Boiled Down
In my experience, conventional (less artsy) movies require either a kiss, or an explosion to be complete.
For my approval, explosions need only be large, colorful, and contain interesting debris, or an amusing camera angle. If this is the case, I am very likely to be a wholehearted fan of the entire movie. My fanaticism for Independence Day and The Rundown are both based on the explosions they contain. I am also particularly fond of the explosions in Live Free or Die Hard. I like it more when the explosions are disproportionately large (which they almost always are).
Kisses are less amusing, but still require much skill. Anyone who has been the reluctant audience for PDA will understand that not every kiss is worth watching. What makes a kiss unwelcome for the audience? I don't know. I'm just one person. I know that I am most irritated when a kiss is either too cold, or too passionate for the character or relationship (or situation) (I'm a big fan of the appropriate, and getting permission). There are other technical incidentals I am too maidenly to disparage in detail. I also know that depending on my mood, a movie kiss might be unwelcome no matter how well done. If this is the case, though, I chose the movie badly.
I dislike it when the kiss becomes more engrossing than the relationship. A movie kiss should be symbolic of the relationship, not some kind of cheap payoff. That means that unless the relationship is entirely physical and somewhat obsessive, overly long and involved kisses just look awkward. The audience isn't allowed into the scene in these cases (which should never happen. The audience should ALWAYS be allowed into the moment). It might also mean that the relationship was not well-enough developed.
Faye Dunaway is famous for her brilliant kissing scene with Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair (the first one). Apparently, it took two days to film that kiss, and it lasted on screen for five minutes. Go Norman Jewison! I thought it was perfect, because their relationship was proportionally empty of anything but physical attraction and mental fascination. They were obsessed with each-other, and the kiss was a perfect symbol of it. Later, Dunaway hosted a film collage entitled "100 Best Movie Kisses" or some such. It was difficult to wade through, but very educational.
Movie kisses aren't like real kisses. One shouldn't be accidentally brought to laugh and ruin the moment by a movie kiss, but in real life funny or awkward things sometimes happen (*giggles* don't ask). A movie kiss is necessarily public, although the director may mean the audience to forget that. The director and actors never should, and there are always aspects of kissing that should be kept to oneself, if you know what I mean.
I just mean, I think, that kissing doesn't have to prove anything. It should be a natural expression of mutual affection, whether it's feigned for an audience or from the heart on a doorstep.
For my approval, explosions need only be large, colorful, and contain interesting debris, or an amusing camera angle. If this is the case, I am very likely to be a wholehearted fan of the entire movie. My fanaticism for Independence Day and The Rundown are both based on the explosions they contain. I am also particularly fond of the explosions in Live Free or Die Hard. I like it more when the explosions are disproportionately large (which they almost always are).
Kisses are less amusing, but still require much skill. Anyone who has been the reluctant audience for PDA will understand that not every kiss is worth watching. What makes a kiss unwelcome for the audience? I don't know. I'm just one person. I know that I am most irritated when a kiss is either too cold, or too passionate for the character or relationship (or situation) (I'm a big fan of the appropriate, and getting permission). There are other technical incidentals I am too maidenly to disparage in detail. I also know that depending on my mood, a movie kiss might be unwelcome no matter how well done. If this is the case, though, I chose the movie badly.
I dislike it when the kiss becomes more engrossing than the relationship. A movie kiss should be symbolic of the relationship, not some kind of cheap payoff. That means that unless the relationship is entirely physical and somewhat obsessive, overly long and involved kisses just look awkward. The audience isn't allowed into the scene in these cases (which should never happen. The audience should ALWAYS be allowed into the moment). It might also mean that the relationship was not well-enough developed.
Faye Dunaway is famous for her brilliant kissing scene with Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair (the first one). Apparently, it took two days to film that kiss, and it lasted on screen for five minutes. Go Norman Jewison! I thought it was perfect, because their relationship was proportionally empty of anything but physical attraction and mental fascination. They were obsessed with each-other, and the kiss was a perfect symbol of it. Later, Dunaway hosted a film collage entitled "100 Best Movie Kisses" or some such. It was difficult to wade through, but very educational.
Movie kisses aren't like real kisses. One shouldn't be accidentally brought to laugh and ruin the moment by a movie kiss, but in real life funny or awkward things sometimes happen (*giggles* don't ask). A movie kiss is necessarily public, although the director may mean the audience to forget that. The director and actors never should, and there are always aspects of kissing that should be kept to oneself, if you know what I mean.
I just mean, I think, that kissing doesn't have to prove anything. It should be a natural expression of mutual affection, whether it's feigned for an audience or from the heart on a doorstep.
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