My Favorite Movie Kisses

In honor of tomorrow being Valentine's Day, I am making a list of my favorite movie kisses. I have never been a huge fan of romance films, but these are the kisses that left an impression on me.

The Kiss (1896)

The one that started it all....this is the first kiss ever put on film.



The Gold Rush (1925)

I saw this movie for the first time a few days ago, and I thought that this was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I'm pissed because the only version of The Gold Rush that I could find on Youtube was the reissue where this end scene was cut out. Since you can't watch it I will try to describe it for you. Charlie Chaplin's character has just become a multi-millionaire and this group of journalists are writing a story on him. While on the ship, he sees his love Georgia and they decide to put her in a picture they take of him. So they stand them next to eachother with their faces really close together, but before they take the photo, he leans in and kisses her.

Gone With the Wind (1939)

It is the kiss that convinces Scarlett to marry Rhett. I just love it because she is spending the whole scene laughing at his marriage proposal, but as soon as he kisses her shes like, "okay..." You'll find better videos of this one Youtube, but this is the only one that I could find that I could embed.




Notorious (1946)

I love this one because it's sneaky...The Production Code at the time said that kisses could be no longer than three seconds, so instead of having a really long kiss, they had a bunch of little ones.



From Here to Eternity (1953)

I'm not going to lie...I have never actually seen this entire movie. I have seen this kiss several times on other movies and always thought that it was a really nice kiss...




On the Waterfront (1954)

This is probably the sexiest kiss on my list and not just because it has the beautiful Marlon Brando. I love it because the music swells up in the scene, but as soon as he kisses her it just stops and all you hear is their breathing....



Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

This is such a good movie! I love Audrey Hepburn, and this is probably my favorite romance film. I love this kissing scene because its when she realizes that she loves him, it is in the rain, and they have her pet cat between them. It is just a really good scene.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Even though she said that she'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee as kiss Han Solo, this is the moment when Leia finally gives in to his charms.




Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Not the most romantic kiss in the world, but it is still quite memorable...



Moulin Rouge (2001)

I love this movie so much!!! It came out when I was 11 and I was in love with Ewan McGregor and thought that this was the greatest movie of all time. My favorite part was always when they sang the Elephant Love Medley and then kissed after it was over...



Spiderman (2002)

This is definitely one of the most creative kisses I've seen on film, and I just love it!



Wall-E (2008)

CUTE!!!!!!!!

Song of the Week: Lovesong

It is the week of Valentine's Day, so this week's song of the week will be my favorite love song, Lovesong by The Cure. The Cure's version is obviously my favorite, but I have heard tons of covers for this song, and they are all really good too. This song is just plain awesome regardless of who sings it.

Spotlight On: David Cronenberg

This week's spotlight is on David Cronenberg, who is one of my favorite directors. He is most commonly associated with the "body horror" genre, which is a genre that deals with people's fears of bodily transformation. They are often quite grotesque, but usually involve some of the greatest practical effects in film history, which is what I love about older horror films. If Cronenberg's older films were made today, they probably would use CGI for all of the effects, and would thus be not as horrifying. Every single one of Cronenberg's films, even his non-horror ones, are really interesting to watch, and he has contributed greatly to both the horror and the science fiction genre. I have not seen all of his films, but here are the ones that I have seen and loved.

Rabid (1977)

Rabid is about a girl who gets skin grafts after being burned in a motorcycle accident. Her surgery goes fine, but she then develops a sort of stinger under her armpit that feeds on peoples blood. Instead of killing them, though, it turns them into zombies. I think that this movie is a really interesting take on the zombie film, and is a great example of body horror. When you see the stinger, which is always in a close-up, it is absolutely disgusting. It isn't the zombies in this movie that scare me, it is simply the image of this pink fleshy phallic-type thing that emerges from her body.





The Brood (1979)

The Brood is kind of like a horror film version of Forbidden Planet because the monsters in this film are physical manifestations of the mother's emotions. Instead of creating a giant invisible monster, though, she creates a brood of killer deformed children. The creepiest part of this movie has to be the part where the mother opens up her cape and shows the sack thing that the children are growing in. She then goes on to remove a baby from the sack and lick it clean. Yeesh...




Scanners (1981)

I'm not even going to say anything about Scanners. Just watch the video and it will say everything that I want to say...




Videodrome (1983)

Videodrome is a really cool sci-fi/ horror film. It has makeup by the great Rick Baker and some of the most grotesque/ amazing practical effects on film. This movie is quite disturbing at parts and is a perfect example of body horror.



The Dead Zone (1983)

The Dead Zone is based on a story by Stephen King about a guy who wake up from a coma with psychic powers. It has a great performance by Christopher Walken and is a break from body horror for Cronenberg. It is sort of a "with great power comes great responsibility story" because whenever Walken's character touches someone's hand, he sees something bad that will happen in the future and then does everything he can to change it.




The Fly (1986)

Now onto one of the greatest sci fi/horror movies every made. "I am becoming....Brundlefly." I just love this movie! It has Jeff Goldblum as a scientist who invents a teleportation device, but then starts turning into a fly when one flies into one of his machines. This movie has some of the most disgusting things ever put on film, and will always have a special place in my heart for having the ability to make me scream. (That is not easy to do for a movie.)




Dead Ringers (1988)

Dead Ringers is an incredibly underrated film and has, in my opinion, Jeremy Irons' greatest performance as Elliot and Beverly Mantle, twin gynecologists. Elliot is the asshole, and Beverly is the sweet one who starts going crazy after he believes his girlfriend is cheating on him.




Naked Lunch (1991)

This has to be one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. I don't even know what genre you would call this film. It isn't really a horror film, or science fiction. I just don't know... There are some really cool scenes in this movie though. You've got typewriters turning into giant bugs and tons of weird creatures. This whole film is absolutely bazaar, but is probably one of the most creative films of the 90s.




M.Butterfly (1993)

I had never heard about this movie at all before I watched it, so I was SHOCKED by the ending! I never suspected for a second that she was a man! I thought that the big twist was that she was just pretending to be all innocent and modest to get information from him, but I never expected that she was a man!



Crash (1996)

Crash is a really interesting film about people who get off on car accidents. Apparently there was a lot of controversy about this movie, but I think that it is incredibly sexy!




eXistenZ (1999)

Cronenberg retuns to body horror in the science fiction film about a virtual reality game. To play the game, you have to have a bioport installed in your spine so that you can connect to these fleshy game pods.



Spider (2002)

This movie stars Ralph Fiennes as Spider, a schizophrenic man who is piecing together memories of his childhood. It is a great psychological thrilelr and one of Ralph Fiennes best performances.



A History of Violence (2005)

This is a fantastic movie about a guy who kills two people who try to rob his diner and ends up a local celebrity. But by being on the news, his past comes back to haunt him.



Eastern Promises (2007)

His second collaboration with Viggo Mortensen, this is a great film about the Russian mafia and sex trafficking.



Upcoming:

His next film will be A Dangerous Method, about Sigmund Freud. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, and Vincent Cassel.

The Use of Shadows In Horror Films

One thing that I have always loved about classic horror films was the use of shadows. A lot of what is scary about horror films are the moments that you don't see, and the use of shadows really emphasizes that. Because we are not seeing what is actually going on, in our minds we make it a lot worse than what it most likely would be if they just plainly showed it to us.

In the silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I love the way that they use shadows in the scene where Cesare murders Alan. You see Alan laying in his bed, then see a very large shadow emerge next to him. You don't see Cesare at all during the scene, and I think that that is very effective. You can skip forward to the scene in this video, it starts at about 5:38. It is very short, but it one of my favorite moments in the film.



Another way that shadow is used in film is to add a spooky effect, like in Nosferatu.

The shadows exhaggerate Count Orlok's already grotesque features such as his very long fingers, and it adds a really creepy tone to the whole scene by only seeing him in shadows. There is also a really neat part where the shadow of Count Orlock's hand seems to squeeze the girl's heart.

Shadow is used again in the 1931 film M for the first appearance of the child murderer. This is a really great scene, because its starts with the showing of the Wanted sign, with Elsie Beckman playing with her ball off screen, and then we see a shadow emerge and hear Peter Lorre's voice start talking to the doomed child. We see neither characters, but only see his shadow over the sign with their voices off screen. The scene in the video starts at about 3:56.

In a scene that is similar to the scene from Caligari, you see only a man being attacked in the shadows. Except this time, it is Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and Lugose is apparently peeling the skin from Karloff's face. This is definitely an example of how what you don't see is much creepier that what you do see. Because we aren't getting a closeup of Karloff's face when it happens, we imagine it to be much worse than it is, and thus, it is scarier. I think that this scene is very effective, and was quite ahead of its time for the horror genre. The scene starts at about 5:34 in the video.

In the 1942 film Cat People, shadow was also used due to lack of special effects. In the scene where Simone Simon's therapist kisses her and she turns into a panther, they couldn't show a An American Werewolf in London style transformation. For one, it happens very quickly in the movie, and two, it was made in the early 40s so there wasn't special effects that could do that, especially since she turns into an actual panther and not someone in a makeup like The Wolf Man. However, it is still a great scene and I wouldn't have it any other way. You can watch the scene HERE.

Modern Examples

To this day, there are still horror films that make great use of shadows. My favorite example of this is in Bram Stoker's Dracula.

In this film, Dracula's shadow has a life of its own, which is some of the coolest imagery in this movie. The scene, for example, when he is talking to Johnathon and his shadow appears to be strangling him. The only video that I found of this is dubbed in some other language, but you don't need to hear what he is saying to appreciate the great shadow effects in this scene. It starts in the video at about 5:04.

Another example is in the movie 1999 movie Sleepy Hollow. I couldn't find any pictures or a video of the scene I have in mind, but it is in the scene when the Headless Horseman is attacking the Killian house (the house full of redheads). When he goes for the wife, all you see is her face staring at him afraid, and the shadow of his axe moving up her face, and then a thud when it cuts to the shot of her little boys face. I think that it is extremely spooky the way it is, and much better than if they showed the Horseman raising his axe.

An even more modern example is in the movie Jennifer's Body. A lot of people don't really care for this movie, but I loved it! One of the best scenes is when we see Jennifer's first kill. She lures this guy into this old abandoned house, and then just tears him apart! We only see her attack him in shadows though, which I thought was a great touch.

I HATE RECASTING!!!!

I don't know why, but it really bothers me when they recast parts for movie sequels. For characters like James Bond, Batman, or any other superhero type character like that it doesn't bother me because there are a billion movies like that and actors can't stay young forever. When I read that the part of Andromeda was recast in the Clash of the Titans sequel, Wrath of the Titans, that just bothered me! I have nothing against Rosamund Pike, who I liked in Pride and Prejudice and An Education, but I really wish that they would have kept Alexa Davalos. I was really disappointed that her role was so small in the first movie, and now I guess she will be a more important character, and they cast someone else in the part!


Alexa Davalos as Andromeda



Rosamund Pike

Also, Rosamund Pike is blonde, and Alexa Davalos has dark hair in the first movie! I know these probably doesn't seem like a huge detail, but are they going to have her dye her hair for the movie? What I find interesting is that love interest roles in sequels have been recast since forever. For example, in the 1931 movie Frankenstein, the role of Elizabeth was played by Mae Clarke, but was played by 17 year old Valerie Hobson in Bride of Frankenstein. 


Mae Clarke



Valerie Hobson

Do they do this because they don't think that the love interest character is really all that important and that people won't care? Another example of this is in Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. In Batman Begins, Rachel Dawes is played by Katie Holmes, and in The Dark Knight is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal.



Katie Holmes



Maggie Gyllenhaal


While I am not a big fan of Katie Holmes, I was annoyed with the recasting. It did not really matter in the long run, though, because people people didn't go see The Dark Knight for the love interest Rachel Dawes, they went to see it for Batman and the Joker. Just like people didn't go see the Frankenstein films for Elizabeth, they went to see them for Karloff as the monster. I guess love interest roles are just expendable. Just look at James Bond, he has a different girl for every movie he's in.

Character of the Week: Wednesday Addams

When I was a little kid, the Addams Family movies were some of my favorites, and my favorite character was always Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams. I remember I was really excited about my Wednesday Addams Halloween costume, and then I was pissed when no one knew who I was. I always loved Wednesday because she was clever and really funny in her own morbid way. I was also a big Christina Ricci fan with Casper, Now and Then, Mermaids, and of course, The Addams Family. To this day, I still love watching these movies for both nostalgic reasons, and because they are just really good movies. I was always into darker movies when I was a kid including Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and any horror movie that my mom would let me watch, so these movies were perfect.

My Review: The Roommate

I went to this movie with no expectations for it to be good. I thought that it was going to be a cheesy, horrible rip off of Single White Female aimed towards a younger audience. (Sort of like Swimfan was to Fatal Attraction). While it basically is Single White Female, I actually enjoyed this movie and it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. It is definitely no groundbreaker in the horror genre, but is still a nice little thriller movie with a great performance by Leighton Meester as the psycho roommate Rebecca. The scene where Rebecca pushes Sarah's (Minka Kelly) earrings through her unpierced ears was actually quite chilling to me. It could just be because I don't have my ears pierced either, but it have me the heebie jeebies. If you have seen Single White Female, or basically any psycho bitch movie, nothing in this movie will be a big surprise. From Rebecca killing their pet cat, to attacking Sarah's skanky blonde friend in the shower, it is nothing new, but I think that Meester really pulls off the creepy smile and the blank stare. Her performance isn't exactly Oscar worthy, but perhaps MTV Movie Award for Best Villain worthy. The one thing that really bugged me in this movie was Minka Kelly. That girl just bothers me for some reason. Perhaps it is her overly sweet sounding voice, or that her smiles always looked fake. When she was in (500) Days of Summer, I couldn't believe that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character would follow Zooey Deschanel with her. Anyways, while this movie wasn't amazing, it wasn't that bad and I would have no problem seeing it again when it comes out on DVD. My rating: 6/10