Gilda (1946).

The Scoop:
After knocking around Hollywood in bit parts for years, Rita Hayworth's career finally exploded after playing the title role in "Gilda."

A small-time American hood (Glenn Ford) finds work in a South American casino only to come between the crooked owner (George Macready) and his singer girlfriend (Hayworth). Then the fireworks begin. There are a lot of plot shenanigans going on, but the real meat of the film is the explosive love triangle centered on Gilda.

Director Charles Vidor and a small handful of screenwriters put together a sultry, vaguely noirish cocktail with this one. Ford and Macready hit all the right notes as the lusty men brawling over Gilda, but Hayworth is the one who steals the show. She didn't have much range, but she definitely had a lot of presence. Her performance is still one of the sexiest of all time, making this much more erotically charged than most films of the period. It's a little slow in stretches, but still a good watch.

Best Bit:
Hayworth's hair toss while performing "Put the Blame on Mame."

Side Note:
Hayworth and Ford had so much quickie sex between takes that the Columbia Pictures executive in charge of the production not only had to keep them apart when not doing scenes, but also had to bug her dressing room in order to enforce the punishment.

Companion Viewing:
"Casablanca" (1942).

Links:
IMDb.
Fan site.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


Gilda sure knows how to make an entrance:


"Put the Blame on Mame" (Hayworth's vocals were dubbed by Anita Ellis):


"Amado Mio":

It (1927).

The Scoop:
Here she is -- Clara Bow in all her glory.

Although she was already a rising star, her role as "the It girl" catapulted her career into the stratosphere. Her performance as the free-spirited store clerk looking for love in the big is still a landmark, raising the film above its purely mercenary origins. "It" was conceived a not-quite-blatant promotion for Elinor Glyn's advice book-cum-novel of the same name, which set forth her vision of how young women should act to nab the men of their dreams (essentially an early version of "The Rules" or "Mars and Venus," or any of the other bogus relationship help books that still pop up from time to time).

Unfortunately, Clara's stay at the top would be short-lived. In spite of her charismatic presence, she wound up becoming one of the many victims of the film industry's shift to sound production. She could never quite shake her strident Brooklynese accent (think Fran Drescher through a megaphone) and the clunky early sound recording equipment forced her to bottle up her energetic acting style and stand still while on camera. Her final film, "Hoop-La," came out in 1933, just six short years after her success with "It."

Glyn's book may be a relic of the Roaring Twenties, but Clara and the movie still live on. Delectable.

Best Line:
"Sweet Santa Claus, give me HIM!"

Side Note:
Look out for a cameo by a pre-fame Gary Cooper as a newspaper reporter. Like so many of the young men in Clara Bow movies, he wound up as her sexual partner.

Companion Viewing:
For a couple of other great silent screen sirens, check out "Pandora's Box" (1929) with Louise Brooks and "A Fool There Was" (1915) with Theda Bara. To compare "It" with Clara's sound work, there's "The Wild Party" (1929), which features a great concept and Clara's bubbly personality both squashed by the limitations of the medium, and "Call Her Savage" (1932), her best talkie performance.

Links:
IMDb.
Silents Are Golden.
The Clara Bow Page.

Take a Look:
That Clara, she's a charmer:


A trip to the carnival:

B. Monkey (1998).

The Scoop:
The main thing to recommend this middling, faux-edgy romantic drama is some generous flashes of nudity from the luscious, though marginally talented, Asia Argento.

She plays the title character in this British production about a sweet and decent grade school teacher/frustrated musician Alan (Jared Harris) who gets involved with a sexy former thief (Argento, in the title role) who can't quite put her past behind her (nor fully mask her thick Italian accent). The robbery sequences provide the only real energy in the movie, which also features a great performance by Rupert Everett in a wasted role as B.'s former partner in crime/bisexual lover.

Watch it just to ogle Asia, or for the odd other little touches, like Alan's nighttime job as a jazz DJ in a hospital (huh?).

Best Line:
"Whoever thought I could find happiness in the middle of fucking nowhere?"

Side Note:
Asia is the daughter of Italian horror/suspense meister Dario Argento, and she got her start appearing in his films. I guess you could call her an Italian Sofia Coppola, since she has also moved on to directing films that have been generally better received than her acting.

Companion Viewing:
"Killing Zoe" (1994).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
B. gets pulled back into the game by Bruno (played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers):


Some more chitchat, this time with tongues:


Happy birthday, Bruno!


Finally, some action! (Contains spoilers):

Sleep With Me (1994).

The Scoop:
Oh, the angst! This romantic comedy is emblematic of the navel-gazing neuroses that characterized "GenX" indie cinema in the early 1990s.

The product of six different writers (and it shows), "Sleep With Me" follows the self-absorbed romantic tribulations of Joseph (Eric Stoltz), who is about to marry Sarah (Meg Tilly) only to find that his best friend Frank (Craig Sheffer) is in love with her, too. Of course, the complications flow.

Despite the ocassional amusing moment, a terrific cast of indie film veterans (including Parker Posey, Adrienne Shelley and Joey Lauren Adams) is let down by indifferent direction and a trite script. The only redeeming moment comes in the extended party scene in the middle of the film, in which Quentin Tarantino makes a cameo with a classic spiel about the secret gay subtext of "Top Gun." In those couple minutes, he steals the show and gives the only reason to even watch this movie.

Best Line:
"You can ride my tail anytime!"

Side Note:
The "Top Gun" speech was written for Tarantino by his filmmaking partner Roger Avary and had been originally used in some of their other screenplays, only to keep winding up on the cutting room floor. But they liked it so much that Tarantino brought it with him when asked to appear in "Sleep With Me."

Companion Viewing:
"Kicking and Screaming" (1995) and "Reality Bites" (1994).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
Thankfully, someone has compiled all the Tarantino bits into a single YouTube clip. So now you don't have to rent the movie!

Two Girls and a Guy (1997).

The Scoop:
The two women (Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner) in a love triangle find out about each other and confront their mutual boyfriend (Robert Downey, Jr.), forcing him to be honest for once in his life.

Although writer/director James Toback delivers a very stagey production (the material would work much better as a play than a film), the acting of all three leads is top-notch (even from the often spotty Wagner) and fascinating to watch. In fact, this whole movie is an actor's dream, offering these three several opportunities to show off their chops -- particularly Downey, who is a natural as the weasely prick. Most of the dialogue was improvised and, while it may not offer the most edge-of-your-seat entertainment (although there is a great sex scene), watching this provides a great workshop in the craft of acting, and a few insights into romantic relationships as well.

Best Line:
"Hey Blake, do you want to braid Carla's hair with me?"

Side Note:
Downey shot this during weekend furloughs while serving one of his many jail stints for drug charges.

Companion Viewing:
"Reservoir Dogs" (1992).

Links:
IMDb.
The official site, which still exists a full decade after the film was released.

Take a Look:
The trailer is available at IMDb.

And here's a tease from the sex scene: