| Cops nab another Hilton intruder An intruder has been arrested at Paris Hilton’s home. feeds.breakingnews.ie |
Bonnie and Clyde: The story of a scene In crime films, we have always known we are allowed to have illicit fun with criminals, so long as they get it in the end. What do they get? They get shot. But among the many novelties in Bonnie and Clyde was the realisation that the ending could be not just a spectacular addition to the "final shoot-out" sub-genre, but the film's sexual climax and the fulfilment of every romantic dream linking the names of the two desperadoes in the movie's title. The ending was orgasmic, yet it crept in under the tattered remnants of the old censorship system. Bonnie and Clyde got their just reward, while Warren Beatty, producer and star, made a fortune.So it's worth stressing that Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway scarcely resembled the real Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, two mean-faced kids raised on poverty and bad food. The casting established the glamourisation in a storyline with two achingly available sexual animals unable to get it on.The finale sees ambush, treachery and ugly people cutting the lovely couple to shreds. Director Arthur Penn, one of the few artists in violence, designed the shoot-out in slow motion with multiple coverage building up to a shatteringly edited montage of destruction (Dede Allen did the editing). Notice how the lovers know they're going to get it just before the fusillade begins. There are ravishing cross-cut close-ups and an instant of intimate communion that will last to posterity. As the bodies writhe under the impact of the bullets, it was hard to avoid the thought (even in 1967) that those two people separated in space were enjoying one of the best sex scenes in movie history. Had there ever been a moment in which the equation of sex and violence was so emphatic or transporting?The scene taught movie technicians that blood, puffs of smoke, and even fragments of clothing and flesh were part of the way bullets worked. More or less before 1967, getting shot was a tidy event. Now sachets of blood and small powder charges sewn into clothes would become part of a film's resources – Sam Peckinpah and The Wild Bunch were just a couple of years away. The ending of Bonnie and Clyde also ushered in the ideas that criminals might be lovable, and that violence might be art. The film bewildered its studio, Warner Brothers, but it became a big hit because it spelled out within the formula of an old genre the seething lawlessness in a new young audience. A fresh myth was launched: that a few years of mayhem with a beautiful companion might be a bargain you could make with death. And it was a breakthrough to discover that death and disintegration were stunning metaphors for sex.Watch it here: bit.ly/bonniecydeclimaxCrimeWarren BeattyFaye DunawayArthur PennDavid Thomsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
The sci-fi and fantasy 25: do you agree with our rankings? The list of our critics' picks of the 25 best action and war movies has been released. Vote for your favourite of our choices mention here guardian.co.uk |
Guardian Extra presents: A preview screening of 'The Kids Are All Right' Be among the first to see this new comedy at a free preview screening on Thursday 28 October at Cineworld, HaymarketNic and Jules (three-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening and four-time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore) are married and share a cosy suburban Southern California home with their teenage children, Joni and Laser. As Joni prepares to leave for college, 15-year-old Laser presses her for a big favour. He wants Joni, now 18, to help him find their biological father; the two teenagers were conceived by artificial insemination. Against her better judgement, Joni honors her brother's request and manages to make contact with "bio-dad" Paul (Mark Ruffalo), an easy going restauranteur. The kids find themselves drawn to the confirmed bachelor's footloose style. As Paul comes into the lives of the forthright four, an unexpected new chapter begins for them as family ties are defined, re-defined, and then re-re-defined.In cinemas Friday 29 OctoberCertificate 15. Copyright © Universal PicturesTake up this offerClick here to take up this offerHelp with Offers and Events• You need to have joined Extra in order to see the redemption pages. You can sign up here • You will need to be signed in at the top of the screen to be able to take up any offer or book ticketsLondon & South Eastguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
TV producer charged with killing wife denied bail LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A reality TV producer charged with killing his wife in Mexico will not be released from a Los Angeles jail while he fights extradition, a federal judge ruled Monday.... hosted.ap.org |