Cool Hand Luke (1967)

In director Stuart Rosenberg's popular prison chain-gang drama with numerous Christ references and images:

• the imprisonment of rebel prisoner Luke (Paul Newman) for maliciously destroying municipal property (cutting the heads off of parking meters)
• the 'rules' of the house delivered to the prisoners by Carr (Clifton James): ("Them clothes got laundry numbers on 'em. You remember your number and always wear the ones that has your number. Any man forgets his number spends the night in the box...")
• the titillating scene of a sexy teenage girl (Joy Harmon) - the warden's daughter? - frustrating the prisoners by soaping up, pressing her sudsy breasts against the window, and hosing off herself and her car in plain sight ("drivin' us crazy and lovin' every minute of it")

Soapy and Sexy Car-Wash	Boxing Match against Dragline	Egg-Eating Contest

• the epic brutal boxing match with boss convict Dragline (George Kennedy) in which Luke refused to give up by staying down on the ground - and thereby received a beating
• the entertaining, one-hour long, hard-boiled egg-eating contest that Luke won by consuming 50 eggs
• the image of the guard's impenetrable sunglasses
• the prison visit of Luke's sick mother Arletta (Jo Van Fleet) who talked to him from the back of a pickup truck
• the scene of Luke strumming a guitar singing the irreverent "Plastic Jesus" song following his mother's death
• the nasty prison boss Captain's (Strother Martin) famous line to defiant Luke: "What we got here is failure to communicate"
• the escape attempt in the concluding sequence with the final Christ-figure imagery and the smile on Luke's face as he sassed back: ("What we've got here is a failure to communicate") and was killed (and his epitaph: "he's a natural-born world-shaker")

The Court Jester (1955)

In co-directors Melvin Frank's and Norman Panama's classic musical comedy set in medieval England that spoofed swashbucklers, with Danny Kaye in a dual role as carnival entertainer Hubert Hawkins, and as a court jester impersonating Giacomo:

• the infamous rhyming wordplay and convoluted dialogue
• the first tongue-twisting wordplay scene between King Roderick (Cecil Parker) and Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye), impersonating court jester Giacomo:
  - The Duke. What did the Duke do?
  - Uh, the Duke do?
  - Yes. And what about the Doge?
  - Oh, the Doge!
  - Uh. Well what did the Doge do?
  - The Doge do?
  - Yes, the Doge do.
  - Well, uh, the Doge did what the Doge does. Uh, when the Doge does his duty to the Duke, that is.
  - What? What's that?
  - Oh, it's very simple, sire. When the Doge did his duty and the Duke didn't, that's when the Duchess did the dirt to the Duke with the Doge.
  - Who did what to what?
  - Oh, they all did, sire. There they were in the dark; the Duke with his dagger, the Doge with his dart, and the Duchess with her dirk.
  - Duchess with her dirk?
  - Yes! The Duchess dove at the Duke just when the Duke dove at the Doge. Now the Duke ducked, the Doge dodged, and the Duchess didn't. So the Duke got the Duchess, the Duchess got the Doge, and the Doge got the Duke!
• the hypnotizing spell cast on the court jester by ambitious court witch Griselda (Mildred Natwick) that could hilariously be undone - and reinstated - by just a snap of the fingers, employed in the scene in which he was hypnotized (to believe he was a dashing lover) and he snuck into Princess Gwendolyn's (Angela Lansbury) chambers to woo her: ("What manner of man is Giacomo? Ha ha! I shall tell you what manner of man is he. He lives for a sigh, he dies for a kiss, he lusts for the laugh, ha! He never walks when he can leap! He never flees when he can fight (thud), Oop! He swoons at the beauty of a rose. And I offer myself to you, all of me. My heart. My lips. My legs. My calves. Do what you will - my love endures. Beat me. Kick me. (kiss, kiss) I am yours")
• the discussion between court jester Giacomo and court witch Griselda about a riddle, with instructions on how to avoid a poisoned drink - specifically, about his having to remember the cup location for a pre-joust toast with a drink in a vessel that was poisoned by pellets, but then -- much confusion with a change in the directions, with hilarious results:
  - "I've got it! I've got it! The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle. The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true! Right?"
  - "Right. But there's been a change. They broke the chalice from the palace!"
  - "They broke the chalice from the palace?"
  - "And replaced it with a flagon."
  - "A flagon...?"
  - "With the figure of a dragon."
  - "Flagon with a dragon."
  - "Right."
  - "But did you put the pellet with the poison in the vessel with the pestle?"
  - "No! The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!"
  - "The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true."
  - "Just remember that..."

The Covered Wagon (1923)

In director James Cruze's early epic western, often considered the first great western:

• the first authentic-looking outdoor views of the pioneering Western frontier, including the rugged trail, Conestoga wagons, plains, ranges, and buttes (of Utah and Nevada), and even Native-Americans
• the 1848 "westward ho" trek of "the mightiest caravan that was ever to crawl across the valley of the Platte" - and the many adversities that the pioneers faced, including ferrying wagons across rivers, evidence of a deadly Pawnee Indian attack, quicksand, severe weather, etc.

• with many of the stereotypical scenes included in early westerns, such as Indian attacks and shoot outs, river crossings and braving snow storms, and a buffalo hunt.

Creep Show (1982)

In writer Stephen King and director George A. Romero's satirical horror anthology and tribute to EC's horror comics of the 1950's:

• in the last of the five horror anthology tales: "They're Creeping Up on You" - the creepy, sickening scene of the swarm-attack of ugly and gigantic cockroaches that emerged during a blackout in the germproof, sparkling-white, sterile, vacuum-sealed penthouse apartment of roach-phobic, obsessively-clean, racist, miserly, eccentric and cruel millionaire Professor Upson Pratt (E. G. Marshall). Swarms of the insects emerged from inside his corpse - from his chest and mouth

Crime Wave (1954)

In director Andre De Toth's low-budget, hard-boiled gangster-crime drama, shot on location in 1950s Los Angeles - the tale of an ex-convict and reformed San Quentin parolee Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) trying to go straight as an airplane mechanic, with loving wife Ellen (Phyllis Kirk):

• the opening scene (shot from the POV of the thieves in their car) - the robbery of a gas station by 'Doc' Penny's (Ted de Corsia) gang of three, resulting in the killing of a motorcycle cop, and the wounding of gang member Gat Morgan (Ned Young)
• the victimization of Steve, who became trapped and haunted by his former life when his former cellmate Gat, the wounded fugitive gang member (all gang members were escapees from San Quentin), demanded to be harbored in Steve's apartment; when his wife Ellen was threatened, Steve was pressured into joining the gang in a complex, daylight bank heist in Glendale (functioning as the getaway car driver and airplane pilot to fly them to Mexico afterwards)
• the failed Saturday robbery when Steve's written tip alerted police, and the bank was staffed by policemen disguised as bank personnel and customers
• throughout the film, Steve was pursued as a suspect by a relentless, toothpick-chewing, sadistic homicide Detective Lieutenant Sims (Sterling Hayden) (who believed: "Once a crook, always a crook") - and Steve's own fear of being marked as a criminal: ("Once you do a stretch, you're never clean again! You're never free! They've always got a string on you, and they tug, tug, tug! Before you know it, you're back again!")
• in the end, although Steve was handcuffed and arrested by Sims, in the final moments, it was all a pretense - Steve was let go and allowed to resume his life

Crimes of Passion (1984)

In British director Ken Russell's neon-lit, dark, 'guilty pleasure' cult tale and erotic thriller - with the tagline: "Her name is China Blue. She is watched. She is worshipped. And, she must remain a mystery":

• the main protagonist: a moonlighting, kinky LA prostitute named China Blue (Kathleen Turner) - who at night wore a platinum wig and a light-blue silky dress (and frequented the Paradise Isle Hotel for tricks), and by day worked as a prim but workaholic sporting fashion designer named Joanna Crane
• China Blue's entrance in the film: with male client Carl (John G. Scanlon) who insisted that she role-play for him a beauty pageant contestant named Miss Liberty 1984 as he was kneeling between her spread-eagled legs. She euphemistically told about how she could blow his "instrument" - and she tantalized him with her sex-talk while unzipping his pants: "First I unzip the case, and take out the instrument very carefully. I'm very gentle. And then I run my little hand all over it. Up and down, and up and down. And then I-I fondle it so softly, so softly. Hmm, I love the look of it. Oh, I love the feel of it, so smooth and firm. Oh, I love to wrap my fingers around it and tenderly caress it. Well, I like to lift it to my mouth and wrap my lips around it. And then I just wait for that sweet, sweet music to come pourin' out."
• her next client had a sexual fetish of pretending to stalk and attack her, before "raping" her in her room in the Paradise Isle Hotel; during sex, she imagined Japanese erotic art prints or other exaggerated drawings of enlarged male genitals

Hooker China Blue (Kathleen Turner)
One Client's Rape Fetish	Japanese Erotic Art

• also notable were the scenes with deranged, stalking psychotic Reverend believing he was China Blue's savior - the perverse, ranting, peeping-tom, self-proclaimed Reverend Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins) with strange erotic fantasies; he believed he was China Blue's savior ("Save your soul, whore!").
• China Blue's description of her profession to the Reverend, that was designed to completely fulfill any of her clients' fantasies: "This is a fantasy business, Reverend. You can have any truth you want....Why don't you f--k me? That'll save me...What disease? I'm healthy as a horse. I'm fit as a fiddle and ready for cock...I'm Cinderella, Cleopatra, Goldie Hawn, Eva Braun, I'm Little Miss Muffin, I'm Pocahontas, I'm whoever you want me to be, Reverend"
• her shock when she discovered the Reverend's razor-tipped, chrome-steel dildo (dubbed "Superman") in his doctor's bag of sex toys
• art-time private investigator and security expert Bobby Grady's (John Laughlin) escape from a dull 11-year marriage to Amy (Annie Potts), who faked her orgasms, substituted by his intense, obsessive, erotic relationship with China Blue; during her first sexual encounter with him (for $50), she fantasy role-played as a flight attendant: ("Good evening. Welcome to China Blue Airlines Flight 69, non-stop service to Paradise. We'll be taking off shortly. I'll be unbuckling your belt and seeing that big bird rise and rise, finally settling into the comfort only this wide body can provide. We're here to serve you. Please remember that although we may run out of Pan Am coffee, we'll never run out of T-W-A-Tea"); she sucked on his bare toe and then had sexual intercourse with him in multiple positions (viewed as silhouettes behind a gauzy curtain), while they were peeped upon by the Reverend

China Blue's S&M Sex Scene with Policeman

• later in a dominatrix S & M scene (deleted from some versions to avoid an X-rating), a policeman (Randall Brady) was handcuffed to a bed and then brutalized and sodomized with his own nightstick; he bled from his restrained wrists and from her spiked stiletto heels

Twist Ending, Resulting in the Death of the Reverend

• the twist ending in which China Blue was 'saved' by the threatening Reverend involving a role-reversal (and costume-reversal); the character wearing China Blue's dress (presumably Joanna) was stabbed in the back by the razor-tipped dildo/vibrator. However, the Reverend was wearing the China Blue dress and a wig, while she was wearing the Reverend's outfit - a costume twist. She stabbed him as he threatened to assault Grady (who had arrived to save Joanna) with a pair of scissors; the Reverend's death were accompanied with his parting words: "Goodbye, China Blue"
• the film's ending: Grady attended a marital therapy group where he admitted he was in a new relationship with Joanna: "I'm here tonight because I wanted to finally start telling the truth. My wife and I, we have split up for good. That's right. Me, the Boy Scout. I just never had the guts to admit the truth, that Amy and I had just stopped loving each other. There's nobody to blame. That's just what happened. Then, I met this woman, Joanna. She saved my life. We're together now. I'm not sure if it's gonna work out. We don't have a, a whole hell of a lot in common, other than the fact that, that we both need help - and each other. The thing, you see, that scared me the most during my marriage was just admitting that I was scared and letting Amy down. Well, I can't pretend anymore. I was scared s--tless to come back here. I told Joanna. And she took me in her arms and she said, 'It's OK to be scared.' I felt stronger and freer and more like a man than I've ever felt before in my life. Then we f--ked our brains out."

"Crocodile" Dundee (1986)

In the surprise sleeper hit and romantic comedy from Australia:

• the scene in which Australian Outback ranger Michael (Mick) J. 'Crocodile' Dundee (Paul Hogan, co-nominated for Best Original Screenplay) rescued American newspaper feature reporter Sue Charlton (Hogan's real-life wife Linda Kozlowski) from a large crocodile in the wild as she was going for a swim (and a croc lunged out of the water, grabbed her necklace, and threatened to pull her in); he twisted a knife into the crocodile's head, and when she asked: "Is it dead?" he replied: "Well, if it isn't, I'm goin' to have a hell of a job skinnin' the bastard"; afterwards, he roasted it like a giant shish kabob
• the fish-out-of-water sequences in New York City, including the memorable scene in which the leader of a street gang with a small switch-blade knife attempted to mug Dundee - the unflappable and chuckling 'Crocodile' man responded as he pulled out his large bushwhacker Bowie knife -- "THAT's a knife!", and then slashed the tough's jacket; after the gang fled, he said amiably to Sue: "Just kids having fun!"

Dundee's and Sue's Subway Platform Reconciliation

• the final scene of Nick going on a "walkabout" after Sue foolishly became engaged to her editor Richard Mason (Mark Blum) - his journey began in a crowded subway station; Sue raced on the street after him to the subway entry two blocks away, but on the crowded platform, she could not reach him; she called out: "Mick Dundee!"; she relayed her messages to Mick - the guy in the black hat - from bystander to bystander: (Sue: "Tell him not to leave. I'm not gonna marry Richard...Tell him I love him. I love you!"), and then Mick climbed up to the girders or rafters to gain height and walked to Sue on the heads and raised hands of the onlookers: ("I'll tell her meself. I'm comin' through") - to tell her of his love and to kiss her; the crowd erupted in applause - before a freeze-frame and the ending credits

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, US/HK/China/Taiwan) (aka Wo Hu Cang Long)

In Ang Lee's Best Picture-nominated martial arts/romantic film set in 18th century China, with spectacular cinematography and martial arts action sequences, that won the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award:

• the many exciting, kinetic action sequences revolving around the mystical, legendary 400 year-old Excalibur-like sword known as "Green Destiny"
• the first appearance of Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), the 18 year-old district governor's daughter, and the revelation that she was a disciple - secretly apprenticing under the harsh tutelage of bitter, heartless, murderous, evil and treacherous arch-criminal Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei) (who had been posing as Jen's governess for many years)
• the scene of the theft of the Green Destiny sword in an estate by impetuous and headstrong masked thief Jen Yu, and the exciting scene of security officer and female warrior Yu Shu Lien's (Michelle Yeoh) gravity-defying pursuit of masked thief Jen up walls, across buildings and over rooftops, and their martial-arts styled fighting
• the poignant, secret and unfulfilled romance between Yu Shu Lien and heroic spiritual master and martial arts/swordsman fighter Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) who was about to retire, when they shared their love for each other over a cup of tea: (Li Mu Bai: "Shu Lien - There's no eternity to the things we can touch. My master would say, 'There's nothing we can hold onto in this world. Only by letting go can we truly possess what is real.'" Shu Lien: "Even to an old Taoist like you, not everything is an illusion. When you were holding my hand just now, wasn't that real?" Li Mu Bai: "Your hand is cold and callused from practicing machetes. All these years, and I've never had the courage to touch it. Crouching tigers and hidden dragons are in the underworld, but so are human feelings. Swords and knives harbor unknown perils, but so do human relationships")

Li Mu Bai: "Real sharpness comes without effort."	The Sword Fight In Green Bamboo Forest	Lo to Jen: "A Faithful Heart Makes Wishes Come True"

• Li Mu Bai's fatherly and scholarly interest in the petulant Jen, casually imparting advice during one sword fight and teaching her: ("Real sharpness comes without effort. No growth, without assistance. No action, without reaction...")
• the visually-stunning sword fight between Li Mu Bai and Jen on the top of a green bamboo forest
• the "faithful heart makes wishes come true" speech by Jen's kind lover - a barbarian desert bandit named Lo "Dark Cloud" (Chang Chen) - about a mystical legend of a man who jumped from a mountain cliff to make his wish come true - and was saved from death because his heart was faithful and pure: ("We have a legend. Anyone who dares to jump from the mountain, God will grant his wish. Long ago, a young man's parents were ill, so he jumped. He didn't die. He wasn't even hurt. He floated away, far away, never to return. He knew his wish had come true. If you believe, it will happen. The elders say, 'A faithful heart makes wishes come true.'"); Lo awaited Jen at Mt. Wudang
• the climactic, artistic duel (with multiple weapons) between Jen (wielding the Green Destiny) and Shu Lien in an empty dueling arena - brilliantly shot with overhead cameras
• the scene of Jen's rejection of her master teacher Jade Fox because she had outgrown her instruction, with Jade's response: "Believe me, I've a lesson or two left to teach you!"
• Jade Fox's last words after being executed by Li Mu Bai: "You know what poison is? An 8 year-old girl full of deceit. That's poison!...Jen...my only family...my only enemy...'; however, Li Mu Bai realized he had been hit in the neck by a Fox's dart (with Purple Yin poison and "no antidote"), and suffered a tearjerking death
• during Li Mu Bai's death, he delivered his final, long overdue declaration of undying, concealed love for Yu Shu Lien with his last breaths: ("I've already wasted my whole life. I want to tell you with my remaining strength that I love you. I always have. (They kissed) I'll drift next to you every day as a ghost just to be with you. Even if I was banished to the darkest place, my love will keep me from being a lonely spirit")
• the transcendent ending in which Jen, after spending one night with Lo, jumped off Wudang Mountain, and floated softly downward to disappear into the mist

The Crowd (1928)

In King Vidor's urban melodrama:

• the staircase scene in 1912 when a young 12 year-old boy climbed claustrophobic, steep stairs and near the top learned that his father had died; he was told (in a title card: "You must be brave now, little man...like your father would want you to be")
• the arrival of ambitious, wide-eyed 21 year-old John Sims (James Murray) in NYC, with marvelous visuals capturing New York City's teeming streets, and the enormous crowd shots

John Sims at His Desk in a NYC Skyscraper

• the sweeping camera sequence from curbside outside a towering skyscraper, moving up the face of the building and through a upper window and zeroing in (with a dissolve) on the view of a low-level, dehumanized office worker John Sims lost in a sea of desks lined up in rows - positioned at desk 137; in fact, he was not working, but watching the clock in anticipation of a 5:00 pm quitting time (the sequence was paid homage to in Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960)), and pondering answers for a get-rich-quick $100 prize contest by naming a "new motor fuel" (his entries included Petrol-Pep and Jazz-o-Lene)
• the romantic/courtship scenes between the two young lovers John and Mary (Eleanor Boardman) - especially in the sequences on Coney Island (The Tunnel of Love, amusement park rides, etc.), and he attempted to kiss her but she was reluctant at first: "Gee...I oughtn't to let you kiss me" - but then freely allowed him to romance her

Coney Island Sequence: John on Date with Mary (Eleanor Boardman)

• soon afterwards after a tiring day and ride back on the train to the city, John impulsively proposed to Mary resting in his arms ("Mary, let's you and me get married"); she nodded in agreement, and soon they were married, spending their honeymoon at Niagara Falls
• in the hospital, the scene of John's anxiety over the birth of their first child - and his whispered words to his wife when the baby boy was delivered to their bedside: ("This is all I've needed to make me try harder, dear...I'll be somebody now, I promise.")

Tragic Truck Accident, Killing Young Daughter - Horrifed Reaction

• the couple's reaction to the accidental death of their young second child, a daughter, who was accidentally hit by a truck as she raced across a busy NYC street - reflected on the horrified faces of the parents who were watching from a nearby window
• the poignant scene of suicidal John with his young son on a railroad overpass when the boy restored John's faith in himself by expressing his unconditional love
• and the final sequence of the reconciled couple enjoying a comical vaudeville show as the camera pulled back and they became anonymous in the audience

Cruel Intentions (1999)

In an update of the French Les Liaisons Dangereuses:

• the prolonged, wet, spit-swapping kiss scene between innocent Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair) and manipulative Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar)

Cruel Story of Youth (1960, Jp.) (aka Naked Youth, or Seishun Zankoku Monogatari)

In writer/director Nagisa Ôshima's 'New Wave' cautionary drama (his second film) about teen sexuality, crime and delinquency in post-war Japan, similar in impact and theme to Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and various Bonnie and Clyde tales:

• the ominous, opening titles - blood-red-painted script with newsprint in the background
• the pivotal opening sequence of naive, impulsive, restless, and flirtatious schoolgirl Makoto (Miyuki Kuwano) hitchhiking - and then saved from an older man's rape-assault in a secluded area by delinquent teen Kiyoshi (Yusuke Kawazu), wearing a school uniform, who beat up the assailant and threatened to take him to the police, but instead accepted a cash bribe
• the next day, Kiyoshi and Makoto met at a protest rally of idealistic students (against the Japan/US Security Pact, aka the Anpo Treaty), but they became bored as aimless, uncommitted bystanders - they preferred to leave and rent a motor-speedboat
• the scene at a desolate, grungy, seaside dock filled with lashed-together log pontoons when Kiyoshi was refused a kiss with Makoto and she slapped him; he struck her back, followed her onto the floating pontoons, and pushed her into the water (she claimed that she couldn't swim); he stood above her and kept kicking away her clinging fingers when she attempted to hold onto the log - and used blackmail to get her to agree to sex, in order to help her get out: ("Will you do as I say?...Too bad for you. Why don't you want to? So why did you come then? You're curious about men? For sex? I'll satisfy that curiosity"); when she became exhausted, he eventually pulled her out - and forcefully raped her; afterwards, he told her that he was angry, not really at her, but at "everyone" in his world
• the revelation of Kiyoshi's background - he was pimping himself out to a wealthy middle-aged woman, and he rented his apartment to friends for their indiscreet sexual liaisons (i.e., The Apartment (1960))
• the scenes of Makoto's growing infatuation with the reckless, cruel, predatory and misogynistic Kiyoshi, their volatile, dysfunctional and abusive relationship as careless, wild lovers and petty crooks - and their re-enactment of their initial meeting as a manipulative scam and profitable technique, using her as sexual bait while he followed behind on a borrowed motorcycle, and scammed the older men through extortion for money
• the sequence of Makoto's illegal back-street abortion in a shoddy clinic performed by drunken Dr. Akimoto (Fumio Watanabe) - the former degenerated suitor of Makoto's embittered older sister Yuki (Yoshiko Kuga); in the scene after the operation, Kiyoshi watched over the groggy Makoto, while on the other side of the wall, Yuki and Akimoto discussed their own lost ideals, dreams and abandoned hopes - their talk was regarded as disturbing but prophetic by Kiyoshi:
  (Yuki: "What splendid irony. We tried to change the world, with my puppet play and your doctor's bag. We were both so determined. What good was it?"
  Akimoto: "We couldn't do anything about it. This is a cruel world and it destroyed our love. At least our love remained pure and chaste. We vented our anger with the student demonstrations. But it was all pointless. We got hurt and we split up. We had to accept defeat. Your sister and her man, on the other hand, struggle with the world by giving in to all their desires. But they won't be able to win. In the end, their failures, like this abortion, will drive them apart."
  Kiyoshi (shouted at them): "No, never!"
  Akimoto: "The poor girl looked desperate when she arrived."
  Kiyoshi: "You're wrong! Don't talk nonsense. We're not like you two."
  Yuki: "I wish that were the case."
  Akimoto: "But it's not."
  Yuki: "Don't destroy my last hope. Or you'll destroy theirs too."
  Kiyoshi: "We have no dreams, that's why we'll never end up like you."
  Yuki: "Are you so sure you will stay together?"
  Kiyoshi: "Of course!")
  
  Kiyoshi heard the two decide to leave together and get drunk ("We were beaten again tonight. Let's have a drink. We needn't see each other again. Let's drink the night away") but then left separately
• while Makoto was recuperating, he opened up a bag and took out two apples, one bright red, and one green; he put the red one on Makoto's chest, and violently crunched down into the green one; he stared off blankly into space as he continued to bite into it during a very lengthy sequence; when she finally awakened, he told her he was there for her: "I must be kind occasionally. I don't want you to cheat on me"

Deaths of Both Teens

• the downbeat violent, bloody, and graphically gruesome ending resulting in the deaths of both teens: Kiyoshi was brutally murdered by pimping yakuza gangsters (by beating, strangulation, and a boot smothering his head) when he wouldn't relinquish Makoto to them, and while hitchhiking at the same time and sensing Kiyoshi in danger, Makoto jumped from a moving car to avoid another rape-kidnapping, but her foot caught in the door and she was dragged to death; the faces of the two doomed, dead lovers were pictured left and right in split-screen as the film ended

The Crying Game (1992, UK)

In Irish writer/director Neil Jordan's jolting thriller:

• the scene of IRA volunteer soldier Jimmy/Fergus (Stephen Rea) visiting gorgeous-looking androgynous, London nightclub singer/hairdresser Dil (Oscar-nominated Jaye Davidson) - known as the 'wee black chick' that Jody loved, to fulfill kidnapped/dead British soldier Jody's (Forest Whitaker) dying wish
• after kissing each other, the superbly unexpected moment of transgender revelation when Dil's red kimono robe dropped to the floor as the camera panned down to show off 'his' true gender and manhood, followed by his apology to the shocked Fergus: "You did know, didn't you?"

The Major Plot Twist: Dil's Revelation of Manhood to Jimmy/Fergus

• the tearful "interrogation" scene between a gun-toting Dil and Fergus, whom Dil had tied to his bed after finding out he had been complicit in the death of his ex-lover Jody, as the song "The Crying Game" played on Dil's tape deck. With a gun pointed at him, Fergus told Dil that he loved him: ("I love you Dil"), would do anything for him: ("I'd do anything for you, Dil") and would never leave him - with Dil responding, as he laid his head on Fergus' chest/shoulder: "I know you're lying, Jimmy, but it's nice to hear it"
• the scene of Dil's vengeful murder of Fergus' accomplice Jude (Miranda Richardson), a femme fatale IRA accomplice/assassin, when he accused her of being implicated in Jody's death - she had allegedly entrapped Jody by seducing him while he was intoxicated - and thereby had fooled him: "You was there, wasn't you? You used those tits and that ass to get him, didn't you?!"
• following Jude's death, Dil held the gun on Fergus, who had untied himself from the bed, but Dil couldn't pull the trigger; Fergus reassuringly took the gun away when Dil put the gun in his mouth to commit suicide, and asked him with deep love and caring to run away (and hide out until later) - promising Dil he would see him again; after Dil fled, the police arrived on the street below; Fergus took the gun, wiped Dil's fingerprints from it (thereby replacing Dil's prints with his own), and then awaited the police's arrival - he took the fall for Dil, and received a sentence of six years

Curse of the Demon (1957, UK) (aka Night of the Demon)

In Jacques Tourneur's fourth true horror film (a fantasy horror thriller), an intelligent and thoughtful adaptation of the original ghost story "Casting the Runes" by noted practitioner Montague R. James - about a US psychiatrist's investigation into a Satanic cult in England:

• the ominous opening voice-over narration, heard over views of the ancient ruins of Stonehedge: "It has been written since the beginning of time, even unto these ancient stones, that evil supernatural creatures exist in a world of darkness. And it is also said man using the magic power of the ancient runic symbols can call forth these powers of darkness, the demons of Hell. Through the ages, men have feared and worshipped these creatures. The practice of witchcraft, the cults of evil have endured and exist to this day"
• the early sequence of the death of scientist and Professor Henry Harrington (Maurice Denham) after meeting with suspected devil cult leader Dr. Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis) - as Harrington drove into his home's car garage, a demonic figure emerged from the woods and scared him and he accidentally reversed his car into an electrical pole and was electrocuted by live wires as he exited his vehicle, and his body was mutilated by the beast
• the film's theme - the dramatic conflict between two world-views as represented by skeptical American psychiatrist Dr. John Holden (Dana Andrews) (who didn't believe in witchcraft and devil cults and was in England to debunk the supernatural) and the occultist warlock leader Dr. Julian Karswell
• in the scene set at an annual Halloween party held at Karswell's country estate, the sinister cult leader (dressed as a clown to entertain the children) expressed his views to Holden: "Do I believe in witchcraft? What kind of witchcraft? The legendary witch that rides on the imaginary broom? The hex that tortures the thoughts of the victim? The pin stuck in the image that wastes away the mind and the body?" Holden answered: "Also imaginary"; Karswell continued: "But where does imagination end and reality begin? What is this twilight, this half world of the mind that you profess to know so much about? How can we differentiate between the powers of darkness and the powers of the mind?"
• to prove his words in the following sequence, Karswell removed his hat and pinched his forehead - soon after, a violent wind storm was summoned or conjured up; after retreating to the indoors, Holden spoke to Karswell: "I didn't know you had cyclones in England!" and Karswell replied: "We don't"; Karswell predicted that Holden would die in three days (Holden was unaware that a ancient parchment passed to him, originally in Harrington's possession, held a curse written in runic script on his life)
• Holden's statement of his skepticism about black magic, the paranormal, superstition, and Harrington's unexpected death; he also spoke of his doubts about the single-most important link that could prove Karswell's involvement in the Professor's death - the character of accused murderer Rand Hobart (Brian Wilde) who had recently and coincidentally become catatonic: "The whole question of this demon monster that you think shocked Hobart out of his mind is a perfect example of auto-suggestion and mass hysteria. Just the same as flying saucers. Someone imagines that they see moving lights in the sky. And the next thing, a thousand hysterical witnesses turn up all over the world swearing that Martians are attacking us. And now, this nonsense. It even affects serious men like yourselves. Sometimes even me. But logic -- the reality of the seeable and the touchable -- that's what convinces me finally. Certainly not rumor or intuition or funny feelings"
• later, he told Joanna Harrington (Peggy Cummins), the dead professor's niece: "Nobody's free from fear. I have an imagination like anyone else. It's easy to see a demon in every dark corner. But I refuse to let this thing take possession of my good senses. If this world is ruled by demons and monsters, we may as well give up right now"
• the dark sequence of Dr. Holden sneaking into Karswell’s country estate house, when an ordinary small house cat was transformed into a predatory panther that attacked
• after leaving Karswell's home, the eerie, atmospheric and scary scene of Dr. Holden pursued by a flaming ball of smoke in the forest
• in the concluding scene at a Southampton train station, Holden was able to return the ancient parchment into Karswell's pocket; when the piece of paper escaped from Karswell's hands, he chased after it as it blew in the wind along train tracks - it cursed him and doomed him to death at 10 pm - this was the scheduled time for Holden's predicted death, now transferred to Karswell; after the paper burned to combustible ash against one of the rails, it transformed into a monstrous 30 foot demon and Karswell appeared to be attacked as a train raced by

Attack on Karswell Along Southampton Train Tracks After The Parchment With Curse Combusted

• after witnessing the terrible accident (or attack), Joanna gave an opinion to Dr. Holden about what had just happened: "Maybe it's better not to know"; after train officials announced: "The train must have hit him," Holden agreed with Joanna in the film's final line that they shouldn't try to figure out what had happened: "You're right. Maybe it's better not to know"

Cutter's Way (1981) (aka Cutter and Bone)

In Czech filmmaker Ivan Passer's crime thriller:

• the amazing opening slow-motion sequence (under the credits, with music by Jack Nitzsche) of a Santa Barbara, CA main street Old Spanish Days Fiesta parade (that slowly changed from b/w to color) - with the camera following a blonde twirling in a white frilly dress
• the sequence then wiped into a day and night-time shot of the exterior of a hotel (labeled El Encanto in neon) - to introduce one of the film's two main characters, with a side close-up of the chin-mustache of laconic yacht-salesman-beach-bum Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) while he was touching up with a woman's electric shaver following hiring out his gigolo services to a blonde (Nina Van Pallandt), the wife of a boat customer, for a one-night stand
• afterwards, a silhouetted figure wearing sun-glasses was witnessed dumping 17 year-old sex-crime victim Vickie into a garbage can in a dark alley on a rainy night
• the scene of embittered, self-righteous, drunken, one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged, crazed and angry Vietnam vet Alexander Cutter (John Heard) crashing into his neighbor's car while returning home with an expired license, and later becoming completely obsessed over confronting the girl's killer - believing the real suspect to be elite and menacing oil businessmen J. J. Cord (Stephen Elliott)
• the scene of Maureen "Mo" Cutter (Lisa Eichhorn) telling her disgruntled husband that his plan to blackmail/extort Cord regarding the girl's murder was itself a dumb crime: "You're not some saint avenging the sins of the Earth, you know. Alex. And if you are, what am I doing here? Oh, I know. I'm like your leg. Your leg! Sending messages to your brain when there's nothing there anymore" - before being viciously slapped
• the stunning concluding scene of Cutter riding heroically (and tragically) on a white stallion within Cord's guarded residential mansion during a large garden party - and lethally crashing into Cord's study window where Bone had just learned that Cord was the female's killer - inspiring the usually-uncommitted and reluctant Bone to take up the fight and shoot Cord with the weapon in Cutter's dead hand - to abruptly end the film

Cutter's Heroic Ride to the Death in a Doomed Effort to Kill J.J. Cord	Bone's Killing of Cord with the Gun in Cutter's Hand

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990, Fr.)

In director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's romance drama:

• the balcony scene of long-nosed, bulky swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac's (Oscar-nominated Gerard Depardieu) recitation of poetry to his love Roxane (Anne Brochet) who was above on her balcony - while coaching gallant but inarticulate soldier Christian de Neuvillette (Vincent Perez)
• during Cyrano's words, she became suspicious: ("But why are your words so hesitant? Why?"); Cyrano took over the dialogue: ("It's dark...They grope in the darkness looking for your ear...It's normal they should find their way. For it's upon my heart they prey. My heart is large whereas your ear is small. Besides, your words slip down speedily along the wall. Mine are heavy like fruit on a bough"); then when she realized that his responses were more rapid ("They're arriving faster now"), Cyrano told her: ("They're now used to the exercise"); when she described how she was above him ("I'm standing here in the skies"), he replied: ("One harsh word from so high could make my heart die")
• Cyrano kept up the charade and refused to join her in person; he told her he was using his "true voice" that sounded altered to her: ("Let us stay near but talk without seeing each other...It's quite wonderful - in darkness. You see a cloak of blackness. I see a dress of summer white. I'm but a shadow. You are a light. I'm using my true voice... In this dark night which protects me, I can be myself")
• and then Cyrano realized how he regretted deceptively pantomiming his true love: ("It's a crime, in love, to play this pantomime. There always has to come a moment. And I pity those who know it not. When we a noble love attain but each pretty word causes pain....All those, all those, all those which come. Everything, I throw away. I'm stifling! I love you. This is no game! My heart cries your name! I've loved you every passing day. Last year, on the twelfth of May, you changed the style of your hair. I was dazzled by its bright flare. Do you understand? Do you realize? Do you feel my soul rise to the skies? Everything tonight is so wonderful, so sweet. I speak, you listen. Me, at your feet! Even in my sweetest dreams, I never planned on this. Now I must die.")