Friday, January 9, 2009

about last night...

If bears spend their winters hibernating by sleeping days on end, I figure watching a shit ton of movies is my way of hibernating during these cold times. I have been taking full advantage of my new ability to view films on Netflix's website via the Watch It Now option (it was unavailable for a long time for Mac users such as myself) and you better believe the first movie I watched was Adriane Lyne's trashy 1986 film, "9 1/2 Weeks." Regressive, silly, hyper-stylized, and at times plain stupid, it is however an insanely stylish film. The color palette is mostly greys and blacks. Kim Basinger was my first movie crush in Tim Burton's "Batman", but if I'd been born a little earlier and seen her in this, I'm certain this would have been the film to cement my love for 80's Basinger. Whether it's wearing sexy tank tops meant to be ripped off or the perma-smoky eye she sports throughout the film, Basinger is dead sexy in every scene. Add Mickey Rourke in dark, quietly menacing overcoats, minimalist set design, and a plethora of diffused lighting and you immediately are taken by the mood. Forget about what you might have heard about this movie and instead take in the haunting images of beautiful people gone wild.

1 comment:

Leigh said...

and yes, that self-love scene is indeed classic.