' ' Cinema Romantico: Mixtape Movies Blogathon: Lovers on the Lam

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Mixtape Movies Blogathon: Lovers on the Lam


Andy Hart of Fandango Groovers Movie Blog, the Grandmaster Supreme of the movie blogathon, has done it again, this time concocting a blogathon centered around movie mix tapes. He writes that our movie mix tapes should be "A selection of movies with no direct connection (star, director, source material) but that fit together or compliment each other. Around six movies, five plus one wildcard (a movie that doesn’t quite fit but still belongs)."

Well, thinking of mix tapes automatically makes one think of “High Fidelity” since John Cusack’s music obsessed protagonist Rob Gorden breaks down the proper means to craft one. Yet, in thinking of the mix tape my mind drifted to a different scene from “High Fidelity.” It’s when Rob and his music store geek buddies and their pal Louis are naming their “Top Five Side One Track Ones.” Rob, seemingly out of it and disinterested in the exercise, lists fairly standard, if not entirely accurate, fare such as “Let’s Get It On” & “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Jack Black’s ever-snobbish Barry, however, cannot abide. “Oh no, Rob,” he declares, “that’s not obvious enough. Not at all.” This is my way of saying, I’m going full snob, baby.

Lately I can't stop myself from having thoughts of just getting in a car and driving away. Where? Anywhere. And that led me directly to the notion of films featuring lovers on the lam. And in crafting a Lovers On The Lam Mix Tape I should include, say, “Badlands” and “Gun Crazy” and "True Romance" and especially “Bonnie and Clyde.” Of course, I should (for God’s sake, “Bonnie and Clyde” is one of my all-timers – its poster is on my home office wall), but I won’t.

And I won’t because when I craft mix tapes I’m that idiot who packs it full of obscurities and puts a Debbie Gibson song right after an Arcade Fire song ("Wake Up" / "Wake Up To Love" – bam!) and always, ALWAYS includes a Kylie Minogue track because every mix tape in the whole wide world should include a Kylie Minogue track. So......

Lovers on the Lam: A Cinema Romantico Mixtape 

Moonrise Kingdom. 

I mean, really, when you consider it, Sam & Suzy are just a much more whimsical "Badlands" Kit & Holly. No?

The Dish and the Spoon. 

I suppose that Rose & Boy (he never does get a name) are not "lovers", but they are definitely on the lam (she from her philandering husband, he from his native England) and there is without a doubt some sort of baffling, bizarre sexual undercurrent happening here that I'm still not sure I entirely understand (or want to). This is Track 2 to keep you on your toes.


One False Move. 

The lovers here are a ponytailed Billy Bob Thortnon (who co-wrote) & a where-did-she-go? Cynda Williams who light out of L.A. for the south after a string of murders who run right into a reckoning with a note perfect (yes, that's right, a note perfect) Bill Paxton as a small-town sheriff nicknamed "Hurricane" who really should be nicknamed "Tumbleweed."

Sleeper. 

It takes a little while, sure, but eventually Miles & Luna end up on the lam. And while they are less "lovers" then a Neurotic Who Can't Stop Obsessing Over Sex Because He Never Gets To Have It and a Woman Who Has Sex With Woody Allen At The End Because Woody Allen Is Writing The Screenplay, well, hey, we needed a more lively, easygoing track after those last two.

A Life Less Ordinary. 

The Kylie Minogue song of this movie mixtape. In other words, you're just gonna have to deal with it. I know not everyone holds a special place in their heart for the hapless Robert & the spoiled Celine but their whirlwind, celestially-stoked courtship that is more concerned with absurd set pieces and droll indulgence makes me want to giddily foxtrot. 

Jump Tomorrow. 

This is our wildcard because George & Girard are not really lovers on the lam. Well, they are lovers, but that's to say they are lovers in the manner of modern day, neurotic Don Quixotes. And they are on the lam, sort of, because Girard has just been rebuffed in his proposal to his lady and, thus, plans to commit suicide at Niagara Falls and because George is on his way to his (arranged) wedding at Niagara Falls from which he eventually flees for the wiles of the requisite Spanish vixen. It is far from a perfect movie but, damn, is it effervescent. And that's just how I want this mixtape to conclude - effervescently.

So it will.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any mix that includes Moonrise Kingdom is good by me, but I must admit I have only seen half your selection. Thanks for taking part.

Nick Prigge said...

Thanks for coming up with the idea. Yeah, when I sat back and tried to think of non-traditional lovers on the lam films, Moonrise Kingdom popped in there first.