Adventures in fandom! - Part 1 of a ~series~
~in which surprise is expressed that women are redefining masculinity~
So there's this absolutely rubbish list put out by the London Times of the Top 100 films of all time. When I say absolute rubbish, I mean that while it includes my beloved Philadelphia Story, it also includes hardly any non-english-language films, and throws in such ~masterpieces~ as High Society (the wretched musical remake of my beloved Philadelphia Story) and Jurassic Park.
At #97 on this ridiculous list is Kathryn Bigelow's 1992 film Point Break. Times writer Wendy Ide points out:
The surprise in Point Break is not that it redefined the macho action flick, but that it was done by a woman. From within a derivative tale about a rookie undercover FBI agent, Keanu Reeves, who infiltrates a gang of, yes, bank-robbing surfers led by Patrick Swayze, director Bigelow magnified the homoerotic tension between agent Reeves and surfer Swayze (parodied recently in Hot Fuzz). She made an action star out of the epicene Reeves and turned the movie’s “100% Pure Adrenaline” mantra into a shooting style - the effects of which are still felt today (the Bourne movies are an elaboration of the Reeves-Swayze chase in Point Break). The surfing scenes aren’t too shabby either.
a) raise your hand if you're completely unsurprised that a woman directed a homoerotic action-adventure blockbuster. o/
b) tangentially, raise your hand if you can name at least three movies Keanu Reeves has starred in that contain deliberately homoerotic overtones. (No, Bill & Ted doesn't count.) o/
c) raise your hand if you totally saw Point Break because of Hot Fuzz. o/
d) raise your hand if you then wrote slash. o/
So there's this absolutely rubbish list put out by the London Times of the Top 100 films of all time. When I say absolute rubbish, I mean that while it includes my beloved Philadelphia Story, it also includes hardly any non-english-language films, and throws in such ~masterpieces~ as High Society (the wretched musical remake of my beloved Philadelphia Story) and Jurassic Park.
At #97 on this ridiculous list is Kathryn Bigelow's 1992 film Point Break. Times writer Wendy Ide points out:
The surprise in Point Break is not that it redefined the macho action flick, but that it was done by a woman. From within a derivative tale about a rookie undercover FBI agent, Keanu Reeves, who infiltrates a gang of, yes, bank-robbing surfers led by Patrick Swayze, director Bigelow magnified the homoerotic tension between agent Reeves and surfer Swayze (parodied recently in Hot Fuzz). She made an action star out of the epicene Reeves and turned the movie’s “100% Pure Adrenaline” mantra into a shooting style - the effects of which are still felt today (the Bourne movies are an elaboration of the Reeves-Swayze chase in Point Break). The surfing scenes aren’t too shabby either.
a) raise your hand if you're completely unsurprised that a woman directed a homoerotic action-adventure blockbuster. o/
b) tangentially, raise your hand if you can name at least three movies Keanu Reeves has starred in that contain deliberately homoerotic overtones. (No, Bill & Ted doesn't count.) o/
c) raise your hand if you totally saw Point Break because of Hot Fuzz. o/
d) raise your hand if you then wrote slash. o/