PROMPTS ANSWERED:
leading men (current), anonymous
movie meet-cutes, ms_mmelissa
movie kisses, ms_mmelissa
movie couples, ms_mmelissa
film soundtracks, portions_forfox
sex/sexy scenes, stainofmylove
uses of a song in a film/tv show, stainofmylove
This post is JAM-PACKED. Or at the very least just packed. Which is partially why I didn't make my own graphics for it; I've had the answers picked out for a while, but the idea of churning out all these graphics was daunting to say the least, lol. So I have just stolen gifs from tumblr. Hope no one minds!
TOP FIVE LEADING MEN IN HOLLYWOOD (current)
Y'all. Don't. Even. KNOW. You don't even knowwww the extent of my John Cho devotion. I'm talking since the third episode of Charmed when he played a Chinese (???) ghost who Piper had to help and subsequently fell in love with. And you BOUGHT IT because who wouldn't fall in love with John Cho in under forty minutes? I'm talking since the INTRO of AMERICAN PIE when he discussed the etymology of the phrase MILF. I watched that movie as a small pre-tween and was like 'who is this guy why isn't he in the rest of the movie?????' This shit goes DEEP, okay. If the world was a fair place, John Cho would be the fucking Cary Grant of our times. OF OUR TIMES. Please tell me who has more natural, easy charisma and charm? No one. The answer is no one. He should be the lead in every romcom, if they even still made romcoms.
Lol, I remember as a kiddo, circa the early '00s when he was in a lot of stuff, I thought he was so relentlessly fug. I was like, why is he getting cast as the hot guy in stuff when he is so hideous and terrible? Well it only took a decade or so, but look at me now. Is it Captain America? Is it the beard? Is it the shitty frat boy tattoos? It is probably all of these things in conjunction with this moment of my life. I don't know, man. I'm into it.
Ruffalloooooooooooo. Within the last year, my thing for Fluffalo has leveled up in such a serious way. He's so cute?? Why is he so cute??? He seems like such a genuinely nice human being I don't?????? Also such a solid actor! Like, he has just been quietly pretty damn good in all the movies he has been in. Plus, Matt Flamhaff. Just leaving that there.
I sort of lowkey rep for Jude Law. I mean, he's a pretty great actor? I was dead impressed with him in Anna Karenina because he was playing against type so well. Also his beauty in the 90s is unparalleled. Every time I watch one of his 90s movie I just want to walk myself off a cliff somewhere.
MATT DAMON
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This list was reallllly hard for me, Old Hollywood leading men are much easier! Plus a lot of 'leading men types' are just not my type in general? I couldn't really include someone like Penn Badgley on this even though he's my main man because he is DEF not a leading man. But Matt Damon's good people, right? I never really fail to enjoy his acting and he seems like a good guy. My interest in him was really revived by Behind the Candelabra, I thought he was so great in that. Plus, just look at that bitchy smoking.
There are few things in this world I love like a meet-cute, seriously. This is such a good one!! Tied up by puppy leashes! Falling into the lake!
Very much has been made on the internet of Steve and Sam's meet-cute. And honestly, the high level of cute in this meet cannot be denied. Flirtatious running in tight shirts! Playful chatting! Steve looking slightly less intensely miserable! I think all I do in these text-y sections is list-yell things but you feel me, right?
TOM & DICKIE,The Talented Mr. Ripley
A psychotic obsessive love turned murder meet-cute! This scene is so iconic in my life. I just want to know who made the decision to put Matt Damon in a fucking neon chartreuse bathing suit? I want to shake that person's hand. After some lowkey stalking of Jude and Gwyneth, Matt Damon makes his move, choosing an attention-seeking look while still being all ingenue, being charming but not too charming. It's so perfect. Such perfect sociopathic stuff.
Does anyone remember this movie?? I watched A LOT as a kid. It's a really classic romcom (with some stuff that is...kinda creepy now that I am an adult, oop). In it, Marisa Tomei plays Faith, a woman who was told as a little girl by a Ouija board that she would marry a man named Damon Bradley. She's engaged to one of those boring-but-stable romcom fiancé types when she finds out about the existence of a Damon Bradley, a friend of the fiancé's who can't make it to the wedding because he's in Italy. So, on a whim, she takes her best friend to go look for him. While there, she thinks she sees him, chases him through the streets, and ends up losing a shoe in the cobblestones – which is found by Robert Downey, Jr. He says his name is Damon Bradley, they fall in love, she finds out he lied and shenanigans ensue. But losing a shoe is such a classic meet-cute. It's fairytale stuff.
The full movie is on YT, so help thyself. It's so cute.
I. C. O. N. I. C.
This is one of my favorite movies/old movies/romantic movies of all time, really. Ginger and Jimmy have really fun, surprisingly sexy chemistry. Of their many kisses in the movie, their first, unexpected kiss is my favorite – it's at the end of their first date, which lasted the entirety of the first night they met. I couldn't find a gif of it, but right after she darts away, Jimmy goes after her and kisses her again and it's just – it's so good.
MEGAN & AMANDA,Jennifer's Body
A good thing that happened 2 me and 2 the world.
But also Monty in anything, honestly. He was reeealll good at screen kissing. He even made those face-smashy ones look good. But this is my favorite movie of his and I just love the dynamic between his character and Olivia's: the uncertainty, the push and pull, the tenderness.
I think Penn is good at screen kissing too, actually. I've noticed that even in his shittier movies he tends to have good chemistry with his co-stars. But this is not a shitty movie and also this is a good kiss. It was really something, after watching her resist her attraction to him for the whole movie, to see her really tenderly give in. And then they kiss like a million more times until his cab pulls away.
I found all of these lists kind of agonizingly difficult, haha, so I went with an old reliable to round out this particular list. I love that poor little smushed kitty between them.
TOP FIVE FILM SOUNDTRACKS
The Dreamers. Late sixties music is some of my favorite, and also French music, and I love a soundtrack that I can listen beginning-to-end without wanting to skip a thing. I know a lot of people say good movie music should be unnoticeable, but I don't feel that way. I like it best when the music is almost another character in the film, supporting and enhancing the action. I also like it when it's music you know the characters are listening to, as in this film.
Velvet Goldmine. I really love movies about musicians and the faux-band soundtracks – there are three of them in this list alone, lol. But it's quite a challenge, I think, to create some faux David Bowie and do so convincingly. This is one of the very first film soundtracks I remember connecting to and obsessing over. I remember the CD was patterned like it was a record.
The Royal Tenenbaums. I wax poetic about Wes soundtracks a lot, but this is definitely my favorite. The songs on it are pretty much inextricably linked to the movie for me now.
Inside Llewyn Davis. Oscar Isaacs' voiceeeeee. Can he just sing everything, all the time? All the songs?
Josie & the Pussycats. Fun fact: I am watching this movie as we speak. It's such a good movie though? And the soundtrack is so fun? I recently rediscovered my love for it and have just been going IN, it's such amazing candy-coated pseudo-riot-grrrl stuff!
Velvet Goldmine. I really love movies about musicians and the faux-band soundtracks – there are three of them in this list alone, lol. But it's quite a challenge, I think, to create some faux David Bowie and do so convincingly. This is one of the very first film soundtracks I remember connecting to and obsessing over. I remember the CD was patterned like it was a record.
The Royal Tenenbaums. I wax poetic about Wes soundtracks a lot, but this is definitely my favorite. The songs on it are pretty much inextricably linked to the movie for me now.
Inside Llewyn Davis. Oscar Isaacs' voiceeeeee. Can he just sing everything, all the time? All the songs?
Josie & the Pussycats. Fun fact: I am watching this movie as we speak. It's such a good movie though? And the soundtrack is so fun? I recently rediscovered my love for it and have just been going IN, it's such amazing candy-coated pseudo-riot-grrrl stuff!
I mean, like. I feel like all of us who witnessed this scene were never the same again, lol. I'm pretty sure seeing gifs of this is what finally made me watch Misfits in the first place.
The sex scene in Bound is craaaazy. I mean, shit's pretty famous for a reason. These gifs are really nothing, like. It is a good scene.
OMAR & JOHNNY,My Beautiful Laundrette
The sex scene in this movie is pretty good also, but I am partial to the clandestine neck lick. Look at Daniel Day's cheeky little grin!
Seeing a gifset of this scene on tumblr was a big motivating factor in me seeing the movie, haha. It's a great movie, and the chemistry between Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte is reaaaal good.
Why could I not find appropriate gifs for this movie. We will all have to settle for not-even-a-sex-scene because I couldn't find ANYTHING ELSE. Salma Hayek has chemistry with every single human on earth, I think, and she utilizes the hell out of it in this movie.
TOP FIVE USES OF SONG IN A FILM AND/OR TELEVISION SHOW
"Mojo Pin," Jeff Buckley. My Mad Fat Diary.
Jeff Buckley is my #1 and "Mojo Pin" is my favorite song of his so as soon as I heard the very first notes of it on the show, I flat-out LOST IT. I mean, I cry continuously while watching this show but this was probably the fastest I went from not crying to crying, lol. I feel like I never hear Jeff's music in things and it was so unexpected but so absolutely perfect. This is a show that is deserving of his music.
"In the Air Tonight," Phil Collins. The Americans.
The Americans does really great things with music but its use of this song in the pilot is still a standout to me. "In the Air Tonight" is a great song but one with undeniable 80s kitschiness in the wrong hands. On this show it was just powerful as hell.
The Americans does really great things with music but its use of this song in the pilot is still a standout to me. "In the Air Tonight" is a great song but one with undeniable 80s kitschiness in the wrong hands. On this show it was just powerful as hell.
"The End," The Doors. Apocalypse Now.
I feel like this is almost a cop-out of a choice because it's SO famous, but, man. When this movie starts and the song starts – it just creates such immediate ambiance. It sets the stage.
"The Concept," Teenage Fanclub. Young Adult.
The repetition of this song in this film was so. good. The way it plays over and over and over while Mavis is driving does such a good job of building up our connection of her and the song, and its importance to her, so when it shows up again at the gig only not for her, it's just as jarring to us as it is to Mavis.
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," Bob Dylan. Mad Men.
I knew I had to choose something from Mad Men but I was really at a loss because the show is so expert in its use of music. Their choices are always impactful and perfectly chosen. So I decided to just go with the final song in the final episode of the first season, after Don has given his incredible Kodak (it was Kodak, right?) carousel pitch and returns home to find his family has gone on their trip without him. He sits on the stairs of the dark, empty house and Dylan kicks in.
I feel like this is almost a cop-out of a choice because it's SO famous, but, man. When this movie starts and the song starts – it just creates such immediate ambiance. It sets the stage.
"The Concept," Teenage Fanclub. Young Adult.
The repetition of this song in this film was so. good. The way it plays over and over and over while Mavis is driving does such a good job of building up our connection of her and the song, and its importance to her, so when it shows up again at the gig only not for her, it's just as jarring to us as it is to Mavis.
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," Bob Dylan. Mad Men.
I knew I had to choose something from Mad Men but I was really at a loss because the show is so expert in its use of music. Their choices are always impactful and perfectly chosen. So I decided to just go with the final song in the final episode of the first season, after Don has given his incredible Kodak (it was Kodak, right?) carousel pitch and returns home to find his family has gone on their trip without him. He sits on the stairs of the dark, empty house and Dylan kicks in.
next time: everything I haven't already answered!