3/5/2010

Top 6 Words: Kiss

Posted in Top 6 Words at 5:00 am by Sam

“Kiss” is the word for this second post in the Top 6 Words series. My Top 6 list of movies with titles containing the word “kiss” after the jump. You might want to think up your own list before peeking. Chime in with your favorite “kiss” movies in the comments section.

Just one classic this time around. I could have cheated and used Stolen Kisses (1968), which would have ranked #1, but I decided to be a stickler and require the exact form of the word. Even so, I did manage to come up with six movies I liked.

Missing the list: French Kiss (1995), a harmless romantic comedy distinguished by the always fun Kevin Kline but otherwise unremarkable; Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950), a James Cagney crime drama that I liked but don’t remember well enough to rank; and Killer’s Kiss (1955), a Stanley Kubrick film noir with moments of inspiration but which doesn’t quite gel. Kubrick’s next film, The Killing, would kick off an astonishing run of masterworks.

6. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Renny Harlin is not my favorite director, but this one, starring Geena Davis as an action heroine that just won’t quit, is so preposterous that it’s almost good. I can’t quite figure out if this was supposed to be a serious action movie or a parody of one. Regardless, this can be a fun movie as long as you keep your tongue planted firmly in your cheek.

5. Kiss the Girls (1997)

Ashley Judd and/or Morgan Freeman made a bunch of serial killer thrillers in the late 1990s. This is probably the best of them, though it is no more than the genre film it purports to be.

4. Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

Billy Wilder had just passed his peak by the time he made this film, one of his trademark fast-paced comedies with a cynical, razor-sharp wit. It’s neither as fast or as clever as, say, One Two Three (1961) or Irma La Douce (1963), but second-tier Wilder still makes for a wonderful gem of a comedy.

3. The Good Night Kiss (1992)

This Spanish thriller, also known as El Beso Del Sueno, mixes Hitchcockian obsessions and Macguffins with a Raymond Chanderesque world of gangsters, con men, and femmes fatale. Maribel Verdu turns in a terrific performance as a woman who steals from the wrong men and finds herself on the run with an innocent man who eventually becomes obsessed with her. Or is she what she appears?

2. Kiss of Death (1947)

Many regard this classic film noir a bit more highly than I do, but I still think it’s an excellent film and certainly essential viewing for noir fans. The plot is dark and convoluted but ultimately doesn’t much matter. With this kind of movie, the story is only a way to unleash the darkness within its characters. Great performances all around.

The 1995 remake, with David Caruso, was also eligible for this list. It’s not nearly good enough to land a spot, but it’s better than the usual remake of a classic.

1. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

This great screen incarnation of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer character — a great tough guy who might have inspired characters like Harry Callahan — packs a mean punch. Director Robert Aldrich started with westerns and would go on to make great adventure movies and horror-thrillers, but this, his first great film, is a hard-hitting noir of espionage. Like all the great noirs, the story is driven by the dark obsessions of the characters, and the hero doesn’t feel so much like a true hero as a failed badguy.

A few different versions of the film exist, and the ending varies greatly between them. The most recent DVD releases of the film restore some footage to the ending and is the version I recommend seeing.

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