guess what I’m doing this afternoon.