An Introduction.

This will probably be my first and last post that doesn't focus on a movie but I couldn't just start this little operation without an intro, could I?

So, yes, this is a blog about movies, specifically movies from 1902-1965. Why, you ask? The oldest actual movie that I have seen was George Méliès' Le Voyage Dans La Lune or A Trip To The Moon which came out in 1902 so I figured it would be a good place to start. As for the ending, 1965 seems like kind of an arbitrary date but there really is a method behind my madness (well, my blog-based madness, that is). There's just something about movies in the sixties that makes them feel, well, modern.

I guess, here's a way to explain it. When I was about 12 or so my mom had a burst of interest in making my brother and I watch classic movies. For her this meant movies of all decades (The Sting [1973] and the first Indiana Jones [1981] were among them) but included classics that I will be featuring here too. Anyway, while we were watching Rear Window [1954] we had come to that scene where Grace Kelly is pulling clothes out of her purse to show Jimmy Stewart that she has packed to stay the night and my mom pointed out, "If this was a modern movie, there would be a sex scene or something right here."

Whatever your opinion is on a Grace Kelly/Jimmy Stewart sex scene (I personally feel ooky about it), you can't deny that she's right. Movies before the mid-60s had a sense of innocence and subtly about matters of sex, violence, and drugs that you just don't get in today's films and while I love a good sex scene/violent dismembering (who doesn't?), I wanted to focus on movies that weren't so much about gimmicks as they were about just solid stories, directing, and acting. When Yojimbo came out in 1961, people were shocked by the use of realistic flesh cutting sounds in the sword fights and the use of fake blood. Now you have Kill Bill: Vol. 1 [2003] where blood comes by the fountain.

But to clarify, I'm not saying old movies are better (and I love the Kill Bill movies); I'm just saying I needed to narrow my focus and 1965 is, to me, a good stopping point to bisect these two halves of movie history.

Now to explain the title. If you thought femme fatale you get a prize (not really)! The 40s are my favorite decade and films containing femme fatale will obviously have a big part in this blog. But really the figure of the femme fatale is not just a film noir character. Femme fatale have been around since the B.C.s. They just needed a word for it. Also, to continue on my mom's theory, the femme fatale have kind of died out. Nowadays you have the promiscuous party girl who lacks all the class and intelligence (and style usually) of the femme fatale. A femme fatale knows what she wants, knows how to get it, and will do it while looking awesome and being clever every step of the way. To me, that spells badass and I am always an ardent supporter of badassery. Hence, here's to chicks who kicked ass before women were literally kicking ass in movies.

Now if you'll please allow me a moment of gratuitous indulgence to talk about myself. My name is Kay and I'm 20 years old. I'm currently finishing up my junior year of college with only one semester to go before I'm jobless and homeless and turning tricks to pay off massive loans. I'm an English major (although my writing won't prove that) with a Japanese minor (こんにちは、日本語を話す人！). Generally, I'm a music person with my interests lying in rock (alternative, hard rock, punk, metal, goth, dark/punk cabaret, industrial, darkwave), oldies (doo wop, girl groups, rockabilly, big band swing, cabaret), and musicals (favs being Phantom, Les Mis, Sweeney, Cabaret, and Threepenny Opera) and I do a rock radio show for my college's station.
I got turned onto movies right after my high school graduation by my best friend, Adam, who was horrified by my lack of movie knowledge. Now the student has surpassed the master but he's cool with it because I give him recommendations all the time.
I've been writing for fun since I was 15 but never in a blog format and my writing is usually a mix of funny/colloquial/full of swears and clever/analytical/SAT words. That's how these posts will be too.

I riff because I love.

So come back sometimes when this site has some real posts and a pretty layout and enjoy.