my favourite films; the best bits

Don Juan
He sees a girl's feet and falls in love with them and her. return return

Metropolis
A robot turns into a girl. return

Forbidden Daughters
A naked woman in the harem of an Arab. Very exotic. return

Shanghai Gesture, The
The bit at the beginning of the gambling-den where they pass money up or down in baskets on string. Very exotic. return

Casablanca
A young woman from Bulgaria (Annina) asks Rick if the French police chief can be trusted. She will have sex with the middle-aged Frenchman to get the pass she needs for her and her husband Jan to get away. But her husband doesn't know and is trying to win at roulette. She wants to know if she is doing a bad thing, but she is willing to make a sacrifice for the man she loves.

Rick gets irritated and says no woman loved him enough to make a sacrifice like that (although we know that Ilsa did). Then he fixes it so the man wins and they can go.

Then there's the bit where he says "Sam, I thought I told you never to play ...". Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) told Sam to play 'their tune'. She knows from his reaction that he has never gotten over her. Women are sneaky like that. return

Forbidden Planet
When they land on the planet, they see a cloud of dust in the distance, that looks as if a vehicle is approaching them. It is Robbie the Robot, ready to take them to his master, the scientist. He announces that he can speak in hundreds of languages and 'related dialects'.

Robbie the Robot: Welcome to Altair IV, gentlemen. I am to transport you to the residence. If you do not speak English, I am at your disposal with 187 other languages along with their various dialects and sub-tongues. Captain: Colloquial English will do fine, thank you.

I remember many years ago, I was standing on a platform of the London underground and I saw a poster for whisky (Jack Daniels?). It had a large picture of Robbie, carrying a girl in his arms. He did this on the poster for the film, but I don't think he actually did it in the film itself.

In the TV prog 'Lost in Space' there was a robot that looked just like Robbie, but apparently wasn't. However, he was in one episode of this series. He was also in another film.

In Forbidden Planet there were many atmospheric etherial sounds. This could have been inspired by the bit in The Tempest where it says there are etherial sounds on the island. In science-fiction progs like Dr Who and Star Trek they seemed to follow this precendent. return

Singende, klingende Bäumchen, Das
The evil dwarf floods the chasm to stop the princess returning to the bear/prince. The giant goldfish comes to her rescue and carries her across on his back. Previously she had made ammends for her cruelty by rescuing the fish when it had become trapped in ice. When then are almost across, the dwarf drains the chasm, and they become trapped at the bottom of it. The glistening walls of rock rise high above them as she looks up to the sky way above. Weird, huh? return

Time Machine, The
The hero travels to the far future and wanders in a tropical landscape. He meets up with the blonde inhabitants and goes with them to a dilapidated domed building when they have their tea. He remarks that the giant fruit would have been remarkable in his time. return

Black Noon
He tries to conduct a service in the wooden chapel. He begins to confess his sins (he fancied the 'dumb' girl). They start laughing at him, more and more. He makes a run for it and ends up at his wife's bedside. They follow him. They have been poisoning his wife to keep him in their town, pretending she was just ill.

He asks them who the hell they are. They explain that they are satanists, and by human sacrifice they have been able to live thousands of years. They each give their witch names, and the 'dumb' girl says "I am Lilith, the witch who loved Adam before Eve." Then they sacrifice him at the noon solar-eclipse, inside the burning chapel. return

Broadway Danny Rose
At the end she comes to his door to try to make friends. He sends her away, but then goes after her. return

Paris, Texas
He follows his ex till she parks up and goes in the back door of some establishment. He goes in himself and tries to find out what kind of place this is. She is sitting on a bar stool and turns but apparently does not see him. She (Nastassja Kinski) looks good though.

He goes into a booth. He can see her but she can't see him. He wants to know what she does. Then he tells her a story, their story. At the end of it she knows who he is and they are very emotional. We know that he still loves her, and she still has feelings for him. return

Kiss of the Spider Woman
The gay guy tells the straight guy a story. To begin with, we think its just another of his stories. But this one is different. He is really telling him how he feels about him. He feels like the Spider Woman of the title (a freak), who by chance comes across a man who he tries to care for, who is like a man washed up on a beach. return

Mona Lisa
Middle-aged man falls in love with prostitute (it does happen, you know). The big favour she asks him is for him to look for a girl she knew but lost contact with. He goes to some pretty sleazy places but eventually finds her.

Cloud Door, The
Uncerwater shots of naked Indian women swimming in a pool. Anu Arya when she says "kyaa?"(what?).

She acts a bit strange, but he can't put his finger on why. Then he realises; firstly she's coming off heroin, and secondly the two women love each other. He feels used and left out. return

From Dusk Till Dawn
Salma Hayek doing her exotic/erotic dance. return

Cruel Intentions
Selma Blair kissing Sarah Michelle Gellar. return