The All-Wet Blog-A-Thon, Vol. 2

It has been a long-ass while since I've been back (mostly due to laziness/dry spell), but with the school year coming to an end, (funny, how my last post was from the beginning of the year) I hope to come back with some new stuff that I've been thinking about doing for a bit now. But a great entrance back into everything is thanks to Andrew, who is again hosting the blogathon for all things wet in cinema. Rain, mostly always used for dramatic effect, may sound cliche, but as a natural substance that might add (or be the center of) to a scene it almost always works.

For my contribution I have chosen a small scene from a movie that could be categorized as either a piece of crap or a masterpiece, with the general consensus leaning heavily towards the former. I, naturally, lean towards the latter. The scene blongs to Water Death Proof, Tarantino's most experimental film that has been critically lambasted (even by die hard fans) ever since it's release as part of the brilliant Grindhouse package five years ago.

The scene has rain adding to the lurid, down n' dirty, ominous atmosphere during the extended Texas Chilli Parlor sequence, where our cool, smooth antagonist tries to insinuate himself into the attention of the sexy girls hanging in the back porch of the bar.

The first shot of the scene is of the clear, crisp rain splashing onto the pavement and cutting through the summer humidity.

Jungle Julia is kickin' back with her long legs and feet exposed to the drizzle above her, letting the water slide down her lengthy leg, with Tarantino's ogling camera delighted with every second (as are we). This is one of the most erotic shots in the film, and in a film that centers around casul and unusual gratification, its saying alot. But the natural, free flowing rain blends perfectly with Julia's sexuality with she dangles and wear's on her sleeve -- and of course the next beat/shot of the camera following the rain down the whole length of her leg sets up (spoiler!) this shot, where any control she had is now gone.

Though with this scene we have the contasting potency (rain, Jungle Julia) against impotency (Stuntman Mike) and its a contrast that proves soon to be deadly and something even deeper than mere sexuality.

Mike makes a smooth introduction to Julia, who is intrigued somewhat by this old guy who still might have some cool left in him

That is before the cool gets completely sucked out of him when he attempts to sneeze but just cannot seem to blow his, uh, nose. His face contorts itself into looking like something that happens when he would actually, well, you know. But of course that problem is what leads him to do what he does. This connects to another bit where we see that Mike cannot cry (he puts in eye drops) and here he cannot sneeze, and by the looks of things, lacks another kind of bodily fluid; nasty but true.

"What the fuck was that?!"

Leena Frank wonders what we all wonder about this psycho Stuntman, and that we will never know the whole story is even scarier. So, back to the rain...it's not a necesity for the scene to work, but it adds a naturalistic texture to the atmosphere and the feel of what the whole first half is aiming for; gritty, lurid, slightly ominous, and real and jiving with the slasher movie feel perfectly.

Why is it that I am only one of the handful of people that completley loves this movie?

Do you like/love Death proof?